What was the importance of the Watergate scandal?
The “Watergate scandal” is a nickname applied to the detection, prosecution, and conviction of Republican Party officials, senior White House staff, and Cabinet heads for illegally obtaining information about their political opponents and trying to cover up the crimes. The immediately related events spanned two years, from June 1972, when burglars targeted the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC, through August 1974, when President Richard M. Nixon resigned from office. Not only was he the only president who ever resigned, but in succeeding him, Gerald Ford became the first president never to have run for the office, as he had become vice-president after serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives. The lasting effects are still felt, and the legacy can be grouped into five main categories.
First, the outcome reaffirmed the continued importance of the separation and balance of powers, as the Executive branch was not able to dictate the workings of government and protect President Nixon.
A second important area is the attention paid to the process after it concluded. This includes an investigation into possible excesses of government surveillance and other information-gathering that would have violated individual rights.
In addition, the revelations of the investigation and the follow-up prompted a wide range of legal reforms, designed to ensure that such a situation event never recurred.
A fourth key legacy is the increasing importance of investigative journalism, including the elevated stature of such reports to celebrity status. More people probably know the names of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein than those of the government officials who went to prison, and know the title of their book more than its allusion to the earlier fictional expose of corruption, Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men.
Today as well, the “gate” suffix is routinely applied to any political scandal, such as “Iran-Contragate” of the 1980s and the 2015 New England Patriots Deflategate.


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Choice of route
The route we chose was guided by the wish to explore France’s deepest rural areas, with the key word “hyper-rurality”. The final route crosses 8 regions, 38 départements, and more than 700 communes, following a set of trails still in use, a series of GR®, GR® de Pays, PR, communal or rural paths…
Who does it target ?
A trail open to all, particularly aimed at seasoned trekkers and other thru-hikers but also accessible to more modest ramblers wishing to follow it over a period of several years.
The best season ?
Practicable from May to October (theoretically the best weather window for mountain crossings in the Pyrenees and the Massif Central), flexible and adaptable to suit all…
For the best prepared and/or the most motivated, the possibility to complete this route in one stretch, over a duration of 5 to 6 months (i.e. roughly 25 to 30 km per day).

domain: geography


DAC Electric has signed a contract with a Petrochemical company in Rotterdam. DAC Electric will be the main contractor for the complete turn-around of a drive line of a Polypropylene mixer. The job contains electrical-, mechanical- and civil engineering and works including the total supply of a special custom made Permanent Magnet motor with new Variable Frequency Drive.
The turnaround is scheduled in the 2nd Quarter of 2016 and requires groundbraking leadtime of 10 working days. After this the process facility must be fully commissioned and up and running with increased capacity. A true challenge that DAC Electric is happily to overcome!


Hey guys, my friend has recently purchased a car that has a pt-88 with a 6 speed, 331ci and we have been trying to get the co2 boost control to work properly and it just doesn't seen to co-operate. On gate spring (red) it makes 4-5psi smoothly in all gears. We apply 12psi dome pressure and that's where things get Wierd. It holds that 12psi pressure until the wastegate moves at which point it's as if there is a leak bleeding the dome pressure off. The boost does climb but as soon as that dome pressure bleeds off, it's going down (as one would expect it to) ... It should be said that this is the second gate we have tried (first was smaller and older so we upgraded) and its following the same characteristics. On the run I'll post up, I cheated and commanded 100% duty cycle on the boost solenoid and used the co2 regulator to achieve 14psi dome pressure to rule out the solenoid, but it still bleeds down... any thoughts?? usually in my own car my dome psi actually goes up a little as the gate opens (due to pressure difference moving the diaphragm up like a piston as the gate opens.. It certainly never drops? I don't think it takes up much volume to keep 12-14psi dome psi ?...


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BRADSHAW — For the second straight week, the Man High School football team lost to a Class AA team as the Hillbillies fell 22-13 at River View on Friday night at the new River View High School football field in Bradshaw.
Class A Man dropped to 1-3 on the season. River View, ranked No. 16 in the state, is now 3-1.
“We hung right with them,” Man coach Harvey Arms said. “Our offense and defense played well. We just couldn’t get that big break. We now have to get ready for Mingo Central next week.”
Braden Griffin led the Billies with 127 yards rushing on 20 carries and two touchdowns. David Belcher added 50 yards on 12 attempts. Neal Mullins was held to 19 yards rushing on eight carries. Man freshman quarterback John Thomas Keffer was 2-for-11 passing for 27 yards.
River View was led by Jordan Wilson, who rushed for 102 yards on 20 carries. Joseph McClanahan ran 19 times for 98 yards.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Billies took over on their own 36-yard line and drove the ball deep into Raiders’ territory at the beginning of the second period.
River View’s defense, though, held off the Billies at the 33-yard line to take over on downs.
The Raiders then pushed the ball to the Man 5. A critical personal foul on the Raiders put the pigskin back to the 20 and Man’s defense was able to hold, getting the ball back on downs.
Keffer, however, was intercepted by River View’s Jordan Wilson at the Raider 35-yard line. River View then marched 65 yards on just nine plays to take a 6-0 lead as quarterback Austin Walker scored on a 1-yard QB sneak with 1:29 to go until halftime. The extra point kick failed.
Man got good field position at its own 45 to start the second half but on a fourth-and-five play, the Billies were unsuccessful on a fake punt.
Once again, the Raiders were able to take advantage.
Eight plays later, the Raiders scored on a screen pass from Walker to Brandon Thomas from 16 yards out. Thomas then caught the conversion pass to give River View a 14-0 lead with 6:51 left in the third period.
Man didn’t quit and tried to battle back.
The Billies marched 66 yards on eight plays, capped off by a 35-yard touchdown run by Griffin. Justin Cantrell’s PAT was good and Man trailed just 14-7 with 2:45 to go in the third quarter.
Cantrell then came up big as he picked off a Walker pass on River View’s next drive, giving the Billies the ball back on their own 39-yard line as the third quarter came to an end.
Man would eventually score at the 7:47 mark as Griffin scored on a 4-yard TD run to cut the margin to 14-13. Cantrell’s extra point kick sailed wide right.
The Raiders then took over at their own 38-yard line but Man’s defense forced them to punt. The Billies took over on their own 35 but on a fourth-and-three with just under four minutes to play Man went for it. It didn’t work out as a pass to Cantrell fell incomplete.
River View then took the ball down for another score with a McClanahan touchdown with 1:25 left. Walker then connected with Wilson on the two-point conversion as the Raiders finished out the scoring at 22-13.
Man is scheduled to get back into action next Friday night at Mingo Central. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at MC’s James H. “Buck” Harless Stadium. The following week, the Billies host Fayetteville in the annual Man homecoming game.

domain: news


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European Culture Blazer Jacket
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Super soft with a subtle tailoring, this jacket is a fabulous everyday layering piece.
Comfort clean-cut fit jacket with buttons on the front. Made of soft stretch cotton fleece. Tone-on-tone embroidery of the logo "alicorno" on the top centred back. Machine washable.
95% cotton, 5% Lyocell
Click here for size information.

domain: design


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[www.inewsguyana.com] – Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United is gearing up for their first clash in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) club Championships on April 15.
At a press conference on Thursday, Coach of the team, Wayne Dover noted that “preparation has gone well.”
Further, Dover noted that the team is going through an “assessment stage” during the ongoing Kashif and Shanghai tournament.
Meanwhile, President of the club, Odinga Lumumba noted that Guyana will host games against Suriname (April 15) and Trinidad that will cost a total of $10 million.
He further highlighted that the CFU will be assisting with US$15,000, hence another $7 million will be needed to host the event successfully.
Lumumba pointed out that he has reached out to both Government and the Private Sector for assistance but will do his best in an effort to host the teams without any glitches.


