Derek Clark left his home [watches]
Derek Clark left his home
Derek Clark left his home to pick up his DSS money with the item in his possession in Gray Street, Alexandria.
After being taken to Clydebank police station on an unrelated matter, the knife was found to be concealed within his jacket.
The 20-year-old, whose address was given as the Blue Triangle, Alexandria, admitted committing the offence on August 16 this year.
Fiscal Kim McGregor told the court that Clark was being searched at the charge bar at Clydebank police office around 2am before being placed in a cell.
The fiscal depute said: “An object was concealed within the lining of his jacket.
“The accused had been wearing the jacket the whole time.
“He said ‘I didn’t know I had it there. I forgot it was there’.”
Clark’s defence lawyer said: “He had been preparing food. He placed this item into his jacket.
“It was a foolish thing to do.
“It’s something he feels he has done without realising that’s what he was doing.
“It was just midnight, his DSS cheque would have been in the bank and he wanted to withdraw the money.”
Sentence was deferred until November 15 and Clark was ordered to stay out of trouble in the meantime.
A father of seven calmly told his teenage son, "It's all right", and ordered him to leave him in the water before he drowned in a fishing tragedy on Tauranga Harbour.
Nineteen-year-old Mosese Vahai is still coming to terms with his decision to abandon his father - also named Mosese - and swim for his life after their dinghy was swamped and sunk by a huge wave shortly before 8pm on Wednesday.
But yesterday, he said there was nothing he could have done to save him.
The body of 56 -year-old Mosese Snr was found yesterday off the Matapihi Peninsula after an all-night search by coastguard and rescue helicopter crews.
Derek Clark left his home to pick up his DSS money with the item in his possession in Gray Street, Alexandria.
After being taken to Clydebank police station on an unrelated matter, the knife was found to be concealed within his jacket.
The 20-year-old, whose address was given as the Blue Triangle, Alexandria, admitted committing the offence on August 16 this year.
Fiscal Kim McGregor told the court that Clark was being searched at the charge bar at Clydebank police office around 2am before being placed in a cell.
The fiscal depute said: “An object was concealed within the lining of his jacket.
“The accused had been wearing the jacket the whole time.
“He said ‘I didn’t know I had it there. I forgot it was there’.”
Clark’s defence lawyer said: “He had been preparing food. He placed this item into his jacket.
“It was a foolish thing to do.
“It’s something he feels he has done without realising that’s what he was doing.
“It was just midnight, his DSS cheque would have been in the bank and he wanted to withdraw the money.”
Sentence was deferred until November 15 and Clark was ordered to stay out of trouble in the meantime.
A father of seven calmly told his teenage son, "It's all right", and ordered him to leave him in the water before he drowned in a fishing tragedy on Tauranga Harbour.
Nineteen-year-old Mosese Vahai is still coming to terms with his decision to abandon his father - also named Mosese - and swim for his life after their dinghy was swamped and sunk by a huge wave shortly before 8pm on Wednesday.
But yesterday, he said there was nothing he could have done to save him.
The body of 56 -year-old Mosese Snr was found yesterday off the Matapihi Peninsula after an all-night search by coastguard and rescue helicopter crews.
Just so you know the kind of technicalities [watches]
Just so you know the kind of technicalities
Just so you know the kind of technicalities that crop up in the high-stakes war over bags, here are more of the provisions of the settlement, outlined by ChicoBags:
Both parties will provide citations and dates for all facts and statistics on any Web page or advertising, excluding labels and hangtags.
Hilex Poly agrees that to the extent permitted by customers and in the normal rotation of plate replacement, it will include a statement on its products: "Tie Bag in Knot Before Disposal." (This is to lessen the chance of the bags becoming wind-blown litter after disposal.)
Hilex will include statements on a website that discuss ways to prevent windblown litter.
ChicoBag will stop any countdown list for Hilex to dismiss the litigation.
ChicoBag had already made updates to its website in response to Hilex Poly's early communications, and will keep these in place. (ChicoBag agrees not to cite any archived EPA websites, link to the full NOAA report if utilized in advertising, will inform visitors to chicobag.com that reusable bags should be washed when dirty, and will inform visitors to its Learn the Facts page that plastic retail carryout bags are only a subset of plastic bags in ocean debris reports.)
