Saving energy is important to all homeowners. Yet when it comes to the windows and doors of our homes, these are often overlooked, despite being some of the biggest culprits for energy waste. As time goes on and cracks appear, sealants are worn down and gaps start to emerge, many of us either ignore these issues or try to fix them ourselves with cheap products from DIY stores.

Now, a company called The Verde Group who reside in Baltimore, are shaking up the market with their affordable, energy-efficient windows and doors, reducing homeowners reliances on doing a fix up job to paper over the cracks.

Customers are finding that there is real money to be saved by utilising The Verde Group to evaluate, design, and implement doors that have saving energy at the heart of what they do.

Heres some of the ways The Verde Group, who reside in Baltimore Maryland, are offering such great quality products and saving energy for their customers in the process:

With a door thats been made to save energy, you can ensure your home keeps its warmth while minimising cold spots. Key to saving energy here is glazing, as a double-glazed entry door means that protection is far greater than that of single glaze. Whilst The Verde Group can help you to design an entry door that would suit the aesthetics of your home, plus provide industry knowledge spanning over 25 years, their trained specialists will fit your door to the highest possible standard, ensuring that energy efficiency is maximized when it comes to fittings and futureproofing quality. .

Doors are often far worse than windows for heat and energy loss, allowing cold air and draughts in. The Verde Group, Baltimore Maryland can best advize on and install doors that minimize this issue.

Overtime, old fittings, seals, compression strips and sealants can become worn and allow cold air into your home, meaning that your heating has to work hard in order to keep it warm. Similarly to doors, the glazing you choose is vitally important a double-glazed window can create a highly energy efficient environment, whereas a single glazed window will not be as effective.

The Verde Group consider energy saving techniques through every part of your window design and installation process, taking pride in their workout throughout and guaranteeing customer satisfaction. Everything from the glass, pane gaps, spacers and frame materials are considered, in order to provide you with windows that look great and save energy.

You may worry that installing energy-saving doors and windows would be expensive, or that youll be stuck with boring designs. The Verde Group offer reasonably priced products in a wide range of options 7 to be precise whilst providing material options such as wood, vinyl, fiberglass, and aluminium. Their services include:

and much more.

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If youre looking for door replacement Baltimore, MD or window installation Baltimore MD, The Verde Group can provide a free estimate to homeowners and business owners, and explain exactly what energy-saving options are available to fit your budget.

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The Verde Group is a door replacement and window installation company operating in Baltimore. With over 25 years of experience, their reputation has grown to that of one of the best options in the local area for updating your home or business. To get a free estimate, take a look at their website https://theverdegrp.com/ or to contact them directly, ring (410) 705-2117.

Source:https://thenewsfront.com/in-a-world-that-calls-for-eco-friendly-and-cost-saving-products-this-baltimore-company-excel-in-energy-efficient-windows-and-doors/

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In A World That Calls for Eco-Friendly and Cost-Saving Products, This Baltimore Company Excel In Energy Efficient Windows and Doors - The News Front

Galloway, as John Buchan wrote in The Thirty-Nine Steps, is the nearest wild part of Scotland, by which he meant the nearest to England, and in this particular context to the London railway terminus of St Pancras, where his hero, Richard Hannay, boards a train on a morning some time before the first world war, a fugitive from a foreign enemy and English law. He heads north, and changes at Dumfries to the slow Galloway train that rumbled slowly into a land of little wooded glens and then to a great, wide moorland place, gleaming with lochs.

The familiar story unfolds. He leaves the train at a wayside station, enjoys the hospitality (ham and eggs, and scones) of a luckily encountered shepherds wife, and the next morning, hoping to throw his pursuers off the scent, strides out across the moors to a station further west, intending to take a train back towards Dumfries and London. This second station is described in detail. The moor surges up around it, leaving just enough room for a single line of track and a slender siding, together with a waiting room, an office, the stationmasters cottage and a tiny yard of gooseberries and sweet-william. A lonely place: There seemed no road to it from anywhere. A loch a little tarn lies close by. Hannay buys a ticket and doubles back on the next eastbound train.

