Irelands Kevin OBrien is no stranger to big-hitting exploits but he had cause to regret his batting prowess on Thursday when he smashed his own car window with a trademark six.

OBrien, who scored the fastest century in World Cup history in 2011 to help Ireland chase down a mammoth 327 to secure a famous win over England in Bangalore, made 82 off 37 balls for Leinster Lightning in the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy.

He hit eight sixes, one of which sailed into the parking lot next to the Pembroke Cricket Club in Dublin to shatter his cars rear window.

After the match, the 36-year-old all-rounder drove the car straight to the garage to get the window replaced.

Dont worry @KevinOBrien113 well get it fixed up as good as new, the dealership said on Twitter. Brien then came up with fitting reply, promising that he would park the car further from next time around.

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Irelands Kevin OBrien smashes own car window with monster six, says Will park further next time - Hindustan Times

Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff

Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff

On Tuesday, news that had long been speculated became official: As first reported by KSRs Matt Jones, DeWayne Peevy, the Deputy Athletic Director at Kentucky, has been named the AD at DePaul. The news had seemingly been in the works for weeks and is now finally official, with Kentucky announcing Peevys departure and DePaul following it up by announcing his arrival.

Admittedly, we dont normally do a lot of transactional, athletic department hirings and firings on this website. But it felt necessary here, if only to explain just how much this guy meant to the University of Kentucky, and its basketball program over the last decade and change. And while Peevy was long overdue to get a job of this magnitude (one he will crush, I have no doubt), its important to explain just how big of a hole he will leave behind at Kentucky.

Understand that Peevy has been at Kentucky for so long, that he actually pre-dates John Calipari by a year. In a world where there are now teenagers who dont remember life in Lexington before Calipari was named head coach, Peevy was on the ground in the wild year of 2008 BC (Before Cal) startingin Billy Gillispies final season as the head coach.

And yeah, if that feels like a lifetime ago, it basically was. Peevys job responsibilities also reflect just how long ago, and just how different Kentucky was at the time. Poor Peevy spent his first year in Lexington trying to drum up any positive media coverage he could for the Kentucky basketball team, in a year when there really was no good news to report. Yes, there was a time not long ago where Kentucky didnt have enough media coverage. Unlike today where it is impossible to keep track of all the newspapers, blogs, podcasts and radio shows who cover the team.

It also means that as Peevy walks out the door, he leaves with a little piece of history with him. He has been there since Day 1 of the Calipari era.

And when I say since Day 1 I mean, the guy was literally there Day 1. When I wrote my book One and Fun some of the best, most vivid stories I got from the entire book centered around Caliparis opening few days as the Kentucky basketball head coach. They were stories that many others had long since forgotten, or simply never took the time to commit to memory. It was Peevy who was there alongside Calipari as he prepared his opening press conference the day he accepted the Kentucky job. It was Peevy who tried to pass along notes, ones that Calipari stubbornly (surprise, surprise) chose not to use.

But it brings me to two important points. One, its that Peevy leaves as basically the unofficial historian of the Calipari era in Lexington. Two, outside of Kentuckys assistant coaches, Peevy quickly became Caliparis most-trusted right hand man at UK.

Really, the best way I can put it is this: You know how John Calipari is just a crazy visionary? A guy who comes up with a million new ideas every year, ranging from Big Blue Madness stuff to schedule quirks, the NBA Combine, on and on and on? Well, if Calipari is the guy throwing a million ideas at the wall, Peevy was the guy who had to execute them all.

When Calipari said I want to beef up the schedule early in his time at Kentucky, Peevy helped create the CBS Sports Classic (an event that Indiana was originally supposed to be a part of, according to Peevy). When Calipari said that he wanted to take his team down to the Bahamas for their once-every-four-years foreign tour, Peevy was the guy who had to call Atlantis and figure out where the team would play, how many hotel rooms theyd need and how to get opposing teams into the country. When Calipari wanted the latest and greatest crazy stunt at Big Blue Madness (think, John Wall dancing in the rafters) Peevy was the guy who worked with UKs operations team to make it happen.

And those are really just examples of things I know about personally. I cant imagine how many other hats he has worn at UK over the past 12 years.

More than anything though, what will be missed most around Lexington is Peevys unique ability to build relations and connect with people. See him at a UK basketball game and the poor guy never got a moment of free time, shaking hands with old friends, chatting with media members, you name it.

