By: HomeTheaterReview.com, August 23, 2017

Monitor Audio has added a new in-ceiling speaker to its Platinum II line. The three-way PLIC II speaker features an eight-inch long throw bass driver, dual two-inchC-CAM midrange drivers, and aMicro Pleated Diaphragm (MPD) air motion high-frequency ribbon transducer. The speaker uses Monitor Audio's Tri-Grip fixing system, and an optionalpre-construction MDF back box is available to control sound leakage. More details are available in the press release below.

From Monitor AudioMonitor Audio has expanded its Platinum II range of speakers to include a design- and installation-friendly in-ceiling speaker that offers unsurpassed levels of performance and sublime audio accuracy.

"When developing a new speaker, manufacturers have to consider four audiences--home technology installers, architects, interior designers and end users," comments Monitor Audio's Technical Director, Dean Hartley. "This means that the final product has to meet many demands. We are delighted that we have met all these expectations with the new PLIC II in-ceiling speaker--it's a winning combination of high quality sound, ease of installation and discreet design."

The Monitor Audio PLIC II in-ceiling speaker features an 8" long throw bass driver with Rigid Diaphragm Technology (RDT II) to provide immensely powerful bass lines. This is achieved by the RDT cone reacting to an audio signal with lightning fast precision and without deformation. A rigid aluminum baffle houses dual C-CAM midrange drivers and a Micro Pleated Diaphragm (MPD) air motion high frequency ribbon transducer, directed toward the listening area to deliver the best possible sound balance to the listener.

All PLIC II drivers employ a heavy duty motor system integrating an under-hung motor assembly to ensure the coil always remains in the gap, even when driven hard. The addition of copper 'shorting' rings greatly improves magnetic linearity and lowers intermodulation distortion, resulting in crisp and clear audio delivery. A world first for an in-ceiling speaker!

Designed for installation in both new build and retrofit projects, the PLIC II in-ceiling speaker features Monitor Audio's unique Tri-Grip fixing system. This three-position 'dog leg' style fixing provides a greater contact surface area than other types. This system, combined with the magnetic grille, saves the installer both time and money by speeding up the speaker fitting process.

To ensure controlled audio performance, Monitor Audio has designed an optional pre-construction MDF back box with pre-determined air volume of 24L. The rigid box is available with pre-loaded internal damping material to provide the best possible sound absorption and reduce standing waves.

To satisfy the interior designer and end user, the circular grille can appear almost invisible, by being painted to match the room dcor. Monitor Audio also offers a square option to match lighting fixtures and ventilation.

PLIC II FEATURES AND BENEFITS

High-performance 'no compromise' flagship speaker product. Compact dimensions. Four drivers--full three-way design. 8" Long throw Bass driver featuring RDT II cone technology. Dual 2" C-CAM midrange drivers for wider dispersion. MPD high frequency transducer. Angled midrange and high frequency drivers--directed toward listening area to provide uniform mid- and high-frequency dispersion. Rigid aluminium baffle construction. Highest quality 'push' style termination. Midrange and H.F level adjustment switches (+1/0/-1) dB. Paintable, trimless/low profile circular magnetic grille design--square options available. Highest quality crossover design--including metallised polypropylene capacitor and low loss inductors. Patented Tri-grip dog leg fixing. PLIC-BOX II--specially designed pre-construction enclosure provides ideal controlled performance. Pre-construction bracket for retro fit purposes: CB10 (light brown).

MSRP: $1,500 each

Additional Resources Visit the Monitor Audio website for more product information. Monitor Audio Launches Updated Silver Series Lineup at HomeTheaterReview.com.

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Monitor Audio Introduces PLIC II In-ceiling Speaker - Home Theater Review

In Joseph Youngs parlor, there are words on the ceiling: They came. They went, they read.

There are words on the computer, the windows, the kitchen cupboard, the bedspread upstairs.

Young is a writer, but his most recent work isnt found on paper. For the foreseeable future, his Hampden rowhouse will tell a story.

The MicroFiction RowHouse is an immersive installation of Youngs microfictions, or stories around 10 to 50 words, by his definition. Using photocopy transfer and a number of other methods, hes printed his stories on virtually every type of surface in every type of room in the house.