ChicoBag also congratulated Hilex Poly for "boldly accepting their corporate responsibility to properly inform the public about plastic bag recycling rates, and for breaking step with the plastic bag industry with a new commitment to messages that will hopefully result in combating wind-blown litter."
Do I sense a mixed message in that congratulation? A kiss and a kick?
When announcing the settlement, ChicoBag's Andy Keller also said, "What started as a bullying tactic, to silence a critic and stop ChicoBag from achieving our mission of helping humanity kick the single-use bag habit, has morphed into two wins for the environment: First, Hilex Poly can no longer inflate plastic bag recycling numbers by including non-bag wrap and plastic film. And they have also agreed to acknowledge that plastic bags can become wind-blown litter despite proper disposal and to better educate the public."
Just so you know the kind of technicalities that crop up in the high-stakes war over bags, here are more of the provisions of the settlement, outlined by ChicoBags:
Both parties will provide citations and dates for all facts and statistics on any Web page or advertising, excluding labels and hangtags.
Hilex Poly agrees that to the extent permitted by customers and in the normal rotation of plate replacement, it will include a statement on its products: "Tie Bag in Knot Before Disposal." (This is to lessen the chance of the bags becoming wind-blown litter after disposal.)
Hilex will include statements on a website that discuss ways to prevent windblown litter.
ChicoBag will stop any countdown list for Hilex to dismiss the litigation.
ChicoBag had already made updates to its website in response to Hilex Poly's early communications, and will keep these in place. (ChicoBag agrees not to cite any archived EPA websites, link to the full NOAA report if utilized in advertising, will inform visitors to chicobag.com that reusable bags should be washed when dirty, and will inform visitors to its Learn the Facts page that plastic retail carryout bags are only a subset of plastic bags in ocean debris reports.)
ChicoBag also congratulated Hilex Poly for "boldly accepting their corporate responsibility to properly inform the public about plastic bag recycling rates, and for breaking step with the plastic bag industry with a new commitment to messages that will hopefully result in combating wind-blown litter."
Do I sense a mixed message in that congratulation? A kiss and a kick?
When announcing the settlement, ChicoBag's Andy Keller also said, "What started as a bullying tactic, to silence a critic and stop ChicoBag from achieving our mission of helping humanity kick the single-use bag habit, has morphed into two wins for the environment: First, Hilex Poly can no longer inflate plastic bag recycling numbers by including non-bag wrap and plastic film. And they have also agreed to acknowledge that plastic bags can become wind-blown litter despite proper disposal and to better educate the public."
The Phillies needed a win over Houston [watches]
The Phillies needed a win over Houston
The Phillies needed a win over Houston or a loss by St. Louis to clinch at least a wild-card berth. But the NL East leaders will have to wait to secure their place in the postseason after the Cardinals beat the Pirates 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels (14-8) fell to 0-3 in his last five starts against the Astros after going 3-0 in his first four career starts against them.
The Astros won their second straight game to avoid setting a franchise record for losses in a season. Their 97 defeats are tied for the club mark, which has been reached three other times, most recently in 1991.
J.B. Shuck singled in the fourth inning and stole second base before Happ reached on an error by first baseman Ryan Howard with one out. Jason Bourgeois drove in Shuck with a single to put Houston up 2-1 before Barmes' first-pitch homer.
Hunter Pence hit his 20th home run of the season on a ball that bounced high on the wall in left-center to tie it at 1 in the fourth. The former Astro, traded to Philadelphia in July, received a standing ovation from a group of fans sitting near the Phillies dugout.
Happ (6-15), acquired from the Phillies last year as part of the Roy Oswalt trade, allowed four hits and one run with four strikeouts. Fernando Rodriguez threw two scoreless innings before David Carpenter took over for the ninth.
Carlos Ruiz hit a one-out solo homer off Carpenter to make it 5-2.
The Phillies had a shot to cut the lead in the fifth inning when Jimmy Rollins singled with two outs before Happ walked Placido Polanco and Pence to load the bases. Ryan Howard took Happ to a full count on an eight-pitch at-bat before J.D. Martinez made a leaping catch at the left-field wall to end the inning.