That extends beyond just gameday as well, as Peevy was essentially the connective fiber of Caliparis La Familia culture in Lexington. Yes, Calipari is the Godfather, and yes, Calipari is in touch with his former players daily.

But so too is Peevy.

And in the same way those former players inherently trust Calipari they trust Peevy the same. Meaning that if you ever needed John Wall or Jamal Murray or Willie Cauley-Stein for something, Peevy was the guy to go to. He might not be able to get you on the phone with the player that day, but any time Peevy asked one of the guys for a favor, they obliged. It was never a hassle for the player. It was never a wild goose chase where you had to track down the player through a million PR people. If Peevy vouched for you, that was all the players needed to know. Usually you were on the phone with them within a day or two.

Add it all up, and thats really why it is impossible to fully explain what Peevy leaving means to Kentucky basketball. Yes, he had a fancy title of Deputy Athletics Director in Lexington. But thats just a job title. Kentucky will be able to fill the job. But theyll never be able to replace the person theyre losing.

In the end however, what it all boils down to is what I said up top: Kentucky should just be thankful they had him as long as they did.

Hell make a heck of an Athletic Director at DePaul. A job he was long overdue, and way overqualified for.

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DeWayne Peevy will be impossible to replace at Kentucky - kentuckysportsradio.com

The vast majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs indoors, most of it from the inhalation of airborne particles that contain the coronavirus. The best way to prevent the virus from spreading in a home or business would be to simply keep infected people away. But this is hard to do when an estimated 40% of cases are asymptomatic and asymptomatic people can still spread the coronavirus to others.

Masks do a decent job at keeping the virus from spreading into the environment, but if an infected person is inside a building, inevitably some virus will escape into the air.

I am a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Much of my work has focused on how to control the transmission of airborne infectious diseases indoors, and Ive been asked by my own university, my kids schools and even the Alaska State Legislature for advice on how to make indoor spaces safe during this pandemic.

Once the virus escapes into the air inside a building, you have two options: bring in fresh air from outside or remove the virus from the air inside the building.

The safest indoor space is one that constantly has lots of outside air replacing the stale air inside.

In commercial buildings, outside air is usually pumped in through heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. In homes, outside air gets in through open windows and doors, in addition to seeping in through various nooks and crannies.

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Simply put, the more fresh, outside air inside a building, the better. Bringing in this air dilutes any contaminant in a building, whether a virus or a something else, and reduces the exposure of anyone inside. Environmental engineers like me quantify how much outside air is getting into a building using a measure called the air exchange rate. This number quantifies the number of times the air inside a building gets replaced with air from outside in an hour.

While the exact rate depends on the number of people and size of the room, most experts consider roughly six air changes an hour to be good for a 10-foot-by-10-foot room with three to four people in it. In a pandemic this should be higher, with one study from 2016 suggesting that an exchange rate of nine times per hour reduced the spread of SARS, MERS and H1N1 in a Hong Kong hospital.

Many buildings in the U.S., especially schools, do not meet recommended ventilation rates. Thankfully, it can be pretty easy to get more outside air into a building. Keeping windows and doors open is a good start. Putting a box fan in a window blowing out can greatly increase air exchange too. In buildings that dont have operable windows, you can change the mechanical ventilation system to increase how much air it is pumping. But in any room, the more people inside, the faster the air should be replaced.

So how do you know if the room youre in has enough air exchange? Its actually a pretty hard number to calculate. But theres an easy-to-measure proxy that can help. Every time you exhale, you release CO2 into the air. Since the coronavirus is most often spread by breathing, coughing or talking, you can use CO2 levels to see if the room is filling up with potentially infectious exhalations. The CO2 level lets you estimate if enough fresh outside air is getting in.

Outdoors, CO2 levels are just above 400 parts per million (ppm). A well ventilated room will have around 800 ppm of CO2. Any higher than that and it is a sign the room might need more ventilation.

READ: Colorado Sun opinion columnists.

Last year, researchers in Taiwan reported on the effect of ventilation on a tuberculosis outbreak at Taipei University. Many of the rooms in the school were underventilated and had CO2 levels above 3,000 ppm. When engineers improved air circulation and got CO2 levels under 600 ppm, the outbreak completely stopped. According to the research, the increase in ventilation was responsible for 97% of the decrease in transmission.

