A Grand Rapids architecture firm has added 10 employees to its team.

TowerPinskter, which also provides engineering and interior design services,said this week it added the employees to its offices in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo during the first half of this year.

The growth of our team is directly correlated with our expansion and success in the Midwest marketplace, said Bjorn Green, president and CEO,TowerPinkster.

Our new team members are essential to our strategic plan, set in place to help us broaden our reach and expand our capabilities and services.

Tom Sturr

Sturr was added to the TowerPinkster team as a senior project architect.

He has 32 years of architecture experience across the globe.

He works in government, health care, commercial development and education.

One of the most significant projects of his career was the $100-million expansion of the Nanjing Airport Terminal in Nanjing, China.

Nick Wallis

Wallis joined the firm as a architectural project coordinator.

While living in Beijing, he helped design the Nanjing Green Lighthouse.

He graduated from Lawrence Technological University.

Karl Kinkema

Kinkema joined the firmas a senior project architect.

He has more than 25 years of experience.

He works on hospital facilities, medical office buildings, sports facilities and commercial buildings.

He holds a master of architecture from the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth Slaski

Slaski joined the firmas an architectural designer.

She holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Douglas Milburn

Milburn joined the firmas a project manager.

He has 15 years of experience and is an active member in the American Institute of Architects Michigan Mentoring Network.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois.

Kyle Boston

Boston joined the firmas a mechanical designer.

He has 18 years of experience.

Angela Bowles

Bowles joinded the firmas an interior designer, returning to West Michigan from California.

She has a degree from the Art Institute of California in Sacramento.

Lindsay Gadbois

Gadboisjoined the firm as a lanscape designer, returning to Grand Rapids from Washington.

She graduated from the University of Washington College of Built Environments.

Administration

Rosa Kelly was hired as an administrative coordinator, and Nick Covey was added as an ITsupport specialist.

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Architecture firm adds to team - grbj.com

Guests attended the launch event included the following: Li Bingren, president of China Building Decoration Association, Li Hejun, Board Chairman of the Hanergy Holding Group, over 600 potential distributors and channel partners, and another 3000-odd people from local governments, industrial associations, financial organizations, as well as domestic and foreign media. They gathered together to witness the historical release of the Hantile, an upgraded-product inspired from the company's original Hanergy Civil Focusing solar products.

In his speech titled "One Tile, One Tree," Chairman Li Hejun remarked: "Hanergy took advantage of the lightness, thinness and flexibleness of thin-film solar power material and creatively integrated it with roof tile. This integration between technology and industrial products is a breakthrough in the history of construction; even more so, such creation is an innovation based on our Chinese culture."

Merging cutting-edge thin-film technology and traditional culture

"Qin bricks and Han tiles" have long been upheld in Chinese literature. From the Weiyang Palace of Western Han dynasty to the home of peasants, tiles have been considered not only as an important characteristic of Chinese architecture, but also endowed with cultural significance. To quote a famous folk saying "home is where the tile overhead", tile signifies home in the heart of the Chinese. All around us, everything is going through tremendous changes, except the material and function of tiles have remained the same, as their purposes are still simply protection from wind and rain, preservation of warmth, and decoration.

As today, the introduction of the Hantile will change all that! The Hantile, using laminated packaging technology, encapsulates a thin, light, flexible and efficient CIGS thin-film solar chip into ultra-clear float glass that not only able to maximized solar chip's conversion rate but fulfilling architectural aesthetic demands at the same time. Data shows that the current average conversion rate of the Hanergy's flexible thin-film chips used by the Hantile is 16.5% at the manufacturing level, such rate is expected to rise to 17.5% by end of the year, and such consistent growth is expected at the future.

"The Hantile highly reflects the essence of Chinese traditional culture and architectural philosophy. The choice of material and design considers practicality, incorporates aesthetic and humanistic values, and creates environmentally friendly architecture reflecting the harmony between human beings and nature. The product name Hantile is taken from and develops on Chinese culture as well as Hanergy technology," said Li Hejun.

At the event, during Mr. Li's speech, an all-in-one construction team was building a 50m2 rooftop with Hantile. About 40 minutes later, a rooftop covered with 168 pieces of Hantile for an installed capacity of 5000W had been completed and was ready to be displayed in front of guests.

