DIXON A section of road downtown thats been closed for nearly 2 months could reopen this week.

First Street, between Galena and Hennepin avenues, has been closed since the week of May 19, while Fischer Excavating Inc., of Freeport, has worked on the downtown streetscape project.

The street could reopen by the end of the week, according to information from the engineering companies, if the pavement meets all the strength requirements.

Today marks the start of Week 8 of the streetscape project.

According to the firms, Wendler Engineering Services Inc. and Willett Hofmann & Associates:

The south side of First Street, between Peoria and Hennepin avenues, will be closed [this] week for pavement removal and the start of water main installation. Short-term closures of the north side may be necessary for water main work.

Peoria Avenue, between First and Third streets, will remain closed for sidewalk, roadway, curb and gutter work.

The west side of First Street, between Ottawa and Crawford avenues, will be closed for pavement removal and water services installation. Access to the Commerce Towers parking lot will be available from Crawford Avenue.

Ottawa Avenue, between First and Second streets, will continue to be closed.

The alley off Ottawa Avenue, near Commerce Towers, will be closed starting today for Nicor Gas work. The east side of the alley is expected to be closed until Tuesday, July 15.

The rest is here:
Part of First Street could reopen this week

DIXON New road closures in Dixon this week will be for the Petunia Festival, not a result of the downtown streetscape project.

Peoria Avenue, from First Street to Third Street will remain closed. So will First Street, between Hennepin and Galena avenues; Ottawa Avenue, from First Street to Second Street; and the south side of First Street, from Galena to Crawford avenues.

Click here for a map of the streetscape work and closed roads in Dixon.

Progress farther west on First Street, according to information from the engineering companies, will wait until after the Petunia Festival, which runs Wednesday through Sunday.

Construction on Peoria Avenue includes sidewalks, landscape areas, preparation for road paving, curb and gutter work, installation of underground electrical connections, and construction oflight pole bases.

Starting today, River Street, from Peoria Avenue to Galena Avenue, will be closed for Petunia Festival setup. Beginning Tuesday, Hennepin Avenue will be closed from First Street to River Street.

In April, the Dixon City Council awarded a contract for the streetscape work to Fischer Excavating Inc., of Freeport, for nearly $5.8 million, a portion of which will be paid for by KSB Hospital for work to a parking lot off Ottawa Avenue.

The city also contracted Wendler Engineering Services Inc. and Willett, Hofmann & Associates, for a combined $321,000, to do engineering work and planning for the project, bringing the total streetscape cost to about $6.1 million.

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No new closures this week in Dixon for streetscape work

DIXON New road closures in Dixon next week will be for the Petunia Festival, not a result of the downtown streetscape project.

Peoria Avenue, from First Street to Third Street will remain closed. So will First Street, between Hennepin and Galena avenues; Ottawa Avenue, from First Street to Second Street; and the south side of First Street, from Galena to Crawford avenues.

Click here for a map of the streetscape work and closed roads in Dixon.

Progress farther west on First Street, according to information from the engineering companies, will wait until after the Petunia Festival, which is July 2-6.

Construction on Peoria Avenue includes sidewalks, landscape areas, preparation for road paving, curb and gutter work, installation of underground electrical connections, and construction oflight pole bases.

Starting on Monday, River Street, from Peoria Avenue to Galena Avenue, will be closed for Petunia Festival setup. Beginning Tuesday, Hennepin Avenue will be closed from First Street to River Street.

In April, the Dixon City Council awarded a contract for the streetscape work to Fischer Excavating Inc., of Freeport, for nearly $5.8 million, a portion of which will be paid for by KSB Hospital for work to a parking lot off Ottawa Avenue.

The city also contracted Wendler Engineering Services Inc. and Willett, Hofmann & Associates, for a combined $321,000, to do engineering work and planning for the project, bringing the total streetscape cost to about $6.1 million.

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No new closures next week in Dixon for streetscape work

By Pablo J. Sinz

City councilman, David Alvarez, in San Ysidro announcing the city approved funds for a long awaited sidewalk for the sudents of San Ysidro High.

The community of San Ysidro is celebrating albeit with some reservationsthe announcement of the securing of the final funding needed to complete a sidewalk that would connect San Ysidro with its high school.

The sidewalk would provide a safe way for San Ysidro High School students to walk to and from school. Currently, and since the school opened in 2002, students walk to school on a dirt path along a steep canyon, along a winding road.