Reading the book in my early teens, I relished the idea of a remote station that had no road to it, embattled, windswept, with a coal fire glowing in the waiting room, waiting for travellers who never arrived. I had never heard of a roman clef, but like many readers I liked to think that novels drew on a specific reality outside themselves, that a little detective work might find the real thing. Eventually, I came across an old Bartholomews map and found what had to be the very place: Loch Skerrow Halt, high on the moor above Gatehouse of Fleet and next to a little loch, no sign of other human habitation, roadless and apparently pointless. (In fact, the halt served a loop where two trains could pass each other.) I wanted to go there, perhaps with a picnic and the girlfriend I had yet to find, but the station closed before I could; two years later, in 1965, the last trains ran through it when the entire Galloway line from Dumfries to Stranraer was abandoned, all 70-odd miles of it worked till the end by steam locomotives.

In most ways it was a quintessential rural railway: slow, meandering, inconvenient (Gatehouse of Fleet station was seven miles from the village of Gatehouse of Fleet), with infrequent passenger trains and the freight mainly cattle and milk. Unseen, unheard, too, except by signalmen and insomniacs, a different kind of train came through at dead of night. In another setting Provence, say it would be described as romantic. The Northern Irishman, a sleeping-car express, left London Euston at 7.30pm and Dumfries at 3am to reach Stranraer, the harbour station, soon after 5 in the morning. The ferry for Larne left at 7. Sleeping-car passengers could stay in their berths for an hour, or board the ship early and take a bunk in a cabin for a six-shilling supplement, rising to 2 if you wanted to sleep grandly and alone. The crossing took two hours and a quarter. Another train at Larne got you to Belfast for a rather late breakfast at five past 10.

History is never as rigidly sequential as bad films imagine. Periods coexist and pass in the night. Until June 1965 it was still possible to lie half-awake in the Stranraer sleeper and hear the steam engine in front toiling up the steep gradient to the Galloway moorland; but that same month the Beatles were in Abbey Road studios recording the last tracks of their fifth LP. The unexpected must always be expected. Which traveller from the mainland, stepping into Belfast from York Road station in 1965, could have predicted the turbulent future, only a few years away, of this solid, toiling, repressively Presbyterian city with such a majestic city hall? Likewise, who could have expected a scheme to link Scotland (or Great Britain as it still is) to Northern Ireland by a 25-mile railway tunnel, roughly following the old ferry route across the North Channel from Stranraer to Larne?

Or, rather, who could have expected it to be taken seriously, given the cost to the UK government, the pressure on public finance, and the likely political reconfiguration of both Britain and Ireland? Like many eye-catching projects cross-country monorails, airports in the Thames a tunnel or bridge between the two islands has had its occasional moment in the sun over several decades, but it owes its most recent incarnation to Alan Dunlop, a visiting professor of architecture at universities in Liverpool and Aberdeen, who in 2018 proposed a road-and-rail bridge that would create a Celtic powerhouse that stretched across Scotland and the island of Ireland. He estimated a cost of between 15bn and 20bn.

Which of us predicted a favourable reception for the idea? Not me nor several others. But despite its critics, political leaders in all parts of both islands have felt its magnetic pull. Something different, new, big, cheerful; something in Boris Johnsons case that enabled him to pretend that Britains links with Northern Ireland were growing, or would ultimately grow, stronger rather than weaker.

The scheme has changed as it has matured. A vast munitions dump on the seabed and the North Channels frequent storms have made a railway tunnel likelier than a bridge. The High Speed Rail Group, led by Peter Hendy, the chairman of Network Rail, is expected to publish an interim report within weeks. There is already talk of building a high-speed line along the abandoned route of the Northern Irishman. Last week the Tory MP Simon Hoare said, The trains could be pulled by an inexhaustible herd of unicorns overseen by stern, officious dodos, and the scepticism is certainly deserved. Thanks to a difference in railway gauges the result of a decision made by the UK government in 1846 the unicorns in Ireland would need to be more than six inches wider.

I never reached Loch Skerrow. Photographs show the remains of a concrete platform, a few wind-bent trees and a grassy track curving gently across the moor. It would be good to see a train here again a modest one, connecting the Galloway towns to Dumfries and the world beyond. Unfortunately, fantasy has replaced modesty as a British affliction.

