Political season is in full swing, as are the endorsements.

Businesswoman Diane Dixon, a candidate for the Newport Beach's 1st City Council District, has secured the backing of Newport Beach Councilman Tony Petros and city Planning Commissioner Fred Ameri.

"Diane is independent, she listens and she's a problem-solver," Petros said, according to a news release. "Those are the qualities you like to see in a council member. I'm looking forward to working with her."

Dixon also has endorsements from former Sen. Marian Bergeson, former Newport Beach Mayor Evelyn Hart, former City Manager and Councilman Robert Shelton, state Sen. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) and Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, among others.

She is seeking the Balboa Peninsula-area seat held by Councilman Mike Henn, who is termed out. Michael Glenn, who works in technology, is also in the race. Harbor Commissioner Joe Stapleton recently withdrew from the race.

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Hill supports Tim Brown in District 4

Also in Newport Beach, District 4 council candidate Tim Brown has received endorsements from Mayor Rush Hill, Councilman Keith Curry and former mayors Jan Debay, Thomas Edwards, Dennis O'Neil, Steven Rosansky and Don Webb. He also has the backing of Newport-Mesa School Board President Karen Yelsey, former Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau, and businessman Ralph Rodheim, among others.

Brown is a planning commissioner who served on the Parks, Beach and Recreation Commission from 2004-11. He is on the board of Leadership Tomorrow, chairs the Lobsterfest Foundation and previously served as chairman of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Also in the contest for the Eastbluff-area seat is Harbor Commissioner Roy Englebrecht, Fight Club O.C. promoter.

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Political Landscape: Petros backs Dixon for council

A group of Church Hill residents and state preservationists are questioning the city planning staffs reversal on controversial elements of a proposed luxury condominium high-rise that would block panoramic views from Libby Hill.

The building would rise from a steep slope of ground between Cary and Main streets just east of Tobacco Row in Shockoe Bottom. At Cary Street, it would stand 16 stories tall, including three levels of underground parking. Thirteen stories would be visible from Main Street and Libby Hill behind it.

Developers David White and Louis Salomonsky call the project The James at River Bend, and it would house 65 units, including four penthouses with commanding river views. The penthouses are set back from a facade dotted with roof terraces -- a design thats meant to mimic the landscape, the developers say. The land, which is occupied by a stand of trees and the small outpost of an old gas station, isnt zoned for residential use, so the developers are asking the city for a special-use permit. Their request is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission on April 21. City planning staff told White in August that it couldnt recommend approval of the development for numerous reasons. That particular patch of land was inadvertently excluded from the 2008 Downtown Plan, staff wrote in a letter to White, but should be subject to its guiding principles including the preservation of river views and urban character. Among the concerns:

The height of the building would cause it to stand out in the landscape and considerably alter views from surrounding areas. Though the building would not obscure the most notable view of the bend of the James River, it would change river views from Libby Hill Park.

And the proposed building neither respects nor reinforces the scale and character of the adjacent buildings. The proposed height is considerably taller than buildings within the vicinity.

But by January, planners had softened their stance. In a brief to the city administrator, staff again notes that the building will stand out and alter views. However, they added, that is the nature of an evolving urban area. The site can support additional height but done in a way that respects its context.

The building doesnt enhance and reinforce [this] historic urban character, staff reaffirms, but adds, The biggest question becomes can a building that is clearly different in form than the urban character in which it sits, reinforce that character? The direct answer is yes.

Precisely how the project will do so remains a work in progress, staff wrote.

The developers and city planners have been ironing out their differing visions, but project opponent Eugenia Anderson-Ellis of the River View Advocates says the buildings height and mass hasnt changed.

The height is the issue, she says. The height has always been the issue. The building would stand 190 feet at Cary and 160 feet at Main, according to Whites proposal, which notes that most of the neighboring Tobacco Rows apartment buildings are 80 to 115 feet high. Anderson-Ellis says she and other opponents met with city planning director Mark Olinger several times. We really dont know why they did an about face, she says. We never got a decent answer. Olinger declined to comment, saying it was premature to discuss the project before the Planning Commission hearing.

