Mr Deacon states in his letter "we should read the Leicester Mercury to find out about planning applications".
Then he goes on to say: "I don't know for sure if the planning application for two 150ft wind turbines close to the Anstey parish border was in the Mercury."
I can assure Mr Deacon I contacted Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council when the first application was made for the wind turbines.
During correspondence with the planning officer at the council, I was assured I would be kept updated on the progress of the proposal. I have since received sincere apologies, as it appears I was not contacted on this matter.
In my view, there is a further issue about this planning application, because this was determined by officers at the council and not a planning committee.
I believe there is always controversy when wind turbines are proposed, especially when sited in areas designated countryside.
Indeed, it is also my view, after reading the council constitution, that applications that raise local or wider controversial issues or requiring environmental impact assessments should be determined by the council's planning committee.
I believe this application fits into both categories. Borough councillors should also have the opportunity to make sure this process is carried out. I have written to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council about these points. I am awaiting its reply.
On a positive note, I applaud Mr Deacon for stating that he recycles his Leicester Mercury rapidly.David Snartt, county councillor, Bradgate division.
the Tories are parachuting in Richard Blunt into Kirby Muxloe and Leicester Forest East for the county council elections ("How political rivals aim to gather votes in May", Mercury, February 25).
Is he fleeing from his Ibstock and Appleby seat fearing a defeat to Labour or has he used his political muscle at County Hall to bag himself a prime seat on David Parsons's home turf?
Either way, what does a man who lives in Staffordshire, with significant business and political interests in North West Leicestershire think he has to offer the residents of this part of Blaby district?
What does he know about residents' concerns for the ensuing traffic chaos and effect the approved 4,250-home Lubbesthorpe development will have on our lives? What was his response to the closure of one of the doctors' surgeries in our community?
What development does he think is appropriate at the derelict former Holmfield Primary School site?
The Conservative Party really is treating voters with contempt when it imposes candidates who don't live, work or have any connection to the areas they seek to represent.
Is it hoping the electors of Kirby Muxloe and Leicester Forest East won't notice the Tory candidate is from out of town?
If I was Leicestershire's UKIP strategist (and I'm not) then I would think it worth a punt on putting up a local anti-sleaze, anti-Europe candidate to oppose the Tories in this leafiest of leafy suburbs.
I, for one, will be supporting a local candidate at the election, someone who will have the answer to some of the local questions that I posed.
2013年2月28日 星期四
2013年2月27日 星期三
Cut Victoria city management bonuses to save jobs
Victoria should rein in “skyrocketing” spending on consultants and cut management bonuses instead of laying off unionized workers to meet budget targets, CUPE 50 president John Burrows told councillors on Tuesday.
“If it is council’s desire to meet your budget reduction goals through the reduction in staffing levels, then I submit that it’s time for the exempt staff to share some of the loss,” Burrows said.
As part of its efforts to limit annual property tax increases to 3.25 per cent over the next three years, the city is considering automating all parkades and cutting gardening jobs by replacing annual plantings with perennials.
Burrows said instead of the false economy of laying off CUPE members, city councillors should be taking a closer look at costs of contracted services.
In fact, under the city employee bylaw, exempt staff are eligible for either a bonus equivalent to two per cent of a year’s salary or a week’s holiday in lieu of overtime, and that’s unchanged. Eliminating those bonuses would save the city $200,000 a year, Burrows said.
“They also enjoy discretionary days off, earned days off and a flex-time work schedule, with the outcome being that many work only four days per week,” Burrows said.
After the presentation, councillors asked senior staff for more information on what’s considered contracted and miscellaneous spending.
Mayor Dean Fortin said it’s important to get a breakdown of the spending because many functions such as photocopy machine maintenance or advertising could fall under the category of consulting.
Coun. Lisa Helps said automation of parkades is “small potatoes” but eliminating the two per cent bonus for exempt staff makes sense.
“The parkades are not the big concern [for me]. The big concern is salaries and benefits to all of our city employees, and the ones that we have most control over are exempt staff.” Coun. Ben Isitt said he had a number of concerns about potentially automating parkades.
“I’m not convinced that replacing workers with machines moves our community in a desirable direction in the long run or even in the short run,” Isitt said.
The change would not only affect the workers who will lose their jobs and their families, Isitt said, but there are potential increases in policing costs as well as a potential loss in revenue if people become frustrated with the machines and decide to park elsewhere.
“The capital cost estimate for the proposed parkade automation is $500,000. There appears to be no estimate of maintenance, repair, replacement and upgrade costs for this proposal, although it is safe to assume these won’t be zero,” he said.
Burrows noted that 2,826 people had signed petitions in opposition to the automation of parkades.
“The change to perennial plants will not result in a great enough reduction in labour to lay off two gardeners. The implication in this proposal is that the gardeners have no tasks to perform other than maintaining flower beds. In fact, they are also responsible for shrub beds, ferneries and pruning around the city and more notably, in Beacon Hill Park,” he said.
“Additionally, perennial plants will still require planting, watering, weeding, soil renewal, fertilizing and protection from insects, fungi and other pathogens.”
“If it is council’s desire to meet your budget reduction goals through the reduction in staffing levels, then I submit that it’s time for the exempt staff to share some of the loss,” Burrows said.
As part of its efforts to limit annual property tax increases to 3.25 per cent over the next three years, the city is considering automating all parkades and cutting gardening jobs by replacing annual plantings with perennials.
Burrows said instead of the false economy of laying off CUPE members, city councillors should be taking a closer look at costs of contracted services.
In fact, under the city employee bylaw, exempt staff are eligible for either a bonus equivalent to two per cent of a year’s salary or a week’s holiday in lieu of overtime, and that’s unchanged. Eliminating those bonuses would save the city $200,000 a year, Burrows said.
“They also enjoy discretionary days off, earned days off and a flex-time work schedule, with the outcome being that many work only four days per week,” Burrows said.
After the presentation, councillors asked senior staff for more information on what’s considered contracted and miscellaneous spending.
Mayor Dean Fortin said it’s important to get a breakdown of the spending because many functions such as photocopy machine maintenance or advertising could fall under the category of consulting.
Coun. Lisa Helps said automation of parkades is “small potatoes” but eliminating the two per cent bonus for exempt staff makes sense.
“The parkades are not the big concern [for me]. The big concern is salaries and benefits to all of our city employees, and the ones that we have most control over are exempt staff.” Coun. Ben Isitt said he had a number of concerns about potentially automating parkades.
“I’m not convinced that replacing workers with machines moves our community in a desirable direction in the long run or even in the short run,” Isitt said.
The change would not only affect the workers who will lose their jobs and their families, Isitt said, but there are potential increases in policing costs as well as a potential loss in revenue if people become frustrated with the machines and decide to park elsewhere.
“The capital cost estimate for the proposed parkade automation is $500,000. There appears to be no estimate of maintenance, repair, replacement and upgrade costs for this proposal, although it is safe to assume these won’t be zero,” he said.
Burrows noted that 2,826 people had signed petitions in opposition to the automation of parkades.
“The change to perennial plants will not result in a great enough reduction in labour to lay off two gardeners. The implication in this proposal is that the gardeners have no tasks to perform other than maintaining flower beds. In fact, they are also responsible for shrub beds, ferneries and pruning around the city and more notably, in Beacon Hill Park,” he said.
“Additionally, perennial plants will still require planting, watering, weeding, soil renewal, fertilizing and protection from insects, fungi and other pathogens.”
2013年2月26日 星期二
Renewable energy offers lifeline for struggling farmers
Record levels of interest are being reported in renewable energy as a source of income among farmers struggling financially.
In a year that saw crop yields reduced and productivity down to levels seen in the 1980s, renewable energy provided support for British farms according to Dr. Jonathan Scurlock.
"2012 was a difficult year for the farming community, with bad weather hitting incomes hard. Investing in renewable energy provides farmers and growers with additional earnings at a time when farm budgets have become very stretched" said Dr Scurlock, NFU chief adviser.
According to lending figures from NatWest and RBS, the bulk of farmers interested in renewable energy are in the Midlands, at 40 per cent, followed by Scotland, the North East and the South West.
The NFU Farm Energy Service celebrates its first anniversary and has so far helped 1,550 farms around the UK in the twelve months since it was launched.
52% of renewable queries made to the service relate to solar technologies, which tend to have more eligible sites than any other technologies. The number of agricultural solar installations has increased recently, according to renewable energy specialists.
"We have seen an increase in the number of agricultural customers as from a farmer’s point of view it makes sense to reduce their energy bills and make the most of the land they have available by installing solar panels" said Sam Tilley, Managing Director of Infinite Energy.
"People often think solar systems need to be implemented on roofs but ground implementations are becoming increasingly popular."
Wicks Manor has been producing pork for over 40 years on the family run pig farm in Essex. They saw the electricity bills continuing to rise and wanted a way to reduce their CO2 emissions.
"Pigs are born and bred at Wicks Manor, they eat wheat and barley grown and milled on the farm. We wanted to find a ’greener’ way to run the operation, renewable systems are the way forward for farmers" said Fergus Howie, Partner of Wicks Manor.
30 per cent of renewable queries relate to wind turbines which, according to specialist surveyors Fisher German, offer farmers a particularly strong rate of return. Yields can reach 25 per cent in areas of high wind.
Meanwhile, analysis from NatWest and RBS and trade association RenewableUK today suggests that most wind farm installations for 2012 were up to 80kW, making farmers between 12,000 and 50,000 a year.
Maria McCaffery, Chief Executive of RenewableUK, said: "Farmers are experts at harnessing the Earth’s natural resources, so it's no surprise that they are leading the way on wind energy."