The rowhouse, in stories as short as two words, imagines the life of a fictional family that might have lived there over the years, Young said, using the rooms and the items that now tell their stories. The family isnt inspired by anyone Young knows, but rather a conglomeration of different people and things that people tend to do, he said.

The MicroFiction RowHouse is meant to be community-oriented, Young said, open to the public through events, readings and by appointment. Hes raised $1,150 through a GoFundMe campaign he launched in early July to support the project, but will go forward with the installation regardless of how much money that brings in.

Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun

A microfiction story has been printed on the bed sheets of writer Joseph Young's rowhome, dubbed the MicroFiction Rowhouse.

A microfiction story has been printed on the bed sheets of writer Joseph Young's rowhome, dubbed the MicroFiction Rowhouse. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

The RowHouse kicked off events Aug. 12 with a performance by psychedelic band Duchess and the DeadBirds and will host a number of public workshops, musical performances and literary readings throughout August and September, including an opening reception Sept. 9.

Though Young has been writing microfiction since 2006, the genre has grown in popularity in the last five years. While the exact length and definition of microfiction is subject to diverse views in the literary community, Twitter users like @veryshortstory and @terriblytiny use the social media platforms 140-character limit as a storytelling parameter. In 2012, the British newspaper The Guardian challenged prominent writers to tell tales in tweets. That same year, Twitter began its Twitter Fiction Festival, which ran through 2015. The nanofiction literary magazine Nanoism and its accompanying Twitter account have run since 2009.

The form is attractive because its accessible, but a little bit mysterious, said local writer Justin Sanders. Sanders used to edit a Baltimore-based literary series called Artichoke Haircut and will host a reading at the Microfiction RowHouse in September. How you whittle down these narratives ... thats such a fascinating artistic process.

Sanders sees the form proliferating in the internet age due to increased consumption habits, shortened attention spans and expanded access.

But Young has never tweeted his stories (though he did used to text them, he said). His microfictions read more like poetry than novels, and they take more than a quick scan to absorb.

For a long time, I had this idea that flash fiction or microfiction shouldnt try to replicate what longer fiction is better at, Young said. Trying to create an entire world, an entire story with the same texture that a short story or a novel could achieve in a much shorter form is kind of not using the form in the best way.

But that doesnt mean microfiction cant have depth. In the MicroFiction Rowhouse, Young imagines a familys celebrations, defeats, tense moments and serene ones on the surfaces of commonplace items. The desktop computer reads happy birthday, lending the otherwise inanimate object a personal history. A window nearby speaks of an escaped cat. In the kitchen, there is talk of food stamps and a blood-boiling search for car keys. Upstairs, a story on the bedspread tells of the couple who might lie beneath it.

Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun

Microfiction written on chalkboard on the kitchen cabinets of writer Joseph Young's "MicroFiction Rowhouse" in Hampden.

Microfiction written on chalkboard on the kitchen cabinets of writer Joseph Young's "MicroFiction Rowhouse" in Hampden. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

Youngs project is eight to 10 years in the making, he said. Hes been actively creating microfiction since 2006, and has published numerous chapbooks, as well as Easter Rabbit, his book of microfiction.

His stories started out as more traditional 500-word stories, he said. Then, they started getting smaller and smaller, partly due to his work with visual artists. But putting his stories on walls and in visual spaces was part of a desire to do something bigger and more physical, he said.

I think Joe was a little jealous of painters because their work had weight, said Hampden artist and Youngs frequent collaborator Christine Sajecki. Sajecki originally taught Young how to transfer words from paper to almost much any surface, she said, and will teach a transfer workshop Sept. 19 at the rowhouse.

To put his stories on most household surfaces, Young made paper printouts of each word and for bigger transfers, each letter at a local FedEx. To complete the transfers, the paper is placed on the desired surface, doused with wintergreen oil and rubbed vigorously with a smooth, flat surface. The magic of the wintergreen oil is a bit of a mystery, but it likely works because copy toner is heat sensitive, Sajecki said, and the oil warms when rubbed.