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A tunnel linking Scotland and Northern Ireland? Fantasy has replaced British modesty - The Guardian

Even if it shouldnt have been it was still a bit of a shock to learn that Gina Carano had been released by Lucasfilm, which means that the role of Cara Dune in The Mandalorian, and the hopefully still to come Rangers of the New Republic, will get someone to replace her for the character or come up with someone just as great. As you can imagine there are plenty of people claiming that she wasnt that good of an actress or her part wasnt that important so that theyll be welcomed onto the bandwagon operated by those that are siding with Disney and Lucasfilm in this matter. But more important than that bit of nonsense at this moment is who can possibly replace her. Whats true is that Gina isnt exactly Oscar-worthy since she hasnt been a huge, standout hit since she started acting. But she did earn her way during The Mandalorian and would have continued to be a valuable asset had Disney not opted to show its blatant hypocrisy. But oh well, this is what there is to work with now, and people cant help but start thinking of who might replace her. While some of the picks below arent popular and others arent even on the list at this time, this is who we tend to think might be able to take Ginas spot.

Here are a few women that might be able to replace Gina Carano.

If this did happen then one might hope that there would be a time jump between the second season of The Mandalorian and any other show that Lawless might show up in as Cara Dune if that is in fact the plan. While Lawless is still an attractive and very useful actress shes also getting older and time is not on her side if she wants to keep portraying someone like Cara, who is still fairly young in the Disney+ series. The upside is that Lawless has been a part of a series before and has done very well, but the downside, as already mentioned, is that shes not getting any younger and might already be a bit old for this role.

There are a couple of wrestlers on this list that would work out just fine for the role since their appearance could be altered just enough to give them the look of a Republic soldier and bulking up just a bit or even using padding in the armor wouldnt be a big deal. For Cassie and others, it would be the idea of getting them to act out the part that might be difficult since despite being a part of the WWE its still easy to note that acting in the ring is a lot different than acting on camera, no matter that the WWE is televised. At least one can guess that the physical aspects of the role wouldnt be too hard.

This is kind of a stretch really since Mila is kind of a hard person to see in this kind of a role, but on top of getting her to step out of her comfort zone, it feels like something that would give her the chance to bring that famous attitude that shes been able to use in a few movies and use it to her advantage. Plus, apart from being a great actress, it would be fun to see her in an action scene. Its an odd pick, but every list there has to be at least one or two, and in this case, it has more to do with Milas looks than her experience when it comes to playing an action role, which might be pretty interesting.

Shes already been in a couple of action movies so its fair to say that she would probably do just as well as Gina and as a trained MMA fighter she could step into the physical part of the role without any real effort. Imagine watching a new Cara Dune, or another character, start applying armbars and other locks to the enemy. Her acting might need to improve a bit but it does feel as though Ronda could make this happen and be a fitting replacement.

Another wrestler that would probably look good in the armor and fit the role just perfect is Rhea Ripley since she simply looks like a physical character that could do some damage if she wanted to. One big advantage to picking a wrestler would be that theyre used to taking pretty hard hits and wouldnt be deterred from a physical role such as this. Its obvious that there would be stunt people involved, but theres still enough that anyone taking over would have to do that would make it worthwhile.

Its still sad to see Gina go, but like it or not, everyone is replaceable in some way.

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Who Should Replace Gina Carano on The Mandalorian? - TVOvermind

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East Coast Window Installers offers solutions to all your home remodeling needs, including window and door installations, roofing and siding work, board-up services, and skylight installation. To find out more, please head to their website or give the team a call on (240) 594 5617.

Source:https://thenewsfront.com/refresh-and-upgrade-your-home-or-workspace-with-help-from-east-coast-window-installers-inc/

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Refresh and Upgrade Your Home or Workspace with Help from East Coast Window Installers, Inc. Latest News on The News Front - The News Front

HBOs intense 10-part miniseries, shot almost entirely in England, examines global conflict from the foot soldiers perspective. This article originally appeared in AC, Sept. 2001. Some pictures may be additional or alternate.