Martinez had an RBI double to give Houston a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Barmes doubled to set up the score. Carlos Lee singled after the double by Martinez, before Matt Downs was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
The Phillies needed a win over Houston or a loss by St. Louis to clinch at least a wild-card berth. But the NL East leaders will have to wait to secure their place in the postseason after the Cardinals beat the Pirates 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels (14-8) fell to 0-3 in his last five starts against the Astros after going 3-0 in his first four career starts against them.
The Astros won their second straight game to avoid setting a franchise record for losses in a season. Their 97 defeats are tied for the club mark, which has been reached three other times, most recently in 1991.
J.B. Shuck singled in the fourth inning and stole second base before Happ reached on an error by first baseman Ryan Howard with one out. Jason Bourgeois drove in Shuck with a single to put Houston up 2-1 before Barmes' first-pitch homer.
Hunter Pence hit his 20th home run of the season on a ball that bounced high on the wall in left-center to tie it at 1 in the fourth. The former Astro, traded to Philadelphia in July, received a standing ovation from a group of fans sitting near the Phillies dugout.
Happ (6-15), acquired from the Phillies last year as part of the Roy Oswalt trade, allowed four hits and one run with four strikeouts. Fernando Rodriguez threw two scoreless innings before David Carpenter took over for the ninth.
Carlos Ruiz hit a one-out solo homer off Carpenter to make it 5-2.
The Phillies had a shot to cut the lead in the fifth inning when Jimmy Rollins singled with two outs before Happ walked Placido Polanco and Pence to load the bases. Ryan Howard took Happ to a full count on an eight-pitch at-bat before J.D. Martinez made a leaping catch at the left-field wall to end the inning.
Martinez had an RBI double to give Houston a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Barmes doubled to set up the score. Carlos Lee singled after the double by Martinez, before Matt Downs was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
In the world of wildfire suppression [watches]
In the world of wildfire suppression
In the world of wildfire suppression, it doesn't get much worse than what Paul Delmerico is looking at on the uphill side of the Skalkaho Highway.
It's just about noon Tuesday and flames are already dancing over the downed logs and up beetle-killed pines that litter the steep hillside.
He knows the best window for burning is still hours away.
Not far away, there's a loud crack announcing the crash of another huge snag. The roadway is littered with debris from Tuesday morning's fire activity.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Delmerico saw refrigerator-sized rocks fall off the mountainside. For a while, he heard the air-shaking thuds of huge snags falling every 30 seconds.
"That's about as tough as it gets in the wildfire suppression world," said the Forest Service Hot Shot crew leader from New Mexico. "A huge accumulation of fuel and extreme terrain - it's not safe for anyone."
On top of those challenges, humidity levels have turned bone dry as temperatures flare into unseasonable highs. All that vegetation this spring's seemingly non-stop rain brought is now ready to burn with the introduction of a spark.
Fire officials saw evidence of that Monday on two different fires in the Sapphire Mountains west of Hamilton.
For two weeks, the Coyote Meadows fire crept around near Rye Creek Road in an area that had burned in the past decade. Before Monday, it didn't grow any larger than six acres.
Then conditions got right and it blew up to cover more than 300 acres in a matter of hours.
On the Up Top Fire near the Skalkaho Highway, perfect burning conditions sent a column of smoke thousands of feet into the air. When that column collapsed back on the fire, the rush of air sent sparks flying over the highway.
By Tuesday morning, an estimated 400 acres had burned on the east side of the Skalkaho Highway. Pushed by breezy winds, the fire had grown by 800 acres - to 2,800 acres.
In the world of wildfire suppression, it doesn't get much worse than what Paul Delmerico is looking at on the uphill side of the Skalkaho Highway.
It's just about noon Tuesday and flames are already dancing over the downed logs and up beetle-killed pines that litter the steep hillside.
He knows the best window for burning is still hours away.
Not far away, there's a loud crack announcing the crash of another huge snag. The roadway is littered with debris from Tuesday morning's fire activity.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Delmerico saw refrigerator-sized rocks fall off the mountainside. For a while, he heard the air-shaking thuds of huge snags falling every 30 seconds.
"That's about as tough as it gets in the wildfire suppression world," said the Forest Service Hot Shot crew leader from New Mexico. "A huge accumulation of fuel and extreme terrain - it's not safe for anyone."
On top of those challenges, humidity levels have turned bone dry as temperatures flare into unseasonable highs. All that vegetation this spring's seemingly non-stop rain brought is now ready to burn with the introduction of a spark.