More:
Proposed High-Rise Condos Offer River Views to Some, Will Block Others

Long-time Beach resident Barb Hill has a vision to color Fort Myers Beach a purplish tint.

The life-long gardener and her committee recently conducted a first round of plantings of the Jacaranda tree (15 in one day) on Estero Island. They have a second round of plantings slated for the third week in May, roughly the time when the tree reaches full bloom.

The 'Jacaranda Project' doesn't stop there, however. Hill is encouraging the planting of at least 200 Jacaranda trees on Fort Myers Beach during this spring/summer of 2014 and 2015. Then, in 2016, at the height of May's Jacaranda bloom, the committee is envisioning an inaugural Jacaranda Festival on the island. The proposed weekend long festival would be "community wide and attract both locals and tourists with its unique activities and focus."

BOB PETCHER Barb Hill's backyard tree looks like it could be in full bloom a month before the Jacaranda is expected to reach that point. She is pushing to plant more trees on the Beach and hoping to inspire a Jacaranda Festival in 2016.

Hill pitched that idea to Town Council members on April 7, and then to FMB Chamber business members last Thursday.

"I'm thinking of the different things we can do as a town to promote this tree and its color," she said. "To those who say I can't plant that tree because it will block my sign, I say it might draw an eye to your whole building if your tree is in bloom. That burst of color makes such a difference."

While the Jacaranda tree is not indigenous to the state (South America is their native home), it is designated as Florida friendly. Having a town tree festival in a state whose name originates from 'flora' would makes sense, wouldn't it?

"These trees grow all over the world," said Hill. "In the United States, you can find them in California, Texas and Florida. But, Australia is the only place in the world that has a festival."

When Hill took a Master Gardener course with Steve Brown of Lee County Extension services after moving to Florida from Tennessee, she approached him about the flowering tree.

"He told me that it was noninvasive, it didn't need much fertilizing except when you get it started, and that it was a well-managed tree," she said.

See the article here:
JAC'D UP: Purplish-blue trees hope to inspire Town festival

AP Images

David Lyle, left, and David Hill

National Geographic Channels U.S. will undergo a complete management makeover that includes a new CEO and the installation of 21st Century Fox senior executive vp David Hill as board chairman.

David Lyle is stepping down as CEO of Nat Geo, a joint venture of Fox Cable Networks and National Geographic. Courteney Monroe, who has served as chief marketing officer for National Geographic Channels domestic networks since joining the company in January 2012, has been promoted to CEO effective May 1.

The moves come one day after Howard Owens said he would step down in June as president after three years on the job.

Courteney is a truly remarkable executive, with a proven track record of energizing programming brands both here at National Geographic Channels and during her time at HBO, said Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, and Peter Rice, chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group, in a joint statement. She is also a proven leader, who has a clear vision of the television landscape, and we are very lucky to have her overseeing our domestic channels.

Before joining National Geographic Channels, she was executive vp consumer marketing and digital platforms at HBO. In her new role, she will report to the board of directors of the National Geographic Channels.

During my tenure as CMO at the National Geographic Channels, I have seen the power of this brand, and am excited by the opportunity to grow these networks, both creatively and commercially, for our partners and our advertisers, Monroe said. Being part of the team that laid such a strong foundation over the past few years has given me invaluable insight into what it is going to take to get us to the next level.

Hill, who currently serves as a member of the National Geographic Channels board of directors, will add the title of chairman, providing counsel to the executive and programming leadership team. Hill will remain a member of the board and also continue to play a leadership role in the production of American Idol.

Hill originally joined Fox Broadcasting in 1993 as the first president of Fox Sports and has since he has served as chairman and CEO of the Fox Broadcasting Company, president of DirecTVs entertainment division and chairman and COO/executive producer of the National Geographic Channel, all while maintaining his duties at Fox Sports, where he was named Chairman and CEO.