Upgraded products and services and pioneering "Automatic custom service"

Current distributed solar power modules are generally installed on the surface of buildings, which cannot be part of them. As an upgraded version of these modules, the Hantile comes in three models: curved, flat and upturned C styles, which can cater to the aesthetical and individualized needs of most buildings.

In addition to integrating the thin-film solar chips for power generation, the Hantile the product series also contains accessory tiles of the same color and design to achieve consistency. As a one-stop service provider for complete clean energy solution, Hanergy provide customers with integrating consultancy, system design, installation, grid connection, user training, operation and maintenance data monitoring so on.

As a construction material, the Hantile has better performances than traditional tiles in terms of thermal insulation, heat preservation, fire prevention, infiltration prevention and hail prevention. The Hantile especially stands out with its waterproof performance because of its special design: glass material, U-type weather bar and F-type slot. In terms of structure, this product has perfect windproof and lightning protection design. It is able to generate power at a temperature from -40 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees Celsius. At present, the Hantile has received the China Compulsory Certification and the China Quality Certification, and passed installation testing, meeting all industrial requirements in term of product quality and safety.

At the launch event, Hanergy announced the market price of the triple arch solar tile as 1390 yuan/m2. Hanergy offers lifetime warranty and lifetime charged maintenance.

Hanergy's mature service system, fostered by residential power generation product and other distributed solar products, is being further upgraded. It has first put forward a service concept of "Automatic custom service," according to which all Hantile systems delivered to customers will be accompanied with an inverter data collector connected to a big data analysis platform at the Hanergy headquarters; when the operation data from the Hantile system diverge from local average data by 20%, the backstage supporter at the headquarters will issue orders for on-site repairs through its nation-wide network to solve any customer issue. All the orders and evaluations are made through the Customer Relationship Management system and the mobile APP "Hanergy Man". To further ensure its clients' interests, Hanergy also bought insurance for customers from a third party, the People's Insurance Company of China.

Strong distribution channels facing a trillion RMB market

According to data from the China Bricks & Tiles Industrial Association, in 2016, 1.01 billion m2 of tiles were sold. The market is still expanding with an annual speed of about 20%. According to the current price of the Hantile, the potential domestic market is estimated to be 1.4 trillion yuan annually. As for the global market, it is at least two times as big as China's market, bringing its potential market scale up to 2.8 trillion yuan.

The Hantile mainly targets newly-built commercial villas, urban and rural public buildings and self-built houses in rural areas. It aims at the construction of beautiful villages and towns. The Hantile is also highly competitive when it comes to rooftop reconstruction projects, such as renovating aged rooftops and turning flat rooftops into slanted ones.

Hanergy intends to share this rapidly growing market with its distributors. In recent years, Hanergy has creatively developed China's residential distributed power generation market; its specialized distributor model and system is now mature, offering a one-stop service system integrating marketing, installation and aftersales services covering all established municipal and county-level markets.

Learning from successful business models and market experiences, Hanergy gave authorization of Hantile at the municipal level under the "sole distributor in a city" channel policy. It is planned to absorb 300 distributors that will cover 90% of China's cities. Hanergy will establish its internal training system, "Hantile Distributors' College," to offer systematic training and support on marketing, design, installation, operation and maintenance and services.

Contact: Contact Person: Wang Danning Telephone Number: 0086 10 83914567 ext 3118 Cell Number: 13671129766 Email: wangdanning@hanergy.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540402/Hanergy_Triple_Arch_Solar_Tile.jpg

LHDE Hanergy Holding Group Ltd.

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Hanergy Releases Hantile to Snatch Construction Material Market Share - PR Newswire (press release)

Split Level renovations have been growing in the last few years. It is a fast and convenient way to add more space to the unfinished or partly-finished areas of the home. Some ideas are opening up the main floor, updating the kitchen, adding bathrooms and formal living rooms.

Many people want to create more openness in the main floor of a split level, which usually consists of living room, dining room, kitchen and possibly a bedroom. Openness can certainly be achieved by removing some of the walls between rooms. You will need to be sure you know which walls are load-bearing walls. For example, you might want more openness between the kitchen and the dining room. Either removing the wall or replacing the wall with a counter will open up the area and feel more spacious. Removing the wall between the living room and dining room can also open up the area and make it more conducive to entertaining.