And the transfer tool of choice? A wooden spoon. Young uses the same one he started with when Sajecki taught him the method in 2008, he said.

It has the right feel and I can vary the amount of pressure I need to apply given the surface being transferred to, Young said. My arm is fairly sore, though it's something I've gotten used to.

Young originally tried to find another space where he could create the MicroFiction RowHouse, approaching both nonprofit and private entities to locate a rowhome for the project, but eventually landed on his own home. His roommate was moving out, and the timing felt right.

I was still putting my microfictions on the walls of galleries and on the walls of some private homes, but Id never gotten to that point where I could fill an entire rowhouse with them, he said, So, I decided that I would fill my own house.

Youngs project is a natural fit for his Hampden neighborhood, where there is a vibrant art scene, said Hampden Community Council President Matt Stegman.

I think thats one of the things we really value in the neighborhood and what makes us different from other places to Baltimore, said Stegman.

This isnt the first time Youngs home has been transformed into an art space. The house itself has a history of creative occupants (he rents it from Donna Sellinger, a member of the Wham City arts collective), evidenced by an upstairs hallway bearing a chaotic collage of wallpaper left by artists past. Young also held a house-wide showing of his works in 2015, he said.

When the public arrives to read his stories, Young hopes theyll find a different way of looking at a story. As for Young, hell be sharing his space with the fictional family for the foreseeable future. Asked how long he planned to keep the microfictions around, he laughed and said, thats a really good question. Im not really sure.

The house is a good fit for Youngs microfiction, said Sajecki, which often assigns great importance to the space between words.

And the home, though a physical expansion of the genre rather than a digital one, is a natural progression in bringing microfiction to those who might be unfamiliar with the literary scene.

I think microfiction as a genre works well to bring in outsiders, Sanders said. Joes work really speaks to that. Hes turning private media into public media.

MicroFiction RowHouse is located at 3322 Chestnut Ave. in Hampden. It is open to the public during its opening reception on Sept. 9, during other scheduled events and by appointment. Find more information at microfictionrowhouse.wordpress.com. Contact Joseph Young to schedule a viewing at youngjoseph21@gmail.com.

dohl@baltsun.com

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Hampden writer uses every surface of his rowhome to tell a story - Baltimore Sun

For half a million people in the border regions of Texas, getting basic infrastructure -- the kind that most Americans take for granted -- has taken decades. These residents have to cope with problems like streets overflowing with sewage from sand-filled septic tanks, high levels of toxic arsenic in their drinking water or roads that flood during the summer monsoons.

But fixing those problems could get even tougher next month thanks to Texas' budget cuts, advocates there say.

The predominantly poor residents of colonias -- makeshift subdivisions often far outside city limits -- have bought land or cheap houses from unscrupulous developers who promised to eventually install electricity, running water and paved roads. The developers often failed to deliver.

Texas cracked down on the worst offenders in the 1990s, but change has been slow. Many of these communities still lack even the most basic infrastructure systems.

The neighborhoods are often so remote that connecting them to city sewer lines or drinking water is prohibitively expensive, at least for the local governments that would normally foot the bill. Putting in a sewer system to serve 5,000 people in an El Paso-area colonia, for example, is expected to cost as much as $40 million. The haphazard development in colonias makes upgrades difficult, too, because its hard to install sidewalks and sewer pipes where roads are steep, rights-of-way arent clear and houses are unevenly spread out. Sometimes the houses are even in floodplains.

Still, government officials have stepped in to address some of the problems. Local, state and federal officials developed programs to install water systems, deliver health services and build roads in colonias. In 1999, Gov. George W. Bush signed a law that created a state ombudsman program to help colonia residents figure out the myriad programs available to help them.

The ombudsmen's program was also responsible for tracking the state's progress in improving conditions incoloniasand reporting those results to the legislature. In its last report, the office reported that the number of people living incoloniaswith the worst conditions dropped from 44,526 in 353 neighborhoods in 2010 to 37,862 people in 337coloniasin 2014.

