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By LORI WINCE Tuesday September 30, 2014 11:12 AM

The New Albany-Plain Local school board on Sept. 22 reviewed as much as $8 million in potential cuts if Issue 3 were to fail in the November general election.

Issue 3 includes a 6.9-mill operating levy and a 2-mill permanent-improvements levy. Both levies would be permanent.

The operating levy would generate $5.74 million each year and cost district homeowners about $241.50 per $100,000 of assessed property value, according to Dave O'Neil of the Franklin County Auditor's Office.

The permanent-improvements levy would generate $1.66 million per year and cost district homeowners about $70 per $100,000 of assessed property value, according to O'Neil.

District officials have said the operating levy would prevent a $5 million deficit in fiscal year 2016 and allow the district to continue progress on its strategic plan.

The permanent-improvements levy would help the district with building maintenance, which includes repairing roofs, replacing heating and cooling systems, repaving parking lots and purchasing buses and textbooks. The improvements are expected to cost $21.5 million over 10 years.

The school board had asked for a list of potential cuts that would be made if Issue 3 fails. The board is expected to approve the list this month.

District Treasurer Rebecca Jenkins said the district needs to cut $7.5 million out of the budget so it does not have a zero balance at the end of June 2016.

The proposed cuts actually total $8 million, $566,386 in excess of the goal district officials had set for the budget reductions.

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Failed levy could spur up to $8 million in cuts

Members of the Northwest Allen County Schools board expect to approve a budget Oct. 13 that marks a 1.15percent rise in the overall budget, but it will not require raising taxes, district business manager Bill Mallers said.

The school board held a public hearing Monday on the 2015 budget, which at $64,962,668 is $740,015 greater than the 2014 budget.

The general fund of $39,994,270 includes about $15 million in debt service, about $6 million in capital projects, about $3 million for transportation and $1million for bus replacement

The biggest item under capital projects is technology, which includes $2,228,900 for computers, software and some salaries and $191,200 for administrative tech services.

At Carroll High School, the district plans to spend about $150,000 at the sports facility and $8,000 at the natatorium for new lighting. It will also spend about $10,000 on roof and brick repair; $35,000 on the auditoriums light and sound equipment; $30,000 on upgrades to heating, ventilation and air conditioning; another $30,000 on cooling units; $20,000 on ceiling grid and light sensors; and $163,000 on equipment such as furniture, copiers, science equipment for students who enroll late, music, and industrial technology.

At elementary schools, Arcola will receive $10,000 in asphalt sealing and concrete repair and $10,000 in wall and brick repair; Cedar Canyon, $6,000 in playground repairs; Eel River, electronic door access at $4,500; Huntertown, $10,000 in carpet repairs and $40,000 for a generator upgrade; Oak View, $10,000 in carpet repair and $20,000 in office equipment.

At Carroll Middle School, there will be floor repair at $10,000, special education room modifications at $4,000 and classroom equipment for $32,500.

At Maple Creek Middle School, the budget calls for $5,000 in painting and $5,000 in new physical education equipment.

Mallers said the district will replace six buses this year at a cost of $662,424, but the buses will be bigger, going from 66-passenger to 78-passenger vehicles. The district also expects to buy three additional buses, two 78-passenger buses at $220,808 and one 54-passenger special education bus at $120,400.

Adding buses is a direct correlation to our growth, Mallers said. Enrollment increased more than 100 students this year. Over the past three years, the district has added about 415 new students.

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Budget reflects growth at NACS

By Emily Hobbs-Wright

Despite the broad reach of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appealswhich covers Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyomingrecently dismissed a handyman's pay discrimination and retaliation claims after finding she wasn't an employee of the company that managed the properties where she provided her services.

Using the joint employer test, the court determined that the property management company wasn't the handyman's employer because it didn't exercise sufficient control over the essential terms and conditions of her employment. Let's take a closer look at the case.

Lewis General Contracting, Inc. (LGC), contracts with outside clients to provide handyman services. During the period in question, LGC essentially had one client, Picerne Military Housing, LLC, later known as Corvias Military Living, LLC. Picerne managed housing on numerous U.S. military bases nationwide, including the U.S. Army base at Fort Riley, Kansas. It employed its own property managers, maintenance supervisors, and technicians, who had specialized training. For more routine maintenance needed when housing units were vacated, Picerne contracted for handyman services with outside vendors such as LGC.

Picerne provided all of its vendor companies, including LGC, a pay scale specifying the flat fees that would be paid for typical handyman tasks. The fees varied depending on the neighborhood on the base, but not depending on the particular vendor company or handyman assigned to the job. Picerne paid its vendors directly, and the vendors then paid their handymen.

LGC kept 15 percent of the fees to cover its administrative costs and paid its handymen the remainder, less FICA taxes and state and federal income tax withholding. It also provided its handymen with W-2 forms.

