Matt Cowdrey joins Cate Campbell in giving young children swimming tips in Canberra last year. Photo: Rohan Thompson

Matt Cowdrey decided that once he could no longer see the Rio Paralympic Games in his future, then that would be the moment to call it quits.

On Tuesday, Cowdrey revealed the time had arrived and announced his retirement after a career that saw him become Australia's most successful Paralympian.

The 26-year-old has been busy establishing a career outside the pool since the London Paralympic Games where he eclipsed runner Tim Sullivan's Australian record of 10 gold medals, but he says that it has really only been the past couple of months where for the first time he could not see next year's Games in his plans.

Cowdrey's 50 freestyle (S9) win in London made him Australia's most successful Paralympian. Photo: Getty Images

Cowdrey has been the face of the Australian Paralympic movement for the past decade and his five gold medals in London, which took his career tally to 13, cemented his standing.

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He had initially intended that London, which was his third Games after Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), would be his last and that he would retire after the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, but immediately after breaking Sullivan's record said he would swim on to Rio in 2016.

But Cowdrey, who won 23 medals over three Games has struggled to regain his competitive drive in the pool and even though qualified for Glasgow he was not fully fit and has trained only a handful of times since the Pan Pacs.

"Just more and more over the last couple of months especially I've come to the realisation that the majority of the things that I want to achieve are outside the pool, not inside it," Cowdrey told Fairfax Media.

Read more here:
Australia's greatest Paralympian Matt Cowdrey retires

Midland has long been known for having a dry, flat and desolate landscape. Many residents make the hours-long drive east and southeast to the Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio areas to get a taste of hills and water, and some of them have been buying second homes in the Highland Lakes area of the Hill Country.

With the years-long oil boom has come an increase in the size and scope of the homes that Midlanders are not only buying, but building, as they try to find a home away from home.

With the oil boom, it seems like the families are wanting homes where everybody can come and visit, said Larry Schwarze, owner of Brother Sun Builders in Kingsland. So were seeing homes with a lot more bedrooms and a lot more baths, so that the whole family, whether its the kids, the grandkids, a home that can sleep 12 or 15 people or more. For the second home market, theyve gotten bigger, because it just feels like they want the whole family to come and be able to get together.

The Highland Lakes were created from a group of dams along the Colorado River that made large reservoirs that are also used as areas of recreational use. For Ken Burns, former owner of Melco, Burnsco, and Townsend BPOs, the lake drew him to it after he retired in 2009.

West Texas is dry and tumbleweeds, and Highland Lakes is a constant level lake, said Burns, who has owned his home in the Hill Country for over two years.

Burns originally bought a single home on the lake and outfitted it with a new dock and multiple jet skis. He then bought the home next door, tore it down, and built a new guest house. While his kids visit him and his wife sometimes, he said that the house was bought mostly for himself, and that he has no intentions of selling his home in Midland anytime soon.

Amy McMurrough, marketing and public relations for McMurrough & Associates, echoed Burns reasons why West Texans move to the Highland Lakes.

Having that vacation home for Midlanders is about the water. Its about the hills and the water because youve got that whole change of scenery, she said.

Jayne Mortensen, the executive director of professional trade organization the Hill Country Builders Association, said that in the 1950s and 1960s the Hill Country area was nothing more than a big scrub lake with a bunch of fish cabins on it. The growth of Austin and San Antonio brought more people wanting access to the water to the area, and the popularity of the Hill Country grew with Texas.

But the last five years have also seen the dynamics of the Hill Country change as the focus of why people bought homes in the area morphed with their economic situations.

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Midlanders buying, building bigger homes in the Hill Country

Last year, Michael and Suzanne Naler won a landscape makeover for their backyard in Newport News, courtesy of Landscapes by Eric Bailey of York County.

Before the $10,000 redo, the yard was bland, according to the Nalers. They won the prize at a 2014 home and garden show in Hampton, where owner Eric Bailey had a landscape display.

"We couldn't get any grass to grow up on the hill," says Michael Naler.

"We had a deck that we built, but the yard was missing something. Now the bottom of the yard flows into the upper yard and the plants makes the hill look more inviting."

To pull the back yard together, Bailey and his crew created a circular patio area where the family can relax around a wood-burning chimera. They also installed lights on two trees in the back natural area to make the space feel larger and romantic at night.

"They already had a beautiful deck and look out to a shaded natural area," Bailey said.

"I wanted to give them some color, fragrance and texture while keeping it fairly low maintenance. We placed hydrangea for summer color, fall-blooming camellias for fall color, osmanthus for sweet fall fragrance and fatsia and yew for texture. Miniature gardenias were planted close to the deck and sunroom for more good smells.