"The UK has the most powerful wind resource in Europe and this has provided a vital source of income for farmers, helping to preserve rural communities in Britain."
The past year has also shown that two barriers to the uptake of renewable energy – financing and planning – have not been as difficult as was feared when the Service launched.
In a January 2012 survey before the Service was launched, the NFU and NatWest found that 34 per cent of farmers were concerned about the cost and over half were nervous about planning.
However, according to Fisher German, the approval rate for wind projects is very strong. Of the 18 per cent that do go to appeal, a further two thirds are also granted consent.
Medium sized turbines can take 18-24 months to get through planning but, even here, the success rate remains high with 85 per cent of the applications being granted planning permission.
Liberty Stones from Fisher German said: "National Planning Policy currently recognises that small scale renewable projects make a valuable contribution to cutting emissions and promotes the approval of such projects subject to their impacts being acceptable. Provided farmers receive the right support, planning is not the concern that many anticipate."
In a year that saw crop yields reduced and productivity down to levels seen in the 1980s, renewable energy provided support for British farms according to Dr. Jonathan Scurlock.
"2012 was a difficult year for the farming community, with bad weather hitting incomes hard. Investing in renewable energy provides farmers and growers with additional earnings at a time when farm budgets have become very stretched" said Dr Scurlock, NFU chief adviser.
According to lending figures from NatWest and RBS, the bulk of farmers interested in renewable energy are in the Midlands, at 40 per cent, followed by Scotland, the North East and the South West.
The NFU Farm Energy Service celebrates its first anniversary and has so far helped 1,550 farms around the UK in the twelve months since it was launched.
52% of renewable queries made to the service relate to solar technologies, which tend to have more eligible sites than any other technologies. The number of agricultural solar installations has increased recently, according to renewable energy specialists.
"We have seen an increase in the number of agricultural customers as from a farmer’s point of view it makes sense to reduce their energy bills and make the most of the land they have available by installing solar panels" said Sam Tilley, Managing Director of Infinite Energy.
"People often think solar systems need to be implemented on roofs but ground implementations are becoming increasingly popular."
Wicks Manor has been producing pork for over 40 years on the family run pig farm in Essex. They saw the electricity bills continuing to rise and wanted a way to reduce their CO2 emissions.
"Pigs are born and bred at Wicks Manor, they eat wheat and barley grown and milled on the farm. We wanted to find a ’greener’ way to run the operation, renewable systems are the way forward for farmers" said Fergus Howie, Partner of Wicks Manor.
30 per cent of renewable queries relate to wind turbines which, according to specialist surveyors Fisher German, offer farmers a particularly strong rate of return. Yields can reach 25 per cent in areas of high wind.
Meanwhile, analysis from NatWest and RBS and trade association RenewableUK today suggests that most wind farm installations for 2012 were up to 80kW, making farmers between 12,000 and 50,000 a year.
Maria McCaffery, Chief Executive of RenewableUK, said: "Farmers are experts at harnessing the Earth’s natural resources, so it's no surprise that they are leading the way on wind energy."
"The UK has the most powerful wind resource in Europe and this has provided a vital source of income for farmers, helping to preserve rural communities in Britain."
The past year has also shown that two barriers to the uptake of renewable energy – financing and planning – have not been as difficult as was feared when the Service launched.
In a January 2012 survey before the Service was launched, the NFU and NatWest found that 34 per cent of farmers were concerned about the cost and over half were nervous about planning.
However, according to Fisher German, the approval rate for wind projects is very strong. Of the 18 per cent that do go to appeal, a further two thirds are also granted consent.
Medium sized turbines can take 18-24 months to get through planning but, even here, the success rate remains high with 85 per cent of the applications being granted planning permission.
Liberty Stones from Fisher German said: "National Planning Policy currently recognises that small scale renewable projects make a valuable contribution to cutting emissions and promotes the approval of such projects subject to their impacts being acceptable. Provided farmers receive the right support, planning is not the concern that many anticipate."
2013年2月25日 星期一
Slender Inspirations offers technical assistance
The Lewiston resident worked out five days a week, often with a personal trainer. And she carefully watched her diet. She just didn’t seem to be making any progress.
Then she signed up for nine sessions with Margie Mokhiber of Slender Inspirations and finally, she said, dropped a dress size.
Along with diet consultations, Mokhiber, a certified nutritionist, provided Cold Laser Light Therapy (a non-surgical procedure) as well as full body vibration platform therapy. And while she uses what she says are some cutting-edge electronics, she added that weight loss under her guidance begins the old fashioned way, through diet and exercise.
“When my clients come in we first do a food and exercise plan, and then we do a cleanse,” Mokhiber said.
Each session involves a half hour on the treatment bed where she applies the laser delivery system, a series of wires attached to thin blocks placed upon the body treatment areas.
“They call it a laser-like treatment,” Mokhiber said of the cold light laser, which she says is pain-free and has no side effects.
While the patient lies on the bed, head phones deliver a positive message designed to encourage weight loss, created by Dr. Patrick Porter, a hypnotist. The patient listens to the messages as the light lasers pulse.
“What (the cold light laser) does is open up the fat cells and pull water from them. The water is dumped into the lymphatic system,” she explained. The lymphatic system is stimulated to eliminate the water through a full body vibration platform, which the client stands upon and which vibrates at rapid speeds to help the body rid itself of toxins, she said.
The combination of treatments provides the loss of inches and weight, Mokhiber added.
Each treatment in the series is 40 minutes and Mokhiber noted payment plans are offered. In addition, she has put out special offers on Groupon, the online coupon system. She estimates she got 50 percent of her clients from Groupon since she opened in January.
Mokhiber said she was trained in the program with Dr. Jams Fettig, a North Dakota chiropractor and author of “The Creator’s Manual for Your Body.”
Catherine Stack, RN, doctor of naturopathic medicine and owner of Journey II Health on Porter Road (also a Gazette columnist who appears today on Page 1C), has hosted Mokhiber’s nutrition business at her center in the past and believes Mokhiber is a positive addition to the center.
“I like how she incorporates nutrition with what she does,” Stack said. “And it seems people are dropping inches.”
Custode, who signed up for a second series of nine treatments, said she is happy with the 14 inches she has lost — in total — from her body measurements. She has signed up for more sessions.
“If I didn’t think it worked, I certainly wouldn’t have signed up for another series of treatments,” said Custode, who also follows a diet called the “Blood Type Diet,” which both Mokhiber and Stack recommend. The blood type diet recommends different types of foods, depending on the blood type.
Custode said that her blood type, Type O, responds better to a diet that includes red meat and so, after a lifetime of avoiding red meat, she has happily included it in her weight loss regimen.
Custode continues to work out about five times a week, but now she feels she is finally seeing results from her efforts.
“I was killing myself at the gym and the pounds wouldn’t come off,” she said, adding the sessions with Mokhiber, about three times a week, have helped her lose a total of ten pounds.
Then she signed up for nine sessions with Margie Mokhiber of Slender Inspirations and finally, she said, dropped a dress size.
Along with diet consultations, Mokhiber, a certified nutritionist, provided Cold Laser Light Therapy (a non-surgical procedure) as well as full body vibration platform therapy. And while she uses what she says are some cutting-edge electronics, she added that weight loss under her guidance begins the old fashioned way, through diet and exercise.
“When my clients come in we first do a food and exercise plan, and then we do a cleanse,” Mokhiber said.
Each session involves a half hour on the treatment bed where she applies the laser delivery system, a series of wires attached to thin blocks placed upon the body treatment areas.
“They call it a laser-like treatment,” Mokhiber said of the cold light laser, which she says is pain-free and has no side effects.
While the patient lies on the bed, head phones deliver a positive message designed to encourage weight loss, created by Dr. Patrick Porter, a hypnotist. The patient listens to the messages as the light lasers pulse.
“What (the cold light laser) does is open up the fat cells and pull water from them. The water is dumped into the lymphatic system,” she explained. The lymphatic system is stimulated to eliminate the water through a full body vibration platform, which the client stands upon and which vibrates at rapid speeds to help the body rid itself of toxins, she said.
The combination of treatments provides the loss of inches and weight, Mokhiber added.
Each treatment in the series is 40 minutes and Mokhiber noted payment plans are offered. In addition, she has put out special offers on Groupon, the online coupon system. She estimates she got 50 percent of her clients from Groupon since she opened in January.
Mokhiber said she was trained in the program with Dr. Jams Fettig, a North Dakota chiropractor and author of “The Creator’s Manual for Your Body.”
Catherine Stack, RN, doctor of naturopathic medicine and owner of Journey II Health on Porter Road (also a Gazette columnist who appears today on Page 1C), has hosted Mokhiber’s nutrition business at her center in the past and believes Mokhiber is a positive addition to the center.
“I like how she incorporates nutrition with what she does,” Stack said. “And it seems people are dropping inches.”
Custode, who signed up for a second series of nine treatments, said she is happy with the 14 inches she has lost — in total — from her body measurements. She has signed up for more sessions.
“If I didn’t think it worked, I certainly wouldn’t have signed up for another series of treatments,” said Custode, who also follows a diet called the “Blood Type Diet,” which both Mokhiber and Stack recommend. The blood type diet recommends different types of foods, depending on the blood type.
Custode said that her blood type, Type O, responds better to a diet that includes red meat and so, after a lifetime of avoiding red meat, she has happily included it in her weight loss regimen.
Custode continues to work out about five times a week, but now she feels she is finally seeing results from her efforts.