It is not uncommon for split level homes with four levels to have an unfinished bottom level. Finishing this area is really no different from finishing any basement. It will be important, however, to check on ceiling height early in the planning stages of the project. A number of split level homes have lower ceilings on the bottom floor.

The desire to add a bathroom to any home is quite common. Split levels often offer two important opportunities for bathroom additions. First, most split level homes were not built with a bathroom on the main (formal living area) floor. Many homeowners would like to add at least a half-bath or powder room on the main floor for the comfort and convenience of guests or for elderly or disabled family members. Determining the location of the new bathroom is a challenge in most split levels. Logic and cost-consciousness would suggest locating the new bathroom near (next to, above or below) existing plumbing. This allows you to use existing supply and removal pipes. Depending on the floor plan, however, this might not be workable. Location of pipes to a new bathroom on the main floor will also require some attention to the ceiling height of the floor below (if there is one). If the lower level has typically lower ceilings, placement of plumbing might depend upon where you can run pipes without making the lower level unusable.

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Whole House Remodeling, Room Additions

Jul 27, 2017 at 7:41 am | Print View

Stepping into The Map Room, a new pub in downtown Cedar Rapids, is a little like stepping into the pages of an atlas maps from around the world line the walls.

We traveled a lot, and we were always picking up maps wherever we went. We joked we would put them in the map room someday, said owner Christina Springman, who opened the bar and restaurant with her husband, Mitch Springman.

Instead of creating that room in their house, they decided to share their maps with the public, alongside servings of homemade pub food and signature cocktails. Together, the decor and the menu are meant to provide a friendly, comfortable atmosphere.

We wanted a spot that would inspire people to talk about their travels, Christina Springman said.

The food also comes with a globe-trotting aesthetic. The kitchen is small, about 4 feet wide, so they had to keep the menu focused; chef Quincey Sproston mainly serves burgers, along with a selection of loaded fries and crostinis.

Each burger focuses on a different global city, with a flavor profile and toppings inspired by that areas cuisine. The Delhi burger, for example, is topped with paneer, garam masala and mint chutney, while the New Orleans burger is topped with mortadella, ham, salami, mozzarella, provolone and spicy olive relish. Others include the Marrakesh, Seoul, Memphis and Napoli burgers.

We tried to hit every continent with the menu, Springman said. We just had to figure out how to put them on a burger.

The drink menu, meanwhile, features beer and wine alongside craft cocktails like the La Mure, which includes blackberry brandy, fresh lemon juice and sparkling wine, or the Porch Life, with gin, Domaine de Canton ginger and house-made strawberry lemonade.

We went for light, refreshing summer drinks, Springman said. I want this to be a comfortable tavern. I dont want it to be pretentious by any means.

Both of the Springmans have a restaurant industry background. Christina Springman most recently managed the Black Sheep Social Club, and Mitch Springman manages The Lucky Penny in Hiawatha.

Black Sheep Social Club owner Graig Cone gave them the loan to get started with The Map Room. When Stellas closed during the 2016 flood and didnt reopen, Springman got in touch with building owner Kory Nanke with her business proposal. After some remodeling, The Map Room opened June 30.

Springman said the small downtown bar has always appealed to her, nestled among much taller buildings. Along with the snug indoor seating, she plans to open patio seating this week.

Everything else is so big and towering. Its a tiny little respite, she said. I like the size of it. I can talk to everyone in here. Its nice and cozy.

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Travel the world on a plate at The Map Room - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

David Beard's Catfish Village at 2005 Toler Road is being closed through Aug. 31 for a remodeling project that will give it a fresher look, according to Kriste Jones, who owns it with husband Harold.

She said the project would give the restaurant the Joneses have owned since March "a more pleasant dining experience."

They hired contractor Richard Kessler, who said he started demolition Monday. The project calls for adding a waitress station, moving and refinishing interior walls and painting the exterior, according to an application for a commercial alteration permit Kessler submitted July 18 to the Longview Development Services Department. The project has a construction value of $45,800, documents showed.

The Catfish Village has been around since the mid-1980s and seats about 200 people, Jones said. She and her husband also own Catfish King in Atlanta.