HBOs World War II miniseries Band of Brothers transports viewers to the front lines in brutally realistic fashion as it follows a single company of U.S. soldiers from their training in America through their first year of combat in Europe. The firepower was so intense at times and the danger seemed so real that even members of the crew forgot they were making a movie. Recalling a particularly harrowing sequence, director David Frankel says, I was running with the camera operators as our guys charged a German-held village. There was a German machine gun high up in a church tower, and our guys were like fish in a barrel. Blanks sound as loud and scary as the real thing, especially when youre seeing men go down and the officers are still sending more in.

At one point a soldier got hit and another guy ran out to rescue him. The camera operator was supposed to follow the action, but as he started to move forward he became so alarmed that he hid behind the actors. His instinct was, Oh God, theyre shooting at me. Needless to say, we had to cut. That was the moment when I felt what the horror of battle must be like.

Band of Brothers focuses on the men of Easy Company, immortalized by historian Stephen E. Ambrose in his nonfiction bestseller of the same title. As members of the 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, they were among the first American paratroopers trained for the war. When Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg decided to produce a TV miniseries that would honor the hundreds of thousands of citizen soldiers without whom World War II could not have been won, they turned to Ambroses book.

At a cost of $120 million, Band of Brothers is the most expensive original programming venture in HBOs history, as well as its most ambitious. Production on the 10 episodes, all of which were shot in England with the exception of a few scenes in Switzerland, began in April 2000 and wrapped eight months later. Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, BSC (Elizabeth, The House of Mirth) and Canadian cinematographer Joel Ransom, CSC (The X-Files, Harsh Realm) split the 10 hour-long dramas between them. They shot simultaneously, and each had their own crew.

The producers wanted the same type of realistic look and feel that Spielberg brought to Saving Private Ryan (AC Aug. 98). [They were after] that same kind of heightened contrast and lowered saturation, affirms Adefarasin. A much-used phrase was: Like dropping a documentary unit into the past. That was the approach.

The latest post-production techniques were used to get a truly authentic look; the shows 35mm footage was scanned as 2K digital data that was color-timed at Kodak/Cinesites digital mastering lab in London (see 'Virtual Coloring' at the bottom of this article). Steven [Spielberg] didnt want to get into the long-lens, high-speed, backlit feel, because that would have been too romantic, Ransom explains. He didnt want to beautify war.

There were a few other ground rules: minimal use of cranes, German POV shots and slow motion. I think Steven wanted the series to reflect the American soldiers subjective experience, theorizes Frankel, who was one of eight directors on the project. That meant [making it] experiential for the audience as well. By using a crane in effect, stepping back and seeing things in context you make it too objective. There were exceptions, of course, when it was important to have the height of a crane or to be able to manipulate the camera into certain positions.

The majority of the combat footage was shot handheld. Ransom estimates that 90 percent of these scenes were shot with 45- or 90- degree shutters, a technique that Janusz Kaminski used in his Oscar-winning work on Private Ryan. Reducing the shutter angle has the effect of making action sequences punchier. It gives a staccato effect to panning shots, and it pixilates explosions, Ransom elaborates.

The first major fighting sequence occurs in Episode 2, which was shot by Adefarasin and directed by Richard Loncraine. The scene shows Lt. Dick Winters (Damian Lewis) hunched over to avoid being shot as he runs down a long trench. Bullets zing by just above his head. The camera precedes Winters as he runs, catching him first in wide shot and then in a tight close-up of his face. A-camera operator Martin Kenzie recalls, Our problem was the width of the trench and the length of movement it required. All of the usual tools you might use for that type of shot dolly, quad bike, wheelchair were too wide and not maneuverable enough for some of the tight corners. Running might have worked if it hadnt been necessary to run backwards.

Joel Ransom came up with the idea of using a rickshaw, and special-effects supervisor Joss Williams and his men built it and made it work. They took two bicycle front-fork assemblies, built a frame with a seat and attached [about 15"] cycle wheels. The handles were extended at the front so that dolly grip John Arnold could run forward, pulling the rickshaw. He was doing all the hard work while I sat in the seat, facing backward, with a Moviecam SL [fitted with a 32mm Zeiss Ultra Prime lens] in my lap. At one point, John parked the rickshaw in a siding, skillfully tipping me off [as I stayed on Winters], who I then began following from behind.