“I was killing myself at the gym and the pounds wouldn’t come off,” she said, adding the sessions with Mokhiber, about three times a week, have helped her lose a total of ten pounds.
2013年2月24日 星期日
Author explores pros, cons of wind turbines
The pros and cons of wind turbines on ranching in West Texas is explored in “Viento: Wind, Turbines & Ranchland” by Scott White of Texas Tech’s National Ranching Heritage Center.
The book, which features interviews with West Texas ranchers, offers a balanced assessment of the turbines that have certainly changed the rural landscape. Some ranchers applaud the clean energy and see the revenue from wind energy as a way to keep their ranches solvent and family-owned. Others deplore the way the turbines have defaced the countryside and worry about their long-term effect on ranching.
“The purpose of this project,” White writes, “was to record, through a series of oral history interviews, the opinions and feelings of ranchers about wind turbines, the accompanying transmission lines and how those fit with their philosophies of land care.
The interviews, he said, offer “insights into why some have chosen to have wind turbines on their land, while others oppose them being on their ranches or anywhere they might be seen.
“Either way, wind turbines have altered many ranchers’ perceptions of the future of ranching.”
Money alone, he found, is not the only issue, although it certainly plays an important role in the discussion.
“I tell you what,” said Raymond McDaniel, whose family has had a ranch near Abilene since 1928, “wind energy saved the lives of a lot of farmers and ranchers around here. Absolutely saved their lives.”
Riley Miller, whose ranch is near Justiceburg, said: “That check, according to how much the wind blows, coming every month makes a difference in what you can do on the ranch. For some of these people it saved their land. You bet it did.”
On the other hand, Albany rancher Cliff Teinert suggested that the wind turbines ought to be located in cities that need the electricity, not on ranches. “Put them on top of those big buildings, and they can generate their own electricity. That way we would have to look at ugly sights, and everybody would be happy.
“People make a bunch of money off the wind, you know; it’s better off than cattle. But boy, it sure defaces the country.”
Ross McKnight of Throckmorton called the turbines “a scourge on the ranching industry. I think it takes away from the quality of life, which is the one thing that we have to offer. They’re giving away the beauty of nature for a short-term dollar.”
Others, like Abilene’s Phil Guitar, are taking a wait-and-see attitude, understanding the problems — “They ruin the looks of the ranch. And they kill the value of the ranch.” – yet acknowledging that “it just hasn’t played out that the developers have come to us with good deals.”
Guitar and other ranchers questioned the long-term economic viability of wind energy, which has to be heavily subsidized to operate at this time.
Author Scott White will talk about his book and the wind energy issue at the Abilene Public Library at noon on April 8 as part of the library’s Texas Author Series. He will sign copies of the book after his talk.
The book, which features interviews with West Texas ranchers, offers a balanced assessment of the turbines that have certainly changed the rural landscape. Some ranchers applaud the clean energy and see the revenue from wind energy as a way to keep their ranches solvent and family-owned. Others deplore the way the turbines have defaced the countryside and worry about their long-term effect on ranching.
“The purpose of this project,” White writes, “was to record, through a series of oral history interviews, the opinions and feelings of ranchers about wind turbines, the accompanying transmission lines and how those fit with their philosophies of land care.
The interviews, he said, offer “insights into why some have chosen to have wind turbines on their land, while others oppose them being on their ranches or anywhere they might be seen.
“Either way, wind turbines have altered many ranchers’ perceptions of the future of ranching.”
Money alone, he found, is not the only issue, although it certainly plays an important role in the discussion.
“I tell you what,” said Raymond McDaniel, whose family has had a ranch near Abilene since 1928, “wind energy saved the lives of a lot of farmers and ranchers around here. Absolutely saved their lives.”
Riley Miller, whose ranch is near Justiceburg, said: “That check, according to how much the wind blows, coming every month makes a difference in what you can do on the ranch. For some of these people it saved their land. You bet it did.”
On the other hand, Albany rancher Cliff Teinert suggested that the wind turbines ought to be located in cities that need the electricity, not on ranches. “Put them on top of those big buildings, and they can generate their own electricity. That way we would have to look at ugly sights, and everybody would be happy.
“People make a bunch of money off the wind, you know; it’s better off than cattle. But boy, it sure defaces the country.”
Ross McKnight of Throckmorton called the turbines “a scourge on the ranching industry. I think it takes away from the quality of life, which is the one thing that we have to offer. They’re giving away the beauty of nature for a short-term dollar.”
Others, like Abilene’s Phil Guitar, are taking a wait-and-see attitude, understanding the problems — “They ruin the looks of the ranch. And they kill the value of the ranch.” – yet acknowledging that “it just hasn’t played out that the developers have come to us with good deals.”
Guitar and other ranchers questioned the long-term economic viability of wind energy, which has to be heavily subsidized to operate at this time.
Author Scott White will talk about his book and the wind energy issue at the Abilene Public Library at noon on April 8 as part of the library’s Texas Author Series. He will sign copies of the book after his talk.
2013年2月21日 星期四
Laser machine stolen from Flint salon
THE owner of a hair and beauty salon in Flint says she is devastated after burglars broke into her business taking equipment and stock worth about 16,000.
During the raid on Chiq Hair and Beauty Studios in Church Street the shelves were cleared of hair and beauty products. A laptop and a laser hair removal machine valued at 10,000 were also taken.
When staff arrived at work on Friday morning they were shocked to find the salon had been trashed.
Sharon Ledward, who owns the salon with husband David, said: "I was absolutely devastated. I was numb and couldn't speak."
She told the Chronicle they opened the business eight years ago and have worked hard to build it up."They left such a mess," she added. "This isn't just about my livelihood, it also impacts on the staff. "We had to cancel appointments over the weekend – which is our busiest time – to clean up.
"We've also been to warn other business owners in the area as I'd hate to think of this happening to anyone else. I can't believe someone has done this."
Mrs Ledward, who says the business is insured, believes the offenders broke in through a window.
"Since the incident she says they have invested in a new security system as she can't face going through a similar incident again," she added.
"You don't know what it really feels like until it happens to you – I'm trying to keep smiling through it all." Singapore will have a whole new set of coins in circulation by the middle of this year.
The current Second Series coins were first introduced in 1985 and featured local plants and flowers, depicting Singapore as a garden city.
But they'll soon make way for the Third Series featuring five of Singapore's national icons and landmarks - the Merlion, Port of Singapore, Changi Airport, Public Housing and the Esplanade.
For example, HDB flats - home to more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans - will be featured on the 10-cent coin... and the Esplanade on the 5-cent coin.
"Coins reflect the events, persons or symbols significant to a nation. The new series coins depict local icons and landmarks that are familiar to Singaporeans and reflect various aspects of Singapore's progress as a nation," said Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Each coin denomination has an electro-magnetic signature, which allows vending machines to detect counterfeit and foreign coins.
The one-dollar coin contains additional security features such as its bi-metallic composition and laser mark micro-engraving in the shape of Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim.
The new coins will have larger denomination numerals for easy identification and features to facilitate identification by the visually-impaired.
The coins are progressively sized by denomination, with the 5-cent coin being the smallest and one-dollar coin being the largest.
Mrs Foo-Yap Siew Hong, Assistant Managing Director of MAS, said, "The Second Series coins have been in use for more than 25 years. There will be a period of adjustment as we all get comfortable with the new coins. MAS will continue to work closely with our stakeholders to smoothen the transition."
MAS says it has been working with public transport operators to ensure that coin-operated machines at MRT/LRT stations are calibrated to accept both the current and new series coins before the launch.
It has also been working with businesses with coin-operated facilities such as vending machine operators and supermarkets to prepare them for the launch.
During the raid on Chiq Hair and Beauty Studios in Church Street the shelves were cleared of hair and beauty products. A laptop and a laser hair removal machine valued at 10,000 were also taken.
When staff arrived at work on Friday morning they were shocked to find the salon had been trashed.
Sharon Ledward, who owns the salon with husband David, said: "I was absolutely devastated. I was numb and couldn't speak."
She told the Chronicle they opened the business eight years ago and have worked hard to build it up."They left such a mess," she added. "This isn't just about my livelihood, it also impacts on the staff. "We had to cancel appointments over the weekend – which is our busiest time – to clean up.
"We've also been to warn other business owners in the area as I'd hate to think of this happening to anyone else. I can't believe someone has done this."
Mrs Ledward, who says the business is insured, believes the offenders broke in through a window.
"Since the incident she says they have invested in a new security system as she can't face going through a similar incident again," she added.
"You don't know what it really feels like until it happens to you – I'm trying to keep smiling through it all." Singapore will have a whole new set of coins in circulation by the middle of this year.
The current Second Series coins were first introduced in 1985 and featured local plants and flowers, depicting Singapore as a garden city.
But they'll soon make way for the Third Series featuring five of Singapore's national icons and landmarks - the Merlion, Port of Singapore, Changi Airport, Public Housing and the Esplanade.
For example, HDB flats - home to more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans - will be featured on the 10-cent coin... and the Esplanade on the 5-cent coin.
"Coins reflect the events, persons or symbols significant to a nation. The new series coins depict local icons and landmarks that are familiar to Singaporeans and reflect various aspects of Singapore's progress as a nation," said Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Each coin denomination has an electro-magnetic signature, which allows vending machines to detect counterfeit and foreign coins.
The one-dollar coin contains additional security features such as its bi-metallic composition and laser mark micro-engraving in the shape of Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim.
The new coins will have larger denomination numerals for easy identification and features to facilitate identification by the visually-impaired.
The coins are progressively sized by denomination, with the 5-cent coin being the smallest and one-dollar coin being the largest.