Fire officials saw evidence of that Monday on two different fires in the Sapphire Mountains west of Hamilton.
For two weeks, the Coyote Meadows fire crept around near Rye Creek Road in an area that had burned in the past decade. Before Monday, it didn't grow any larger than six acres.
Then conditions got right and it blew up to cover more than 300 acres in a matter of hours.
On the Up Top Fire near the Skalkaho Highway, perfect burning conditions sent a column of smoke thousands of feet into the air. When that column collapsed back on the fire, the rush of air sent sparks flying over the highway.
By Tuesday morning, an estimated 400 acres had burned on the east side of the Skalkaho Highway. Pushed by breezy winds, the fire had grown by 800 acres - to 2,800 acres.
Apple's iPad tablet computer [watches]
Apple's iPad tablet computer
Apple's iPad tablet computer is showing up in the darnedest places - including the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum and its fauna-friendly surroundings at the Minnesota State Fair.
That's where all manner of creatures - horses and cattle, goats and swine, dogs and llamas - strut their stuff and get judged as part of the Fair's animal competitions.
For the judging staff, who are part of the Fair's competition department, this used to be a pain in the neck (and the wrists). They wrote down their results on sheets of paper and later entered the information into computers back at the Fair offices.
Hello, iPad! Now the staffers pull up lists of competitors on their tablets and then simply tap, tap, tap to rank them as the competitions progress. Some use fingers for this, and others get fancier with special soft-tipped styluses that cut down on the screen smudging.
As information is entered into the tablets, it's automatically entered into the Fair's databases via cellular 3G connections or the Fair's private Wi-Fi. This means staffers no longer have to spend bleary-eyed evenings keying in that data while chugging coffee.
"They just do a proofread to make sure everything looks all right," said Jill Nathe, the State Fair supervisor overseeing the iPad initiative. "But it's pretty much done."
This also means fairgoers get competition results sooner. They pop up on big displays inside and outside the coliseum for all to see.
Competition clerks are not the only ones on iPads. Other competition-department staffers serve as the gatekeepers, checking in the four-legged contestants as they arrive - or marking them as "scratch" if the critter owners withdraw from contention, or "no show" if, well, they don't show up.
This is easy on an iPad: Pull down a menu, select the right category and repeat, repeat, repeat.
This information is also shown on screens so animal owners have a better idea when they have to queue up, thereby cutting down on the furry equivalent of freeway congestion.
Apple's iPad tablet computer is showing up in the darnedest places - including the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum and its fauna-friendly surroundings at the Minnesota State Fair.
That's where all manner of creatures - horses and cattle, goats and swine, dogs and llamas - strut their stuff and get judged as part of the Fair's animal competitions.
For the judging staff, who are part of the Fair's competition department, this used to be a pain in the neck (and the wrists). They wrote down their results on sheets of paper and later entered the information into computers back at the Fair offices.
Hello, iPad! Now the staffers pull up lists of competitors on their tablets and then simply tap, tap, tap to rank them as the competitions progress. Some use fingers for this, and others get fancier with special soft-tipped styluses that cut down on the screen smudging.
As information is entered into the tablets, it's automatically entered into the Fair's databases via cellular 3G connections or the Fair's private Wi-Fi. This means staffers no longer have to spend bleary-eyed evenings keying in that data while chugging coffee.
"They just do a proofread to make sure everything looks all right," said Jill Nathe, the State Fair supervisor overseeing the iPad initiative. "But it's pretty much done."
This also means fairgoers get competition results sooner. They pop up on big displays inside and outside the coliseum for all to see.
Competition clerks are not the only ones on iPads. Other competition-department staffers serve as the gatekeepers, checking in the four-legged contestants as they arrive - or marking them as "scratch" if the critter owners withdraw from contention, or "no show" if, well, they don't show up.
This is easy on an iPad: Pull down a menu, select the right category and repeat, repeat, repeat.
This information is also shown on screens so animal owners have a better idea when they have to queue up, thereby cutting down on the furry equivalent of freeway congestion.
The Fray sings it on this album [watches]
The Fray sings it on this album
The Fray sings it on this album, and it’s a near-exact replication of the original, but there’s some new piano work mixed in – it is The Fray, after all. Strange as it is to listen to the band whose song “How to Save a Life” accompanied so many death montages on television sing the silliest song I’ve ever heard in my life, I enjoy it. It helps give the album a decent mix of sad songs and silliness that the Muppets are known for.