Jones said no date has yet been set for reopening

Photo, floral neighbors

Ashley Hill and Rashell Garcia, who have worked together on photo shoots, opened adjacent studios at 5804 Judson Road.

Hill said she moved Ashley Hill Photography from 1903 Eastwood Road to get more space, while Garcia said she moved her business, Timber Bloom Design, out of her home.

Hill said she began dabbling in photography six years ago in Japan while her husband, Cody, was stationed there with the U.S. Marine Corps. She and her business moved to Longview four years ago when he became a Marine recruiter.

Hill said she shoots photos inside the studio, which also has a gallery.

"My goal is to really create a community," she said.

Garcia said she has been doing design work and decorating for several years for churches and nonprofit groups. She previously owned Sweet Pickins Vintage Rentals, which provided vintage furniture for photo shoots but closed it in January to work full time in floral design, which she has done for photo shoots as far away as Missouri.

The business also works with photographers on weddings, baby showers and corporate events and arranges merchandise for display in online catalogues and storefront windows.

"I strive to create very unique individual designs for each client," Garcia said.

Garcia and Hill work by appointment only. Visit Garcia's business Facebook and Instagram pages and Hill's studio page on Facebook

Accounting firm moves

The family that owns Dennis-Wade Associates Inc. is planning to move to a building that also will contain their home.

"We will be able to walk through our door to be at our house," said Richard Wade, who works with his son Derek as a tax accountant. His wife, Margaret Dennis Wade, founded the company with her father, William Dennis.

Richard Wade said they would move from 1125 Judson Road their office for about 26 years to a building of about 5,200 square feet. The office will be at 1100 Judson Road, Building 200 and their home at 1001 Yates Drive.

They expect the office/home to be ready in a year.

Steve Pirtle Construction has applied for building permits from the Longview Development Services Department. The project has a construction valued of $600,000, city records show.

Healthy vending

San Diego-based KarmaBox Vending said it is bringing vending machines that sell healthful, nutritional snacks to the Longview area.

KarmaBoxes carry a range of beverages and snacks that are low in sugar and calories, including turkey jerky, nuts, berries and coconut water. The company also sells personal care products.

Exact locations are in the works, but KarmaBoxes are generally placed in high-volume locations such as health clubs, hotels, public and private schools and community centers, said A.J. MacQuarrie, founder and president.

He said he started the business in 2010 in his dorm room at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and has expanded the business to 65 markets in this country,

For more information, visit mykarmabox.com or call (855) 527-6226.

Business Beat appears Sunday. If you have items for the column, email to newstip@news-journal.com; mail to Business Section, Longview News-Journal, P.O. Box 1792, Longview, TX 75606; or call (903) (903) 237- 7744.

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Business Beat: Catfish Village closed for remodeling - Longview News-Journal

HINSDALE, IL Two brothers in Westchester who are battling an autoimmune disease were surprised with bedroom makeovers completed by Normandy Remodeling and non-profit organization Special Spaces. According to a release from the business, Finnegan and Colman, ages 4 and 7, each have an autoimmune disorder that leaves them vulnerable to a simple cold or virus that can quickly become life threatening. Both receive regular transfusions and treatments to minimize the impact of the disease, but theyve spent a large portion of their young lives recovering in hospitals or in their bedrooms.

Prior to the makeover, Finnegan and Colman shared their passions with Normandy Designers, according to the release. In turn, each of their rooms was centered on things that they love. This ensures that the boys can thoroughly enjoy the space, in good health and in bad.

The bedroom makeovers took place on July 14, according to the release. While the family spent the day away from their Westchester home, Special Spaces staff and more than two-dozen Normandy Remodeling volunteers took over to complete the transformation.

According to the release, Colman, age 7, received a room that reflected his love of the Blackhawks. His new space includes a hockey goal headboard, scoreboard and Blackhawks decals and memorabilia. Finn, age 4, is all about Legos and Batman, so his new room features a barn door covered in Legos and a custom Batman mural. Each bedroom also received new paint, bedding, benches, lighting and artwork.

It was extremely gratifying to utilize our resources and talents for these bedroom makeovers, Normandy President Andy Wells said in a release. At the end of the day, the Normandy team was just as thrilled as the boys.