Mrs Foo-Yap Siew Hong, Assistant Managing Director of MAS, said, "The Second Series coins have been in use for more than 25 years. There will be a period of adjustment as we all get comfortable with the new coins. MAS will continue to work closely with our stakeholders to smoothen the transition."
MAS says it has been working with public transport operators to ensure that coin-operated machines at MRT/LRT stations are calibrated to accept both the current and new series coins before the launch.
It has also been working with businesses with coin-operated facilities such as vending machine operators and supermarkets to prepare them for the launch.
2013年2月20日 星期三
Fear and loathing blowing through bush
As the federal government fumbles over its proposed report on the health implications of wind farms, and the state government continues to waver on its position on the renewable energy source, farmers dotted between Mudgee and Wellington are already at war.
It's a bitter dispute that has changed the fabric of once-selfless, community-minded towns, ended friendships that have carried on for generations, and caused divisions in local pubs and even the volunteer Rural Fire Service. And at the core of the fallout is money.
Four major wind farms are proposed in the farming communities around Mudgee and Wellington. The biggest is proposed for Uungula, courtesy of Wind Prospect, which seeks to build 250 turbines, some as high as 194m with a blade length of 65m.
Some farmers will be squeezed between two adjacent wind farms, Uungula and Bodangora, proposed to be built on land their neighbours have offered to the wind farm companies for upwards of $15,000 per turbine annually.
Upset farmers say their neighbours are selling out on them, gobbling up the cash and leaving their farms surrounded by wind turbines within 2km of their homes - potentially devaluing their properties by an estimated 30 per cent.
Noise is a major concern - opponents says the persistent whirring and thumping of the turbines can lead to stress and sleep loss. And massive roadworks, earthworks and blasting will be required to produce foundations the size of Olympic swimming pools.
It is war - and destined for class action if the proposed wind farms are approved. Lyn Jarvis, whose elevated property will stare directly into a wind farm, feels she is "pushing shit uphill", given she feels government departments are against their cause.
She cites a meeting to be held in Yass next Thursday where farmers who will host wind turbines on their property will meet to discuss their fight. It is a meeting hosted by the Department of Environment and Heritage.
"Legal action will be the only recourse we will have left," she said.
Farmer Terry Conn said the breakdown in relationships between neighbours had been the hardest thing for the community to digest. "I can certainly say it's been catastrophic, what's happened to the communities and relationships. People who have been friends and neighbours for generations now don't talk to one another," he said.
Families that once had Christmas together, who gathered in each other's homes every Friday night for a drink, who cried on each other's shoulders through droughts, now despise each other.
Goolma sheep farmer Ross Conn said the issue had ended his close friendship with one neighbour. "It's pretty devastating," he said.
"My wife and his wife used to talk to each other on the phone all the time. That doesn't happen any more. We used to celebrate milestone birthdays together."
One prominent wool farmer, who has won extensive awards for the quality of his produce, is frightened the imminent arrival of wind turbines within 2km of their homestead will chase them off the land.
"To think this is all about money," said the farmer, who did not want his name published for fear of reprisals.
Farmer Michael Lyons said the division in Goolma had forced him to restructure his Rural Fire Service rosters. He now has to pair host farmers up with other host farmers on patrol. It has got that personal.
It's a bitter dispute that has changed the fabric of once-selfless, community-minded towns, ended friendships that have carried on for generations, and caused divisions in local pubs and even the volunteer Rural Fire Service. And at the core of the fallout is money.
Four major wind farms are proposed in the farming communities around Mudgee and Wellington. The biggest is proposed for Uungula, courtesy of Wind Prospect, which seeks to build 250 turbines, some as high as 194m with a blade length of 65m.
Some farmers will be squeezed between two adjacent wind farms, Uungula and Bodangora, proposed to be built on land their neighbours have offered to the wind farm companies for upwards of $15,000 per turbine annually.
Upset farmers say their neighbours are selling out on them, gobbling up the cash and leaving their farms surrounded by wind turbines within 2km of their homes - potentially devaluing their properties by an estimated 30 per cent.
Noise is a major concern - opponents says the persistent whirring and thumping of the turbines can lead to stress and sleep loss. And massive roadworks, earthworks and blasting will be required to produce foundations the size of Olympic swimming pools.
It is war - and destined for class action if the proposed wind farms are approved. Lyn Jarvis, whose elevated property will stare directly into a wind farm, feels she is "pushing shit uphill", given she feels government departments are against their cause.
She cites a meeting to be held in Yass next Thursday where farmers who will host wind turbines on their property will meet to discuss their fight. It is a meeting hosted by the Department of Environment and Heritage.
"Legal action will be the only recourse we will have left," she said.
Farmer Terry Conn said the breakdown in relationships between neighbours had been the hardest thing for the community to digest. "I can certainly say it's been catastrophic, what's happened to the communities and relationships. People who have been friends and neighbours for generations now don't talk to one another," he said.
Families that once had Christmas together, who gathered in each other's homes every Friday night for a drink, who cried on each other's shoulders through droughts, now despise each other.
Goolma sheep farmer Ross Conn said the issue had ended his close friendship with one neighbour. "It's pretty devastating," he said.
"My wife and his wife used to talk to each other on the phone all the time. That doesn't happen any more. We used to celebrate milestone birthdays together."
One prominent wool farmer, who has won extensive awards for the quality of his produce, is frightened the imminent arrival of wind turbines within 2km of their homestead will chase them off the land.
"To think this is all about money," said the farmer, who did not want his name published for fear of reprisals.
Farmer Michael Lyons said the division in Goolma had forced him to restructure his Rural Fire Service rosters. He now has to pair host farmers up with other host farmers on patrol. It has got that personal.
2013年2月19日 星期二
Kotchman sidelined after popup machine mishap
In hindsight, Casey Kotchman probably should have just let the machine crash to the ground. If he had, he may have reduced the damage incurred by his freakish injury that occurred on Monday at Marlins camp.
Kotchman sliced his left ring finger when he ran into the machine that was flinging infield popups. By clutching the machine to prevent it from falling, the veteran first baseman may have caused more damage.
On Monday, he received four stitches on his ring finger, as well as scraped his left middle finger. Both fingers were taped on Tuesday.
"He's going to be out a few days," manager Mike Redmond said. "I guess we list him as day to day, but he's got some stitches. We'll let that thing heal up. Hopefully, it won't be too long."
Kotchman joked about the bizarre circumstances that led to the injury.
"It's probably not every day where you get your hand caught in a pitching machine, on a pop fly," he said.
Teammate Greg Dobbs interjected that Kotchman should have let the machine topple over.
"I'm trying to be a gentleman to the machine, and not throw it down to the ground," Kotchman replied.
Until the stitches are removed, it is unclear how much time he will miss.
"I just got some stitches in it, and we'll see how it feels," Kotchman said Tuesday morning. "I think the tentative plan is to let it calm down for now, and see how it progresses."
Kotchman signed a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training on Feb. 15, the first day of full-squad workouts. He was brought in to provide depth at first base.
"When I hit the pitching machine, I grabbed it," Kotchman said. "When I grabbed it, the wheel was kind of cutting my finger. I guess, instead of hitting it over, I held onto it, and kind of picked it up, and it just kept slicing.
"I didn't even realize it was bleeding at first. When I walked back to first base, I was, like, 'Ok, it is bleeding.' "
One reason the Marlins signed Kotchman is because Logan Morrison's status for Opening Day remains in question.
Former Marlins manager Jack McKeon, who remains a special adviser in the organization, made his first appearance in Spring Training.
McKeon, who makes Elon, N.C., home, typically visits Spring Training camp for a couple of weeks.
The 82-year-old, of course, managed the franchise to the 2003 World Series championship.
Current Miami manager Mike Redmond was part of that team, and he played two seasons for McKeon.
Early Tuesday, McKeon walked into Redmond's office and proclaimed: "I'm reporting for duty."
McKeon was supportive of the Marlins hiring Redmond, who replaced Ozzie Guillen.
Redmond finds a benefit to having McKeon, and his 60-plus years of professional experience, around the youthful team. Redmond noted that as a manager, McKeon had loyalty to his players.
"He played those guys. He stuck with them," Redmond said. "It didn't matter if you were struggling, and you were 0-for-20, he'd run you out there. He'd keep running you out there until you figured it out.
"At the same time, too, he was able to get the bench guys all on board with what we were trying to do. He made everybody accountable. Everybody was accountable for their job, and their role on the team. And it worked. He had a lot of success."
Kotchman sliced his left ring finger when he ran into the machine that was flinging infield popups. By clutching the machine to prevent it from falling, the veteran first baseman may have caused more damage.
On Monday, he received four stitches on his ring finger, as well as scraped his left middle finger. Both fingers were taped on Tuesday.
"He's going to be out a few days," manager Mike Redmond said. "I guess we list him as day to day, but he's got some stitches. We'll let that thing heal up. Hopefully, it won't be too long."
Kotchman joked about the bizarre circumstances that led to the injury.
"It's probably not every day where you get your hand caught in a pitching machine, on a pop fly," he said.
Teammate Greg Dobbs interjected that Kotchman should have let the machine topple over.
"I'm trying to be a gentleman to the machine, and not throw it down to the ground," Kotchman replied.
Until the stitches are removed, it is unclear how much time he will miss.
"I just got some stitches in it, and we'll see how it feels," Kotchman said Tuesday morning. "I think the tentative plan is to let it calm down for now, and see how it progresses."
Kotchman signed a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training on Feb. 15, the first day of full-squad workouts. He was brought in to provide depth at first base.