Lisa Knitter worked for LGC as a handyman on Picerne properties for about eight months in 2010. LGC's owner knew Knitter's disabled husband and hired her with the understanding that her husband would volunteer to help her on the job as needed. She was often accompanied by her husband when she provided handyman services at Fort Riley units.

Although the Knitters generally had a positive relationship with Picerne managers and supervisors, they had some negative experiences with three members of the staff. Knitter alleged that one of Picerne's maintenance supervisors, Rodney Hayworth, sexually harassed her, calling her a "dumb blonde" and telling her to go home and "get laid" when she was in a bad mood.

She alleged that he repeatedly expressed chauvinistic opinions about women and their intelligence and had sexually graphic conversations with other men in front of her, which made her uncomfortable. She also claimed that he paid her lower fees because she is a woman.

Knitter complained about Hayworth to Picerne managers several times. For instance, she told the assistant director of maintenance operations, Brian Lamb, that Hayworth was harassing her and discriminating against her. Shortly thereafter, Lamb contacted LGC's owner and asked him not to send Knitter to Fort Riley anymore. Because there was no work for her outside the Fort Riley assignments, LGC terminated her.

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'Handyman' complains of discrimination, but was she an employee?

A Wayne handyman is accused of six crimes in connection with the killing of William "Billy" Whitelaw, a 77-year-old Bloomfield Township resident found dead by his son inside his condominium about 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 4.

U.S. Marshals arrested the suspect, now identified as 45-year-old Bart Mitchell Spencer of Wayne, days after Whitelaw's death. He was held on a parole violation.

Wrote CBS Detroit:

Spencer is charged with open murder; arson, preparation to burn; larceny of firearms; a felon in possession of a firearm; larceny in a building; and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

After killing Whitemore, a father of two and grandfather to five, Spencer is accused of attempting to burn down the condominium.

He left lit candles at the scene and turned on the gas, police said, according to CBS Detroit.

Spencer's arraignment is pending.

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Handyman accused of killing, robbing 77-year-old man in Bloomfield Township home

Everett, WA (PRWEB) September 30, 2014

Clean Crawls, a local crawl space cleaning and insulating company of Snohomish County, warns DIY-ers about certain mistakes that theyve seen while working in crawl spaces. Some mistakes are minor and can be easily fixed by professionals, but others can cause enormous problems and extraordinary expenses. These mistakes are outlined in their newly released article.

When it comes to crawl spaces, there are few mistakes that weve seen from DIY-ers that have been particularly destructive, Clean Crawls says.

The article discusses mistakes such as installing additional venting to the crawl space, installing insulation into damp areas, and other various common crawl space maintenance issues that homeowners expect that they can handle by themselves.

While many DIY homeowners have physical capability, mental determination, and the tools to do the job, their efforts often result in at least one of the five mistakes listed in the article.

Because these individuals simply arent trained to recognize possible dangers, damp wood can be insulated improperly to enable mold growth, or vapor barriers can be incorrectly installed and allow condensation build up. In other cases, foundations are weakened from gutter and downspout drainage that drains water too close to the homes foundation.

Before venturing out on your own to conquer your DIY projects, stop and consider whether or not this project is one that really should be handed off to your local professional service men, Clean Crawls advises.

In such instances, youll find that youll save lots of money in the long run, while also supporting your local businesses, they say.

To learn more about Clean Crawls crawl space cleaning and insulation services, visit their website.

About Clean Crawls: Clean Crawls provides attic and crawl space cleaning, weatherization, and insulation services. Homes and businesses alike have the opportunity to be clean and healthy at affordable rates, as well as save energy throughout the year. Visit http://www.cleancrawl.com today for more information and a free quote. 3707 124th St NE Marysville, WA 98271 (866) 651-1700

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DIY-ers are Warned about Common Crawl Space Mistakes in Recent Article by Clean Crawls

First published in News by Luke Sproule, Reporter covering Rose Hill, Iffley and Littlemore. Please call me on (01865) 425422

SIXTEEN streets have been branded the grubbiest in Oxford in a city-wide cleanliness survey.

Council workers check roads, pavements and gutters and analyse how much litter, dirt and detritis there is.

Those judged the muckiest made-up six per cent of all the roads inspected in July, the most recent month for which figures are available.

And the city council is blaming the aftermath of the January floods for the dip in standards.

Residents in the streets affected have called for more to be done to keep their neighbourhoods clean.

Our top stories

Cumberland Road, off Cowley Road, was one of the streets deemed to be the worst.

But housegolders Sue and Joe Cumminssaid the blame didnt fall solely on the council.

Mrs Cummins said: The other day someone opened the door of their car after they had eaten a McDonalds and dumped the packaging in the gutter.

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Survey puts spotlight citys on citys grubby roads

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY - When the Aggie football team kicks off against Ole Miss on October 11, Kyle Field will feature new grass, along with a cannon firing.