It is always great when we can support local causes that are meaningful to our employees and customers, added Wells in a release.

Normandy Remodeling is a design/build remodeling firm headquartered in Hinsdale.

Photo provided by Normandy Remodeling.

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Originally published July 27, 2017.

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Two Brothers Battling Autoimmune Disorders Receive Bedroom Makeovers From Hinsdale Firm - Patch.com

Custom Solar's Houston Sherer works to install solar panels on a home on in Boulder last year. (Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)

Whether you support or oppose Boulder's effort to municipalize electricity, it will be years before Boulder or Xcel substantially increase renewable energy sources. The Trump administration seems to think that limiting carbon emissions causes leprosy. Neither of those prevents you from reducing your own carbon footprint right now.

First and easiest, consider subscribing to Xcel's WindSource program. The additional cost is now less than a penny per kilowatt-hour (kWh). If you use 800 kWh/month, that's about $7.00. Sure, you could refuse to sign up, protesting that Xcel shouldn't be charging extra for cheap wind power. We agree, they shouldn't. But you might feel better if you get up smiling every morning, knowing that for a whopping 25 cents, your electricity that day won't consume an ounce of fossil fuel.

You might install solar panels ours provide almost all our electricity, including charging two cars. Prices have plummeted with increased manufacturing volume, federal tax credits knock another 30 percent off, and most installers offer leases or loans. Your actions may encourage others, as research shows that solar panels tend to blossom in a neighborhood. Evidently, neighbors look up and think "Hey, why don't we do that?"

If you have the space, you can install solar water heating. These systems heat water with panels on your roof, then return it to a storage tank that feeds your hot water heater. Our installation lowers our propane use substantially in winter, and provides nearly all our hot water in summer.

If you're buying a new car, consider going electric. We bought a Tesla nearly four years ago, and our only regret is that we didn't buy a bunch of Tesla stock at the same time. We've taken it as far as Steamboat, with a quick stop to charge in Silverthorne. If you drive far every day, you'll want a Tesla or a Chevrolet Bolt; both go over 200 miles on a charge. Electric vehicles qualify for a federal tax credit of $7,500, and a Colorado state credit of $5,000. In the past, Nissan and Xcel have offered additional incentives on Leafs, which explains why they seem to be the "new Prius" in Boulder.

Even Tesla's supercharging isn't as fast as a gas station, so you may want to own or rent another car for long trips. Alternatively, a plug-in hybrid gives you some electric operation before switching over to gasoline. We just replaced our ailing 17-year-old Toyota Prius with a new Prius Prime. It gets about 25 miles on a charge, then over 50 mpg on gas. Our younger son sometimes drives as far as Denver for work, yet went 1,700 miles on the first tank of gas. A friend loves his Chevy Volt plug-in, which has twice the electric range. The Prius Prime qualifies for a $4,500 federal credit; the Volt, with its larger battery, gets $7,500. Both qualify for the $5,000 state credit. That makes it cheaper to buy a Prius Prime than an ordinary Prius hybrid!

Finally, a hybrid can keep you from descending all the way to the consumption of an all-gasoline car. We've averaged 31 mpg with an all-wheel-drive Toyota RAV4 hybrid, even after a winter with snow tires and ski rack, and a summer with our older son blasting the air conditioning. Toyota charges just $700 over the non-hybrid. At $2.50 per gallon of gas, and 12,000 miles/year, that pays for itself in under four years, which is a far better return than the 0.000005 percent or so interest most banks will pay you.

In short, whatever your thoughts about municipalization, you can personally move faster and farther toward a carbonless future, just by changing a few purchasing decisions.

Joel and Jean McCormack live in Boulder.

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Joel and Jean McCormack: Just do it! - Boulder Daily Camera

Ben Franklin Plumbing, a plumbing company & service offering Haysville Plumbers, has announced an upgrade to the local page for suburban Kansas residents. Haysville, Kansas, is firmly in the company's service area for plumbing services.

Wichita, Kansas (PRWEB) July 29, 2017

Ben Franklin Plumbing, considered one of Central Kansas' top plumbing companies, is proud to announce an upgrade to its informational page on Haysville, Kansas, plumbers and plumbing services. Local Kansas residents living in suburban areas near Wichita may review custom-fit plumbing information and tips. If a professional plumber is required for a sewer line repair or water heater installation as well as other plumbing support, information can be found on the newly updated page for the city.