"When I hit the pitching machine, I grabbed it," Kotchman said. "When I grabbed it, the wheel was kind of cutting my finger. I guess, instead of hitting it over, I held onto it, and kind of picked it up, and it just kept slicing.
"I didn't even realize it was bleeding at first. When I walked back to first base, I was, like, 'Ok, it is bleeding.' "
One reason the Marlins signed Kotchman is because Logan Morrison's status for Opening Day remains in question.
Former Marlins manager Jack McKeon, who remains a special adviser in the organization, made his first appearance in Spring Training.
McKeon, who makes Elon, N.C., home, typically visits Spring Training camp for a couple of weeks.
The 82-year-old, of course, managed the franchise to the 2003 World Series championship.
Current Miami manager Mike Redmond was part of that team, and he played two seasons for McKeon.
Early Tuesday, McKeon walked into Redmond's office and proclaimed: "I'm reporting for duty."
McKeon was supportive of the Marlins hiring Redmond, who replaced Ozzie Guillen.
Redmond finds a benefit to having McKeon, and his 60-plus years of professional experience, around the youthful team. Redmond noted that as a manager, McKeon had loyalty to his players.
"He played those guys. He stuck with them," Redmond said. "It didn't matter if you were struggling, and you were 0-for-20, he'd run you out there. He'd keep running you out there until you figured it out.
"At the same time, too, he was able to get the bench guys all on board with what we were trying to do. He made everybody accountable. Everybody was accountable for their job, and their role on the team. And it worked. He had a lot of success."
2013年2月18日 星期一
Who’s protecting the children?
Let’s see if I can get this straight. The federal and state governments have given wind companies the ability to destroy our natural resources by blowing off our mountain tops, have been given permits to kill while not being held responsible for any harm they are responsible for. The worst of it is they are harming children while being backed by the very people who are supposed to protect us. We feel our state and federal governments have forsaken us to side with the large faceless corporations.
They are using the disguise of green energy to sucker in job-poor areas with the promise of jobs and money for the town. For the locals the jobs are temporary as they have a fleet of workers that travel from job to job. Then the wind companies reap the benefits of tax credits that are coming out of the very pockets of the citizens they are harming, with billions of these tax credit dollars being spent out of country.
Is it right to sacrifice even one family under the guise of something that is supposed to be for the greater good? Study after study have shown living in close proximity to wind turbines make people ill, with all the studies being ignored.
The results of these studies are very real to us as we are now ill.
If you could see the dark circles around my children’s eyes due to the lack of sleep caused by the wind turbines, maybe you’d better understand my frustration.
It is a parent’s duty to protect their innocent children from harm. If we were to knowingly put our children in harm’s way, the state would be after us. But in this situation it is the state that has helped put my family in harm’s way.
There have been many times through history that supposedly well meaning men have pushed their own agenda under the guise of doing something for the greater good. But in reality the deed is self-serving and innocent people are sacrificed along the way.
During times of war sleep deprivation was used to weaken the enemy.
We feel the longer we stay at our home they know we will become sicker, weaker and more apt to give up without a fight. But if they think for one minute we will go quietly into the night, they could not be more wrong.
Every Vermonter impacted and not impacted needs to stand up and be heard. For those not impacted by wind projects with a state that does business with reckless abandon, the next project supposedly for the greater good could be knocking on your door.
What is the next project that will require problems and sacrifice to be made of Vermont citizens?
This is not something I chose to do. This is something I’m being forced to do. We need to be heard. People need to understand. We are not playing a game.
We are not only fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for every Vermonter who may be threatened with the loss of their home, land and sanity.
They are using the disguise of green energy to sucker in job-poor areas with the promise of jobs and money for the town. For the locals the jobs are temporary as they have a fleet of workers that travel from job to job. Then the wind companies reap the benefits of tax credits that are coming out of the very pockets of the citizens they are harming, with billions of these tax credit dollars being spent out of country.
Is it right to sacrifice even one family under the guise of something that is supposed to be for the greater good? Study after study have shown living in close proximity to wind turbines make people ill, with all the studies being ignored.
The results of these studies are very real to us as we are now ill.
If you could see the dark circles around my children’s eyes due to the lack of sleep caused by the wind turbines, maybe you’d better understand my frustration.
It is a parent’s duty to protect their innocent children from harm. If we were to knowingly put our children in harm’s way, the state would be after us. But in this situation it is the state that has helped put my family in harm’s way.
There have been many times through history that supposedly well meaning men have pushed their own agenda under the guise of doing something for the greater good. But in reality the deed is self-serving and innocent people are sacrificed along the way.
During times of war sleep deprivation was used to weaken the enemy.
We feel the longer we stay at our home they know we will become sicker, weaker and more apt to give up without a fight. But if they think for one minute we will go quietly into the night, they could not be more wrong.
Every Vermonter impacted and not impacted needs to stand up and be heard. For those not impacted by wind projects with a state that does business with reckless abandon, the next project supposedly for the greater good could be knocking on your door.
What is the next project that will require problems and sacrifice to be made of Vermont citizens?
This is not something I chose to do. This is something I’m being forced to do. We need to be heard. People need to understand. We are not playing a game.
We are not only fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for every Vermonter who may be threatened with the loss of their home, land and sanity.
2013年2月17日 星期日
Helping Hands Ministry provides fashionable gifts of love
No matter where she may live, nothing can bring a smile to a little girl’s face easier than a new dress. With that in mind, a group of women based in Slidell have spent the past two years sewing close to 3,000 pillow case dresses for impoverished young girls across the world.
The women behind this effort, under the title of the Helping Hands Ministry, are led by Betty Thomas. Thomas was attending her church’s Holy Convocation in 2010 when the speaker asked each person in the audience, "Do you have a vision?"
“It just struck me and I said, ‘God, I don’t have a vision and I need one’,” said Thomas.
Later she was looking at sewing entrepreneur Nancy Zimmerman’s website and saw Nancy’s plan to try to give every little girl living in Africa and in need a new dress. “I knew then I could help with that,” said Thomas.
An avid quilter and seamstress, Thomas started sewing the simple sleeveless dresses at home. She then encouraged her fellow members of the Camellia Quilters Guild to add to the stack of finished outfits ready for mailing. Soon brightly colored fabrics and pretty ribbons were becoming new dresses at sewing workshops with the Picayune Piecemakers Quilt guild, and at community churches in Slidell and as far away as Varnado, La. She keeps a scrapbook of photos from each workshop.
Thomas was hauling sewing machines and supplies to the Slidell library for the weekly quilt guild bee to increase interest in the project. Due to the great number of weekly volunteers who committed to the project, Thomas now has the ladies meet at her home. Whirling sewing machines cover her dining room table, cutting boards are used on the living room floor, and ironing boards line the kitchen counters.
The dresses, and now short sets for boys, have gone to Uganda, Honduras, Haiti, and beyond. During a recent workday, Thomas received a message from a missionary in Mali that received a shipment of dresses. “The war in Mali is impacting everything,” said Thomas.
Working together in the Thomas home on a recent Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen women sat cutting, pinning, sewing and enjoying the camaraderie. Some had known Thomas for years through church gatherings, and some were sewing with the group for the first time.
“We didn’t know anything about quilting when we started. But Betty was our teacher and now we’re teaching others,” said Mildred Strickland, while tying a brightly colored quilt destined for a local homeless shelter. She and fellow quilters Shirley Rudolph and Geneva Carter have known Thomas for decades through church.
The workday was the first for Betty Van Tuyl. She had learned of the project at the library and wanted to help. “This is my first day and it’s a lot of fun,” sayd Van Tuyl, as she put cute 101 Dalmatian fabric for a pair of little boy shorts through the machine. A good-natured vibe ran through the house, along with the chugging of sewing machines in action.
All the dresses, shorts and quilts are made from donated materials. The group welcomes donations of fabric, ribbons, clean used jeans and trim to turn into the clothes and quilts that are needed and appreciated by their recipients, said Thomas.
The women behind this effort, under the title of the Helping Hands Ministry, are led by Betty Thomas. Thomas was attending her church’s Holy Convocation in 2010 when the speaker asked each person in the audience, "Do you have a vision?"
“It just struck me and I said, ‘God, I don’t have a vision and I need one’,” said Thomas.
Later she was looking at sewing entrepreneur Nancy Zimmerman’s website and saw Nancy’s plan to try to give every little girl living in Africa and in need a new dress. “I knew then I could help with that,” said Thomas.
An avid quilter and seamstress, Thomas started sewing the simple sleeveless dresses at home. She then encouraged her fellow members of the Camellia Quilters Guild to add to the stack of finished outfits ready for mailing. Soon brightly colored fabrics and pretty ribbons were becoming new dresses at sewing workshops with the Picayune Piecemakers Quilt guild, and at community churches in Slidell and as far away as Varnado, La. She keeps a scrapbook of photos from each workshop.
Thomas was hauling sewing machines and supplies to the Slidell library for the weekly quilt guild bee to increase interest in the project. Due to the great number of weekly volunteers who committed to the project, Thomas now has the ladies meet at her home. Whirling sewing machines cover her dining room table, cutting boards are used on the living room floor, and ironing boards line the kitchen counters.
The dresses, and now short sets for boys, have gone to Uganda, Honduras, Haiti, and beyond. During a recent workday, Thomas received a message from a missionary in Mali that received a shipment of dresses. “The war in Mali is impacting everything,” said Thomas.
Working together in the Thomas home on a recent Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen women sat cutting, pinning, sewing and enjoying the camaraderie. Some had known Thomas for years through church gatherings, and some were sewing with the group for the first time.