But Gov. Greg Abbott this summer effectivelyterminatedBush's program. The secretary of state, who administers the program, had asked to maintain funding for it at $860,000 for the next two years. But Abbott vetoed that spending from the state budget. The move came as a surprise to many officials who represent border areas with colonias, because there had been almost no talk in recent years of cutting the program.

But the governors office calls eliminating the ombudsmen's program a matter of fiscal responsibility.

No services to the colonias have been interrupted as a result of eliminating this redundant program, says Abbott spokesman John Wittman. The governor believes that funding to the colonias should go directly to the colonias instead of using tax dollars to fund a bigger government bureaucracy. With the governors action, Texas is shrinking government without interrupting services to the colonias.

But Rep. Mary Gonzlez, whose El Paso-area district includes more than 260 colonias, says the veto will have consequences for peoples health and safety. It either shows the governor doesnt understand the needs of the colonia residents or that hes allowing politics to supersede policy, she says. The decision will have few political consequences for Abbott, she adds: Most of the people affected -- poor, Hispanic and likely Democratic -- are already upset with Abbott for signing a law earlier this year targeting sanctuary cities and cracking down on unauthorized immigrants.

Gonzlez says the state coordinators help colonia residents navigate the complex and often confusing array of services avaiable to them. ButWittman, the governors spokesman, says the ombudsman program actually adds another level of bureaucratic red tape. When the program is eliminated next month, he says, coordination will happen directly between the state agencies providing services and the colonias.

Sam Taylor, a spokesman for Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, also emphasizes that the changes would be primarily administrative. (In Texas, the governor appoints the secretary of state.)

State agencies coordination of colonias projects has evolved significantly since the programs inception, he says. We expect there to be no diminishment of tangible benefits to colonias residents, as infrastructure, agriculture, water, housing and public health programs dedicated to colonias projects continue to be funded in the current budget.

Without state-level coordination among agencies, though, some local officials are worried that the responsibilities will fall to them.

For the county, the loss of the ombudsmen office is a big loss for us, says El Paso County Commissioner Vincent Perez. In the time Ive been in office, the ombudsmens office has been the one Ive been dealing with the most when it comes to dealing with infrastructure in the colonias.

Other state agencies havent come forward to tell local communities that they might be eligible for colonia-related programs, and they havent coordinated among government agencies, Perez says.

Meanwhile, the options for counties to step in are limited. Counties are already financially strapped, because the state limits the taxes they can impose, which makes it more difficult for them to pay for services in place of the state coordinators. Texas law also prevents counties from imposing zoning requirements on developments that couldve prevented many of the ongoing problems with colonias, Perez says.

Our county was created in 1850, and honestly, it hasnt changed much since then. Were using 19th-century tools to deal with 21st-century problems, he says. Texas values very limited government, and county governments certainly reflect that.

Perez says pressure to address the infrastructure problems in colonias will continue to build, especially in the El Paso area, where the sprawling city is encroaching on once-isolated neighborhoods. That will actually make it easier to solve some problems, like extending sewer lines. But it also means that other issues, such as flooding caused by inadeqaute infrastructure, will start to impact more and more people.

And its not feasible for many families currently living in colonias to move out, he adds, because affordable housing is hard to find for poor residents.

Youre talking about a family thats lived there for three decades that now owns their property free and clear. To them, its a source of pride, Perez says. Theres a lot of people out there who think [colonia residents] should move somewhere else or be relocated. Its not that simple. Thats why its important to have folks with a lot of expertise in the area of colonias. The office of the ombudsman very often provided that.

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On the Texas Border, Building Infrastructure Is Hard. Critics Say It's About to Get Harder. - Governing

In the aftermath of his removal, Kevin Connolly resigned from his position on council as deputy mayor, reducing the towns number of council members to three not enough to hold quorum. Connolly was unavailable for comment prior to deadline. Nominations for the upcoming municipal election will be accepted Sept. 5 at the town hall in Cupids.

They may take legal action against the town, the mayor explained. Right now, were asking for suggestions from Municipal Affairs, and we got options were looking over for the future of council.

When asked if council would replace the pipe, Gordon Power said he doesnt feel as though council has a choice in the matter.