"Haysville, Kansas, may be outside of the city of Wichita's boundaries but we know suburban areas experience plumbing emergencies too," explained Jason Clark, Manager of Ben Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, Kansas. "Locals may still prefer local help and advice. We are a local Kansas business and offer the best plumbing service and information for all locals. That includes urban and suburban!"

While Ben Franklin Plumbing has been considered a top plumbing company in Wichita, Kansas residents may not realize that the company also serves suburbs such as Haysville. Accordingly, the local Kansas page for plumbing services and support has been updated. To review the newly revised page please visit http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/haysville-kansas. Local suburban areas such as Haysville, Roseville, Clearwater and Mulvane can receive support for drain cleaning services, toilet installation and other plumbing issues close by. Similarly, those who are residents of Derby, Kansas, can visit that plumbing information page at http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/derby-kansas.

It's common knowledge that residents of Central Kansas prefer local businesses. For example, local Farmer's Markets in Kansas can provide residents an opportunity to experience top-rate products right at home. People enjoying local fresh produce may also feel good about supporting hard working local farms. Suburban areas such as Haysville, Kansas may be close enough to farms for neighbors to visit and buy produce right away. Yet, locals searching for a local plumber may not believe a hard working local plumbing service could be just as easy to attain. It may be important to understand a nearby plumbing service in the urban city of Wichita also serves suburban Kansas neighborhoods. Even if the physical location of a service does not have a Haysville, Kansas mailing address, it could still be considered a local business.

For these reasons, Ben Franklin Plumbing has announced an upgraded to the Haysville, Kansas informational page. Kansas plumbers can include local service persons who are professionally trained to support the specific needs of suburban Kansas residents. Ben Franklin has been a locally established plumbing company with the goal to serve the Kansas community including the surrounding suburban areas. A plumbing expert servicing the local community can be contacted for 24/7 plumbing emergencies including weekends and holidays. Other emergency plumbing services can be managed such as drain cleaning, sewer line repairs and water heater repairs. The company reminds suburban residents that a local plumbing service may still be considered local when the physical location is in another Kansas community nearby.

About Ben Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, Kansas

Ben Franklin Plumbing is a top-rated plumbing service, serving greater Wichita, Kansas and located at 2825 E. Kellogg Avenue. The company offers drain cleaning, 24 hour, emergency plumbing service and sewer line repair not only to Wichita but to surrounding communities such as Derby, Andover, and Haysville, Kansas. Professionally licensed plumbers, including Haysville plumbers, are ready for plumbing problems such as: drain cleaning, installing pump systems and water heaters, sewer line clean-outs and faucet repair. The company also replaces and installs faucets, garbage disposals and toilets. When searching for sewer line repairs, sewer repair and unclogging drains in Derby, Andover, Haysville or Wichita, Kansas, Ben Franklin Plumbing is available.

Web. http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/Tel. 316-858-5985

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/wichita/drain-cleaning/prweb14553326.htm

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Ben Franklin Plumbing, a Top Haysville Kansas Plumbing Company & Service, Announces Upgraded Local Page - Benzinga

File photoFrom education to commerce, career technical education benefits the entire economy, say local business and education officials.

HANCOCK The Copper Country Intermediate School Districts career and technical education (CTE) program is important to the future economy of the area, according to many sources.

Ive heard from many local companies that are scared, George Stockero, CCISD superintendent said in an interview on Tuesday, because their workforce is getting to the retirement age, and they do not know who is going to replace them.

Tom Helminen, president of Moyle Construction of Houghton, agrees.

There is a shortage of skilled labor in the building trades, Moyle said, which will only worsen going forward, as much of the current labor force reaches retirement age over the next decade. It is vital to our community that we provide CTE classes in our schools for students who wish to pursue a career path in the building trades. Otherwise, it could be very expensive to, for example, have a house built, have a water heater changed, install an electrical service or any of the many other services that we need that require a skilled tradesperson to perform.

Another instance of the extent of the skilled labor shortage in the Copper Country comes from one of Stockeros students.