Tuesday, the Texas A&M System announced it had completed the installation of new grass brought in from North Carolina. During the second home game against Rice on September 13, the two-game-old field began tearing apart, causing safety concerns for players. Heavy rains the night before the game combined with the grass being on the ground at Kyle for a little more than a month were cited as causes for the field's failure.

The new field brought in costs $300,000, and was said to have thicker sod so it will grow together faster. The company, Carolina Green, also has experience with mid-season field replacements.

Once the 2014 season ends, the field will be removed so the next phase of the $450 million redevelopment can continue.

Not only will there be new grass for the remainder of the season, the Corps of Cadets will once again fire a cannon when the Aggies score.

A tradition for years, there were concerns over the cannon being fired within the newly-closed-in stadium. For the first home game against Lamar, a cannon was fired from the practice field, with a live look at the firing shown on screens in Kyle. For the Rice game, no cannon was fired.

Now, officials with A&M believe they can safely fire the cannon from the southeast tower for the remainder of the 2014 season, and will reevaluate things in the off-season as the stadium redevelopment continues.

We are confident that this will provide a good solution during this transitional period, A&M Interim President Mark Hussey said in a statement. I appreciate the diligent efforts of the Offices of the Commandant of the Corps of Cadets and Environmental Health and Safety as well as A&M System officials, who are overseeing the project, for offering a viable and safe solution for helping us to ensure that the tradition of the cannon firing at Kyle Field continues."

Last week, a cannon was raised into the southeast tower and testing was conducted to try and find a solution, though A&M could not offer assurances at that time that the cannon would work in that location.

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Kyle Field, Now with New Grass, Will Also Have Its Cannon Back

Atlanta, Georgia (PRWEB) September 30, 2014

On September 1st, 2014, Patten Seed Companys new seed plant processed its first batch of grass seed in their facility on the grounds of Patten Seeds Super-Sod farm in Ft. Valley, Georgia.

Patten Seed bought the new Universal Coating Systems equipment to coat, treat, and bag larger 25 and 50 lb. bags of their TifBlair Centipede and Zenith Zoysia grass seed brands. Previously, the seed company had outsourced seed coating to a company in the western part of the US and they had bagged their own grass seed in only smaller 2, 5, 6, and 10 lb. bags.

The opening of this facility now allows Patten Seed to grow, clean, coat, treat, and bag all of their own seed, keeping everything local to the Southeast. This streamlining and centralizing brings efficiency to the process of getting the seed from the farm to the consumer, saves shipping expenses, gives them more control of inputs, and allows for a quicker turn around time.

Patten Seed Company/Super-Sod is a family-run business that employs experts in turf and horticulture. One of their most popular products has been their Soil3 organic compost, delivered in a cubic yard BigYellowBag, which they make partially from composted grass clippings from their sod and seed production. Patten Seed/Super-Sod continues to develop new garden products, foster gardening and landscaping, and always seeks to improve their farming practices, technology, environmental stewardship, and employee knowledge.

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Patten Seed Company Opens New Seed Processing Plant

Chad Smith, with Erosion Solutions, taps in posts while working on erosion control Monday off of Riverfront Parkway on Monday near M.L. King Boulevard. The Tennessee Riverwalk will be extended in the area.

A crew works on erosion control Monday near the planned extension of the Riverwalk trail off Riverfront Parkway near M.L. King Boulevard.

Tennessee Riverwalk Extension

After months of delay, crews began Monday to clear away trees and dig ditches to stop erosion along Riverfront Parkway for the 3-mile Tennessee Riverwalk extension.

Planners said the project will take 18 months and offer a path for bikers and joggers along the Tennessee River behind Riverfront Parkway's multiple industrial parks to cut through the U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundry site and connect to St. Elmo Avenue.

The extension will give St. Elmo residents a direct path to downtown and eventually connect the Riverwalk to the Incline Railway.

"The restaurants, the shops, the business district, the neighborhood and St. Elmo as a whole I think will greatly benefit from this riverwalk," said Commissioner Joe Graham, who represents St. Elmo and downtown in District 6.

The $11.6 million construction project -- $6.8 million from state and federal grants, $3.1 million from private donations and $1.7 million from city and county taxpayers -- was expected to start in the spring but was delayed because of engineering issues and property acquisition. About 10 corporate easements or agreements had to be acquired to construct the path.

Construction will include clearing trees, erecting proper lighting, pouring 12-feet-wide concrete sidewalks, landscaping and installing benches, restrooms and several gazebos, said Todd Leamon, Hamilton County Public Works administrator. The project also will include three new parking areas near Chestnut Street, at the foundry site and near St. Elmo Avenue where the current project ends at Middle Street, he said.

Meanwhile, planners will use about $550,000 set aside for the next phase to design the long-talked-about project to connect to the Incline Railway. Graham said his hope is when the Riverwalk is complete to St. Elmo Avenue in February 2016 that crews will immediately began construction on the next phase.

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Tennessee Riverwalk extension work begins