“Halfway Down the Stairs,” sung by Amy Lee, is one of the sadder songs. Recall that the original featured Robin the Frog on the stairs singing all by his lonesome. If you don’t cry at the sight and sound of Robin the Frog singing, you sold your soul a long time ago.
Amy Lee performs this cover beautifully. I’m not a fan of Amy Lee since I’m not familiar with her work, but this gave me a shining first impression.
My favorite cover is definitely “Movin’ Right Along” by Alkaline Trio. It’s straight from “The Muppet Movie,” and it’s an upbeat, guitar-laden rock song that replicates the song originally performed by Kermit and Fozzy while driving across the country, leaving their jokes and asides in the song – a nice touch.
I enjoyed “Muppets: The Green Album,” but if I could criticize something besides the farting noise: It needed more songs.
I understand it was probably hard enough assembling what they did, but why not try diving deeper into the Muppets’ mythos? I’d love to hear “Sailing for Adventure” from “Muppet Treasure Island” or “Thankful Heart” from the finale of “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” Even “Saying Goodbye” from “The Muppets Take Manhattan” would have made for another great tearjerker.
Still, if you’re a fan of the Muppets, even a fan of any of these artists in general, check out the album, and find the original Muppet renditions on YouTube while you’re at it.
The Fray sings it on this album, and it’s a near-exact replication of the original, but there’s some new piano work mixed in – it is The Fray, after all. Strange as it is to listen to the band whose song “How to Save a Life” accompanied so many death montages on television sing the silliest song I’ve ever heard in my life, I enjoy it. It helps give the album a decent mix of sad songs and silliness that the Muppets are known for.
“Halfway Down the Stairs,” sung by Amy Lee, is one of the sadder songs. Recall that the original featured Robin the Frog on the stairs singing all by his lonesome. If you don’t cry at the sight and sound of Robin the Frog singing, you sold your soul a long time ago.
Amy Lee performs this cover beautifully. I’m not a fan of Amy Lee since I’m not familiar with her work, but this gave me a shining first impression.
My favorite cover is definitely “Movin’ Right Along” by Alkaline Trio. It’s straight from “The Muppet Movie,” and it’s an upbeat, guitar-laden rock song that replicates the song originally performed by Kermit and Fozzy while driving across the country, leaving their jokes and asides in the song – a nice touch.
I enjoyed “Muppets: The Green Album,” but if I could criticize something besides the farting noise: It needed more songs.
I understand it was probably hard enough assembling what they did, but why not try diving deeper into the Muppets’ mythos? I’d love to hear “Sailing for Adventure” from “Muppet Treasure Island” or “Thankful Heart” from the finale of “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” Even “Saying Goodbye” from “The Muppets Take Manhattan” would have made for another great tearjerker.
Still, if you’re a fan of the Muppets, even a fan of any of these artists in general, check out the album, and find the original Muppet renditions on YouTube while you’re at it.
Every day from the window of his office [watches]
Every day from the window of his office
Every day from the window of his office, Kaneland School District Superintendent Jeff Schuler watches dozens of students leave school and drive through the intersection of Route 38 and Meredith Road.
For anyone who knows the area, it’s hard not to think back to 2007, when three people died after being involved in crashes at the rural intersection.
After those accidents, the intersection was redesigned, signs were put up and a blinking light was added.
Local officials, however, pushed for a full stoplight at the intersection. And it now appears they will finally get the light this month.
On Wednesday, State Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, announced that the Illinois Department of Transportation expects to have the traffic signal fully installed by December.
Route 38 and Meredith Road intersect in Virgil Township, south of Maple Park and north of Elburn. In 2007, there was a string of serious crashes there, resulting in three fatalities.
In April 2007, St. Charles police officers Michael Griesbaum and Vaughn Olson were returning home on Route 38 when they swerved to avoid a third car that was entering the intersection from Meredith. Griesbaum’s car struck a 19-year-old Elburn man’s car coming from the west on Route 38, almost head-on. Olson later died of a blood clot while in a rehabilitation facility.
In July of 2007, four Neuqua Valley baseball players were injured in a crash at the same intersection. One student broke his back, neck, nine ribs and collarbone.