We had our first young man who went through the machining class who did an internship, Stockero said, and he was offered four local jobs. Now. Were excited that well have six or seven young men doing internships next year, and hopefully with this millage, well start this pipeline.

Stockero said he wants to make sure people understand that CTE does three things:

Some students will graduate and go directly into the workforce.

There are those who will take CTE and will require one year of technical school and then enter the workforce.

There are some students, particularly in health care, who will take the CTE program, become excited as a result of it, and go on to college to obtain a four-year degree.

Corey Miller of Calumet is one such student who became passionate because of CTE. Miller said she took the nurses aid class in the 2015-16 school year, and could not wait to graduate, because the class enabled her to find immediate employment right out of high school.

I took an elder associate position at Portage Pointe (nursing home) in the summer of 2016, Miller said, and my life was forever changed. If I never took this class back in high school, I do not think I would have found my passion of medicine and helping others. I hope this class will be around for years to come, so others can find their passion, whether it be in medicine or something completely different.

HANCOCK Even as the Copper Country Intermediate School Districts career and technical education program ...

There are several organizations which do rankings of schools around the country, and some Copper Country schools ...

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Local economy relies on CTE - Daily Mining Gazette

Today, The Hawk Eye gets a new look. Old issues, be they found in the walls of a house or carefully stored at the public library, show how the newspaper has constantly changed.

Most have heard the saying, If these walls could talk.

The walls of Dorothy Hesters house on Orchard Street in Burlington can, in a way. They were filled with old newspapers, dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Hester has lived in her house for 30 years. A few years after moving in, she and her husband decided to remodel. But when the couple started knocking down walls, papers started flying out.

Back in the day, they used to insulate houses with all this, Hester said, pointing to boxes of brittle, yellowed newspapers.

We had fun when we were remodeling, because you had to be careful because all the stuff would come flying out at you, she said.

The papers once were stuffed into walls throughout the house, including the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and living room.

An 1891 copy of The Burlington Hawk-Eye read Easter Announcements across the top.

That was years ago, and Hester said she had forgotten all about the newspapers. Her late husband, whom she described as a saver, had packed the newspapers away somewhere to gather more dust.

Then, recently, Hester decided to replace the windows in her attic. As the young man working on the project pulled away woodwork from the windows, Hester said he called down to show her another armful of old newspapers. Snippets of fragile pages floated down into her yard. Hester said she was picking them out of the grass all day.

Hester delicately flipped through the pages with ink-stained fingers. She laughed at how outdated the content seemed ads for rustproof corsets, recipes for scalloped eggs, and embroidery patterns.

One paper, dated 1913, showed the papers cost to be 1 cent.

They better not tell them that today, Hester joked. Because I just sent in for a year.

While she does not have any use for the papers, Hester said she could not throw away the history they contain. Since using newspapers for insulation was a common practice of the time, Hester said she is sure other houses in the neighborhood have their own stories tucked away inside the walls.

However, Burlington residents who dont want to tear out their plaster can find any copy of The Hawk Eye at the Burlington Public Library. Samantha Helmick, the public services librarian, said the newspapers are bound in large books and kept in the basement for posterity. However, the public can access them on eight microfilm machines.

Every single day we have folks coming in to research their family history, research the history of the community, look for specific articles of interest for legal investigations, Helmick said. Its fascinating.

Those books full of newspapers show decades of history. They illustrate the changes the newspaper has gone through since it was established as the first daily newspaper in Iowa in 1837.

An 1860 copy reads Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye across the top of a wide newspaper. Underneath, the tagline reads An Independent Republican Journal. Tiny font covers the pages, which do not have photos.

Advertisements for everything from hoop skirts to hog prices recall a time before television and internet offered businesses other outlets.

Stories encouraged Burlington residents to vote for Abraham Lincoln.

In 1951, the paper was called The Burlington Hawk-Eye Gazette. By then had photos and bigger headlines. Crossword puzzles and comics were added, along with a section titled News for Women, which included engagement and marriage announcements and fashion advice.

Today the paper looks different, too, adding to the time machine-like collection at the library.

This teaches us about our history, Helmick said. And where we are going.

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Inside the walls or at the library, brittle paper offers glimpses of the past - Burlington Hawk Eye