“We didn’t know anything about quilting when we started. But Betty was our teacher and now we’re teaching others,” said Mildred Strickland, while tying a brightly colored quilt destined for a local homeless shelter. She and fellow quilters Shirley Rudolph and Geneva Carter have known Thomas for decades through church.
The workday was the first for Betty Van Tuyl. She had learned of the project at the library and wanted to help. “This is my first day and it’s a lot of fun,” sayd Van Tuyl, as she put cute 101 Dalmatian fabric for a pair of little boy shorts through the machine. A good-natured vibe ran through the house, along with the chugging of sewing machines in action.
All the dresses, shorts and quilts are made from donated materials. The group welcomes donations of fabric, ribbons, clean used jeans and trim to turn into the clothes and quilts that are needed and appreciated by their recipients, said Thomas.
2013年2月16日 星期六
Port Orchard high school teaches environmental conservation
Forty-five feet above South Kitsap High School’s athletic field, the 6-foot-long blades of a wind turbine turn gracefully in the breeze. The blades are flared at the tips, like aircraft wings, and the turbine head has a sensor mechanism allowing it to swivel with the slightest shift in wind direction for maximum power output.
The $60,000 turbine, obtained through a grant from the Office of Naval Research, has been running for about a month and has been a great conversation-starter around campus.
The OMG factor is one reason the high school’s Career and Technical Education Department pursued the grant in the first place. The hope is that passing curiosity will grow into a hunger for knowledge about how it works, said Chance Gower, CTE instructional specialist, who wrote the grant proposal with Sara Hatfield, agriculture instructor.
The Navy is keen to promote an interest in science, technology, engineering and math among K-12 students, said Corinne Beach, STEM K-12 outreach coordinator for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Navy is pumping money into efforts to recruit and train younger people while exploring more cost-efficient forms of energy
The wind turbine is the most visible aspect of the high school’s focus on environmental conservation. The school also has solar panels on its livestock barn, a sophisticated composting system and a “pig toilet,” for processing livestock waste. Discovery Alternative High School students this year took over earlier efforts to reintroduce salmon to Karcher Creek. All of the high school’s environmental initiatives are grant-funded.
The number of energy conservation projects at SKHS has earned attention for the school’s natural resources curriculum, said Thomas Mosby, CTE director. Science teachers outside the natural resources program also are eager to share in data and curricula being developed by CTE staff.
Gower is working on a computer program that will allow students to track the turbine’s energy output and compare its efficiency to the barn’s solar panels. The wind turbine eventually will help power the high school’s greenhouse to offset power consumption. The solar panels last year earned the district a $917 rebate from Puget Sound Energy.
The high school’s Naval Research grant, obtained in 2011, was for up to $100,000. Gower and Hatfield have other ideas for expanding the energy efficiency curriculum. But the remainder of funding has been frozen as Congress battles the budget deficit.
The “pig toilet” involves channels inside the barn that students can hose down into an underground tank. The tank can be flushed into the city’s wastewater treatment system. Pigs, unlike other livestock animals, eat a lot of protein, which contains potentially harmful bacteria. Flushing the waste keeps bacteria out of the landfill and saves disposal costs.
The barn’s composting system makes use of food scraps from the cafeteria and wood chips from carpentry classes. The rich material that is produced fertilizes plants that students sell to support the agriculture program.
On Karcher Creek, Discovery students and their teacher Jerry Polley have cleared the creek of debris and created channels to a hatchery renovated in 2010 in a collaboration between the district and Port Orchard Rotary. The students monitor trays of salmon fry, grown from eggs purchased from a hatchery on Minter Creek. By passing water from Karcher Creek over the trays, students are imprinting on the coho and chum fry information that will allow them to navigate back to the creek to spawn.
The $60,000 turbine, obtained through a grant from the Office of Naval Research, has been running for about a month and has been a great conversation-starter around campus.
The OMG factor is one reason the high school’s Career and Technical Education Department pursued the grant in the first place. The hope is that passing curiosity will grow into a hunger for knowledge about how it works, said Chance Gower, CTE instructional specialist, who wrote the grant proposal with Sara Hatfield, agriculture instructor.
The Navy is keen to promote an interest in science, technology, engineering and math among K-12 students, said Corinne Beach, STEM K-12 outreach coordinator for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Navy is pumping money into efforts to recruit and train younger people while exploring more cost-efficient forms of energy
The wind turbine is the most visible aspect of the high school’s focus on environmental conservation. The school also has solar panels on its livestock barn, a sophisticated composting system and a “pig toilet,” for processing livestock waste. Discovery Alternative High School students this year took over earlier efforts to reintroduce salmon to Karcher Creek. All of the high school’s environmental initiatives are grant-funded.
The number of energy conservation projects at SKHS has earned attention for the school’s natural resources curriculum, said Thomas Mosby, CTE director. Science teachers outside the natural resources program also are eager to share in data and curricula being developed by CTE staff.
Gower is working on a computer program that will allow students to track the turbine’s energy output and compare its efficiency to the barn’s solar panels. The wind turbine eventually will help power the high school’s greenhouse to offset power consumption. The solar panels last year earned the district a $917 rebate from Puget Sound Energy.
The high school’s Naval Research grant, obtained in 2011, was for up to $100,000. Gower and Hatfield have other ideas for expanding the energy efficiency curriculum. But the remainder of funding has been frozen as Congress battles the budget deficit.
The “pig toilet” involves channels inside the barn that students can hose down into an underground tank. The tank can be flushed into the city’s wastewater treatment system. Pigs, unlike other livestock animals, eat a lot of protein, which contains potentially harmful bacteria. Flushing the waste keeps bacteria out of the landfill and saves disposal costs.
The barn’s composting system makes use of food scraps from the cafeteria and wood chips from carpentry classes. The rich material that is produced fertilizes plants that students sell to support the agriculture program.
On Karcher Creek, Discovery students and their teacher Jerry Polley have cleared the creek of debris and created channels to a hatchery renovated in 2010 in a collaboration between the district and Port Orchard Rotary. The students monitor trays of salmon fry, grown from eggs purchased from a hatchery on Minter Creek. By passing water from Karcher Creek over the trays, students are imprinting on the coho and chum fry information that will allow them to navigate back to the creek to spawn.
2013年2月6日 星期三
Roots in Coleman
The Fike children attended a one room country school, the Wise school which was three miles away. Dora said, “They told my dad they were going to build a school a mile away but they changed their minds and built it three miles away.”
Dora remembered being six years old and riding down the railroad tracks in a cart pulled by her brothers Lester and Dale after school let out. The day didn’t start out that way. Dora, Dale and Lester rode in the cart pulled by a mule and when the boys got to school, they tied the mule up across the road from the school in the church yard. During the day the mule managed to get untethered and walked back to the farm. The boys decided the only way to get the cart back home so they could ride back to school the next day was to pull the cart back home. They put Dora in the cart and decided that pulling the cart down the railroad tracks was easier than going down the road. Dora said, “I remember sitting in that cart jouncing all the way home.”
Ed and Carrie were members of the United Brethren Church so not too much emphasis was placed on Christmas although the family always got together for the day. Dora remembered the first time she saw Santa Claus. She was 3 and was in downtown Coleman by Smith’s Hardware Store with her mom and her Aunt Emma. Dora said, “I was so scared I tried to climb up my Aunt Emma’s leg to get away from that man in the red suit and white beard.”
Ed enjoyed his children coming back home for the holiday and everyone was treated to oyster stew. Christmas programs were always enjoyed with the children learning “pieces” and songs for the occasion. “All the parents came to see us the night of the program,” Dora said.
Farmers went into town on Saturday to buy groceries and anything else the family might need. It was their one night out each week.
One day Ed Fike came in and said to Dora, “Here, Sis. You feed this pig and it’s yours.” Dora kept the little pig in a box in the corner of the kitchen and when Dora went outside, the little pig followed her everywhere. Then one day a salesman came to the farm house and when he started back to his car the little pig followed him. He picked the little pig up, put it under his arm and left. Dora said “I never saw my little pig again.” Later she was given a sheep to raise but her dad sold it when it was full grown. Dora said, “I didn’t have much luck with pets.”
Her playhouse was the corn crib during the summer months but in the fall, the corn crib was full. Dora said, “Well, by then it was too cold to play outside anyway.” She paused for a moment and then continued, “It was a lot different then how kids played and how they do now.”
The Fike family always had the huge farm horses called Percherons. One day, Dora and some of her nieces decided they wanted to ride one of the horses but the horse had other ideas and walked under the clothesline in the yard and wiped them off. Dora said, “I guess he got tired of having us on his back.”
Ed Fike had a threshing machine and in the fall the neighbors all pitched in, going from farm to farm threshing grain using Ed’s machine. The women and children came too, with the women putting together huge meals for the hungry men. At noon when the men came in from the fields, a tub of water was put out so the men could wash the black grain dust from their faces. Dora’s daughter Connie remembers threshing times, too. Connie said, “The women would say to us kids, ‘Take this pail of water with a dipper back to the men in the fields.’”
Dora went to the tenth grade and then stayed home to care for her mother who suffered from what was then simply called “milk leg,” a condition that sometimes developed when a woman gave birth. Most of the time, “milk leg” lasted for a short time. In Carrie’s case, it didn’t.