To facilitate the work and avoid possible injury, Adefarasin encouraged his operator to use a liquid crystal display (LCD). Using an onboard LCD monitor as a Viewfinder eliminates the need to keep your eye squeezed against the eyepiece, which is difficult during vigorous operating, the cinematographer explains. Mounting the screen to the front of the camera also helped when we had to move quickly to keep up with the troops. It also enabled us to do very low running shots without complicated rigging.

England recorded its wettest year in history last year, and the constant rain posed its own set of hazards. The trenches got waterlogged, and we had to keep pumping the water out, Adefarasin recalls. The mud was unbelievable! On the very first day of the shoot, I was helping to push a camera trolley up a muddy slope. Ben Wilson, my A-camera first assistant, was in front pulling, and he slipped in the mud. He didnt even scream as I pushed the trolley over him. (fortunately, the soft mud gave Wilson a cushion.)

Episode 2 opens with one of the most nerve-rattling sequences in the entire series: Easy Companys parachute jump into the Normandy countryside in the pre-dawn hours of D-Day. It was the companys first combat jump and first taste of war.

To film the sequence, the production managed to find a mothballed C-47 plane. Crew members removed its wings partially to eliminate some of the weight and partially because they wouldnt be seen in any shots and refurbished the interior. All but one of the interior C-47 scenes were shot inside the aircraft, which was housed inside one of two giant airplane hangars that were being used by the production as soundstages. The hangars were located at the former British Aerospace Aerodrome in Hatfield, England, some 30 miles outside London. The site, which the crew affectionately christened Hatfield Studios, also included a backlot where many scenes were filmed.

In order to suggest the bounce of typical aircraft movement, the crew placed the plane atop two separate motion rigs, which sat one on top of the other. Each rig produced a different kind of shaking and jostling. Directly beneath the aircraft was the first rig, an air platform consisting of a steel frame and 16 small air bellows. The plane floated on the bellows, which were round rubber units about 8" wide. Each was filled with a small amount of air, and over a wide area they provided tremendous lifting power.

Deflating and inflating the bellows very rapidly created a strong vibration. To produce an even stronger movement an out-of-control tilting for moments when the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire the air platform rested on a gimbal positioned on the hangar floor. It could tilt 20 degrees in 2seconds, an extraordinarily fast movement considering that the planes fuselage was 45' long. The hydraulic system that controlled the gimbal was operated manually. You only need computer control if you have to repeat the exact same movement, and nothing was so tied-in that we had to have the plane in exactly the same position twice, explains special-effects supervisor Williams, who devised the dual rig.

Inside the fuselage, two rows of soldiers sat facing each other on benches. As the German fighter planes attacked, filling the outside air with explosions and flak, the C47 reacted violently. Those scenes were hell to shoot, acknowledges Adefarasin. We all came away with bruises. In fact, the shaking was so fierce at times that we had to use Hot Gears. It was in anticipation of just such circumstances that Adefarasin had suggested renting Hot Gears in the first place. Its a very clever device that controls a geared head and can save the operator from injury, he comments. Its also great for very awkward shots that are physically difficult. Its main beauty is that its relatively cheap, so you can keep it on standby.

Williams came up with a clever idea for making it appear as though flak was breaking the sides of the aircraft, right by the heads and bodies of the actors. He cut square pieces out of the aluminum fuselage and replaced them with pewter sheeting. When compressed air was blown into the pewter from outside the plane with several speciallyrigged 40- to 50-pound pressure canisters, it created small holes that, given the circumstances, appeared to be flak, especially as the pewter peeled back when the shrapnel penetrated the plane.

The planes pitching and rolling proved especially troublesome for focus puller Wilson, who wound up working almost entirely with the Arri LCS remote-focus system. According to operator Kenzie, Its much easier to work with a remote-focus device when operating handheld. It also keeps Ben and me out of each others way, especially since the inside of the C-47 was incredibly cramped.