The Compass contacted Mike Power, who also confirmed that he had been removed from council, but stated he could not speak on the matter at length due to legal reasons. When asked for his reasoning for the removal of the pipe, Mike declined to comment.

The Compass was directed to Mike Powers lawyer, Bob Buckingham, for any further questions. Buckingham could not be reached prior to deadline.

The report from the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment was made public through an access to information request and is accessible online.

chris.lewis@cbncompass.ca

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Mike Power removed from Cupids council over sewer line removal - The Compass

This landscape architects plans for the U.S.-Mexico border have nothing to do with walls.

The United States and Mexico have shared their current international border for nearly 170 years. Today they cooperate at multiple levels on issues that affect the border region, although you would not know it from the divisive rhetoric that we hear in both countries. President Trumps focus on building a border wall threatens to undermine many binational initiatives, as well as our shared natural environment.

As a scholar focusing on urban planning and design in the border region, I have worked with communities in both countries to restore deteriorated urban and natural environments. I see great potential for green infrastructureprojects that use live natural systems to deliver benefits to people and the local environment. This approach can help mitigate air and water pollution, restore soils and habitats, and regenerate plant, animal, and human communities.

I also see an opportunity for Mexico and the United States to work together on a much larger scale. Rather than spending billions of dollars on a border wall, here is an alternative vision: regenerating the Rio Grande, which forms more than half of the border, to form the core of a binational park that showcases our spectacular shared landscape.

Today the rivers volume is decreasing, thanks to climate change and water diversions for agriculture and municipal uses. It is polluted with fertilizers and sewage, and has lost at least seven native fish species. Restoring it would produce immense benefits for wildlife, agriculture, recreation and communities on both sides.

Mexico and the United States have signed numerous agreements regulating the border, starting with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. In 1944, they created the International Boundary and Water Commission to manage water supplies, water quality, and flood control in the border region.

Environmental issues that affect communities on the border include raw sewage dumping, agro-chemical pollution, and flooding. Loss of riparian habitatthe lush green zones along river bankshas reduced shade and natural cooling in the rivers urban stretches.

Recognizing these issues, the United States and Mexico established the Border Environment Cooperation Commission in a side pact to the North American Free Trade Agreement. This organization funds environmental programs proposed by local communities and governments within a 400-kilometer-wide strip along the border. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Border 2020 program also provides grants focused on environmental issues in the United States and Mexico.

I have coordinated applied collaborative design studios, in which students work with local and state planning authorities to address problems such as flooding and lack of accessible, high-quality public space. These projects seek to improve urban infrastructure systems in ways that increase ecosystem services, such as improving water quality.

For example, as part of the Border 2012 (precedent to Border 2020) program, the EPA provided funding for a pilot program to build flood-prevention detention ponds in Nogales, Mexico, a sister city with Nogales, Arizona. City leaders wanted to assess whether the ponds could also serve as public space amenities. Working with students from Arizona State University, my colleague Francisco Lara Valencia and I produced a report for local planning authorities. In it we proposed creating a network of connected green spaces to absorb stormwater and provide park lands, bringing nature into the city. By doing so, EPA and Mexican authorities could have a positive environmental impact on both cities.

I also worked with students at the University of Texas at Austin to create a green corridor master plan for the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, in 2015. Green corridors typically run along natural or artificial waterways to soak up stormwater and provide places to play. The city is now launching a strategic plan that incorporates these concepts.

In 2015 and 2016, UT Austin developed an urban planning and design strategy for border towns in the state of Tamaulipas that are expected to be impacted by oil and gas production resulting from recent energy reforms in Mexico. Our case study city is Ciudad Miguel Aleman, a border sister city with Roma, Texas, separated only by the width of the Rio Grande.

The plan and designs propose to leverage construction of infrastructure for oil and gas production fields to include detention and filtration ponds and green corridors, which will serve as high-quality public spaces and mitigate flood risks. It also calls for creating natural preserves and recreation areas on the Mexican side of the river, mirroring existing areas on the American side.

A green vision for the border region would expand this sister-city-specific approach into a large-scale urban ecology and planning effort. This initiative could integrate streets, parks, industries, towns, cities, creeks and other tributaries, agriculture, and fracking fields throughout the Rio Grandes entire 182,000-square-mile watershed.