- 1 How do scooters charge in Nashville?
- 2 Where can I charge my e scooter?
- 3 How much does it cost to charge an electric scooter?
- 4 Are scooters banned in Nashville?
- 5 Can you leave a lime scooter anywhere?
- 6 How can I charge my scooter battery without a charger?
- 7 Can I charge electric scooter at home?
- 8 How can I charge my electric scooter without a charger?
- 9 Is it worth it to get an electric scooter?
- 10 Is an e scooter worth it?
- 11 Is electric scooter better than petrol?
- 12 How long does a scooter battery last?
- 13 How long does it take to charge a scooter battery?
- 14 How far can an electric scooter go?
How do scooters charge in Nashville?
Rides cost $1 plus 15 cents per minute during use. When your ride is finished, riders are supposed to leave the scooters near their destination and out of public pathways. A drivers license is required to ride, and riders must be at least 18 years old.
Where can I charge my e scooter?
Locate the charging terminal on your scooter and plug in the charger. The charging port is typically located in the scooter base. Once you locate it, plug in the charger firmly until it is connected. Always use the correct charger for your scooter, as the voltage and even the plugs can vary.
How much does it cost to charge an electric scooter?
It costs around 4 pence to charge an Xiaomi M365 electric scooter, making it a very cheap and environmentally friendly way to travel.
Are scooters banned in Nashville?
Nashville transportation officials can ban scooters from being ridden on certain sidewalks.
Can you leave a lime scooter anywhere?
While dock free scooters can conveniently be parked almost anywhere, there are some protocols to follow. The best rule of thumb is simply this: keep all pedestrian walkways clear. When you ‘re ready to park your scooter rental, look for locations that are out of the way, such as bike racks and sidewalk furniture zones.
How can I charge my scooter battery without a charger?
Using a Portable Car Jumper
- Step 1: Connect. To charge your scooter first, you have to connect your jumper to the battery.
- Step 2: Turn the Jumper On. Then Switch on the jumper.
- Step 3: Disconnect the Jumper. You have to disconnect the jumper when the battery is full.
Can I charge electric scooter at home?
“A major question consumers today have about electric scooters is the battery. You can charge the battery in just four hours and the scooter can reach top speeds of 65 km per hour as well. These batteries can be charged at home and on your laptop as well.
How can I charge my electric scooter without a charger?
Guide for How to Charge Electric Scooter Without Charger
- Step 1: Attach the Jumper to the Battery.
- Step 2: Turn onthe Jumper.
- Step 3: Leave to Charge.
- Step 4: Check the Battery Levels.
- Step 5: Disconnect.
- Step 1: Plug the Power Cable to Adapter.
- Step 2: Switch off the Power.
- Step 3: Leave to Charge.
Is it worth it to get an electric scooter?
Electric scooters are lightweight, practical, easy to ride, and can get you to work even faster than your car in some cases. However, even though they sound so perfect, they have some cons, including the price. You can avoid traffic jams, the cost is much smaller than for a car or motorcycle, and it’s fun.
Is an e scooter worth it?
Electric scooters are cheaper to operate when compared to traditional fuel-based scooters and bikes. Instead of hopping in your car for short trips and quick errands, hop on your electric scooter. They are affordable. An electric scooter certainly costs far less than a motorcycle or a car.
Is electric scooter better than petrol?
The electric scooter prices have almost reached price parity with petrol scooters and will soon be cheaper, once battery cells are mass manufactured in India. The main reason electric scooters are so compelling is because of their extremely low costs of operating it.
How long does a scooter battery last?
For an average electric scooter, this is 3,000 to 10,000 miles!” The full lifespan of a scooter battery is determined by a number of factors, including the battery’s size and watt hours, a measurement of its total capacity. But in general, a scooter’s battery should last around one to three years.
How long does it take to charge a scooter battery?
The average electric scooter charging time is 5 and a half hours. Most consumer-grade electric scooters will take between 3 and 8 hours to get fully charged. The scooters with the shortest charging times take less than 1 hour to charge.
How far can an electric scooter go?
Generally, electric scooters can go about 5 to 40 miles. Getting around on an electric scooter is far more fun than a car or truck. With an electric scooter, you can avoid a heavy trafficked road and arrive at work on time.


KUALA LUMPUR: Police believe the assassination of Hussain Ahmad Najadi, the former Arab-Malaysia Development Bank managing director, was related to real estate deals gone awry.
In a press conference at the city police contingent headquarters yesterday, city police chief Datuk Mohmad Salleh said police were recording statements from seven people who witnessed the incident. They include the man who was with Hussain, 75, before he left the temple.
"We will call in the the deceased's client, whom he had met just before the shooting, to have his statement recorded.
"We are in the midst of identifying the suspects. We have obtained several still photos from the closed-circuit television camera footages and there's a clear picture of the gunman.
"They were not wearing masks and we believe they were hired.
"Initial investigations also revealed that the shooting was linked to the buying and selling of a property involving the victim."
Mohmad urged the public not to speculate on the case.
"Although the leads we got led to the motive, we have yet to ascertain who was responsible for hiring Hussain's assailants.
"So, please give us room to investigate. We are confident that we will be able to complete our investigation soon."
On Hussain's wife, Cheong Mei Kuen, Mohmad said the 49-year-old was in a stable condition and had been transferred to Prince Court Hospital from Tung Shin Hospital. She was transferred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday.
The Bahraini, who holds an Iranian passport, and Cheong were walking out of the Lorong Ceylon Kuan Yin Chinese temple when a man, said to be wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt and a helmet, walked up to him from behind and fired multiple shots at Hussain from close range on Monday afternoon.
Hussain, the first managing director and chief executive officer of Arab-Malaysian Development Bank, was shot dead in an open car park in Lorong Ceylon in the 2pm incident.
He was shot in the left rib cage, chest and stomach while his wife was shot in the left wrist and right thigh.
A family member had told the New Straits Times that the victim was involved in a long-standing dispute involving a piece of land.
Last night, Hussain was buried at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery.
His wife, who was present, said Hussain was one of the most optimistic and loving man she had ever met in her life.


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June 17th, 2020
By Asra Haque
Zohra Shah’s death was easily preventable. A number of laws are currently in place that extend protection and promise rights to scores of children, thought to number around 250,000, who are illegally exploited as domestic workers in the homes of rich Pakistanis. Yet, the lack of enforcement and implementation of these laws are what expose children to torture and hard labour, and as in Zohra’s case, lead some to their untimely, unjust demise.
Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019
The Punjab Domestic Workers Act of 2019 prohibits employing a child under the age of 15 years to work as a domestic worker in a household in any capacity, and assigns only “light” work to anyone under 18. However, the law essentially cannot be enforced as it is impossible to monitor every household for how it treats its domestic staff. Zohra’s brutal and eventual murder happened behind closed doors, where the legal arm of the State essentially cannot and does not intrude. Then why pass a non-enforceable Act in the first place?
According to Nida Aly, Executive Director of AGHS Legal Aid Center, a pro-bono law firm which specializes in cases involving women, children and minorities, the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 was initially opposed by the government when it was presented in Parliament as domestic work concerned the “chaadar” (veil) and “chaar diwari” (home).
Voicepk.net tried contacting MNA and former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, in whose constituency Zohra’s murder took place to ascertain how the Domestic Workers Act can be enforced, if at all, to prevent the exploitation of children like Zohra, but could not reach him.
Advocate Ahmar Majeed, a child rights activist and member of the Punjab chapter of the Child Rights Movement (CRM), possesses in-depth knowledge of the various legal concerns of children, including violence, juvenile justice, trafficking and vagrancy. He stated that it is simply impossible to wholly enforce laws to stamp out child labour the world over. But in Pakistan, a mix of cultural, systemic, geographic and budgetary obstacles that prevent the country from making significant gains in curbing child labour.
Zohra’s life was snatched away from her, and now so may the justice she deserves.
The FIR against Hassan Siddiqui and Umme Kulsoom was filed by the police, on behalf of the state, rather than the girl’s family. For investigations to proceed, however, the victim’s family needs to officially press charges against the nominated accused. But there is a catch to all this: if Zohra’s family finally decide to pursue the case, they are also awarded the legal authority to forgive their daughter’s murderers.
Samina and Fazal Hussain Shah have repeatedly made claims that they are being pressured by the accused’s relatives to withdraw the case. They are being goaded with money, with the accused’s side allegedly warning them that if they do not accept the payment, it could very well be offered to the police then, and halt all investigation without any profit or gain to Zohra’s family. But, Zohra’s mother and grandfather state, they are refusing to accept the settlement. All they want is justice.
Discrepancies In Law
The implementation of child protection laws is mitigated by cultural attitudes, political motives, and most importantly, the laws themselves. The definition of a child varies from one law to the next, and therefore the protections they are entitled to also vary from case to case, often resulting in miscarriages of justice.
Pakistan is signatory to the UN Charter of Rights, which legally recognizes anyone under the age of 18 as a minor, however also adds that the age of a child can also be subject to a country’s discretion. Pakistan neither adheres to the international standard, and nor does its own laws know what a child is.
Standard laws are a necessity of the hour, as well as their enforcement – unless Pakistan does this, there will be many more Zohra Shahs than we can bear to lose.

domain: politics


There are only six weeks left in the 2011 NFL season, which means we are closing in on the Indianapolis Colts clinching the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft and the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. As the Colts inch towards an ignominious 0-16 record, the rest of the league is giving them a wide berth. Carolina, St. Louis and Minnesota all sit at 2-8 and even if they forfeited the remaining games, few people think Indianapolis can win two games the rest of the way.
There are two fan bases that have to be viewing this whole scenario with mixed emotions. The Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins made it through the first quarter of the season as candidates to win the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes. The Dolphins were winless and really couldn't straighten themselves out and the Seahawks had one win and also showed no real direction. Add in the fact that neither had a legitimate long-term quarterback answer and it made perfect sense for both to get in on the Suck For Luck campaign.
For any team, Andrew Luck provides a combination of great talent and surprising affordability at the top of the 2012 NFL Draft. Luck has the perfect combination of football skills and maturity that make any team salivate over the prospect of locking him up on the new rookie wage scale. As Andrew Brandt described it at National Football Post, it really is a perfect storm of value for the worst teams in the league.
It is now seven weeks after that initial look at the Andrew Luck sweepstakes and suddenly the Seahawks and Dolphins are both going to miss out on this rare prospect as they're beyond just showing signs of life. The Dolphins have won three straight to improve to 3-7, capping it with a throttling of the Buffalo Bills. The Seahawks have won two straight and now sit at 4-6. They remain five games back of the San Francisco 49ers, but Seattle actually finds itself on the tail end of the NFC wild card chase.
Seattle stands three games back of Chicago and Detroit, and two games back of Atlanta. Considering Jay Cutler could be done for the season, the Bears could very well slide out of wild card contention. The Seahawks play their next three games at home against Washington, Philadelphia and St. Louis. I would not be remotely surprised to see them sitting at 7-6 three weeks from now. Of course, given their consistency level, if they were 4-9, I also would not be all that shocked.
For Dolphins and Seahawks fans, what exactly is the feeling right now? On the one hand their teams are somewhat relevant again. Both have a lot of work to do to get into the playoffs but they have sloshed their way back from the brink of a disastrous season. On the other hand, they still have question marks at quarterback. Matt Moore is showing some things in Miami so they might be tempted to stick with him in 2012. In Seattle, Tarvaris Jackson is contributing at times, but they are often winning in spite of T-Jax.
It makes for a difficult time for fans that are beginning to think of the long term. Nobody wants a crappy team, but some folks look at a season of struggle as a sacrifice for the greater good, particularly when you are looking at a prospect like Luck. Both teams are in danger of tantalizing fans only to fall short and get stuck in some kind of vicious cycle. It makes for a difficult time for fans.
Projected 2012 NFL Draft Top Five Picks
Week 12 Andrew Luck Sweepstakes Schedule
Game of the Week: Carolina Panthers @ Indianapolis Colts - This is one of the last significant opportunities for somebody to crash the Colts party. Indy also travels to a currently two-win Jaguars squad in the season finale, but by then who knows who will be where in the standings. Given the Panthers performances lately, they really should just destroy the Colts. However, given how the Panthers defense has performed for much of this season, they could very well make Curtis Painter look like Aaron Rodgers on Sunday.