Dora remembered being six years old and riding down the railroad tracks in a cart pulled by her brothers Lester and Dale after school let out. The day didn’t start out that way. Dora, Dale and Lester rode in the cart pulled by a mule and when the boys got to school, they tied the mule up across the road from the school in the church yard. During the day the mule managed to get untethered and walked back to the farm. The boys decided the only way to get the cart back home so they could ride back to school the next day was to pull the cart back home. They put Dora in the cart and decided that pulling the cart down the railroad tracks was easier than going down the road. Dora said, “I remember sitting in that cart jouncing all the way home.”
Ed and Carrie were members of the United Brethren Church so not too much emphasis was placed on Christmas although the family always got together for the day. Dora remembered the first time she saw Santa Claus. She was 3 and was in downtown Coleman by Smith’s Hardware Store with her mom and her Aunt Emma. Dora said, “I was so scared I tried to climb up my Aunt Emma’s leg to get away from that man in the red suit and white beard.”
Ed enjoyed his children coming back home for the holiday and everyone was treated to oyster stew. Christmas programs were always enjoyed with the children learning “pieces” and songs for the occasion. “All the parents came to see us the night of the program,” Dora said.
Farmers went into town on Saturday to buy groceries and anything else the family might need. It was their one night out each week.
One day Ed Fike came in and said to Dora, “Here, Sis. You feed this pig and it’s yours.” Dora kept the little pig in a box in the corner of the kitchen and when Dora went outside, the little pig followed her everywhere. Then one day a salesman came to the farm house and when he started back to his car the little pig followed him. He picked the little pig up, put it under his arm and left. Dora said “I never saw my little pig again.” Later she was given a sheep to raise but her dad sold it when it was full grown. Dora said, “I didn’t have much luck with pets.”
Her playhouse was the corn crib during the summer months but in the fall, the corn crib was full. Dora said, “Well, by then it was too cold to play outside anyway.” She paused for a moment and then continued, “It was a lot different then how kids played and how they do now.”
The Fike family always had the huge farm horses called Percherons. One day, Dora and some of her nieces decided they wanted to ride one of the horses but the horse had other ideas and walked under the clothesline in the yard and wiped them off. Dora said, “I guess he got tired of having us on his back.”
Ed Fike had a threshing machine and in the fall the neighbors all pitched in, going from farm to farm threshing grain using Ed’s machine. The women and children came too, with the women putting together huge meals for the hungry men. At noon when the men came in from the fields, a tub of water was put out so the men could wash the black grain dust from their faces. Dora’s daughter Connie remembers threshing times, too. Connie said, “The women would say to us kids, ‘Take this pail of water with a dipper back to the men in the fields.’”
Dora went to the tenth grade and then stayed home to care for her mother who suffered from what was then simply called “milk leg,” a condition that sometimes developed when a woman gave birth. Most of the time, “milk leg” lasted for a short time. In Carrie’s case, it didn’t.
2013年2月5日 星期二
U’s solar panels provide little energy
While the state has doubled its solar installations to 7,000 over the last two years and activated the largest solar electricity generator in the state, according to a Star Tribune article, the University only has two solar arrays on the Twin Cities campus.
The largest one, a 38.4-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel — which powers about 4 percent of the building — is located on the roof of the University Office Plaza building, which houses the Minnesota Daily suite.
The $230,000 array came from a $1.35 million grant through the Minnesota Department of Commerce Office of Energy Security as part of the Energy Innovation Corridor — a series of energy-efficient projects along the Central Corridor light-rail line.
Xcel Energy donated the other solar installation, located on the roof of Rapson Hall, to the University
after it was removed from the Science Museum’s Science House in a renovation. It generates less than half as much energy as the other array.
Since its replant on Rapson’s roof, the solar array has been used for research and teaching, although few teachers have taken advantage of it, said Shane Stennes, sustainability coordinator for the University.
The University Office Plaza building was chosen for the larger array, Stennes said, because it was a relatively new building close to the Central Corridor that has south-facing exposure.“It became the clear choice for where to put the array,” he said.
Though the University Office Plaza building installation was originally expected to generate about 3.6 percent of the building’s electricity, the panels have consistently produced at least 4 percent, Stennes said.
“They’ve been kicking out a lot more electricity than we expected,” he said. Mechanical engineering senior Michael Hillger said he appreciates the University’s existing solar efforts but thinks more installations should be made.
“It’s good that the University is doing some sort of solar,” Hillger said. “There should be more done, but the little that they have is definitely a good thing.”
While the University has received some recognition for its ecological efforts, the University of Minnesota-Morris often outranks the Twin Cities campus in sustainability.
In 2012, the University received a silver rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, an organization that tracks conservation in colleges and universities. Morris received a gold rating.
Morris has three solar installations on or near campus, one of which heats about half of a research building.
Another installation is at ground level and allows students to study changes in solar output throughout the day, said Troy Goodnough, Morris’ sustainability coordinator.
In addition to solar installations, the university has one wind turbine and a gasification facility that uses agricultural products to produce up to 80 percent of campus heating needs.
“Our campus is working to produce more energy than we consume from renewable energy sources,” Goodnough said.
Morris’ energy goals include becoming 90 percent climate neutral by 2015.
The University of Minnesota’s goal is to reduce emissions to 50 percent by 2021 and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to bring more renewable electricity to campus,” he said, “but we want to do it in a way that makes sense from a logical standpoint … in terms of being economically feasible and appropriate.”
The University has looked into installing a vertical wind turbine, which would produce less energy than the Morris installation but would work better in an urban environment, Stennes said.
The largest one, a 38.4-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel — which powers about 4 percent of the building — is located on the roof of the University Office Plaza building, which houses the Minnesota Daily suite.
The $230,000 array came from a $1.35 million grant through the Minnesota Department of Commerce Office of Energy Security as part of the Energy Innovation Corridor — a series of energy-efficient projects along the Central Corridor light-rail line.
Xcel Energy donated the other solar installation, located on the roof of Rapson Hall, to the University
after it was removed from the Science Museum’s Science House in a renovation. It generates less than half as much energy as the other array.
Since its replant on Rapson’s roof, the solar array has been used for research and teaching, although few teachers have taken advantage of it, said Shane Stennes, sustainability coordinator for the University.
The University Office Plaza building was chosen for the larger array, Stennes said, because it was a relatively new building close to the Central Corridor that has south-facing exposure.“It became the clear choice for where to put the array,” he said.
Though the University Office Plaza building installation was originally expected to generate about 3.6 percent of the building’s electricity, the panels have consistently produced at least 4 percent, Stennes said.
“They’ve been kicking out a lot more electricity than we expected,” he said. Mechanical engineering senior Michael Hillger said he appreciates the University’s existing solar efforts but thinks more installations should be made.
“It’s good that the University is doing some sort of solar,” Hillger said. “There should be more done, but the little that they have is definitely a good thing.”
While the University has received some recognition for its ecological efforts, the University of Minnesota-Morris often outranks the Twin Cities campus in sustainability.
In 2012, the University received a silver rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, an organization that tracks conservation in colleges and universities. Morris received a gold rating.
Morris has three solar installations on or near campus, one of which heats about half of a research building.
Another installation is at ground level and allows students to study changes in solar output throughout the day, said Troy Goodnough, Morris’ sustainability coordinator.
In addition to solar installations, the university has one wind turbine and a gasification facility that uses agricultural products to produce up to 80 percent of campus heating needs.
“Our campus is working to produce more energy than we consume from renewable energy sources,” Goodnough said.
Morris’ energy goals include becoming 90 percent climate neutral by 2015.
The University of Minnesota’s goal is to reduce emissions to 50 percent by 2021 and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to bring more renewable electricity to campus,” he said, “but we want to do it in a way that makes sense from a logical standpoint … in terms of being economically feasible and appropriate.”
The University has looked into installing a vertical wind turbine, which would produce less energy than the Morris installation but would work better in an urban environment, Stennes said.
2013年2月4日 星期一
High Rise of the Machines
New York’s legion of window washers have long fascinated city dwellers below with their fearlessness. But the future of the profession might belong to those even more impervious to dangerous heights: robots.
Clearing a path to the market soon will be the Winbot 7, a compact machine billed by manufacturer Ecovacs Robotics as the first full-service window-washing robot. The device, which resembles a Roomba vacuum cleaner, attaches itself to the pane, maps out its perimeter and proceeds to clean the surface, playing a tinny tune when the work is completed.
Nick Savadian, executive general manager of the company’s U.S. arm, said the robot is aimed at busy homeowners looking for a labor-saving escape from boring chores. “One thing we’re short of in life is time,” he said.
Mr. Savadian allowed that his company’s small robots could have potential applications some day on gleaming skyscrapers, where window work carries risks. “Winbot is very proud to put itself in that position,” he said. “It will clean the outside without taking any chances of liability.”
But the prospect of a near future in which scaffold-riding professionals are replaced by automatons doesn’t appeal to everyone — particularly window washers and the New Yorkers who romanticize them.
“Technology is nice — phones and everything — but for window cleaning, I can’t see it,” said William Coffey, who works for Manhattan-based Skyway Window Cleaning and has been in the industry for three decades.
Mr. Coffey has worked alongside cleaning machines at times but said his most important jobs, including the glass observation deck at the Twin Towers, have always been done by human hands.
“We’re jumping, we’re going on a scaffold, we’re getting pushed out [by wind], you know, we’re going down the side of a building,” he added. “I can’t see a robot thinking of all the things that have to be done.”
The total number of high-rise window washers in and around the city isn’t clear. The window-cleaning division of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, one of the largest unions, counts 800 members.
Andrew Horton, who coordinates safety training for the union’s apprentice window washers, said graduates of the nearly two-year-long program can expect to earn roughly $27 an hour plus $18-a-day fee for working on a scaffold; experienced window cleaners can earn up to $60,000 a year.