One possible starting point would be to restore riparian zones along the river through the binational metropolis of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, redesigning the existing channel. Recreating natural habitat on both sides of the river would cool and clean the air and provide attractive public spaces.

But why stop there? As the Rio Grande advances to the Gulf of Mexico, it cuts through incredibly valuable, beautiful, and remote landscapes, including Big Bend National Park in Texas and the Caon de Santa Elena, Ocampo, and Maderas del Carmen reserves in Mexico. Traveling its length could become a trip comparable to hiking the Appalachian Trail, with opportunities to see recovering natural areas and wildlife and learn from two of the worlds richest cultures.

Together these areas form a vast, potentially binational natural park that could be managed cooperatively, much like Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park on the U.S.-Canadian border. In fact, advocates on both sides of the border have been pursuing this vision for more than 80 years. When Texas officials proposed creating Big Bend National Park in the 1930s, they envisioned an international park. In 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote to Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho that:

I do not believe that this undertaking in the Big Bend [establishment of Big Bend National Park] will be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great international park.

Discussions lapsed in the 1950s, then resumed in the 1980s at the grassroots level, but were drowned out by debates over border security and immigration after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

It is not clear whether Congress will provide the $1.6 billion that President Trump has requested for work on a border wall. In any case, building a wall on a wide, inhabited river corridor with flood risks is a dubious goal. As experts have pointed out, it is more effective to police the border with technology and human power than to build a barrier.

In fact, restoring river habitat could improve border security by fostering higher and more constant water flow. Making the Rio Grande healthier would also benefit farmers and energy producers on both sides of the border.

In his 1951 essay Chihuahua as We Might Have Been, the American cultural landscape scholar J.B. Jackson wrote that rivers are meant to bring men together, not to keep them apart, and that the border imposes an artificial division on a region that humans accepted as one unified entity for hundreds of yearsthe Spanish Southwest. This vast shared watershed should remind us that we are fragile in isolation, but powerful when we come together.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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A Landscape Architect's Green Vision for the U.S.-Mexico Border ... - CityLab

August 24, 2017 by zachmortice

Improbable Botany. Illustrations by Jonathan Burton. Published/Curated by Wayward.

Wayward is a collective of landscape architects, architects, urban growers, artists, and other assorted creative types who design landscape installations for exploring new models for how green space can work in cities, says its founder, Heather Ring. The groups experimental and often temporary projects emphasize creating narrative environments that tell stories through the spaces. The projects have included chromatic explorations of algae growth and weaving slow-growth sculpture from living trees.

Its an outsiders perspective on landscape design that might have earned Rings London-based band of designers the high school graduation accolade of landscape architect most likely to commission a science fiction anthology, because thats just what Wayward has done.

Having raised nearly $16,000 during a successful Kickstarter campaign, Wayward will publish Improbable Botany, a collection of 11 short stories of sci-fi landscape futurism that extrapolate our current relationship with the planets flora into magical and terrible places. The book will ship in late October, in time for Halloween.

Illustrations by Jonathan Burton. Published/Curated by Wayward.

We see science fiction as a future forecasting, Ring says, an ability to creatively look at what sorts of developments are happening right now, and what could potentially happen in the future.

Edited by Gary Dalkin, the book includes full-color illustrations by Jonathan Burton that convey a warm and recognizable future, more playfully surreal than mercilessly technological. This sensibility is reflected in a number of the stories themselves. The most iconic sci-fi around plants has either been a fear of nature taking over the world, or a seed being the last hope, like Wall-E, Ring says. But Improbable Botany seems to suggest a middle third way, where nature is neither a vulnerable sacrament nor a devouring maw. Characters find small moments of charity and humanity amid tectonic shifts in their relationship to plants and their environment. The specter of climate change is an implicit undercurrent. This dynamic is expressed at an individual scale and at a global scale, often set in a near future thats just off-kilter enough for us to recognize. In Eric Browns The Ice Garden, a mysterious country manor reunion story is brought about by some astral horticulture. In The Bicycle-Frame Tree Plantation Managers Redundancy by Ken MacLeod, we see a world where plants work as factories, growing complex mechanical elements, and where nature can be co-opted to leap ahead of the relentless pace of unsustainable globalized industry for only so long.