"The biggest maintenance they have to do during this first year is to water plant material. Then, there will be annual weeding and leaf raking."

Stylish Adirondack chairs with foot stools make the patio a relaxing place to sit and watch the evening unfold, the couple says.

"We really don't use the backyard much different than we did prior to the make over, but now it is more relaxing and we enjoy the scenery more," says Michael.

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Backyard makeover in Newport News extends daytime enjoyment, relaxation

Last night while taking the ferry from the mainland to Penang Island, I gazed at Penang Hill. Whereas in the past, the lights at the summit of Bukit Bendera (Flagstaff Hill) would twinkle in the clear night sky, this time other specks of light in the middle of the hill were piercing through the black shroud enveloping the hill after sunset evidence of more hill-slope development or clearing.

At this rate, Penang Hill will soon be transformed into a giant Christmas tree rising from the centre of a fairyland island surrounded by smaller Christmas trees (highrise condos for the wealthy at the sea front, built on reclaimed land). Do we want this sort of hill-clearing and hill-cutting in Penang? Surely, these bald patches are visible from Komtar.

So it is timely that two dozen Penang-based residents associations and civil society groups have signed an open letter to the Yang Di-Pertua of the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang expressing concern about the degradation of hills in the state.

Call for public forum on the hills of Penang

Dear Yang Di-Pertua Dato Patahiyah bt Ismail

Penang is famed for its hills, beaches (sadly no longer clean) and heritage. Very few places in Malaysia are blessed with this combination of assets. But alas, we residents of Penang are very concerned that our hills are being desecrated right in front of our eyes.

Bald patches are appearing all over the state from the hills on the mainland to Bukit Relau (the most notorious), Balik Pulau and Tanjung Bungah on the island (see Anil Nettos blog posts).

The forests and hills of Penang, besides providing a soothing landscape, cool the morning air that flows down the slopes and ventilates our city. All these are threatened by the wanton clearing of our hills by housing developers and farmers, some done illegally.

We support the Councils recent effort to strengthen its geo-technical division. We call upon the Council to jointly organise a public forum to inform the public what steps are being taken to address this issue.

Some questions the public would like clarified are:

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Penang Hill turning into a Christmas tree; 24 NGOs say no more botak hills

It has long been speculated the huge man-made structure in Wiltshire was an ornate grave or a ceremonial hilltop for religious rituals But expert claims mound was built as lighthouse and harbour to help Neolithic traders navigate post-glacial waterways Believes southern Britain was a series of islands linked by waterways, channels and swollen rivers, and that Stonehenge was located on coast

By Rachel Reilly for MailOnline

Published: 11:24 EST, 5 March 2015 | Updated: 07:10 EST, 6 March 2015

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The ancient mound of Silbury Hill was built as lighthouse and harbour to help Neolithic traders navigate waterways, an expert has claimed.

Archaeologists have long speculated that the enormous manmade structure in Wiltshire was an ornate grave or a ceremonial altar used in rituals.

But a cartographer and local historian claims he has found evidence of a stone avenue between the mound and the nearby stone circle of Avebury.

Land ahoy! The expert a claims southern Britain was a series of islands linked by waterways, channels and swollen rivers, and that Stonehenge was effectively located on the coast. The mound (pictured) would have acted as a lighthouse and harbour for those travelling by boat

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Was Silbury Hill a Neolithic LIGHTHOUSE? Ancient mound was built as a beacon for a once waterlogged Wiltshire, expert ...

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Brush Mowing | Land Clearing | BMC Corp | Billerica, MA

March 4, 2015, 4 a.m.

A CROPPA Creek farmer, and the son of an accused murderer, has appeared in a Sydney court to answer allegations of unlawful clearing.

A CROPPA Creek farmer, and the son of an accused murderer, has appeared in a Sydney court to answer allegations of unlawful clearing.

Grant Wesley Turnbulls family is at the epicentre of land clearing disputes with the Office of Environment and Heritage after his father, Ian Robert Turnbull, allegedly gunned down and murdered an environmental compliance officer near the village last July.

Grant Turnbull is also being examined over alleged breaches of the Native Vegetation Act, following several investigations by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).

A hearing, set down for four days, commenced in the Land and Environment Court in Sydney yesterday morning, after the OEH instigated a court challenge in September last year to halt immediate works on certain areas of Colorado, his family farm north of Moree.

The OEH submitted affidavits as part of its case, including aerial photography which a natural resources officer claimed appeared to show approximately 221 hectares of tree cover had been cleared between January, 2013, and May, 2014.