Since the coronavirus is spread through the air, higher CO2 levels in a room likely mean there is a higher chance of transmission if an infected person is inside. Based on the study above, I recommend trying to keep the CO2 levels below 600 ppm. You can buy good CO2 meters for around $100 online; just make sure that they are accurate to within 50 ppm.

If you are in a room that cant get enough outside air for dilution, consider an air cleaner, also commonly called air purifiers. These machines remove particles from the air, usually using a filter made of tightly woven fibers. They can capture particles containing bacteria and viruses and can help reduce disease transmission.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that air cleaners can do this for the coronavirus, but not all air cleaners are equal. Before you go out and buy one, there are few things to keep in mind.

The first thing to consider is how effective an air cleaners filter is. Your best option is a cleaner that uses a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, as these remove more than 99.97% of all particle sizes.

The second thing to consider is how powerful the cleaner is. The bigger the room or the more people in it the more air needs to be cleaned. I worked with some colleagues at Harvard to put together a tool to help teachers and schools determine how powerful of an air cleaner you need for different classroom sizes.

The last thing to consider is the validity of the claims made by the company producing the air cleaner.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers certifies air cleaners, so the AHAM Verifide seal is a good place to start. Additionally, the California Air Resources Board has a list of air cleaners that are certified as safe and effective, though not all of them use HEPA filters.

Both the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that poor ventilation increases the risk of transmitting the coronavirus.

If you are in control of your indoor environment, make sure you are getting enough fresh air from outside circulating into the building. A CO2 monitor can help give you a clue if there is enough ventilation, and if CO2 levels start going up, open some windows and take a break outside. If you cant get enough fresh air into a room, an air cleaner might be a good idea. If you do get an air cleaner, be aware that they dont remove CO2, so even though the air might be safer, CO2 levels could still be high in the room.

If you walk into a building and it feels hot, stuffy and crowded, chances are that there is not enough ventilation. Turn around and leave.

By paying attention to air circulation and filtration, improving them where you can and staying away from places where you cant, you can add another powerful tool to your anti-coronavirus toolkit.

Shelly Miller is professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom.Read our ethics policy for more on The Suns opinion policyand submit columns, suggested writers and more toopinion@coloradosun.com.

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Opinion: How to use ventilation and air filtration to prevent the spread of coronavirus indoors - The Colorado Sun

By Shirley Salemy Meyer

Im an avid painter. Fine art, such as peonies rendered in watercolors or portraits captured by oil, is not my forte. I favor the practical arts. Each year, in late spring and early summer, I paint something a room, a radiator, a patio chair, a window seat in my century-old house. In a week or a weekend, I see a dramatic change.

The notion of change is often thought of as difficult changing jobs can be laborious, changing routines can be disconcerting, even frightening. But change can also be transformative. I approached this years painting season, a time when COVID-19 forced me to change my routines and added layers of worry about my elderly parents in quarantine and my teenage children in remote learning, with a profound need for something new. The slowness of rolling a fresh paint color along nine-foot-high walls, of brushing another layer of semigloss onto wide, decorative wood moldings, allowed contemplation during this disquieting time, a stocktaking of present-day problems and future possibilities.

During my weeks of isolation in Essex County in the midst of the dangerous pandemic, sobering protests urging us to acknowledge and fight racial injustice, and stubborn national leadership one project led to the next. I painted the attic, the mudroom and two bathrooms.

Painting is a methodical, meditative process. I use a roller to cover broad areas of the walls, and then carefully drag my brush along the narrow spaces that the roller is unable to reach. I dont use tape to protect the window and door casings, the crown and baseboard moldings, when I cut in. Instead, I rely on my steady hand and a sharply angled brush. My body leans into the wall, nearly hugging it, as I pull the brush along the edge of the molding to get a clean line. The result of this slow, intimate work is a new look.

Sometimes, change can cause harm. The baseboard moldings are a mess, scuffed up by kids shoes and toys, and contain sections that are wavy and chipped. But lead paint is present amid the layers of paint. Ill never risk sanding the molding to attain a smooth finish when lead paint dust can be so damaging to our health. I can live with the moldings flaws.