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"Investors would love to see Shenzhen come online," said Nick Ronalds, head of equities at the Asia Securities and Investments Financial Markets Association. "Shenzhen is home to smaller, newer, more exciting companies."
Undeterred by the slow start of Stock Connect, Beijing policymakers are rushing to get the new connection in place as quickly as possible to boost the chances of having Chinese shares included in the MSCI emerging market index, the main benchmark for emerging market stocks.
If China were to be included following the MSCI bi-annual index review due in June, billions of foreign dollars would flow into Chinese stocks from fund managers who model their portfolios on the benchmark.
Reform test bed
Shenzhen, a metropolis of 14 millions within commuting distance of Hong Kong, is best known for being at the center of Deng Xiaoping's 1980s experiment with capitalism.
Since then, the port city - a center of the salt trade in imperial China - has positioned itself at the bleeding edge of financial market reform, culminating in 2009 with the launch of the ChiNext growth board for high-growth companies.
The index, which boasts industrial robotics champion Siasun, movie studio Huayi Brothers and a host of dynamic biotechnology, aviation and software companies, has outperformed the Shanghai Composite Index in 11 out of 18 quarters since 2010.
That could attract foreign funds wary of investing in the state-owned financial giants that dominate larger rival Shanghai, said Ding Yuan, an accounting professor at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai who also runs a hedge fund.
Shanghai stocks, which surged more than 40 percent in the last quarter of 2014, tumbled nearly 8 percent on Monday as financial shares took a beating after regulators tightened rules on trading with borrowed cash. The ChiNext fell 0.5 percent, while the broader Shenzhen market dipped more than 3 percent.
Despite its attractions, the Shenzhen stock market, home to some of the most speculative Chinese investors, is not for the faint-hearted.
For one thing, the smaller size of most of the companies makes them intrinsically more volatile on a price basis than big blue chips - one reason domestic speculators prefer them.

domain: finance


Congrats on your new Sunny!
What model year do you have?
Over the years, Sunline changes the type of valves they used, called low point drains and the water heater bypass valves. The concept on what they do is the same, but how the valves is open/closed changes. Some you pull, some you turn to open/close.
I have pictures of the new turning types of valves.
For the water heater, you will need to find your way into the back of the heater. I "think" the water heater on the T2553 may be in the left (non door side) rear corner of the camper in the bedroom.
You might be able to see it from the rear cargo storage area and or lifting the bed up. These pics are from a different floor plan, (2004 T2499) but the water heater would look similar to most newer ones. There are 2 types of bypass valve setup's, the single bottom valve and top check valve is common. These pics are of the single valve setup.
At the bottom of the water heater, is quarter turn valve which is called the water heater bypass valve. The yellow arrow is pointing to it. That valve will turn 90 degrees, a quarter of a turn. When the lever is horizontal, that is normal operation and it allows water to flow into the water heater. Cold water goes in the bottom of the heater.
When the lever points vertical, that is water heater bypass operation and it prevents water from entering the bottom of the water heater. The valve then diverts water or anti-freeze up the vertical pipe between the top and bottom pipes.
On top of the water heater is another set of pipes and a brass fitting that screws into the top of the tank. That brass fitting is a check valve, an when it works correctly (they do not always shut off), water will not flow backwards into the top of the water heater but allow water from inside the water heater to flow out.
When you flip the bottom valve to bypass mode, water or antifreeze bypasses the water heater, flows up the vertical pipe, stops at the water heater due to the top check valve, and then allows water/antifreeze to flow to the hot water faucets.
Low point drains.
These drains help allow a large amount of the water in your camper piping to drain out onto the ground when opened. These help when winterizing the camper as you can drain the water line of a lot of water. Find your low point drains. They change location pending the camper floor plan, but most are on the floor inside a cabinet, bath, kitchen or water pump area. There are a few configurations of these 2 valves, but there is one hot and one cold. See here under the bathroom sink cabinet in a 2005 T-264SR
HINT! Before you turn those valves, mark which way the lever is pointing for normal operation. It is very easy to forget and get the directions mixed up.
To drain the piping, with the water pump off, open all faucets to allow air to flow into the water lines and break the vacuum in the pipes during draining. Open both the hot and cold low point drain valves and allow the water to gravity drain out. If you look under the camper for two tubes sticking down, that is where the water will come out. Close the valves when you are done draining.
Also, remove the plug on the water heater to let the water out of it. Since you are winterizing, you can do this first in the draining process. Leave the plug out all winter, and leave the faucets open all winter after you have pumped the anti-freeze through the system.
Hope this helps.


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REGIONAL- After a brief dip during the pandemic in 2020, a 20-year trend of increasing suicides in Minnesota resumed in 2021 and 2022, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of …
REGIONAL- After a brief dip during the pandemic in 2020, a 20-year trend of increasing suicides in Minnesota resumed in 2021 and 2022, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Health.
The preliminary data from 2022 indicates the suicide rate reached 14.3 incidents per 100,000, which translates to 835 deaths statewide. That’s close to the previous highest suicide rate of 14.4, set in 2019, according to the newly released MDH data brief. A total of 808 Minnesotans took their own life in 2021.
Death by suicide has been one of several reasons why overall life expectancy may be declining, particularly among male Minnesotans. From 2011 to 2021, suicide, or intentional self-harm, was the eighth leading cause of death in Minnesota.
“Suicide is a significant public health issue that involves the tragic loss of human life,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham. “It is important for us to take a comprehensive public health approach to suicide prevention that supports connectedness, belonging and protections from lethal means.”
While race and ethnicity data is not yet available for 2022, in 2021, the American Indian community had a higher suicide rate in Minnesota than other races or ethnicities – the highest rate for American Indians since at least 2000. Tribal representatives have noted how historical traumas live on today as suicide risk factors, such as loss of indigenous knowledge and identity and economic hardship. Factors protecting members from suicide include positive connections through cultural activities, recognition of tribal sovereignty, a sense of purpose, nature exploration, healthy eating, and reconnecting with traditional practices such as smudging, talking circles, ceremonies and Indigenous medicines.
Latino and Hispanic Minnesotans had more suicide deaths in 2021 than the previous five years.
Suicide rates have also been consistently higher in rural Minnesota, with about a third more suicides than in the state’s metro areas. Over the past two decades, national data shows that suicide rates have increased by 46 percent in non-metro areas compared to 27 percent in metro areas.
The data also reinforces past trends that suicide is more prevalent among men. Male Minnesotans had a suicide rate four times higher than females in 2022. Meanwhile, women accounted for 65 percent of hospital-treated self-harm or suicide attempts in 2016-2020.
These patterns are likely related to the lethal and predominant role that firearms play in the death of males by suicide. Nationally, in 2019, 20,725 men committed suicide using a firearm, compared to 3,216 women. Suicides account for over half of all firearm deaths, 54 percent, and over half of all suicides involve a firearm, 53 percent.
An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than twice as many suicides by firearms occur in states with the fewest gun laws.
One effort to reduce suicide deaths by firearms is Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training. Available free online and recommended for mental health and health care professionals, the two-hour training promotes strategies for removing or reducing access to the methods people use, such as firearms and medication. Gun locks are one strategy for safely storing a firearm and reducing access to lethal means for someone having suicidal thoughts. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety is giving away gun locks as part of its Safe and Secure Minnesota campaign. You can request up to three free locks at SafeAndSecureMN.org. DPS has given away more than 50,000 locks since last August.
According to MDH, Minnesota’s suicide prevention efforts are based on the evidence that suicides are preventable, mental illness is treatable and recovery is possible. The department’s newly released 2023-2027 Minnesota State Suicide Prevention Plan calls for a comprehensive approach including improving infrastructure, increasing collaboration and building capacity for local communities to implement strategies in prevention, early intervention, crisis intervention and support after a death by suicide. The plan supports suicide prevention efforts such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, suicide prevention trainings in communities and the Zero Suicide initiative, which is a framework to improve the suicide and self-harm care within health care and behavioral health clinics and organizations.
Help for those in mental health crisis is available at any time by calling or texting the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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Preparing for Day One of the U.S. Open, I had highlighted one particular match on the schedule. Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska were among three pairs of sisters in the women’s draw, along with the Williamses and Bondarenkos. But the Radwanskas were the only siblings forced to meet, by bad luck, in the first round.
Visible similarities abounded on Court 11: both sported pink and white Babolat shoes, logo-less white visors, and bandaged shoulders. But sisters must differentiate themselves. Agnieszka, twenty-two years old and thirteenth in the world, is a natural brunette and wore a necklace. Urszula, two years younger and one hundred and one ranking spots behind her sister, had bleached her hair blonde and wore earrings. Urszula moved timidly between points, Agnieszka stalked with confidence—much like, well, an older sibling. The elder Radwanska won the first set, and, in the second, Urszula slammed her racket to the ground, letting her face devolve into a scowl that said, “Mom, Aggie’s being a bully again!”
The U.S. Open is built around conflict, on-court and off. The Radwanskas’ sibling rivalry was obvious, but there were others: Maria Sharapova against herself (she nearly lost to a teen-ager), the Japanese contingent against their bodies (three of the country’s athletes retired mid-match), and Bethanie Mattek-Sands against all accepted practices of style and decorum (she had applied elaborate black eye goop on both cheeks.) In the night session, Roger Federer and Venus Williams battled boredom, winning their matches in straight sets.
“Sounds like there’s a riot,” a woman watching the Radwanskas said, hearing a tremor rise from across the grounds. It did, so I went to look. The noise came from Court 13, where Dudi Sela, ranked ninety-third, was mounting a comeback against Thomaz Bellucci, who had won the first two sets. Sela isn’t American, but he had found a favorable crowd in New York: he’s Jewish—Israeli, in fact. It was standing room only, and among the thirty or so fans in my immediate vicinity, I counted a dozen yarmulkes. Sela’s fans began chanting in Hebrew. “Dudi Sela, you are the king,” one of them translated for me. “We love you!”
The conflict here was cultural. Thomaz Bellucci, ranked thirty-seventh, is Brazilian, and the crowd was split evenly between yellow soccer jerseys (Brazilians) and graphic T-shirts (Israelis). The Brazilians mostly clapped, the Israelis sang. “You can do it,” my translator said, rendering another chant after Sela forced a fifth set. “Believe in yourself!” Not to be outshouted, a bearded man in a yellow shirt and bowler cap, using an upturned golf putter as a cane, edged toward a group of young Israeli tennis players visiting from one of the country’s fourteen tennis centers (Sela had trained at one near the Lebanon border). “Viva Brazil!” he yelled. The reply—“Viva Israel!”—was swift and cross-cultural. Back and forth several more times, until the chair umpire had to get involved: “Let the players play, please.” This did not exactly work.
Sela won the fifth set, and the match—it was the first time he had ever come from two sets down to win a five-setter—then walked around the court, arms raised, as if he had just won the whole tournament. “There’s a lot of Jewish people in New York,” he said. “One of the main reasons I won the match was because of them.” He ran to the back of the court and leapt toward the stands, offering high fives to an especially boisterous section of the crowd. Fireworks from the tournament’s opening ceremonies boomed above. “For Dudi!” several Israeli fans yelled. Sela signed autographs for ten minutes, then walked off the court and signed some more. “He’s gonna miss his ride to the hotel,” a security guard said, before turning back to Sela. “Man, you’ve got too many fans.”
There are a thousand credentialed journalists at the Open but only two—me, and a reporter from the Jerusalem Post—were interested in talking to Sela after his match. (The Radwanskas, in matching pastel flip-flops, had held a joint debriefing. “We’re best friends,” Urszula said. Not much conflict there, apparently.) The Post reporter asked if attacks that day in Tel Aviv, wounding eight, had Sela worried about security in New York. A sensible question: the security guards on court had demanded that autograph seekers keep their pens pointed downward. Sela shook his head. He had a more immediate, troubling concern. “Now, I have to play Federer.”