San Diego City Council District 8 Councilmember David Alvarez made the announcement of the final funds at a press conference in San Ysidro on Wednesday, June 18th, where he was joined by community residents and leaders.

A sidewalk in this location is vital to the students that use this route to go to and from school, Alvarez said. The community has been advocating for the construction of this sidewalk for far too long. For the entire time I have been in office, this has been and continues to be one of my top priorities.

But this isnt the first time San Ysidro has heard this news. In the past, other District 8 representatives, from Ralph Inzunza to Ben Hueso have tried to build the sidewalk, according to Hector Espinoza, principal at San Ysidro High School.

This is the third or fourth time Ive heard this in 13 years, Espinoza said. Ive heard it before.

A safe pedestrian pathway for students to walk to school has been promised by San Diego city officials and area developers since the San Ysidro High School opened in 2002.

Espinoza said that the major difference is that this time, Alvarez is working with Mayor Kevin Faulconer to make this sidewalk a reality.

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San Ysidro has secured funding for sidewalk to high school

DEER LODGE Replacement of the historic bridge on Deer Lodges Main Street over Cottonwood Creek is scheduled to begin July 7.

Montana Department of Transportation officials and Stacey Otte, representing Bauer and Buck Construction of Helena, met with Powell County commissioners, city officials and local residents Wednesday to explain the construction schedule and plans for easing the potential impact on local businesses.

Heres the plan:

A two-way traffic/pedestrian detour route around the construction site will divert traffic west on Rainbow Avenue then south on Second Street to Missouri Avenue. However, westbound traffic on Higgins Avenue will have northbound access to Main Street. After local business people and others expressed concern, officials agreed that business access signage will be placed at the corner of Second and Cottonwood. also. No parking or access is permitted from California Avenue to just north of Higgins Avenue.

Safety first, Otte said. Cooperation from the community in avoiding the construction limits is essential to a safe and productive project. We encouragedrivers to slow down andbe aware ofincreased pedestrian traffic.

Construction work, expected to be completed by Oct. 8, includes removal of the existing bridge structure, excavation, installation of a new water main, drainage and electric utilities, installation of the new bridge structure with asphalt overlay, stream restoration, retaining wall, sidewalk, curb and gutter, signing and epoxy striping.

Main Street is state Highway 275 and is maintained by the highway department while bridges in the county are the responsibility of the commissioners. Cost of the project is $1.6 million. A FEMA grant is paying for construction of the bridge, MDOT paid for design and engineering. The city will replace an eight-inch city water main.

Monthly project status meetings are planned and will be announced.

The contractor contact number for comments, questions and/or complaints during construction is 406-565-8855. Calls will be answered 7 a.m.-7 p.m. or working hours; calls outside of working hours will be returned the next working day leave name and number on the message.

Pat Hansen may be reached via email at phansen@blackfoot.net

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Deer Lodge bridge replacement starts July 7; rerouting plan set

BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529

DIXON Work on the downtown streetscape project has entered its sixth week.

Peoria Avenue, between First and Third streets, will be closed as construction crews work on finishing curb and gutter work, sidewalks, driveways, light pole bases and water service installations, among other elements, according to the engineering firms.

Click here to see a map of the streetscape work and closed roads.

According to the firms,Wendler Engineering Services Inc. andWillett Hofmann & Associates:

First Street, from Hennepin to Galena avenues, will remain closed. Crews are expected to do sidewalk and brick work, with pavement installation beginning mid-week.

The south side eastbound lanes ofFirst Street, between Ottawa and Crawford avenues, will be closed for water main installation. The construction company will work with KSB Hospital to have access to the Commerce Towers parking lot at all times.

Ottawa Avenue, from Second to First streets, will be closed for continued work on a retaining wall.

Additional temporary road closure may be needed, according to the engineering firms.

Read this article:
Streetscape project enters Week 6 in Dixon

BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529

DIXON Work on the downtown streetscape project has entered its sixth week.

Peoria Avenue, between First and Third streets, will be closed as construction crews work on finishing curb and gutter work, sidewalks, driveways, light pole bases and water service installations, among other elements, according to the engineering firms.

Click here to see a map of the streetscape work and closed roads.

According to the firms,Wendler Engineering Services Inc. andWillett Hofmann & Associates:

First Street, from Hennepin to Galena avenues, will remain closed. Crews are expected to do sidewalk and brick work, with pavement installation beginning mid-week.