But most change is a mark of progress. My drop cloths are a historical record of change in the house: old sheets with dump trucks or bright green polka dots, discolored shower curtains and plastic tablecloths splattered with glitter glue. After each painting project, I wash them all, then store them in a basement room where I keep supplies. The room is filled with old gallons of paint and quarts of colors I tested in various rooms. I recently cleaned out the cans that I will never need again: an electric blue and lime green that were on the walls of the girls room a decade ago; a soft blue that adorned the baby room the bedroom with the crib and changing table that two of my kids cycled into as infants and out of as toddlers. My youngest remained there a twin bed replaced the crib and the changing table became a bookcase and now three of its walls are painted white, the fourth a brick red.

The dining room has been three different colors in 19 years: golden yellow, off-white, and now a saturated, smoky blue. The color of the living room has changed from gold to beige to taupe during that same time period. The most dramatic makeover during my current painting season was in the mudroom, with the walls changing from fiery orange to a serene blue-green hue.

Each time Ive painted a room, Ive gained a new understanding, a new way of looking at the house and my environment. I never realized the usefulness of a bedroom window seat with storage until I painted it. I didnt appreciate the intricacy of the balusters in the attic until I painstakingly brushed them with paint. That gorgeous new color in the mudroom, which toggles between blue and green depending on the time of day, opened my eyes to how much sunshine enters the room.

Right now, we all would benefit from such a new perspective a shake-up in our thinking, a revitalization in our own lives and a much-needed boost to the collective well-being of the country. If only it came as easily as a few fresh coats of paint on imperfect walls.

Shirley Salemy Meyer, a Maplewood resident, is a part-time lecturer in the Writing Program at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

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The main stained-glass windows at St John's Anglican Church in Reid have served as a reminder to the church's parishioners of the story of John the Baptist for nearly 150 years, but time can take its toll on the delicate assembled panels of glass. Now, a $10,000 heritage grant from the ACT government will see the church develop a conservation plan for the building's windows. The church's rector, Father Paul Black, said no conservation work had been done on the windows for 25 years, and the church did not know what condition the windows were in. Stained-glass window experts from Brisbane will be brought in to assess their condition and make a plan to best care for them. Father Black said he and the parishioners hoped the windows were in good order and little needed to be done to maintain them well into the future. He said the church's heritage was part of its attraction to its parishioners, who were drawn from a wide social circle. "There are a lot of people right across the generations who are attracted to a sense of history: a church that actually looks like a church rather than an auditorium, and so on and so forth," Father Black said. Apart from the main windows, the church has stained-glass placed in memory of members of the Campbell family, some of the earliest settlers on the Limestone Plains. Two small windows composed of fragments collected from ruined churches on the First World War Somme battlefields in France by Chaplain F.G. Ward were installed in June 1929. Last year, the church, which predates the establishment of Canberra by more than 70 years, replaced its shingle roof with Welsh slate, raising $360,000 to complete the project. Father Black said when the original wood shingle roof came to be replaced in 1960, the new wonder material chosen was asbestos. Although the church was spared from the January hailstorm, which lashed Canberra in a band from west to east wreaking havoc on many of the city's heritage buildings, Father Black said it was a difficult church to maintain. Father Black, who has been rector at the church for more than a decade, said there was a lot of community support for the church as a piece of Canberra's history. "This precinct is wider than say Christianity. It's to do with who we are as a Canberra community," he said. The coronavirus pandemic has meant the church's services have shifted to accommodate more people. It can comfortably fit 120 people normally, but is presently limited to 40 people. On Saturday, the first wedding since March was set to be held in the church. "It's very difficult to disinfect historic pews and all those things," Father Black said. Other projects to receive grants include more than $11,000 to help conserve murals at the Free Serbian Orthodox Church St George in Forrest and nearly $30,000 for conservation works at Cuppacumbalong Homestead near Tharwa. Expanded audio and augmented reality experiences will also receive heritage funding. Grants will be made to individuals, schools and local historical and residents' societies. More than $370,000 will be awarded under the scheme in 2020-21. Heritage Minister Mick Gentleman said the grants would help support new tours, signage and digitisation projects, as well as conservation work in private, heritage-registered homes. "All the projects celebrate Canberra's wonderful heritage and will help preserve our local history for future generations," Mr Gentleman said.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc7c3cu7aullv1l98x8f47.jpg/r6_192_4100_2505_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

The main stained-glass windows at St John's Anglican Church in Reid have served as a reminder to the church's parishioners of the story of John the Baptist for nearly 150 years, but time can take its toll on the delicate assembled panels of glass.