Link:
National Geographic Channel Overhauls Management

Yesterday at 5:26 PM Six of the unions that represent city workers are up for raises each year for the next three years.

By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com Staff Writer

AUGUSTA New three-year contracts with six of the citys eight union employee bargaining units are up for City Council approval Thursday.

click image to enlarge

PROPOSED FOR CITY ACQUISITION: This aerial taken in late March shows Howard Hill, 164 wooded acres that serve as the scenic forested backdrop for the State House.

Staff photo by Joe Phelan

The new deals would provide those employees with raises of 1.5 percent this year, 2 percent next year and 2.5 percent in 2016, according to Ralph St. Pierre, finance director and assistant city manager.

The contracts would continue insurance benefits changes agreed to by the unions a year ago in previous contract negotiations, which gave the employees 2 percent raises but saved the city money overall by reducing insurance premium costs, savings expected to continue through the term of the new contracts.

Employees represented by the six bargaining units include police supervisors, patrol officers, general government workers, public safety dispatchers, Augusta Civic Center maintenance workers and public works workers.

The two remaining units without a new contract represent firefighters, ambulance crews and Fire Department battalion chiefs. St. Pierre said negotiations are underway with those two units as well.

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Augusta council to consider employee contracts, Howard Hill agreement

By ZOE FERGUSON

Local developers and planners held the first public planning meeting Thursday for the proposed redevelopment of the unoccupied Emerson Power Transmission factory on South Aurora Street.

If completed, planners hope to turn the site of the approximately mile-long factory into a new Ithaca neighborhood called the Chain Works District, according to Julie Bargmann, founder of Dump It Right There Studio, a site design company.

Bargmann said she thinks there is a large amount of potential in redeveloping the factory.

Were pretty happy that its been affectionately called the sleeping giant, she said. Were kind of poking it to wake up.

The project to build the Chain Works District is being lead by Whitham Planning and Design, developer Unchained Properties and Dump It Right There Studio.

Bargmann said the team wants to celebrate the factory complexs industrial past and that she is looking to work with whats there to repurpose the factory.

The intention here is to work with whats there, to really use the evidence of the site histories and use adaptive reuse to bring the giant into being a friendly adaptive reuse to bring the giant thats awake again, Bargmann said.

Additionally, Bargman highlighted the factorys former glory and its potential to emerge as a vital part of the Ithaca community.

Morse Chain was, and now again can be, a really vital part of the community here, Bargmann said. This is a cultural landscape and it can be that way again this his site could come back alive.

Read this article:
South Hill Factory Redevelopment Proposed

Posted April 10, 2014

Publicly, coaches and players reacted with unanimous support for Derrick Gordon (above). How will crowds react next season? (Guillermo Hernandez/SI)

Some time next winter, Massachusetts will visit Fordham and Rose Hill Gymnasium will open its doors to college basketballs first openly gay male player. Derrick Gordon will be a junior guard for UMass and will be months removed from Wednesdays public declaration of his sexuality. The initial tremors accompanying the news will have subsided. He might seem like just another guy. And Fordham coach Tom Pecora, like many other coaches and administrators, believes thats how Gordons peers will treat him. But Pecora also vowed to act if hes proven wrong.

Our responsibility as people and coaches in the world of college athletics is obviously to support him in any way we can, Pecora said. I cant imagine here at Fordham there being an issue with a person in the stands and certainly not with a player on our team. But if there was, Id go into the stands on behalf of the kid. Thats gotta be the mindset. Its important for that young man to know people have his back.

The reaction to Gordons announcement, which the 33-game starter made via ESPN and OutSports early Wednesday, suggested that would be the outcome. There was a pervasive belief that college students, basketball players included, are accepting that its almost remarkable how little of an issue this will be. While coaches, especially in the Atlantic 10, expected to address the news with their teams, they also guessed their players would judge Gordon by his jump shot and defense and not by any other standard. He was a player on the scouting report this past season and would be again next season, and little more.