The Moviecam SL was our best friend throughout the shoot, Kenzie continues. Its a very light and adaptable camera. Ben had some brackets made up, and by using the Arri Blue Handle system, we could quickly change between three handheld modes: conventional shoulder or high mode; low angle, backache, monitor-watching mode; and midheight mode, when most of the camera is under your arm.

In addition to two SLs, each production unit had an Arriflex 535B. It wasnt unusual for all three cameras to be pressed into service at once; at times, as many as seven cameras were running. Lenses included a full set of Zeiss Ultra Primes (18mm to 180mm),a Canon 300mm, andCooke 25-250mm and 20-100mm zooms. Arri Media in London supplied the cameras and lenses and provided superb support, according to Adefarasin. The cinematographer also praised the lighting rental house, Lee Lighting.

Night sequences aboard the C47 proved particularly tricky to light because of a historical fact: no lights were allowed on inside the aircraft during the war, lest they give away the planes position to the enemy. While the production cheated a bit by using a tiny Lightstream torch held by the cinematographer inside the aircraft, these scenes relied primarily on units set up outside the plane, which, between the gimbal and the motion rig, sat some 20' above the floor. Par cans and 10Ks were attached to a jib arm mounted on a separate gimbal, so that the lights could be moved up and down and not in concert with the planes movements. Gaffer Jimmy Wilson augmented the illumination with three Lightning Strikes units and some 1K Pars, the latter representing flak.

According to Adefarasin, it was difficult to keep light coming through the planes small windows with any regularity. We had to find angles that would make the light work when the plane moved, but still look real. We placed the Lightning Strikes units at different angles. I feel its important that they dont always look the same brightness or color, so we varied the intensity and color. Full, half and quarter CTOs were used, and a frame of .6ND was waved in front of two of the lightning units to create a more organic feel.

After being struck repeatedly by anti-aircraft fire, another plane suddenly bursts into flames and begins to dive. A fireball tears through the cabin from front to back, an effect created with a propane flame projector. Two cameras were locked off in the tail section, filming the fireball as it hurtled straight toward them.

The challenge Adefarasin faced was having enough light in the plane so that when the ball lit up, there would be enough stop to hold the textures in the flame. I shot it on Kodak [Vision 200T] 5274 stock at around T8. We lined the rear wall of the C-47 with heavy-duty aluminum foil to throw light back onto the stunt mens bodies. We used some older Zeiss lenses and optical flats, just in case.

In addition to the 5274, Adefarasin used Vision 500T 5279 and Vision 800T 5289 on the show. He and Ransom chose the same film stocks, though each arrived at his decision independently. Ransom considered using Fuji stock on the first episode, the only one set in the United States (although it was shot in England). Ultimately, however, he decided that the difference would be so subtle especially given what digital colorist Luke Rainey could do in post that he stuck with Kodak. Between the two units (and a model unit headed by cinematographer Nigel Stone), two million feet of film was exposed during the production.

Episode 7, which documents the Battle of Foy, was one of the most combat-intensive episodes in the series. Shot by Ransom and directed by Frankel, it was set during the winter of 1944-45. The men of Easy Company were literally living in foxholes outside Bastogne, and they were short on food and ammunition and had no winter clothing. One-third of the episode was filmed on exterior locations, and the rest was shot on a woodland set designed by production designer Tony Pratt. The faux forest, which was also the setting for most of Episode 6, filled an entire hangar at Hatfield Studios.

The hangar was a 300-square foot building that stood 50' high, and the forest set filled the entire structure. It took four weeks to dress the set, which consisted of several hundred real pine trees and 250 trees built by the special-effects department. A painted backdrop covered all four walls of the hangar. The hangar floor was covered with thousands of tons of dirt in order to create a raised forest floor. At a depth of 5', the dirt carpeted the entire set, stopping some 10-15' from the painted backdrop. Railroad ties, stacked one on top of another and camouflaged with dirt, created a kind of restraining wall around the manmade forest floor. It was there that electricians hid 2K and 5K lights aimed directly at the painted backdrop.