Now, a $10,000 heritage grant from the ACT government will see the church develop a conservation plan for the building's windows.

The church's rector, Father Paul Black, said no conservation work had been done on the windows for 25 years, and the church did not know what condition the windows were in.

Stained-glass window experts from Brisbane will be brought in to assess their condition and make a plan to best care for them.

Father Black said he and the parishioners hoped the windows were in good order and little needed to be done to maintain them well into the future.

A stained-glass window at St John's in Reid. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

He said the church's heritage was part of its attraction to its parishioners, who were drawn from a wide social circle.

"There are a lot of people right across the generations who are attracted to a sense of history: a church that actually looks like a church rather than an auditorium, and so on and so forth," Father Black said.

Apart from the main windows, the church has stained-glass placed in memory of members of the Campbell family, some of the earliest settlers on the Limestone Plains.

Two small windows composed of fragments collected from ruined churches on the First World War Somme battlefields in France by Chaplain F.G. Ward were installed in June 1929.

Last year, the church, which predates the establishment of Canberra by more than 70 years, replaced its shingle roof with Welsh slate, raising $360,000 to complete the project.

Father Black said when the original wood shingle roof came to be replaced in 1960, the new wonder material chosen was asbestos.

Although the church was spared from the January hailstorm, which lashed Canberra in a band from west to east wreaking havoc on many of the city's heritage buildings, Father Black said it was a difficult church to maintain.

Father Black, who has been rector at the church for more than a decade, said there was a lot of community support for the church as a piece of Canberra's history.

"This precinct is wider than say Christianity. It's to do with who we are as a Canberra community," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic has meant the church's services have shifted to accommodate more people. It can comfortably fit 120 people normally, but is presently limited to 40 people. On Saturday, the first wedding since March was set to be held in the church.

"It's very difficult to disinfect historic pews and all those things," Father Black said.

A stained-glass window at St John's in Reid. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

Other projects to receive grants include more than $11,000 to help conserve murals at the Free Serbian Orthodox Church St George in Forrest and nearly $30,000 for conservation works at Cuppacumbalong Homestead near Tharwa.

Expanded audio and augmented reality experiences will also receive heritage funding. Grants will be made to individuals, schools and local historical and residents' societies.

More than $370,000 will be awarded under the scheme in 2020-21.

Heritage Minister Mick Gentleman said the grants would help support new tours, signage and digitisation projects, as well as conservation work in private, heritage-registered homes.

"All the projects celebrate Canberra's wonderful heritage and will help preserve our local history for future generations," Mr Gentleman said.

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St John's at Reid will receive heritage grant to help maintain stained-glass windows - The Canberra Times

Bassem Mroue, Associated Press

Beirut residents determined to save heritage lost to blast

BEIRUT (AP) For the past decade, art collector Nabil Debs has been working on turning his 19th century ancestral home in a historic neighborhood of Beirut to a hotel and art gallery. He planned to open it to the public in mid-August.

Within seconds, his lifelong dream came crashing down, along with the two-story buildings stone facade and front balcony as a massive explosion tore through Beirut, shearing off facades, blasting holes in buildings, doors, stones and shattering glass across the capital.

The Aug. 4 blast resulting from nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrates igniting at the port of Beirut killed more than 180 people and wounded nearly 6,000. It also damaged thousands of buildings, including dozens of charming Ottoman and French mandate-era structures which had been among the few survivors of a years-old construction frenzy replacing traditional houses with modern buildings. They include old homes, restaurants, museums and churches.

In the streets of two Beirut historic neighborhoods, Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, workers are erecting scaffolding to support buildings that have stood for more than a century - now at risk of collapse.

Among them is the house of Debs, who says he is more determined to go ahead with his project, called Arthaus, that consists of 25 rooms. Days after the explosion, after hed recovered from the shock and workers started renovation works. Now he plans the inauguration for mid-September.

We have been working on this project for the last 10 years. For us it is a labor of love, said Debs, standing in a yard between his ancestral red-brick house, which was built in 1860, and another family home built in 1780. We love the project, we love Beirut and we love Lebanon and thats what we are.

The day of the blast, Debs was at the house. He stepped outside into the backyard with a friend who wanted to smoke a cigarette. They were lucky. Had they gone to the front, the whole facade would have fallen on them. They miraculously escaped without a scratch.

It was a horror story, Debs said.