Illustrations by Jonathan Burton. Published/Curated by Wayward.

Ring sees this project and Waywards entire body of self-initiated work as a counterpoint to the dominant corporate practice of landscape design. The groups members are the wayward ones who really want the autonomy and the creative freedom to explore different things, she says.

Illustrations by Jonathan Burton. Published/Curated by Wayward.

And thats an open-ended sort of freedom that landscape architecture could stand to embrace. Landscape architectures current well-established paradigm largely conceives of landscape as elements of functional infrastructure. Ring is excited by the prospect of her book opening up new disciplinary avenues that consider landscape architects as bioengineers and landscape as technology, the humanistic endeavor thats such a fundamental ingredient of sci-fi. As the profession casts about for a new lodestar, Ring may be tinkering with the spaceship that helps it get there.

Zach Mortice is a Chicago-based architecture and landscape architecture journalist. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

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A WAYWARD JOURNEY TO LANDSCAPE FUTURES | Landscape ... - Landscape Architecture Magazine

HUBBARD, Ohio There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, 2017 at St. Boniface Catholic Church, 9367 Wattsburg Road in Erie, Pennsylvania for Joseph A. Jendrasiak, age 76, of Hubbard who passed away on Wednesday, August 23, 2017 at Hospice of the Valley Hospice House in Poland.

Joe was born August 8, 1941 in Erie, Pennsylvania a son of John and Erma Flinkman Jendrasiak.

After graduating from Penn State University with a Bachelors Degree in Landscape Architecture he took a position of Landscape Architect at Duncan Landscape and Associates. He received more than 30 civic improvement awards from the City of Youngstown and was a commissioned landscape architect for the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand. In 1976 Joe was one of five businessmen selected by District 665 Rotary International to participate in the group study exchange program to tour Japan and learn the Japanese culture.

In 1977 Joe started his own business and was a co-owner of Lande-Con Landscape and Construction Company in Hubbard. In 1989 he became solely a design firm registering in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York doing various projects in and around the Youngstown area, parks and schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio including Hubbards new school and track complex.

Joe was a past member of Hubbard Rotary Club and had served as president in 1981-1982, a member of Youngstown Area Jaycees, Penn State Alumni Association, American Society of Landscape Architects, Hubbard Architectural Board and Harding Park Meeting House Committee.

He enjoyed woodworking, fishing and gardening.

He will be sadly missed by his family; his wife of 53 years, the former Judie L. Post whom he married June 27, 1964 and his son, Joseph P. Jendrasiak of Warrenton, Virginia. He also leaves his sisters, Virginia (Scott) Stanton of Erie, Pennsylvania and Linda (Bill) Palmer of Columbus, Ohio; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Patrick and Kathy Post of Erie, Pennsylvania and nieces and nephews.

His parents preceded him in death.

There will be calling hours on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 from 4:00 7:00 p.m. at Stewart-Kyle Funeral Home, 407 West Liberty Street, Hubbard, Ohio and Wednesday, August 30, 2017 from 4:00 7:00 p.m. at G.R. Bailey Funeral Home 4396 Iroquois Avenue Erie, Pennsylvania and prayers at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, 2017 prior to the Mass at G.R. Bailey Funeral Home.

Joe will be laid to rest at Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, P.O. Box 3704, Memphis, Tennessee 38173-0704.

Special thanks to Dr. Slemons and his staff and Dr. Consentino and his staff for their kind and compassionate care given to Joe over the years.

Family and friends are invited to visit the funeral homes website at http://www.stewart-kyle.com to share memories and condolences.

A television tribute will air Monday, August 28 at the following approximate times:6:41 a.m. WYTV and 8:41 a.m. MyYTV and 9:58 a.m. on FOX plus two additional spots throughout the day.

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Joseph A. Jendrasiak Obituary - WKBN.com

Willowpix/Getty ImagesNothing will wake you up faster than turning on the shower and discovering theres no hot water. It could be an indication that its time to replace your water heater.