That same month, Carrie Hilliker, 18, was killed in a crash involving two cars and a semitrailer truck at 5:35 p.m. on a Friday at the intersection.
In December 2007, 19-year-old Maple Park resident Jennifer Flaherty died when her 2002 Ford Focus station wagon went into a ditch east of the intersection and overturned. Flaherty was thrown from the car, although police were not sure the accident was related to the intersection’s design.
“It was really just one after another,” said Kane County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler on Wednesday. “It really all at once brought the intersection to the forefront.”
Every day from the window of his office, Kaneland School District Superintendent Jeff Schuler watches dozens of students leave school and drive through the intersection of Route 38 and Meredith Road.
For anyone who knows the area, it’s hard not to think back to 2007, when three people died after being involved in crashes at the rural intersection.
After those accidents, the intersection was redesigned, signs were put up and a blinking light was added.
Local officials, however, pushed for a full stoplight at the intersection. And it now appears they will finally get the light this month.
On Wednesday, State Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, announced that the Illinois Department of Transportation expects to have the traffic signal fully installed by December.
Route 38 and Meredith Road intersect in Virgil Township, south of Maple Park and north of Elburn. In 2007, there was a string of serious crashes there, resulting in three fatalities.
In April 2007, St. Charles police officers Michael Griesbaum and Vaughn Olson were returning home on Route 38 when they swerved to avoid a third car that was entering the intersection from Meredith. Griesbaum’s car struck a 19-year-old Elburn man’s car coming from the west on Route 38, almost head-on. Olson later died of a blood clot while in a rehabilitation facility.
In July of 2007, four Neuqua Valley baseball players were injured in a crash at the same intersection. One student broke his back, neck, nine ribs and collarbone.
That same month, Carrie Hilliker, 18, was killed in a crash involving two cars and a semitrailer truck at 5:35 p.m. on a Friday at the intersection.
In December 2007, 19-year-old Maple Park resident Jennifer Flaherty died when her 2002 Ford Focus station wagon went into a ditch east of the intersection and overturned. Flaherty was thrown from the car, although police were not sure the accident was related to the intersection’s design.
“It was really just one after another,” said Kane County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler on Wednesday. “It really all at once brought the intersection to the forefront.”
Count the 30-year-old Lincoln County [watches]
Count the 30-year-old Lincoln County
Count the 30-year-old Lincoln County Transfer Station as a potential casualty of the county's population boom.
Three cities that dump trash at the station west of Worthing recently pulled out of their contracts with the county, citing skyrocketing tipping fees that are tied to population. The county, which would have to pick up the fiscal slack, is considering closing the facility, which collects garbage from haulers and rural residents and ships it to the Sioux Falls landfill.
According to census numbers released earlier this year, Lincoln County grew by almost 86 percent from 2000 to 2010, to 44,828. That is on top of a 56 percent gain from 1990 to 2000.
Cities pay a $4.50 per-capita fee to use the transfer station, and the growth in Tea, Harrisburg and elsewhere have driven up costs dramatically.
The population in Harrisburg, for example, has quadrupled since 2000, meaning the cost of transfer station service in 2012 would, too - from $4,311 to $18,400, according to minutes from the city council's Aug. 1 meeting.
"We try and get all our carriers to send a certain amount there because we were part of it," Mayor Reed Ramstad said. But the city decided it couldn't justify the cost, and this month officials notified the county that it was withdrawing from its contract.
In Tea, the fee would jump from $7,839 to $17,127, even though the five trash haulers licensed by the city rarely use the station, city administrative assistant Jenni White said.
Jeff Westrich, district manager for Novak Sanitary Service of Sioux Falls, said he hasn't run the numbers on hauling Lincoln County trash straight to Sioux Falls. "It's probably going to be a wash for us," he said. "You're either paying more in dump fees or you're paying more for fuel fees."
Lennox also has notified the county that it is pulling out of the contract, county auditor Paula Feucht said. In sum, the lost revenue will total $21,686, she said.
The transfer station, with two full
-time employees, takes in 100 tons of waste each week. By contrast, the Sioux Falls landfill takes in 525 tons per day, plus 300 tons of construction debris.
In the past three years, the station has lost an average of $49,153, according to county budget figures.
Count the 30-year-old Lincoln County Transfer Station as a potential casualty of the county's population boom.