WERTHEIM: Why Gordons announcement represents a different kind of progress

The only concern is about the unpredictable nature of crowds, but coaches and administrators are optimistic still.I guess well be the first ones to find out and maybe be able to tell some others at some point what to expect and how to deal with it, Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg said in a phone interview. While people think it may be hostile and people are going to say some vulgarity and how it might be, I also think we may have some people who respect who we are and how we do things. There could be a lot of different things that well have to address as they come, if they actually come. We talked about people and kids being a little more astute than they once were Im hoping thats the case.

Its anticipated to be the case on the court for Gordon, who averaged 9.4 points and 3.5 rebounds last season.

The ball goes up I know our guys are like this guys dont think about color, orientation, creed, any of that stuff, Towson coach Pat Skerry said. They think its time to compete, and how are we going to win the game?

Most programs, like Skerrys, will observe Gordons experience from afar. But A-10 programs will definitely cross his path, and coaches in the league expectedtheir players to be open-minded.

Read the original post:
Across DI landscape, support for UMass' Gordon

Digging down to find out place names past

10:20pm Tuesday 8th April 2014 in News By Matt Oliver, Reporter covering South Oxford and Kennington. Call me on 01865 425498

IF YOU have ever wondered what the stories behind the name of your street were, you are not alone.

The reasons can often stretch back in history as far as the Anglo-Saxon or even the Roman times.

Now one amateur archaeologist, Katie Hambrook, has uncovered some of the history behind place names in Rose Hill and Iffley.

Ms Hambrook, 54, is a librarian at Oxford Brookes University and has spent more than a year gathering and studying the information with others from archaeology group Archeox.

The findings have now been published online at Archeox.net.

She said: We wanted to get a sense of how people looked at the landscape in the past.

We hope it will complement other studies being done in Archeox.

I focused especially on the old parishes of Iffley and Rose Hill. What was interesting about that was how the area used to be woodland but over time the trees were cleared and it became ordinary fields.

More here:
Digging down to find out place names past

'No' to homes on border of historical Rayleigh sites

5:00pm Wednesday 2nd April 2014 in Southend By Philip Jones

LAND bordering historical sites in Rayleigh has been saved from development.

Rochford District Council threw out plans for three houses on land off London Hill.

The site, which borders the historic National Trust site of Rayleigh Mount, a garden connected to the Grade IIlisted Rayleigh Windmill and homes in London Hill and Hillview Road, is part of Rayleighs conservation area.

Rayleigh Town Council objected to the plan, citing concerns over extra traffic and said the scheme would have a detrimental effect on the landscape.

Essex County Councils archaeology team, English Heritage and Natural England all raised concerns about the development and the National Trust also objected.

John Griffin, Conservative councillor for Wheatley ward, tabled the motion to reject the application.

Mr Griffin raised fears about the loss of green space.

He said: I am a bit perplexed as to why these houses are being recommended within the conservation area.

Read the original:
Not on our land: District council opposes housing plan for conservation area

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Men chat as they walk up Parliament Hill to the centre block in Ottawa, January 17, 2013.

OTTAWA Canadas youth employment policies over the last 20 years will go under the microscope today in Ottawa.

Statistics Canada is releasing a comprehensive study of the occupational profile and over-qualification of young workers across the country.

The study looks at young people and the jobs they filled between 1991 and 2011.

Here are some other events happening in Ottawa today:

- The Canadian Medical Association, along with other national medical specialty groups, will launch Choosing Wisely Canada, a campaign designed to help doctors and patients talk about unnecessary medical tests, treatments and procedures;

- The major political parties are gathering separately for their weekly caucus meetings;

- And Candice Bergen, the minister of state for social development, will speak at the second annual Autism on the Hill event.

The Canadian Press, 2014

Continued here:
Today on the Hill: Language issues on agenda