He estimates his losses to be at least $250,000 and could reach $1.5 million, as some art pieces including sculptures were damaged.

Naji Raji, an activist and spokesman for Save Beirut Heritage, said the blast damaged more than 600 historic buildings in Beirut, of which about 40 are at risk of collapse. He said out of the 40 buildings, work has begun to support 17 of them. Raji said some estimates put the cost of renovating old buildings at about $300 million.

The renovation work is being carried out by the Beirut Heritage Initiative, a coalition that includes among others the U.N. culture agency UNESCO, the French embassy and the architects syndicate, Raji said. The state is largely absent, apart from producing licenses for work.

Many of the buildings destroyed in the blast were proud holdouts. Since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, many old buildings have been demolished and replaced by modern high rises, as speculators stepped in to make fortunes. Since the blast occurred there have been reports of middlemen scouting destroyed neighborhoods and making offers to buy old buildings.

That appears to have provoked a determination by owners to save their buildings.

A giant banner placed on a damaged historic building reads in Arabic and English: We are staying. Another banner hanged on a street in Gemmayzeh reads: Our history is not for sale.

National heritage should be protected. It is very important heritage for the identity of the country, UNESCOs chief Audrey Azoulay told journalists in Beirut on Thursday. She added that UNESCO launched a campaign titled Li Beirut, or for Beirut, and called on states, the private sector and individuals to donate money.

She called for preserving the historic districts of Beirut through laws that prevent selling buildings by taking advantage of weak owners.

Earlier this month, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni issued a decree preventing the sale of any historic building without permission from the Culture Ministry, a move that aims to prevent exploitation.

In Gemmayzeh, Aida Qazoun, 80, moved around her four-room apartment on the ground floor of a century-old three-story building as workers fixed broken windows and cemented holes in the walls.

She returned from her sons home in the mountains, where she moved for two weeks after the blast along with her daughter who suffered an arm injury from flying glass and who also returned home.

I got married and moved into this apartment 60 years ago. I will stay here, said Qazoun as she prepared a pot of Arabic coffee for the workers to take a rest during a hot and humid summer day.

Read more:
Beirut residents determined to save heritage lost to blast - The Herald Review

HOLLY HILL, Fla., Aug. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Florida tree removal specialists, SB Tree Service, are joining the fight to help Texas and Louisiana after Hurricane Laura. On Thursday morning, the agency's entire team of tree professionals hit the road, driving straight into Lake Charles to help with storm mitigation and tree removal. This was right on the tail of a hurricane predicted to leave "catastrophic" damage.

Hurricane Laura, a massive Category 4 hurricane, hit the Texas Gulf Coast at 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. City officials warned more than 580,000 coastal residents to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm, which was still a Category 2, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, a few hours after it landed.

And the center of where that storm hit? Lake Charles. SB Tree Service managerAngel Vanburgercommented: "We're going to where it hit the hardest because we want to help. This is a rapid-response tree service for the homes and businesses that need it the most."

SB Tree Service is a full-spectrum tree management agency, with a selection of maintenance services, from trimmingand tree removalto storm debris work for residential and commercial properties. Usually, this work takes place in Volusia County, FL but, as recently as 2018, the company was in North Carolina and Panama City, helping with Hurricane Florence and Michael, respectively.

"We'll be responding to reports of storms and hurricane damage, maybe moving North as things develop," said Vanburger. "We're encouraging homes and businesses where trees have been damaged, brought down, are hanging onto power lines, or otherwise need servicing to reach out to us as soon as possible."

Licensed and insured for liability and worker's comp, the SB Tree Service team is ready to help with tree service and removal projects of any size. For a consultation in the Gulf Coast area or any of the other cities currently being affected by Hurricane Laura, you can get in touch with them at (386) 275-3923.

"Lastly, we'd like to say we're sending our thoughts and prayers to the people of Louisiana and Texas. Stay safe out there and let's get through this, together."

About SB Tree Service

SB Tree Serviceprovides professional tree maintenance services, including tree trimming, hurricane mitigation, damage control, storm cleanup, land clearing, debris removal, stump grinding, and tree removal. With years of industry experience, a professional team, and comprehensive hurricane tree removal services, they are ready, no matter the size of the job.

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hurricane-tree-removal-services.jpg Hurricane Tree Removal Services SB Tree Services arrived in Lake Charles to provide hurricane tree removal services to homes and offices affected by Hurricane Laura.