Three cities that dump trash at the station west of Worthing recently pulled out of their contracts with the county, citing skyrocketing tipping fees that are tied to population. The county, which would have to pick up the fiscal slack, is considering closing the facility, which collects garbage from haulers and rural residents and ships it to the Sioux Falls landfill.
According to census numbers released earlier this year, Lincoln County grew by almost 86 percent from 2000 to 2010, to 44,828. That is on top of a 56 percent gain from 1990 to 2000.
Cities pay a $4.50 per-capita fee to use the transfer station, and the growth in Tea, Harrisburg and elsewhere have driven up costs dramatically.
The population in Harrisburg, for example, has quadrupled since 2000, meaning the cost of transfer station service in 2012 would, too - from $4,311 to $18,400, according to minutes from the city council's Aug. 1 meeting.
"We try and get all our carriers to send a certain amount there because we were part of it," Mayor Reed Ramstad said. But the city decided it couldn't justify the cost, and this month officials notified the county that it was withdrawing from its contract.
In Tea, the fee would jump from $7,839 to $17,127, even though the five trash haulers licensed by the city rarely use the station, city administrative assistant Jenni White said.
Jeff Westrich, district manager for Novak Sanitary Service of Sioux Falls, said he hasn't run the numbers on hauling Lincoln County trash straight to Sioux Falls. "It's probably going to be a wash for us," he said. "You're either paying more in dump fees or you're paying more for fuel fees."
Lennox also has notified the county that it is pulling out of the contract, county auditor Paula Feucht said. In sum, the lost revenue will total $21,686, she said.
The transfer station, with two full
-time employees, takes in 100 tons of waste each week. By contrast, the Sioux Falls landfill takes in 525 tons per day, plus 300 tons of construction debris.
In the past three years, the station has lost an average of $49,153, according to county budget figures.
The 2011 armored Suburban’s glass [watches]
The 2011 armored Suburban’s glass
The 2011 armored Suburban’s glass absorbed three .223-caliber bullets from an ASR-15 assault rifle. The bullets were able to puncture the outside glass and cracks splintered from the impact of each bullet like a spider’s web.
But the projectiles failed to penetrate. The inside glass was still smooth after the demonstration.
Meanwhile, as you might expect, the bullets shattered the glass windows on the non-armored Suburban.
Scott Cooper, head of public relations for the Speedway, said the AutoFair always tries to bring “things you’ve never seen or done before.”
Streit built the armored Suburban at its Charleston, S.C., facility, and company representatives also brought an armored Mercedes Benz S550 to the training facility Tuesday. No one shot at the Mercedes.
Don MacMillan, territory director for North and South America for Streit, said the company builds armored vehicles for the U.S. military, embassies, the FBI, National Security Administration, SWAT teams and other agencies.
He described the vehicles as “low-key.”
“You would not know they are armored,” he said. But the Suburban he brought Tuesday could stop bullets from an M-16 or AK-47.
Streit builds about 140 vehicles a month as part of what has become a billion-dollar-a-year industry. In the United States, the demand for these vehicles often is high among professional athletes, corporation heads, movie stars and high-profile musicians, besides government entities.
“It was very cool,” Elwood said of firing at the armored vehicle and how it stood up to the assault.
Bulletproof cars often include the multi-layered glasss, armor plating, run-flat tires, explosion-resistant fuel tanks and high-tech communications systems. The extra armor often adds a ton or so to the vehicle’s weight.
MacMillan said the protection on the Suburban was at least three times more than a typical cash-in-transit truck.
Based in Toronto, Streit does business in more than 100 countries and opened its facility in Charleston in 2008.
The armored vehicles will be joined at the AutoFair by an exhibit showcasing 100 years of Chevrolet automobiles, the world’s lowest street-legal vehicle, rock crawlers and movie and television cars.
The Flatmobile from England will be making its first trip to the United States. Modeled after the Batmobile from the 1966-68 “Batman”‘ television series, it has ground clearance of 2 inches, barely high enough for a golf ball to roll underneath it.
The 2011 armored Suburban’s glass absorbed three .223-caliber bullets from an ASR-15 assault rifle. The bullets were able to puncture the outside glass and cracks splintered from the impact of each bullet like a spider’s web.
But the projectiles failed to penetrate. The inside glass was still smooth after the demonstration.