American Cinematographer's set visit coincided with the filming of Episode 7. The forest set was breathtaking, both artistically and from a lighting standpoint. Gaffer Wilson, who has worked with Adefarasin for 12 years, was brought in early to design and rig a full lighting grid that would cover the entire ceiling of the hangar. Wilsons first concern was weight: the hangar was 50' high but had only one central support, so the lighting gantries had to be tied into the buildings existing steel work. It took rigging gaffer Barrie More five weeks to build the grid, and another several weeks to hang the lights.

We decided to light the forest canopy with 500 space lights, each of which had two feeds, in order to give us three light levels 1,600 watts, 2,400 watts and 4,000 watts each with quarter bottom diffusions, Wilson details. All of the perimeter space lights had black skirts, while the interior lights had white ones. We lit the painted backdrop with 2K and 5K Skypans, which again gave us three light levels [for day, dusk and night scenes].

Backlight and top sunlight were generated by 100 CP-61 Par cans, 30 CP-61 Maxi-Brutes, and eight quarter Wendies, all of which were on dimmers and could be moved around the grid as needed. Power was supplied by four 1.2-megawatt Aggreko blimped generators, one in every corner of the hangar. Each one had a 1,000-gallon fuel tank that had to be refilled every two days.

We ran a total of about 26 miles of cable. To enable us to work quickly and to change from day to night conditions, we had a four-man crew on the top of the grid at all times and a six-man crew on the forest floor. The first problem we discovered was that standing among 500 snow-covered trees and trying to relate a position to the grid crew was difficult. We therefore made a numbered grid system and communicated by radio, which worked great.

For daytime scenes, Ransom moved 12x12' bounces around and aimed 5Ks or 10Ks into them. For some nighttime sequences, he turned off all of the grid lights and simply illuminated the painted backdrop to achieve a sense of depth. He put smaller lights Peppers, 300s and Babies on the actors.

One scene late in Episode 7 finds the Americans charging out of the woods, barreling down a hill and storming the nearby town of Foy, where the Germans are holed up. It sounds simple enough, but the sequence required shooting in three separate locations: in the forest set, on the backlot, and in a real pine forest located about 20 minutes away from the set.

The shots of the soldiers walking through the woods prior to the assault were filmed on the forest set. The shots of the men running out of the woods and down the hill, however, were filmed in the real forest. The camera operators were located on the side of the hill, filming the men as they charged out of the woods and down the hill. For the actual assault on Foy, cast and crew moved to the backlot, where the town had been recreated. The cameras were now behind the Americans, revealing their POV as they ran toward the town. It took three weeks to film the entire sequence. We had to make all three locations look like one place, says Ransom with a laugh. For me, the most difficult aspect of the entire series was waiting for the clouds to gather and give us a soft, even light.

To help foster the illusion that the activities were all taking place at one site, certain landmarks were carried from one exterior location to the next, so that in either direction the soldiers (and viewers) looked, theyd see the same haystack or house. It worked pretty seamlessly, marvels Frankel. We decided to do it that way because the backlot had no pine trees at the top of the hill, and it was important to see our guys come out of the forest because we had spent so much time with them in the forest. The alternative would have been to create the forest with visual effects, but I didnt have great confidence in that because it would have limited the number of times we could see the men streaming out of the woods. There are only so many CGI shots that can be budgeted!

Maintaining a consistent look wasnt easy, and not simply because the camera was moving from natural light outdoors to the interior of a studio. A second consideration was that Ransom knew he would be shooting with 45-and 90-degree shutters. In the end, he decided to push the 500 stock one stop. I knew I was going to need the extra stop to go with the shutters and/or any [non-standard] speeds we might decide to use. Pushing the stock one stop brought me up to 1,000 ASA, which introduced a consistent level of grain throughout the entire episode.

The attack scene was shot with five cameras. The base stop at the standard 24 fps/ 180-degree shutter angle was T5.6 V2, but shooting with a 45-degree shutter took it down two stops to 2.8 V2.1 didnt want to shoot at 5.6 V2 in the studio unless we really needed the stop, like for a really long lens shot, so I would ND it down. When we did regular scenes with the shutter at 180 degrees, I would just ND it down to 2.8 V2. On the wider shots Id let focus pullers Sean Connor and Alex Howe decide for themselves.