domain: sports


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Alice Barker, Director of Technology
Alice Barker (She/Her) also known as puppycodes, is a full stack developer, security researcher, and LGBTQ organizer, committed to creating and contributing to technology that serves the queer community. Her collaborations include works with major artists, musicians, and institutions. She is an obsessive collector of digital media continually archived in a massive personal database. Alice is currently based in California.

domain: artistic


text:
Why do Humans Smile & Laugh and do Dentures Change Things?
Despite differences in skin color, language, and geography, humans share a universal language: the smile. If you’ve experienced tooth loss, poor gum health, or are just unhappy with your smile, you know how important it is to your confidence.
Do dentures change things? How can a quality set of dentures improve your self-confidence, the first impression you make on others, and even your quality of living? Let’s look at why humans smile and how a smile you feel good about can impact your life.
The Human Smile
Whether you’re happy, proud, joyful, or just have a general sense of well-being, there’s an almost guaranteed way you’re going to express your emotion. Smiles are universal, and they are not learned behaviors.
Smiling and laughter have been studied for many centuries. Over the years, scientists and psychologists have determined that there are two primary muscles responsible for your smile. One we can control and the other muscle acts involuntarily.
The first muscle involved in a smile is the zygomatic major. The corners of your mouth are controlled by the zygomatic major, and you can control them consciously. You can actually feel this muscle in action when you politely smile at a stranger or “force” a laugh at a joke that’s not funny.
The second of the muscles is the orbicularis oculi. This muscle can’t be consciously controlled. It controls the area surrounding your eyes. Can you tell the difference between a genuine smile and one that’s fabricated? Usually, a genuine smile involves the orbicularis oculi, and you can identify true emotion by looking at a person’s eyes.
The Human Laugh
Most laughter is social. When you’re at a dinner party, engaging in a conversation with a friend, or watching a stand-up comedian, laughter is a social cue that you’re engaged, sociable, and friendly.
Of course, you’ll laugh by yourself, too. Watching funny YouTube videos or recalling humorous events of your day you may find yourself chuckling or laughing to yourself, sometimes uncontrollably!
Laughter, like a smile, is not a learned behavior. Babies as young as three months old laugh in response to pleasurable interactions or to physical stimuli. Apes, too, laugh. Gorillas and other apes laugh when they’re playing, wrestling or even when they’re tickled!
Similar to a person’s smile, laughter is universal. Humans around the globe recognize genuine laughter as a sign of friendliness, acceptance, and comfort. Put simply, your smile and your laugh are important to your social well-being, and a smile you aren’t confident in can negatively impact you in many ways.
Many Types of Smiles
As noted above, scientists have been studying the human smile for centuries. We know that they’re not always voluntary, but we’ve also learned that smiles are situational.
Depending upon which study you refer to, there are anywhere from 3 to 17 (or more) different types of smiles. The situation in which you find yourself will determine the smile you give to your fellow human. It could be one of dominance, one of happiness, contentment, reward, or many other emotions. We may even smile as we tell a lie.
The way you feel on the inside is often reflected on the outside. If you feel comfortable, you’re more likely to have a “resting” smile than if you’re in an uncomfortable situation. Similarly, if you’re anxious or nervous, your face will naturally react with an expression that’s more of a frown.
We don’t know precisely why our bodies react in a smile. Endorphins released from the brain can signal your facial muscles to react in a smile. But social, “forced” smiles are universal and we’re not entirely certain why this is.
Smiles and Well-Being: A Clear Connection
If you have one or more missing or broken teeth, you know the damage it can do to your self-confidence. Unfortunately, that lack of confidence becomes clear to others as well.
Consider your next job interview. How do you approach your prospective employer if you’re self-conscious about your teeth? Do you offer a tight-lipped grin? Do you simply not smile at all, choosing to hide your teeth behind your lips?
It’s been proven that in the first few seconds of your interview—of any first interaction with another person—a smile will carry a message. When you smile, you signal to the other person that you are enthusiastic, easygoing, friendly, and approachable.
This isn’t just true for interviews, of course. Workplace meetings, first dates, PTA meetings and just about any other social interaction you can imagine will be impacted by the confidence you have in your smile.
Your Smile: Others’ Perception
If your teeth are yellowing, broken, missing, or crooked, others may, unfortunately, judge you for it. In fact, there have been studies conducted on just that.
People with straight, white teeth are perceived to be smarter and more successful than those with less-than-perfect smiles. Of course, you know this is not necessarily the case. However, in many instances, perceptions are everything. That job interview, for example, may go south if your teeth aren’t up to your interviewer’s expectations.
Two-thirds of Americans are more likely to remember an attractive feature than one that’s unattractive. The inverse of that, obviously, is that a third of the people you meet are likely to remember you by your less-than-ideal smile. And almost a quarter of Americans (24%) remember a person’s smile long after meeting them.
It may not seem fair that others judge you on your appearance, but it’s just human nature. In the same way that people may judge you for your clothes, your weight, or even your scent, your smile can make or break an interaction with someone you meet.
Your Smile: Your Own Perception
Those of you who are reading this who have crooked, cracked, or missing teeth, will know that it impacts how you feel about yourself. In fact, your dental health can affect your life in wide-reaching ways.
When you feel self-conscious about your appearance, you may suffer one or more of the following:
- Withdrawal from social activities
- Reluctance to seek out new opportunities
- Reluctance to date or find a new partner
- Increased depression or anxiety, especially in social situations
If you’re not confident in your dental health and the appearance of your teeth, you’re less likely to smile and laugh in ways that are considered the social norm. Hiding your teeth may make you feel a bit more socially adept, but others may perceive this as standoffishness or even unfriendliness.
Your Dentist and Your Smile
Modern dentistry provides many ways that you can improve your smile, helping you to feel more relaxed and less self-conscious in social situations.
If your teeth are yellowing and dull, talk to your dentist about whitening and polishing procedures available to you. Chipped teeth can often be repaired with a simple procedure or fixed with crowns or bridges.
If your teeth are crooked or you have a gap you don’t love, your dentist can direct you to an orthodontist or other practitioner who can assist you. Invisible braces are becoming more and more common, and there are even “at-home” treatments available now.
If you and your dentist determine that dentures are the right treatment for you, you still have quite a few options. Some clinics even offer same-day treatment for eligible patients.
Many patients are hesitant to look at dentures as a treatment for a less-than-perfect smile. The procedure is thought to be invasive and time-consuming. In fact, some dentures can temporarily prohibit you from participating in normal activities. Others, however, are simple and non-invasive.
Dentures and Your Self-Confidence
There are quite a few different types of dentures, and not all are suitable for every patient. Most commonly, a patient will receive full or partial dentures. In other circumstances, a patient can get custom dentures, implant-supported dentures or others.
You and your practitioner will decide together which denture option is right for you. Do know that, in the case of full dentures, you can expect to wait 8-12 weeks for a complete set of dentures. Keep this in mind as you plan for work and other activities.
Whichever type of denture you ultimately receive, the procedure will do wonders for your self-confidence! Dentures can have some immediate and positive effects on your smile and on other aspects of your social interactions.
First, dentures may help you speak more clearly. When you’re missing teeth, your speech may be impaired by a whistle, a slur, or even a “spray.” Dentures will take a little time to get used to, but before you know it you’ll be speaking clearly and confidently.
Secondly, imagine eating the foods you’ve been missing out on! Eating certain fruits and even crunchy tacos and other treats will all be possible again with dentures. That means no more awkward social situations or declining your favorite treats for fear of pain.
Third, you’re going to feel more confident about your smile, which will allow you to laugh more freely! Remember the days of covering your mouth when you laughed because you were embarrassed by your teeth? You can now laugh with a big, confident grin that others will notice and enjoy.
Can Dentures Change Your Life?
In some ways, dentures absolutely can change your life. We mentioned earlier in this guide that self-consciousness can prevent you from laughing and smiling publicly. That, in turn, can impact you socially in a negative way.
Imagine walking into that job interview with a healthy, confident smile on your face. Or smiling for a picture in your dating profile or social media. Imagine laughing aloud at a joke your boss tells (even if it’s terrible and makes you die a little inside).
How would your life change if you had a healthy-looking smile? Restoring your social life is certainly one positive benefit of dentures. But have you considered how others will view you?
Remember that a healthy, beautiful smile is something that two-thirds of the people you meet will notice and remember. Your clean, white smile will have others perceive you as intelligent, social, and successful. You’ll be more likely to be perceived as desirable for dating.
While it may take a bit of time to grow accustomed to your new smile, denture wearers are overwhelmingly pleased with the impact of dentures on many aspects of their lives.
Keeping a Healthy Smile with Dentures
If you and your practitioner have decided that dentures are the right option for you, it’s important that you understand how to keep your mouth healthy. Dentures, like natural teeth, can stain and smell if not cared for.
To maintain the health and beautiful appearance of your mouth with dentures, there are three important steps you must follow every single day.
First, ensure you’re rinsing and cleaning them at least once a day. After eating, you’ll want to remove and rinse your dentures. Once a day, preferably before bed, use an XODENT cleaning solution to soak them and remove all of the bacteria and soap that has accumulated.
Second, be sure to take your dentures out of your mouth while you sleep. You increase your risk of dental disease when you wear your dentures around the clock.
Finally, be sure to brush your gums and tongue at least once each day. After meals is preferable. Use ordinary toothpaste and a soft brush to remove bacteria and food from your mouth.
More Tips for a Confident Smile and Laugh
Your smile and your laughter are two very important components of your social well-being. As we learned, both are involuntary in some cases, and when that spontaneous laughter springs up, you want to put your best face forward.
Whether you’ve opted for whitening, dentures, crowns, or no dental procedure at all, there are steps you can take to maintain a healthy and inviting smile.
First, avoid tobacco. Whether you’re sporting natural teeth, veneers, or dentures, tobacco can stain your teeth. Of course, we know that tobacco use can also lead to various types of cancers. You should be using nicotine products, anyway!
Secondly, remember that wine and coffee can stain your pearly whites. Rinse your dentures after each time you drink either. It may look silly, but you can slightly counter the effects of staining if you drink through a straw. It’s not fail-proof but it may help.
Brush your teeth regularly, whether they’re natural or false. Use a soft-bristled brush if you have dentures (we include 2 in every XODENT kit!)
Don’t forget your gums and your tongue in your dental care routine. Brush both regularly and floss your teeth to ensure you remove all the food and other gunk from between your teeth.
Finally, be sure to visit the dentist regularly. Every six months is optimal unless you discover any new issues with your teeth, gums, or tongue.
Smiling, Laughter, and Your Confidence
A new set of dentures is an investment, certainly. You can expect to pay a few thousand for your new look. But the benefits usually outweigh that cost, so you can rest assured that your investment is a sound one.
Dentures will change the way you feel about your smile and yourself. And the positive effects of your new smile are more far-reaching than just the obvious.
You can’t always choose when you smile. That’s why it’s important to maintain or re-establish a healthy set of pearly whites. Socially, you’ll feel more confident. You’ll be more willing to explore new social situations, and even pursue new career opportunities.
Because you’re now able to eat the foods you once were, you’re more readily able to make healthy food choices. This can lead to weight loss and better nutrition, given proper nutrition and a balanced diet.
Others will perceive you as more friendly and more approachable. This may mean more social opportunities for you, including dating prospects you didn’t previously have.
More fearlessness and less anxiety are further positive effects of your new smile. When you feel confident, you can actually increase your ability to succeed. And when you feel good about yourself, you’re more apt to treat others with kindness!
This is just a sampling of how your new smile can have a positive impact on your entire well-being. In short, your improved smile can equate to an improved life.
Conclusion: Your Smile, Your Dentures, and You
Your smile is a universal signal to the world that you’re content, happy, friendly, and receptive to interaction. When you don’t feel confident in your smile, that can impact your life in far-reaching ways.
Fixing your smile to reflect a “you” that you are confident in can lead to an increase in social activity, career success, and general well-being. Decreased anxiety and depression can also result from a healthy, clean smile.
Whether you choose dentures or any other cosmetic treatment, or you choose no treatment at all, your self-confidence will be reflected in your smile.