Meanwhile, as you might expect, the bullets shattered the glass windows on the non-armored Suburban.
Scott Cooper, head of public relations for the Speedway, said the AutoFair always tries to bring “things you’ve never seen or done before.”
Streit built the armored Suburban at its Charleston, S.C., facility, and company representatives also brought an armored Mercedes Benz S550 to the training facility Tuesday. No one shot at the Mercedes.
Don MacMillan, territory director for North and South America for Streit, said the company builds armored vehicles for the U.S. military, embassies, the FBI, National Security Administration, SWAT teams and other agencies.
He described the vehicles as “low-key.”
“You would not know they are armored,” he said. But the Suburban he brought Tuesday could stop bullets from an M-16 or AK-47.
Streit builds about 140 vehicles a month as part of what has become a billion-dollar-a-year industry. In the United States, the demand for these vehicles often is high among professional athletes, corporation heads, movie stars and high-profile musicians, besides government entities.
“It was very cool,” Elwood said of firing at the armored vehicle and how it stood up to the assault.
Bulletproof cars often include the multi-layered glasss, armor plating, run-flat tires, explosion-resistant fuel tanks and high-tech communications systems. The extra armor often adds a ton or so to the vehicle’s weight.
MacMillan said the protection on the Suburban was at least three times more than a typical cash-in-transit truck.
Based in Toronto, Streit does business in more than 100 countries and opened its facility in Charleston in 2008.
The armored vehicles will be joined at the AutoFair by an exhibit showcasing 100 years of Chevrolet automobiles, the world’s lowest street-legal vehicle, rock crawlers and movie and television cars.
The Flatmobile from England will be making its first trip to the United States. Modeled after the Batmobile from the 1966-68 “Batman”‘ television series, it has ground clearance of 2 inches, barely high enough for a golf ball to roll underneath it.
Community members toured Neosho’s crisis [watches]
Community members toured Neosho’s crisis
Community members toured Neosho’s crisis pregnancy center Saturday during an open house designed to acquaint them with the new operation.
Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center began offering free pregnancy testing in late June. Clients are finding them, said center Director Margaret Nollsch, but they are still working to educate the community about who they are and what they do.
“People are still finding out we’re here,” Nollsch said.
The faith-based organization offers free pregnancy tests, peer counseling, post-abortive counseling, referrals to other community organizations and help with clothing and other needs through an earn while you learn program. They also offer classes related to pregnancy and baby care life skills.
“We are here to help young people facing a crisis pregnancy,” Nollsch said, “just to equip them to make positive choices.”
The group is still accepting new and gently used maternity clothes and for infants up to size two and will host another volunteer training will begin in January.
“We have volunteers coming in on a regular basis,” Nollsch said.
They have been visiting local fairs and other events to promote the center.
Next month the group will host their third annual fundraising banquet. Debra Tucker, author of “Rhythms of the Heart” will be the keynote speaker. Tucker has ben affiliated with the Springfield Pregnancy Care Center since 2001 and currently manages the family support program there, which she launched in 2010. The banquet will be held from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Civic.
There is no cost for tickets to the banquet, but space is nearly full.
Community members toured Neosho’s crisis pregnancy center Saturday during an open house designed to acquaint them with the new operation.
Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center began offering free pregnancy testing in late June. Clients are finding them, said center Director Margaret Nollsch, but they are still working to educate the community about who they are and what they do.
“People are still finding out we’re here,” Nollsch said.
The faith-based organization offers free pregnancy tests, peer counseling, post-abortive counseling, referrals to other community organizations and help with clothing and other needs through an earn while you learn program. They also offer classes related to pregnancy and baby care life skills.
“We are here to help young people facing a crisis pregnancy,” Nollsch said, “just to equip them to make positive choices.”
The group is still accepting new and gently used maternity clothes and for infants up to size two and will host another volunteer training will begin in January.
“We have volunteers coming in on a regular basis,” Nollsch said.
They have been visiting local fairs and other events to promote the center.
Next month the group will host their third annual fundraising banquet. Debra Tucker, author of “Rhythms of the Heart” will be the keynote speaker. Tucker has ben affiliated with the Springfield Pregnancy Care Center since 2001 and currently manages the family support program there, which she launched in 2010. The banquet will be held from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Civic.
There is no cost for tickets to the banquet, but space is nearly full.