A further allegation centres on an area totalling 286 hectares which is alleged to have been cleared between May and August last year.

In September, Justice Rachel Pepper granted the temporary interlocutory order, sought by the OEH, restraining Mr Turnbull from clearing, or causing or permitting the clearing of native vegetation on the land, because the OEH was acting in the public interest and any rehabilitation of the land which could have been illegally cleared was a fundamental matter of public importance.

The hearing into the allegations of unlawful clearing was originally scheduled to be heard in December but was vacated after Mr Turnbull said he was unavailable to brief solicitors in preparation for the case because of the busy crop harvest time as well as the unavailability of an expert witness.

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Farmer faces court over land clearing

Colombia and Marxist FARC rebels reached a deal Saturday to clear the country of land mines as part of ongoing peace talks.

Both sides said they would ask a group called Norwegian People's Aid to coordinate the operation.

Humberto de la Calle, a former Colombian vice president and the government's lead negotiator, said Saturday, "Our main objective in these conversations is to put an end to the conflict and avoid future victims in our country. And that's why the demining proposal is a first but giant step toward peace."

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has ranked Colombia as one of the world's most dangerous countries for hidden explosives.

Talks between Colombia and the rebels have been proceeding in Havana for more than two years. Negotiators have begun to make progress on such matters as political participation for the rebels, land reform and drugs.

FARC's guerilla war against the Colombian government has killed 220,000 people since 1964.

Originally posted here:
Colombia, FARC Reach Deal on Clearing Land Mines

Tonight, Global TV reported that crews working for Canadian Pacific Railwaywill be back on the Arbutus corridor in the Marpole area on Tuesday (February 10), much to the consternation of those living in the area.

The work will reportedly begin along the track near West 70th Avenue.

Shortly before last November's civic election, Canadian Pacific Railway promised not to bulldoze any more community gardens until December.

Last month, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson rejected the City of Vancouver's application for an injunction to stopCP Rail fromresuming its work.

Hinkson concluded that the railway had legal authorityover its 8.82-kilometre strip of land along Vancouver's West Side.

The corridor, which is mostly 66feet wide,runs fromWest 1stAvenue and Fir Street south to Milton Street, accordingto Hinkson's ruling, ad covers 17 hectares.

In recent years many Vancouver residents and groups have created community gardens along the property.

Hinkson noted that one of the oldest, which isbetween West 49th and West 54th avenues, was created during the Second World War.

"Other individuals have used parts of the Corridor as a foot and bicyle path," he stated. "Others have used the Corridor as a place to park their cars."

The City of Vancouver argued in court that the railway had effectively abandoned the corridor, which would mean that it no longer fell under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

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Canadian Pacific Railway plans to resume clearing land along Arbutus corridor

Scars and brown patches have pockmarked the face of Penang Hill evidence of illegal land clearing on the hill. The bruising is evident as you approach the island using the atrocious skeleton ferry service under the now privatised Penang Port.

I had the misfortune to be on the ferry, Pulau Angsa, built in 1980. For some reason, the ferry that day moved at a glacial speed, making many passengers and commuters late for their appointments a journey which once used to take 13-14 minutes took more than half an hour that day, last week. And thats not counting the waiting time for the ferry.

But the painstakingly slow ride afforded me a good long view of Penang Hill. Through the haze, I was horrified to see the scarring of Penang Hill, the once lush and verdant shroud of forest now battered and bruised.

***

A generation ago, we had a fast and frequent ferry service (most times you only had to wait a few minutes for a ferry), little or no queues at the ferry terminals, clear skies and a lush green Penang Hill, which rose majestically at the centre of the Island.

Sorry, only three ferries in service (July 2014)!

Now the ferry service has been run down (only one to four ferries operate, just one at night including during peak holiday seasons, and no ferries after 1.00am), so that waiting times have soared. If the next ferry that arrives is full, you are in for an even longer wait.

The ferry service under Penang Port Sdn Bhd, controversially privatised last year to Sea Terminal Sdn Bhd, linked to Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, is a far cry from the superb service during its glory days. From the mid-1970s until the old ferry terminal on the mainland collapsed in 1988, about a dozen ferries plied the channel, the waiting time rarely more than a few minutes.

The old ferry terminal was never rebuilt, allowing the Penang Bridge, completed in 1985, then under the politically connected UEM, to collect even more tolls from motorists who opted for the bridge rather than wait interminably for the reduced number of ferries at the remaining newer terminal.

Originally posted here:
The scarring of Penang Hill; the running down of Penangs ferry service