The south side eastbound lanes ofFirst Street, between Ottawa and Crawford avenues, will be closed for water main installation. The construction company will work with KSB Hospital to have access to the Commerce Towers parking lot at all times.

Ottawa Avenue, from Second to First streets, will be closed for continued work on a retaining wall.

Additional temporary road closure may be needed, according to the engineering firms.

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Downtown streetscape project enters Week 6 in Dixon

British video artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen is best known of late for the movie "12 Years a Slave," which won the Academy Award for best picture this year and earned him an Oscar nomination for directing. A much earlier and more experimental work by McQueen, however the video installation "Drumroll" stars in a new exhibit opening at MOCA Pacific Design Center on Saturday.

"Drumroll," which McQueen shot in 1998, is a triptych of video images depicting an oil drum rolling down a midtown Manhattan sidewalk, seen from cameras positioned inside the drum. As it bounces along 56th, 57th and 58th streets, the drum captures snippets of sidewalk, cars, foot traffic and bits of McQueen himself. Some of the individual shots are beautifully abstract, a whirl of muted color and geometric patterns. Together, the images covey an urban journey that is both intimate and disconnected at once.

The Museum of Contemporary Art's Bennett Simpson curated the exhibit. He called "Drumroll," which earned McQueen the 1999 Turner Prize for contemporary art, "a portrait of an experience of the city, and its questions go to how and who we are."

The exhibition also includes excerpts from McQueen's 1998 photography series, "Barrage," depicting portraits of 56 Parisian gutter barriers.

"Steve McQueen: Drumroll" runs through Sept. 21 at MOCA Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; (213) 626-6222, http://www.moca.org

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'Steve McQueen: Drumroll' will be at MOCA Pacific Design Center

What do you get if you cross a cat with a theremin? Probably something a little bit like Mew. Mew is a furry interactive sound installation that purrs and responds to strokes with meow sounds that distort according to where your hands are. Press too hard and Mew will start to squeal and hiss.

Mew was developed as part of a collaborative project between students on different courses -- Design Products, Information Experience Design and Visual Communication -- at the Royal Collage of Art in London. The brief? To create a digital and physical object that responds sonically to people and its surroundings.

Emily Groves, Jackie Ford, Jakub Pollag and Paula Arntzen teamed up to create Mew, which is about the size of a window box (for plants) on stilts. The top of the box is covered with a furry material. As you approach the box, it starts to emit a purring sound in order to encourage passersby to draw near. If you stroke the fur, it will emit distorted meow sounds that are manipulated by the direction and sequence of your hand movements. There are four sound zones on the surface and the sound effect applied to the meow is dependent on how you move between them. So if, for example, you move your hand from one end in a straight line to the other, it will distort the sound in one way, but if you rub your hand back and forth over one half it will distort the sound in another way. These are played through speakers inside the box. Although the sound starts quite cat-like, as you can hear in the video it quickly starts morphing into more of a dinosaur-from-Jurassic-Park-esque squeal when you apply more pressure. Groves told Wired.co.uk that the sounds in the video are quite "violent" and that they've "tamed it down a bit to make it sound more like a cat".

Conductive thread sewn through the fur and connected to capacity sensors dictate the distortion of the meow sounds, while pressure sensors embedded in foam below the fur indicate when Mew has been stroked too forcefully. The components are run through an Arduino and controlled via a Mac Mini running a program called Max which takes care of the sound.

The idea came about when the aforementioned team was playing around with a gutter cleaner -- like a large pipe cleaner. "It was like a cat, but not a cat," explains Groves to Wired.co.uk. "We wanted to recreate that -- making an object that has lots of qualities of something but also having completely opposite qualities. It doesn't look anything like a cat, but it sounds like one."

Groves explains that they chose a grey fur for Mew because it most closely matched the colour of the conductive thread that they were using. "The thread looks awful in other types of fur," she says. As for the form factor: "We wanted it to be hand height but also look a bit awkward. At one point we wanted to give it a curved back but we thought it would influence the way you stroke it too much."

Mew has been shown a few times in public already and Groves said that the reaction has been very positive. "Overall it just makes people laugh."

"Some people have been a bit shocked or scared, but others have been putting their face on it! People generally warm to it and treat it a bit like a pet."

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Mew is part cat, part theremin

Chicago Gutter Installation - Champion Roofing
http://www.championroofing.com Champion Roofing, Inc. 219 William Street Bensenville, IL. 60106 847-673-7663.

By: M ASN

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