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Tree Removal Experts Bring Hurricane Relief Work to Texas and Louisiana - PRNewswire

The city of Brookhaven is rewriting its tree ordinance to better preserve the tree canopy something that Brookhaven Heights resident Jon Margolis said hes noticed has been declining in his neighborhood.

The rewrite aims to take out ambiguities in the current ordinance and set clear expectations that builders should try to preserve trees, Councilmember John Park said. The rewrite comes after a tree canopy study shows the citys seeing a net loss in tree coverage.

A tree on the edge of a property at 2328 Colonial Drive facing Pine Grove has a large, orange X spray painted on it. (Erin Schilling)

Park said the ordinance rewrite is a complicated balance between environmental preservation and not infringing on the rights of the property owners.

City spokesperson Burke Brennan said the city has requested proposals from consultants for the ordinance. The city is set to have a proposal awarded by October and the rewrite should start in November, along with a public input process. Park said the rewrite would have happened earlier this year but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents and city officials say theres a trend of developers taking down too many trees.

Margolis is worried about two large trees at the intersection of Pine Grove and Colonial Drive that have orange Xs spray painted on them. The trees are on the edge of a residential property at 2328 Colonial Drive, which is owned by Breezy Dayz Properties, LLC, according to the city property map.

I understand certain trees have to come down, but its just been horrible in metro Atlanta, Margolis said.

Allison Bible of AB Works Construction Consulting put in a variance request for the houses setbacks with the Brookhaven Board of Appeals in a Jan. 15 meeting for the 2328 Colonial Drive property on behalf of the homeowner Lisa Levison, she said. The variance was unanimously approved.

Bible told the board two trees would be removed for the proposed development, according to the meeting minutes.

A building permit has not been submitted yet for construction as of the end of August, Bible said, and the tree removal will be included in that permit request.

If we didnt have to take any trees down, we certainly wouldnt be, Bible said. In the city of Brookhaven, theres a very clear tree ordinance. If you follow it, youre following the rules, and were doing exactly what the tree ordinance states.

Bible said they plan to replant some trees as well to make up for the loss of trees and noted that tree removal is an expensive process and the life span of specific tree species have to be considered when judging whether a tree should come down or not.

Margolis said hes seen too many situations in which developers cut down trees without a good reason.

Park said a clearer tree ordinance would show builders that the city expects tree preservation to be a priority.

A new tree ordinance would hopefully give more power to the city arborist and speed up some processes regarding trees, Park said. For example, if a tree prohibits a builder from following the citys zoning ordinances, such as if the tree caused a setback variance, its easier for the builder to cut down the tree than go through a months-long rezoning process.

Park said the new ordinance may also value trees differently based on age and type.

The current tree ordinance allows homeowners on single-family residential property to remove three trees per year that are 6 inches or larger in diameter at breast height, or DBH, with a permit, as long as the property maintains a density of 60 DBH inches of trees per acre. Trees less than 6 DBH inches can be removed without a permit as long as the same density of 60 DBH inches is upheld.

Residents can also remove trees that are deemed hazardous by a certified arborist, according to the ordinance, and public utility companies can remove trees for utility easements.

Specimen trees, which are trees valued higher by the city because of size, location, type or historic value, have more protections and need to have the approval of the city arborist if a resident or developer wants to remove it, according to the ordinance. A fee is also required to take down a specimen tree.

Developers must maintain 120 inches in diameter of trees per acre or 45% of a sites tree-canopy cover unless the site already had less tree coverage than that before development started, according to the ordinance.

The tree ordinance was rewritten in 2014 and updated about a year later in 2015. The 2015 changes reduced the amount of trees homeowners could take down from five to three and outlined the current density requirements for developers.

Park said those changes werent enough.

In 2017, concerned citizens came to us saying the tree ordinance was not doing its job to protect the tree canopy, Park said. We realized a rewrite, starting from scratch, was the way to go instead of piecemealing something together.

In June, a PlainIt Geo study presented to the council said the 2019 tree canopy coverage in the city is 44%, compared to 47% in 2009. The city commissioned the assessment in part because of the planned rewrite. It also hired a tree canopy preservation manager, who Park said will oversee much of the new ordinance.