domain: psychology


Zerotronic sensor is an Ultra-Precision Angle measurement sensor using the latest precision technology and digital technology.
It boasts of high accuracy and stability even in high temperature and high humidity environments because it is a new technology inactive gas sealed sensor. Zerotronic is the most appropriate sensor for constructing a high accuracy long period monitoring system.
By connecting it to the Intelligent display Level Meter 2000 and computer, it can be used in a wide range of applications like Precision machinery, Precision machine tool, generating plants, ground deformation monitoring, bridge monitoring, etc.
The normal distance between the sensor and computer is 15m, however it can be extended up to 1000m using an intermediary transceiver/converter (T/C).
It is possible to connect up to 32 pcs of zerotronic sensors.
|An ultra precision level made by Swiss company WYLER AG.
The sensor head pendulum is completely covered by ceramic baord to enclose inert gas. It is durable and high accuracy is maintained despite changes in external temperature and humidity.
|Measurement Error in 24 hours (20°C)
Zero Point (Drift)
|Measurement Error in 6 months (20°C)|
|Zero Point (Drift)||0.170%F.S.||0.140%F.S.||0.055%F.S.||0.030%F.S.||0.035%F.S.|
|Measurement Error due to Temperature Change (/°C)
(Temperature Range -40°C~85°C)
|Zero Point (Drift)||0.060%F.S.||0.040%F.S.||0.008%F.S.||0.005%F.S.||0.004%F.S.|
|Resolution (with out Filter, Temperature 20°C)|
|Sampling Time 0.1sec||0.041%F.S.||0.025%F.S||0.020%F.S||0.020%F.S||0.025%F.S|
|Sampling Time 1.0 sec||0.020%F.S.||0.010%F.S||0.005%F.S||0.006%F.S||0.004%F.S|
|Sampling Time 10 sec||0.007%F.S.||0.006%F.S||0.002%F.S||0.003%F.S||0.003%F.S|
|Repeatability/Linearity||Depends on Resolution/Linearity Error is less than 0.1%|
|External Power Supply||12~48V (Blue Meter SIGMA or from T/C)|
|External Output||Blue Meter SIGMA or use T/C|
*F.S=Full scale, mainly used for Zero Point Drift.
*R.O=Read Out (Read value). Mainly used for changes in Gain value.
Display unit Blue Meter SIGMA
|The Blue Meter SIGMA is a revised and updated version of the Blue Meter intelligent type display instrument. It can be connected to various measurement instruments made by WYLER like (Zerotronic sensor, Blue Level, Clinotronic etc.)
There are 2 Detector input ports [A-B, C-D differential display], [A=X Axis, B=Y Axis 2D display] [Bubble tube type display] etc. can be selected. A variety of display types can be selected depending on the application.
Using RS232C output, it is possible to output the measurement data to a computer without loss of data.
Display with 1 sensor connected and bubble tube type display.
4 units connected display
X=A, Y=B Detector 2 units connected and 2D display.
|Digital Output||RS232C, asynchony, 7 Data Bits, 2 Stop Bits, no party, 9600 bps|
|Usage Temperature Range||0°C~40°C|
|Battery||Alkaline cell battery 1.5Ｖ 2pcs or, external AC adapter, USB Connection cable|
|Battery Life||About 20 hours *Note|
|Weight (g)||835g (Including battery)|
*Note: Battery life is not guaranteed as this depends on the use environment.
|Code No.||Product Name||Cable Applications|
|AY1116||RS485Cable 5m||Zerotronic sensor ⇔ Blue Meter SIGMA or T/C|
|AY1119||RS485Cable 10m||Zerotronic sensor ⇔ Blue Meter SIGMA or T/C|
|AY1117||RS485Cable 15m||Zerotronic sensor ⇔ Blue Meter SIGMA or T/C|
|AT1155||Blue System RS232C Cable for PC/AC 2.5m||Blue Meter SIGMA ⇔ PC & AC adapter Connect to PC with RS232C|
|AT1661||AC Adpater for internal use||AC adapter|
Sample connection between Zerotronic and Blue Meter SIGMA
AT1155 Blue System RS232C Connection cable AY1117 RS485Cable 15m
Transceiver Converter (T/C)
By using a T/C (Transceiver Converter) it is possible to extend up to a maximum of 1000mm.
|Code No.||Product Name||Cable Applications|
|AY1200||Transceiver/Converter (T/C)||For Connection cable extension and connection to computer|
|AY1201||T/C Adapter||AC adapter|
|AY1118||RS232C Cable 2.5m||T/C ⇔ PC|
Software Lab EXCEL
|LabEXCEL is a special software that easily displays measurement values from WYLER made instruments like (Blue System, Blue Clino, Clinotronic, Zerotronic WY BUS Specification).
Measured data is continously displayed on the computer. It is also possible to save as CSV data for later processing in Excel.
|OS||WIndows 7 [32bit], Windows®, XP,Vista, 7|
|Hard disk||Required empty space 20MB and above|
*Computer, printer, USB conversion cable and other peripherals are required separately.
*Requires a computer with Microsoft Excel installed.
*Excel, Windows® are trade marks of Microsoft Corporartion in the US and other countries.
Due to product improvement, specifications and appearance may change without notice.