The cost of a water heater depends on several factors, such as the type of tank and the labor to install the unit. Storage water tanks average between $650 and $850. Tankless water heaters, which do not store water but use special coils to heat water when you need it, cost between $160 and $1,500.

The nationwide average cost of a water heater is $1,005, including installation.

With such an array of options, shopping for a new water heater overwhelms some people. They have to pick a unit with the capacity to handle the volume of hot water used in the home and one that fits in the designated space in the house.

The obvious difference between traditional storage water heaters and tankless heaters is the size of the units. But the way they heat the water also differs.

Storage water heaters generally cost less and handle large volumes of water better than tankless water heaters, making them a popular choice for families. However, tankless water heaters tend to be more energy-efficient and have a longer life span.

It is possible for a homeowner to install a water heater on his own, but most people hire a professional and need to consider the installation cost when shopping for a system. Installation costs vary depending on the price of labor, the type of water heater, the condition of the existing plumbing, and the permits required.

On average, a 40-gallon water heater and installation will run you $950. The average cost of a tankless water heater and installation is $1,700.

The power source for water heaters can come from gas, electricity or solar energy. Gas water heaters are less energy-efficient than electric ones, but gas heats up water quicker and often costs less. Solar-powered water heaters use energy from the sun and can be up to 50 percent more efficient than gas and electric heaters. But they may not provide enough energy to heat the water on cloudy days, especially during peak use.

Homeowners wondering whether its time to replace the water heater can look for certain signs that indicate the unit is failing. These include leaks coming from the tank, water pooling on the floor around the unit, and rust-tainted water. Failing water heaters also make rumbling or banging sounds and stop heating as efficiently as they once did.

Even if the water heater doesnt show these signs, it may be time to replace the unit if its past its life expectancy. Storage water heaters last 10 years on average, and tankless systems last between 10 and 20 years.

Before shopping for a water heater, evaluate your water usage. This information will help you select a water heater that has the capacity you need, especially during peak morning and evening hours.

When selecting a water heater, its also important to consider the available space for the unit, as well as the existing plumbing hookups and power supply. Switching from a storage tank water heater to a tankless unit or replacing an electric system with a gas one may require additional work to make the area compatible with the new system.

Use Bankrates calculator to figure out what the monthly payment will be on your new mortgage.

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Don't let a new water heater burn your budget - Bankrate.com

816 Flat Top Road, Shady Spring, WV 25918

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DENVER -- A Denver judge signed off on a court motion to temporarily shut down a Westminster business with a history of racist and deceptive business practices.

The FOX31 Problem Solvers first investigated Mile High Heating and Cooling in April 2015 after a viewer sent in a tip about racist policies.

Undercover cameras caught an employee explaining the company didn't cold call the Montbello neighborhood because in Mont-Ghetto," which they also called the colored neighborhood," customers dont pay.

While race discrimination is hurtful, its also illegal.

Attorney Genera Cynthia Coffman prompted a larger investigation into the companys alleged deceptive business model.

It is completely unacceptable for businesses to compromise the safety of Colorado consumers, Coffman said. My office will continue to crack down on companies that skirt the law and place Colorado consumers at risk.

According to court documents filed on Aug. 13, the investigation revealed Mile High Heating and Cooling has installed approximately 1,000 HVAC systems in customers homes but refused or failed to obtain necessary building permits to complete the work.

The company is also accused of hiring technicians who were deemed unqualified by their own supervisors. The documents allege the technicians lacked sufficient training to properly install new equipment.

A judge granted a temporary restraining order that bars Mile High Heating and Cooling, as well as its owner, Kevin Dykman, from engaging in any kind of HVAC operations, citing serious concerns about the dangers posed to customers.

Allowing [Dykman and his company] to continue to engage in the HVAC business creates a risk that a consumer would be exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning or that their home would blow up, the court documents say.

The HVAC company has also operated under the names Mountain View Heating and Cooling, and Pikes Peak Heating and Cooling.

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State shuts down business after Problem Solvers investigation - FOX31 Denver