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New Brookhaven tree ordinance is on the way amid cutting controversies - Reporter Newspapers

Representatives from Custom Tree Care and Rostan attended a Tama City Council meeting to present on services their companies could provide to the cities following the August 10 derecho. Both Tama and Toledo have now contracted with Custom Tree Care and Rostan.Allison Graham/News Chronicle

The cities of Tama and Toledo have contracted with Custom Tree Care to assist with debris clean up and tree trimming following the August 10 derecho.

Custom Tree Care will be addressing trees as well as storm debris on city right of ways.

The goal is to insure safety for the public by removing hanging limbs and heavily damaged trees that pose a current and future risk. The bulk of the contracted cost projects are to be reimbursable under the FEMA Public Assistance Program that was granted to Tama County as part of the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration on August 17.

Custom Tree Care will not go on to your property to cut trees. They will only stay on the city right of way and will cut hanging limbs, trees that have been partially uprooted and are leaning beyond a certain degree, and trees with significantly cracked trunks.

The company advises that if you have a storm damaged tree that is on the berm or overhangs the street and you wish to not have removed, to attach a sign or a note on the tree instructing it not to be cut. The company nor the city will be going door to door prior to the clean up work being completed.

Custom Tree Care will take pictures of every tree cut for reimbursement purposes.

Some of the clean up work has been contracted but every sub contractor will have a placard on their vehicle identifying themselves with Custom Tree Care.

Rostan Solutions to do FEMA reimbursement monitoring for debris management. They will provide tracking and documenting services for every FEMA reimbursable load to lessen the burden on city staff as well as to help ensure a quick and accurate reimbursement claim.

The cities anticipate receiving around 75% reimbursement. Rostan Solutions will also assist with the grant application to help cover the difference.

Work is already underway in Tama and will begin soon in Toledo.

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Tama, Toledo contract with Custom Tree Care, Rostan Solutions for tree removal and FEMA assistance - Tama News-Herald - Toledo Chronicle

When you camp at your favorite State Park or plan a hunting a trip on your local State Wildlife Area (SWA), you likely havent given a second thought to natural resources that exist on those properties. However, you will notice when those resources are taken away or are no longer there. The landscape suddenly changes and our favorite open spaces do not seem so familiar. Such is the dilemma of Parks and Wildlife Managers when they consider long term habitat management projects and the impacts on our visitors.

One such project is the wetlands restoration project at Jackson Lake State Park and neighboring Jackson Lake and Andrick Ponds SWAs. At the heart of the restoration is the removal of 60-plus acres of Russian olive trees.

The invasive species is prevalent throughout Colorado and especially in areas where water is scarce. Originating from Southern Europe and Eastern Asia, the tree was planted throughout arid areas as windbreaks and for much needed shade on the sandy Great Plains.

When permitted to grow without management, the tree will take over pasture lands and wetland areas, increasing nitrogen in the soil and allowing for other noxious weeds to take root. Growing in dense groves allows this thorny tree to out-compete native plant species and to draw large amounts of moisture from the soil and waterways. Some estimates suggest that one tree will consume 75 gallons of water per day.

Impacts to wildlife are also great. Russian olives can create some habitat and food sources for local wildlife; however, with a forestry management plan that includes a diversity of trees and plants, wildlife diversity has been shown to also increase. Owls, bats, squirrels, and migratory birds are often unable to utilize RO groves for food and habitat. In some areas, RO trees have clogged ditches, destroyed fences and grown into roadways, causing a chain effect of destruction.

The first phase of the wetlands restoration project at Jackson Lake is set to begin this fall. CPW land managers will use a phased three-year approach to address the most immediate needs such as those areas where trees have impacted infrastructure or pose a threat to property. Removal and treatment in these areas will limit large impacts on wildlife and allow for immediate replanting of native plants. Cottonwood, willow, chokecherry, plum and other native species will be planted to provide quality wildlife habitat.

Previous work on other CPW areas has shown that native species are very hardy and will rebound to fill the void created by RO removal. In most cases this creates a new opportunity for shade on your campsite or for habitat on your next hunt. While the landscape will change over time, the goal is to make your CPW lands continue to feel familiar with each visit.

Park visitors can help inform management decisions by recording observations of plants or animals through phone apps like iNaturalist. Various areas of the park may be closed during project hours; check with the Visitor Center for current closures.

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3-year project to remove Russian olive trees around Jackson Lake to begin this fall - Fort Morgan Times