text:
That's how you make a statement as an expansion team as the Vancouver Titans take the Stage One title in Overwatch League's 2019 season. The Shock started off strong taking the Nepal map 2-1 in what felt like a steamrolled victory over the Titans, but they rallied back on Numbani holding off the Shock to not even get any time on the vehicle while they got a little bit of time secured, making it tied 1-1. The next match showed the Shock rallying back on Anubis taking it into overtime and securing a 2-1 lead after having much more time in the bank to play with after the tie on captured points. But it didn't matter much as the Titans came back again on Dorado getting the payload across the map to two points to the Shock's one, tying it again at 2-2.
The Shock against took the lead by claiming two points on Ilios, holding off Vancouver 2-1 and taking a lead to set up the match point at 3-2. But the Titans were not going to let go as they came back in one of the hardest-fought matches on King's Row we've seen in a while with a clutch in for the 3-3 tie. We go into a seventh and final game to decide it and suddenly, we were treated to a surprise run as the Titans escorted the payload in a new world record time on Rialto in 3:33 minutes. The Shock had a chance to hold them off but couldn't do it with the amount of time the Titans banked from their record escort, giving them the edge in overtime and the victory 4-3 over San Francisco.
It should be pointed out that while it is an impressive victory for an expansion team in the Overwatch League (who went 7-0 leading up to the stage one bracket), the Vancouver team is basically made up of former members of one of the best Korean teams in Overwatch history so far, RunAway. In fact, this exact team roster won two major tournaments in 2018 with the NetEase Esports X Tournament and the Overwatch Contenders League Season 2: Korea. So while their victory was hard-fought against the Shock, to a certain degree like the London Spitfire before them, there was a really good chance they would pull off this kind of dominance and victory eventually.
The Vancouver Titans have now secured a spot in the Championship Series that will take place later this summer.


CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
c t s. u m n. e d u
Catalyst Accelerating the pace of transpor tation innovation
FISH-FRIENDLY CULVERTS page 2
WALK & BIKE TRAVEL BEHAVIOR page 3
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP AWARD page 4
AWARDS LUNCHEON page 5
Where can you walk to work? Study ranks cities
for accessibility to jobs by walking
When we think of the cities that are “most walkable,” it’s often in terms of pedestrian networks such as sidewalks and trails. However, there’s another factor at play in determining which cities are truly most pedestrian-friendly: accessibility. In a new report in the Access Across America series from the U of M’s Accessibility Observatory, researchers ranked accessibility to jobs by walking in the 50 largest (by population) metropolitan areas in the United States. Currently, walking is the third most widely used commute mode after Walk to work continued on page 7
Low-cost system collects data needed for reducing roadway-departure crashes
Roadway-departure crashes are a major safety issue on both the national and state levels. Rapid advancements in vehicle technology—including systems that warn drivers when they’re leaving their lane or even take control of the vehicle—are opening up possibilities to tackle this challenge. Vehicle manufacturers, however, are unlikely to deploy these technologies widely until high-accuracy maps of lane and road boundaries are available nationwide. To help acquire this road geometry information, U of M researchers have developed and evaluated a low-cost mobile data-collection platform. Mounted on a vehicle, the system consists of a Roadway departures continued on page 6
Installing culverts is a necessary part of most transportation projects, allowing water to pass under roads and other transportation infrastructure. However, when culverts create obstacles for fish and other aquatic life, the consequences can be serious. “Culverts can create barriers in a stream network that fragment aquatic organism populations,” says Jessica Kozarek, a research associate at the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL). “This leaves fish vulnerable to dying off by chance events and can lead to a longer-term loss of genetic diversity.” To allow fish to pass through culverts, many are installed slightly below streambed level. The expectation is that sediment from the stream will be carried into the culvert, creating a consistent streambed. But does this strategy actually work? A new study from SAFL researchers reveals that it may not always achieve the desired results—and outlines new strategies for making culverts more fish-friendly. To determine whether setting a culvert below the streambed was enough to enable aquatic organisms to pass through a culvert, researchers created several model streams in their laboratory that represented Minnesota
Center for Transportation Studies 200 Transportation and Safety Building 511 Washington Avenue S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455-0375
streams with three different gradients, or slopes. Using these models, they tested the effectiveness of two installation methods: one in which the culvert was placed below the streambed but not filled with sediment and another in which the culvert was pre-filled with sediment. “We found that pre-filling the culvert with sediment that replicates the streambed as part of the installation process helped prevent upstream erosion and the development of vertical drops that can become barriers to aquatic movement,” Kozarek says. “In addition, pre-filling the culvert helped ensure that the sediment remained inside the culvert when flows were high and when water moved quickly during rainstorms.” For streams with steep slopes, researchers also found that adding structures such as steps, boulders, and riffles was critical to the stability of the sediment within the culvert. An experiment that used these structures inside the culvert showed that they helped stabilize the streambed upstream of the culvert. Based on these experiments, the researchers developed design recommendations for embedded culverts where maintaining a natural
Phone: 612-626-1077 Fax: 612-625-6381 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org Web: cts.umn.edu
streambed to preserve fish and other aquatic organism passage is a design goal. These recommendations include making the culvert as wide as the width of the stream when water levels are highest, analyzing each installation site to predict sediment movement into the culvert, pre-filling the culvert with sediment that matches the sediment in the existing streambed, and installing structures within the culvert for streams with steeper slopes to maintain sediment stability and provide resting places for fish traveling upstream. “A lot of what was done in the past was not based on research; it was mostly just opinion. This study provides us with real data from testing in a lab setting to help us better design culverts,” says Petronella DeWall, MnDOT bridge waterway engineer. “Moving forward, MnDOT will be using these recommendations when designing culverts in environmentally sensitive areas.”
Culverts will be more fish-friendly thanks to U of M research
A model stream in the St. Anthony Falls Lab
Publisher/Director: Laurie McGinnis Managing Editor: Pamela Snopl Editors: Christine Anderson, Amy Friebe, Michael McCarthy
Designer: Angela Kronebusch Freelance Writer: Megan Tsai
Biking and walking are on the rise in the Twin Cities Throughout the past decade, the popularity and importance of biking and walking have increased significantly across the nation. Pinpointing exactly how people incorporate biking and walking into their travel behavior, however, is a persistent challenge. In an extensive five-part research study sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Metropolitan Council, U of M researchers are exploring a rich set of data generated through detailed travel behavior inventories in the Twin Cities region. The data allowed them to analyze changes in walking and biking behavior during the past decade. “Overall, our team found that auto travel decreased between 2000 and 2010, while biking and walking increased during that time,” says Professor David Levinson, RP Braun/CTS Chair in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering (CEGE) and the study’s principal investigator. Bicycling grew from 1.4 percent of all trips in 2000 to 2.2 percent in 2010—an increase of 58 percent. Walking started with a larger share in 2000 (4.5 percent) and grew by a larger amount to 6.6 percent of trips in 2010—a 44 percent increase. One of the most important findings is that the actual bicycle mode share in the Twin Cities region is two to three times larger than reported by national data. “Though the private auto still consistently dominates travel in the region, these relatively small mode shares translate to a substantial number of walk and bike trips on an average day in the region,” says Jessica Schoner, CEGE research assistant and lead author of the study. “We estimate about 12 million daily trips across the metro area, which means that on an average day people are making 190,000 bike trips and 735,000 walking trips.” The researchers noted key differences between bicyclists and pedestrians and their walk and bike trips, including demographics, geography, trip purpose, and trip distance. For example, they found that while men and women
choose to walk at an equal rate, a “gender gap” persists among bicyclists. “Most of the growth in cycling came from increases in men commuting by bicycle, but closer examination of the gender gap in bicycling revealed some encouraging information,” Schoner says. “The gap appears to be in bicycling participation rates of men and women—there was no observed gap in the frequency of making bicycle trips among cyclists. This shows that programs encouraging women to try bicycling may help to further boost bicycling mode share.” New bike infrastructure appears to have played a key role in the increase of bicycle mode share in the past decade. “While infrastructure was a significant factor in predicting bicycling in 2001, by 2010 the quantity of bicycle lanes around the home no longer differentiated bicyclists from non-bicyclists,” Schoner says. “This suggests that the Twin Cities’ expanded bicycle infrastructure has created pervasive and easy access throughout the city.” Greg Lindsey, professor in the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and MnDOT’s first Scholar-in-Residence, is a co-author of the report. He was also the principal investigator of research conducted under MnDOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative. “MnDOT is developing a program to monitor bicycle and pedestrian traffic that is modeled after the motor
vehicle count program,” says Lisa Austin, MnDOT bicycle and pedestrian planning coordinator. “When used together, the traffic volumes and the travel diaries provide a clearer picture of how, when, and why people are traveling. This helps MnDOT and other agencies plan for better systems and analyze safety.” The first project completed under the five-part study examined how changes in the accessibility of destinations have altered travel behavior in the past 20 years (see article in the February 2015 Catalyst). Additional parts of the study will look at the effect of transit quality of service on people’s activity choices and time allocation, changes in travel behavior by age group, and transportation system changes. The Catalyst will feature coverage of these projects as they are completed.
On an average day, Twin Citians make
190,000 BIKE TRIPS and
Minnesota concrete bridge design detail holds strong under testing
Prestressed concrete is one of the most common materials used today for bridge girders. Since the 1990s, one detail of Minnesota’s prestressed concrete bridge design has differed from industry standards. To determine whether this detail was performing well, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) enlisted the help of researchers from the University of Minnesota. Prestressed concrete girders are made by casting the concrete around tensioned cables. When the concrete hardens, the cables are cut from the forms, transferring their forces to the concrete. The aim is to reduce the likelihood of cracking in the girders, which helps to create a durable system. “When prestressed girders are cast,
steel stirrups are inserted vertically along the length of the girder,” says Catherine French, the principal investigator and CSE Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering. “MnDOT has specified the use of U-shaped stirrups in its prestressed concrete girders, but national guidelines specify stirrups with bent legs to anchor the stirrups. We wanted to ensure that the U-shaped stirrups are working just as well as the nationally specified stirrups in this application.” Researchers conducted a two-phase experiment to test the performance of the MnDOT stirrups. First, researchers conducted a test to measure the strength required to pull the stirrups out of concrete blocks, simulating the
anchorage conditions in the girders. Next, two full-scale girders (four girder ends) were fabricated and tested to study how well the U-shaped stirrups reinforced the beams for shear, a force that can cause cracking along the sides of the beams at approximately 45-degree angles. The results of all of the tests showed that the MnDOT-specified U-shaped stirrups performed just as well as would be expected from the nationally specified stirrups with bent legs in prestressed concrete girders. “As a result of this research, we know that the existing Minnesota bridges built with U-shaped stirrups will perform as we expect bridges built with bent-leg stirrups to perform, and that the state can feel confident about building similar bridges using this design detail in the future,” says Professor Carol Shield, the co-investigator of the research.
READ CATALYST ONLINE
for links to research reports and other resources.
Research Partnership Award:
Concrete is the material of choice for many roads. A team of experts recently created a new tool for designing concrete pavements that last longer and cost less—work that earned them the 2015 CTS Research Partnership Award. The award, presented at the CTS Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon (see related article on page 5), recognizes research teams that have drawn on the strengths of their diverse partnerships to achieve significant impacts on transportation.
Professor Lev Khazanovich and research associate Derek Tompkins from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering worked in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Concrete Pavement Association of Minnesota to develop the new design tool—named MnPAVE-Rigid. Before this project, MnDOT designed concrete pavements using a program Partnership award continued on page 6
Better designs for Minnesota concrete pavements
Leaders honored at CTS Awards Luncheon CTS presented the following awards at its Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on April 6 in Minneapolis.
Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award (outstanding leadership in research and innovation) Timothy Henkel, assistant commissioner and director of the Modal Planning and Program Management Division at the Minnesota Department of Transportation
Ray L. Lappegaard Distinguished Service Award (outstanding leadership, mentorship, and support for the profession) Brian Lamb, general manager, Metro Transit
D. Scott Dibble
William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award (leadership, mentorship, and education of future leaders in private-sector freight transportation) Ronald Dvorak, marketing director for Lake Superior Warehousing, the terminal operator for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s Clure Public Marine Terminal
Distinguished Public Leadership Award (public leaders who have influenced innovative transportation policy directions) Senator D. Scott Dibble, chair of the Minnesota Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee
Education Awards Matthew J. Huber Award (students in engineering, science, and technology fields) Indrajit Chatterjee, doctoral candidate, civil engineering; Gary Davis, advisor John S. Adams Award (students in policy and planning fields) Andrew Guthrie, doctoral candidate, public affairs; Yingling Fan, advisor Spencer Peck, master’s candidate, urban & regional planning; Frank Douma, advisor Roadway Safety Institute Outstanding Student of the Year Stephen Zitzow, master’s candidate, civil engineering; John Hourdos, advisor
Video shows how transportation research makes a difference CTS aired a new video at the awards luncheon: How Does University of Minnesota Transportation Research Make a Difference? Research highlights in the 4:35-minute video include hardier roadside grasses, tribal transportation safety, and clear roads in winter. The video is available for viewing at cts.umn.edu/Publications/Videos.
GPS receiver capable of receiving real-time corrections, a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) scanner, and a computer—all costing roughly $40,000. “Using this hardware, the system was able to detect and position curbs and guardrails with an accuracy of better than 4 inches,” says Brian Davis, a research fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “It could also determine road centerlines to within 2 inches relying only on the GPSprovided data.” Also as part of their work, the researchers created an algorithm to process the data after collection to reduce the need for costly manual extraction of road features. Davis co-authored the final report with principal investigator Max Donath, director of the U’s Roadway Safety Institute. The new system can serve multiple purposes and could especially benefit rural counties, which typically do not have access to high-end data-collection systems. “For example, more accurate measures of road curvature acquired inexpensively and automatically could be used to better match speed limits with curves and provide curve-speed warnings using smartphones, especially where low average daily traffic volumes do not justify signage on a system-wide basis,” Davis says. Rick West, the project technical liaison and a rural Minnesota county engineer in Otter Tail County, had two goals for the project. “The first one was to determine if low-cost datacollection equipment could be developed,” he says. “The second was whether this equipment would provide data with the necessary level of accuracy without complex postcollection data analysis. Both goals were achieved.” Up-to-date, detailed information is also needed for other organizational functions, such as maintaining maps for network-level analysis, tracking roadway assets, and assessing pavement quality to inform maintenance decisions. Generally, however, units collect only the information they need to perform their particular function, which leads to multiple, separate data-collection efforts.
Photo: Mechanical Engineering
Roadway departures from page 1
The sensor platform can be installed on various types of vehicles.
The new system offers a way to make these efforts more efficient. “In addition to collecting data for multiple functions at once, the system can be installed on vehicles already traveling the roads for other purposes, such as MnDOT’s pavement monitoring van,” Davis says. “Data can be acquired without the added operational costs to fund additional drivers and operators.” In the second phase of the project, researchers augmented the system with a video camera to allow automated fog line detection and location. “Testing demonstrated an accuracy generally better than 3 inches,” Davis says. LIDAR wasn’t needed, which reduced the cost of the sensor suite to $30,000 for the application. The study was funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, CTS, and the Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute (a former University Transportation Center).
Partnership award from page 4
based on a modified version of a national design procedure from 1981. It was based on outdated data, didn’t take several important factors into account, and produced very conservative designs, Khazanovich says. The new design tool makes use of the latest design procedure from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and incorporates local climate and traffic data, along with calibration specific to
Minnesota pavements. This produces a program that better models concrete pavements and ensures that road designs are suited to local conditions, Khazanovich says. MnPAVE-Rigid, a standalone Windows executable program, was officially made the MnDOT concrete pavement design program in 2014. It’s now being used by MnDOT district personnel and MnDOTcontracted consultants. New designs are typically one to two inches thinner
than the previous designs, which will significantly reduce construction costs. More about the Research Partnership Award—including project team members and an enhanced PowerPoint, as well as information about two other projects that received special recognition—is at cts.umn.edu/about /awards/rpa.
Walk to work from page 1
driving and transit, accounting for around 2.8 percent of commute trips nationally and 5 percent within large cities. The rankings were determined using a weighted average of accessibility, giving a higher weight to closer jobs. Jobs reachable within 10 minutes were weighted most heavily, and then were given decreasing weights as walking travel time increased up to 60 minutes. The report—Access Across America: Walking 2014 —presents detailed accessibility values for each metropolitan area, as well as block-level maps illustrating the spatial patterns of accessibility within each area. “Our report provides a snapshot look at how much economic opportunity exists within a reasonable walking distance in metropolitan areas,” says Andrew Owen, director of the Accessibility Observatory. “In addition, it offers a framework to further our understanding of accessibility by walking. For example, not all jobs are the same—some are higher paying, some are lower skilled, and jobs exist in a variety of industries.” The cities that make up the top 10 all have a combination of employment density and fast, frequent transit service. “Employment density is a primary factor in whether an area is economically walkable or not, and employment densities are typically high in cities that employ heavy rail systems leading into a central core,” Owens says. “In this way, transit systems promote walkability and walking accessibility, without requiring a user to board a transit vehicle to experience the positive effects.”
The research team included Professor David Levinson, RP Braun/CTS Chair in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering (CEGE), and graduate research assistant Brendan Murphy. The research will be useful for other studies, such as a Roadway Safety Institute project now under way, Murphy says. “It gives us a basis for estimating pedestrian traffic in places where we don’t have good data.” The research was sponsored by CTS and CEGE. The new report is a companion study to previous Access Across America reports on transit and auto accessibility. To view reports and accessibility maps from the studies, please visit access.umn.edu/research /america.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Jobs within 30 minutes by walking 0 – 1,000 1,000 – 2,500 2,500 – 5,000 5,000 – 7,500 7,500 – 10,000 10,000 – 25,000 25,000 – 50,000 50,000 – 75,000 75,000 – 100,000 100,000 – 250,000 250,000 – 500,000 500,000 – 750,000 750,000 – 1,000,000 1,000,000 + Metropolitan Area Boundary
The Minneapolis–St. Paul area ranked 14th in the study.
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Catalyst Center for Transportation Studies University of Minnesota 200 Transportation & Safety Building 511 Washington Ave S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455
A publication of the Center for Transportation Studies University of Minnesota
REDUCING ROADWAYDEPARTURE CRASHES. page 1
CULVERTS MORE FISH-FRIENDLY. Shutterstock
TRAVEL BEHAVIOR study shows
BIKING AND WALKING ARE ON THE RISE in the Twin Cities. page 3
Where can you walk to work? Study ranks cities for accessibility. page 1