In a city defined in no small measure by its towering architecture, Brooklyn Public Library archivist Ivy Marvel believes there is “civic pride” in knowing that window cleaners exist. “It humanizes the city,” she said. “We take a lot of pride in people that do those jobs that only exist in a city like this.”
The city’s sense of window-washing heroism is likely as old as its skyscrapers. Ms. Marvel recently came across a 1952 Brooklyn Daily Eagle profile of Ed Kemp, a window cleaner she describes as fighting a “grimly noble struggle against ambient dirt and pigeon dung.”
Ms. Marvel said she wouldn’t be surprised if she stared up one day and saw machines doing the work. While the Winbot 7 tries to win over homeowners, other companies are already aiming to automate window-washing work for the world’s futuristic mega-towers.
Even with advances in robotics, Mr. Riddell believes the idiosyncratic corners, buttresses and recesses of New York’s 20th century skyline will keep humans involved in the trade. “In some cases you could see a machine has benefit but in most cases it’ll be old elbow grease and ingenuity,” he said.
At J. Racenstein, which has offices in Secaucus, N.J., the most high-tech option available is the HighRise Window Cleaning System, which costs up to $50,000 and promises to reduce labor costs by 50%. The machines are operated by technicians and built to fit into existing rigging used by human cleaners.
Clearing a path to the market soon will be the Winbot 7, a compact machine billed by manufacturer Ecovacs Robotics as the first full-service window-washing robot. The device, which resembles a Roomba vacuum cleaner, attaches itself to the pane, maps out its perimeter and proceeds to clean the surface, playing a tinny tune when the work is completed.
Nick Savadian, executive general manager of the company’s U.S. arm, said the robot is aimed at busy homeowners looking for a labor-saving escape from boring chores. “One thing we’re short of in life is time,” he said.
Mr. Savadian allowed that his company’s small robots could have potential applications some day on gleaming skyscrapers, where window work carries risks. “Winbot is very proud to put itself in that position,” he said. “It will clean the outside without taking any chances of liability.”
But the prospect of a near future in which scaffold-riding professionals are replaced by automatons doesn’t appeal to everyone — particularly window washers and the New Yorkers who romanticize them.
“Technology is nice — phones and everything — but for window cleaning, I can’t see it,” said William Coffey, who works for Manhattan-based Skyway Window Cleaning and has been in the industry for three decades.
Mr. Coffey has worked alongside cleaning machines at times but said his most important jobs, including the glass observation deck at the Twin Towers, have always been done by human hands.
“We’re jumping, we’re going on a scaffold, we’re getting pushed out [by wind], you know, we’re going down the side of a building,” he added. “I can’t see a robot thinking of all the things that have to be done.”
The total number of high-rise window washers in and around the city isn’t clear. The window-cleaning division of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, one of the largest unions, counts 800 members.
Andrew Horton, who coordinates safety training for the union’s apprentice window washers, said graduates of the nearly two-year-long program can expect to earn roughly $27 an hour plus $18-a-day fee for working on a scaffold; experienced window cleaners can earn up to $60,000 a year.
In a city defined in no small measure by its towering architecture, Brooklyn Public Library archivist Ivy Marvel believes there is “civic pride” in knowing that window cleaners exist. “It humanizes the city,” she said. “We take a lot of pride in people that do those jobs that only exist in a city like this.”
The city’s sense of window-washing heroism is likely as old as its skyscrapers. Ms. Marvel recently came across a 1952 Brooklyn Daily Eagle profile of Ed Kemp, a window cleaner she describes as fighting a “grimly noble struggle against ambient dirt and pigeon dung.”
Ms. Marvel said she wouldn’t be surprised if she stared up one day and saw machines doing the work. While the Winbot 7 tries to win over homeowners, other companies are already aiming to automate window-washing work for the world’s futuristic mega-towers.
Even with advances in robotics, Mr. Riddell believes the idiosyncratic corners, buttresses and recesses of New York’s 20th century skyline will keep humans involved in the trade. “In some cases you could see a machine has benefit but in most cases it’ll be old elbow grease and ingenuity,” he said.
At J. Racenstein, which has offices in Secaucus, N.J., the most high-tech option available is the HighRise Window Cleaning System, which costs up to $50,000 and promises to reduce labor costs by 50%. The machines are operated by technicians and built to fit into existing rigging used by human cleaners.
2013年2月3日 星期日
A self-built house on a farm near Dundee is the realisation
EVERY self-builder remembers a project’s moment of conception. In the case of young farmer Dairmid Baird, who lives in a bespoke home just outside Dundee, that moment came when he was just 12 years old. “Growing up on the farm, my brothers and I were always out building dens and one day I made a plan of the type of home I wanted to build when I grew up. I’d say just about everything that’s in that original drawing has been incorporated into this house.”
That sketch is now framed and hangs at the foot of the stairs as a reminder of the powerful potential of childhood imaginings. The house is even named after a den; it is called the Bivvi House – meaning a rough shelter. In reality it is not at all rough, but a finely executed house to which a potent mixture of intelligence, intuition and creativity has been applied. It has an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space downstairs as well as two guest rooms a bathroom, store room, utility room and toilet.
Cantilevered stairs lead to a mezzanine space, a large enclosed sitting room, two further bedrooms and a bathroom. Dairmid’s wife Aileen says, “We like to entertain but it is difficult for people to get here on public transport and it is a long way out of town for a taxi ride, so it made sense to put in extra sleeping accommodation.”
Dairmid had already completed a master’s degree in engineering when an opportunity arose for him to return to the 600-acre family farm. Identifying a suitable building plot was simple; it was chosen because it afforded panoramic views of the landscape.
However, the couple needed to fund the 422,000 build. So Dairmid decided to put his education to good use, by installing an 800kw wind turbine to produce electricity on a commercial scale thereby creating revenue for the business and the family members dependent on it.
He says, “I got an ethical loan for 1.25m from Triodos Renewables and eventually managed to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops to get everything in place.”
Having completed the paperwork over the course of about five years, Dairmid then went on to put up the turbine almost single-handedly. Ground was flattened during excavation works for the turbine access road. And, during the process of quarrying stone for building materials, a steep cliff was created. It formed part of a beautiful south-facing site – but one that needed expert design input from the right architect.
Dairmid says he used his instinct when deciding who that architect would be. It just so happened that Peter Gunning of Archid Architects responded promptly to queries and ultimately shared his vision. Dairmid says, “Peter could see the build as clearly as I could, but he knew how to actually do it.”
Aileen, who works full time in marketing, was happy to take a back seat throughout the design and build process. “It was Dairmid’s dream; it was all in his head and it was difficult to visualise. But I trust him completely and I knew he would find a way to do it.”
The finished design shows true fidelity to the original vision, with just a few tweaks here and there. Specifically, curves in the main walls of the house have become straight lines for cost-saving purposes. But those curves have been cleverly reintroduced in the outside wall bordering the terrace and in the kitchen island.
There was a pragmatic approach to the interior. “We knew we wanted a dining table large enough to seat 12. The size of table drove the size of the living space, which drove the size of the building. It had to be tall and narrow so heat from solar gain could permeate the entire house,” Dairmid explains.
That sketch is now framed and hangs at the foot of the stairs as a reminder of the powerful potential of childhood imaginings. The house is even named after a den; it is called the Bivvi House – meaning a rough shelter. In reality it is not at all rough, but a finely executed house to which a potent mixture of intelligence, intuition and creativity has been applied. It has an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space downstairs as well as two guest rooms a bathroom, store room, utility room and toilet.
Cantilevered stairs lead to a mezzanine space, a large enclosed sitting room, two further bedrooms and a bathroom. Dairmid’s wife Aileen says, “We like to entertain but it is difficult for people to get here on public transport and it is a long way out of town for a taxi ride, so it made sense to put in extra sleeping accommodation.”
Dairmid had already completed a master’s degree in engineering when an opportunity arose for him to return to the 600-acre family farm. Identifying a suitable building plot was simple; it was chosen because it afforded panoramic views of the landscape.
However, the couple needed to fund the 422,000 build. So Dairmid decided to put his education to good use, by installing an 800kw wind turbine to produce electricity on a commercial scale thereby creating revenue for the business and the family members dependent on it.
He says, “I got an ethical loan for 1.25m from Triodos Renewables and eventually managed to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops to get everything in place.”
Having completed the paperwork over the course of about five years, Dairmid then went on to put up the turbine almost single-handedly. Ground was flattened during excavation works for the turbine access road. And, during the process of quarrying stone for building materials, a steep cliff was created. It formed part of a beautiful south-facing site – but one that needed expert design input from the right architect.
Dairmid says he used his instinct when deciding who that architect would be. It just so happened that Peter Gunning of Archid Architects responded promptly to queries and ultimately shared his vision. Dairmid says, “Peter could see the build as clearly as I could, but he knew how to actually do it.”
Aileen, who works full time in marketing, was happy to take a back seat throughout the design and build process. “It was Dairmid’s dream; it was all in his head and it was difficult to visualise. But I trust him completely and I knew he would find a way to do it.”
The finished design shows true fidelity to the original vision, with just a few tweaks here and there. Specifically, curves in the main walls of the house have become straight lines for cost-saving purposes. But those curves have been cleverly reintroduced in the outside wall bordering the terrace and in the kitchen island.
There was a pragmatic approach to the interior. “We knew we wanted a dining table large enough to seat 12. The size of table drove the size of the living space, which drove the size of the building. It had to be tall and narrow so heat from solar gain could permeate the entire house,” Dairmid explains.
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