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US President Barack Obama, in Germany on Friday, called for action to push forward the Middle East peace process and stressed Washington's desire for a dialogue with Iran.
"The moment is now," the president told a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after talks in the eastern city of Dresden.
"The United States can't force peace upon the parties," he said in reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "But what we've tried to do is clear away some of the misunderstandings so that we can at least begin to have frank dialogue."
Obama stressed that to do that, the two parties would need strong partners such as Germany, adding he was under no illusions how difficult it will be to find a peaceful solution.
Merkel said Germany was interested in having a secure state of Israel as well as a viable Palestinian state.
Highs and lows of Germany's past
Obama met with Chancellor Merkel Friday morning at his hotel in the center of Dresden, which was flattened by Allied bombing towards the end of World War II.
After a short meeting, the two toured some of Dresden's highlights, including the Gruenes Gewoelbe museum and the recently rebuilt Frauenkirche.
The two leaders held a press conference before travelling west by helicopter to visit the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, located just outside the city of Weimar, where they are expected to meet Holocaust survivors.
Balancing the Arab-Israeli conflict
The trip to Buchenwald, were an estimated 56,000 people perished, was proposed by the White House, and is being seen as a way for Obama to balance out a speech he gave in Cairo in which he called for a fresh start in relations with the Muslim world.
In that speech, Obama included a scathing indictment of those who question the Holocaust, and by visiting the concentration camp, the US president can show that the mass genocide of Jews by the Nazis has not been forgotten and that the US will always remain loyal to Israel.
The official program of Obama's visit to Germany has been cut to just over half a day. US officials said this was due to security concerns. Some observers, however, suspect cooling relations between Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will not be accompanying the two on the trip, are to blame.
Obama will also be touring the US military hospital in Landstuhl to meet American soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then he will head off to France where he will join President Nicolas Sarkozy on the beaches of Normandy on Saturday for ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the Allied D-Day landings.
This is the Obama's third trip to Germany in the past year. He was here while campaigning last fall and again at the beginning of April to attend a NATO summit jointly hosted by Germany and France.
Editor: Nancy Isenson


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Princeton council members navigating their way to perhaps the biggest economic development initiative in the Quad-City region’s history were stumped.
What kinds of businesses might they like to see on the Anderson 400, the newly annexed 400-acre bluff property that Paul and Marijo Anderson and family hope will attract a corporate buyer? What should they prohibit? How big should the buildings be?
The council’s long-range planning occurred July 24 in an empty council chambers, just minutes after the council addressed another dilemma that filled city hall. A dozen residents crowded in to contest a family’s request for a one-foot variance to accommodate a new garage in the Lost Grove Acres addition. After an hour of intense discussion, the family and their neighbors agreed to meet privately and try to resolve the dispute.
Then, all spectators left and council members, attorneys and engineers worked through details of the city’s first-ever Green Business Park Zoning District. The district is among many steps toward marketing the site for a corporate campus.
“We are quickly trying to get this green zone in place,” council member Kevin Kernan said.
The Andersons are working with Iowa’s Economic Development Authority for the certification needed to market the property for uses compatible with rolling hills, river views and a more rural location.
“I keep trying to figure out how a Deere might fit in here,” said Kernan, envisioning development much like Deere’s corporate headquarters in Moline.
The state certification will limit some uses, but Princeton’s law firm suggested the city create a zoning district so the city has some say over future land use.
The city attorney’s five-page draft outlined 20 preferred uses, and four restrictions, along with a three-story limit on building height.
“I don’t agree with three stories. We should go bigger,” council member Jami Stutting said. “Big businesses won’t want to come here if it’s limited. I like if they have flexibility. We’re the ones who will decide if it works or not.”
“Do we even want to limit it?” Kernan asked.
Suggested uses in the draft include insurance company headquarters, convention facility, personnel training center, light manufacturing, research labs and pharmaceutical packaging.
Forbidden practices included businesses that emit smoke or particulate air contaminants or store flammable liquids or chemicals.
“What if they want to hold a barbecue?” Kernan asked.
Council member Ann Geiger suggested fewer restrictions.
“We should limit examples so we don’t rule anyone out,” she said.
The Andersons’ attorney, Matt Hektoen, advised the council to rely on the state certification process to limit the types of projects.
“Before you put on restrictions, take a close look at what the state requires. When it comes to state certification, there are some no-goes,” he said.
Hektoen specifically advised removing the draft code’s requirement of a minimum 50-acre lots for development. He said the Andersons are hoping to work with a single buyer, but want to keep options open.
“I don’t think the Andersons’ intent is to sell to a third party,” he said.
Kernan wondered if the new code should limit excavation.
“They could potentially bulldoze that whole hill down,” he said.
Representatives from the Andersons’ engineering firm said the state’s green certification will attract interest from those who value the terrain and the views, so Princeton needn’t worry about local restrictions on excavating and road construction.
“People who want a green office site probably won’t have any intent of tearing everything up,” Shive Hattery engineer Dan Solchenberger said.
He also said the state will require the project to be built to nationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEEDs standards. That includes energy efficiency, permeable pavement and vehicle recharging stations.
Solchenberger said the state will require the project to meet those standards, but specifically does not require actual certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, which created the standards.
“We don’t actually care if you get certified. We just need you to meet the standards,” he said. “It’s ridiculously expensive.”
“It’s the same as wanting a pedigree dog, but not spending to get the certificate,” said attorney Dee Runnels, of the Pastrnak firm representing Princeton.
Shive Hattery engineer Marti Ahlgren said the Iowa Economic Development Authority certification deadline is in March, but said the Andersons hope to complete documentation by November.
Ahlgren also shared the city of Woodward, Iowa’s Eco-Business Park Zoning District adopted June 12, 2017. Most council members said the nine-page Woodward ordinance seemed to cover Princeton’s needs. It also was prepared to market a state certified site for environmentally friendly development.
“So we know this ordinance was approved by the state,” said Candy Pastrnak, one of two attorneys representing Princeton at the meeting.
The Woodward ordinance includes 17 suggested uses, including call centers, printing or publishing, and public utility facilities. It also includes “accessory uses,” which resolved Kernan’s barbecue question.
The Woodward ordinance stated 13 prohibited uses, including food processing, chemical storage, truck stops, places of worship or adult entertainment.
Pastrnak and Runnels said they will incorporate Woodward provisions into a new Princeton ordinance that will be available for the city’s Planning and Zoning Board’s Aug. 7 meeting, and the full council’s Aug. 9 meeting.


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Jazz Guitar Hugo Fernandez "New Grounds Quartet" Berlin
Hugo Fernández Guitarist and composer from Mexico City presents "New Grounds Quartet" Berlin. This ensemble is the meeting of talented musicians around a new vision of contemporary jazz. The quartet's sound is inspired by the rich heritage of jazz and subtly blends with diverse musical styles such as: rock and Latin American folklore among others.
With three albums under their belt, they have participated in numerous festivals and jazz clubs. His album "Cosmogram" with the collaboration of the successful drummer Antonio Sánchez was selected by Downbeat magazine as one of the best albums. He has a degree in professional music from Berklee College of Music. U.S.A. and has a master's degree in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans. U.S.A.
Origin Records cd "Cosmogram"


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Detainee Shirin Isawihas joined her brother and fellow inmate in an open-ended hunger strike, in solidarity with hunger-striking prisoner Muhammad Allan, who recently awoke from a coma induced by failing health.Palestinian administrative detainee and prominent attorney Shirin Issawi, who joined her brother Samer Issawi in the hunger strike protest on Monday, was detained by Israeli forces in a raid last March, said Amjad Abu Asab, who heads the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs in al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Press TV/Al Ray reports that Israeli courts have since continued to extend Shireen’s illegal detention without trial or charge, under a controversial policy referred to as administrative detention.
The development comes as Allan’s lawyers have rejected an offer by the Tel Aviv regime to release him on the condition that he abandons his home and moves abroad.
The young inmate, who woke from a coma on Tuesday, still faces an imminent risk of death. He went on a hunger strike more than two months ago to protest his prolonged detention without charges or trial.
Allan has been connected to ventilators to help his breathing, while being administered fluids and sodium intravenously.
Meanwhile, Shireen’s brother was previously released from an Israeli prison in December of 2013, as part of a deal in which he agreed to end his 266-day hunger strike to protest his indefinite captivity under the administrative detention policy.
Samer’s hunger strike was among the longest recorded in history. The protest effort brought him close to death and gained international attention.
However, Samer was rearrested on previous charges in July 2014.
According to Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, over 5,700 Palestinian political prisoners remain captive in Israeli jails in addition to 401 administrative detainees that are being held without charge or trial.

domain: sociology