Three huge artillery barrages took place on the stage, one at night and two during the day. In one 20-second stretch, the special-effects unit set off more than 100 explosions. Ransom enhanced these explosions with Lightning Strikes to give the scene an added sense of horror. I think we used the 70,000-watt units, he says. They generated a tremendous burst of light. The next day he and his crew moved to the real forest, where the special effects team set off 50 more explosions. Shots from the two locations were then intercut.

According to gaffer Wilson, the biggest exterior lighting setup occurred in Episode 8. Directed by Tony To, who also served as one of the projects co-executive producers, it concerned the American attack on the town of Haguenau in February 1945. The night of the actual assault was completely overcast, and to create some form of illumination the Army beamed searchlights into the clouds, which then bounced the light back down. The searchlights gave an overall wash of light, Wilson says. That was the actual light source and thats what we had to simulate.

Wilson came up with the idea of making a giant soft light, the equivalent of a 100K space light. It had to be able to shed light over a 300-square-foot area on the back lot. Dubbed the Jimmy Light, after its designer, the unit was 20' wide by 12' deep and consisted of eight nine-light Maxi-Brutes, all wired to dimmers. We hung the whole thing on a 200-foot crane, about 120 feet off the ground, says the gaffer. The reach of the arm was about 80 feet. It was like an enormous, 20-foot softbox. In addition to the Jimmy Light we had a full Wendy on a cherry picker, as well as a 24K Dino. I think I left them open, neither diffused nor corrected.

Not every episode of the series involves combat or enormous lighting setups. The first episode covers Easy Companys two-year training at home and introduces viewers to the unusually large cast of characters. The guys are in training camp, and I wanted to make everything slightly brighter, with more light on their faces, and create a warmer, safer feel, says Ransom, who shot the episode for director Phil Alden Robinson. Plus, we had to establish 30 actors in an hour so that the audience could recognize them before they started getting into a dark plane with black shoe polish on their faces!

That happened soon enough. For the paratroopers first nighttime practice jump, there were no lights in the aircraft at all. Ransom underexposed the 5279 three to four stops. The theory is that you are lighting from the planes windows, with the moonlight as the source. We put lights into bounces outside the windows tungsten light, so we probably put a quarter-to-half-blue on the lamps. Occasionally, the camera was slung from a kind of mini-rail dolly track, which Williams had built on the ceiling of the C-47, running right down the middle of the aircraft.

A scene of troopers riding a train was shot in an actual boxcar, which was placed in one of the soundstages. We used a poor-mans process, reports Ransom. We had a greenscreen outside the windows visual-effects supervisor Angus Bickerton would put in an appropriate background later and we put lights outside the windows with individual cyclodrums fitted over them. Each cyclodrum had various diffusions added to it, and wed spin them to help change the density of the light and create the illusion of motion.

Another trick is that you always want straps or something dangling down as the train moves, he adds, noting that the grips were actually rocking the boxcar. When you see something swaying like that, you believe the train really is moving.

Less amenable to creative solutions was the fog that hung over the backlot during Episode 5, which was directed by Tom Hanks. Hatfield is a low-lying site and very flat, ideal for an airfield, notes Adefarasin. There are many ponds nearby, however, and a huge problem was that at night it got terribly misty, and any sort of backlight lit up the mist. And if you ffontlight in that type of situation, it looks like flash photography.

The cameraman wound up using Maxi-Brutes and Dinos as backlight while keeping the key as high as he could. Episode 6, which was shot primarily in the forest set, presented a different scenario: fog had to be added. You light the set and it looks great, says Adefarasin. You roll in the smoke and it looks even better. Then when the camera rolls, another lump of smoke springs into frame and either makes the scene too light by raising the fog level, or too dark by filtering the lights! Sometimes it does both at the same time. I was constantly consulting my Minolta spot meter and yelling out two different stops.

Adefarasin also shot Episode 9, which was directed by Frankel and was an emotional experience for everybody involved. The setting is Germany in the waning days of the war; Nazi soldiers have already fled the area. The men of Easy are walking down a road and come upon a concentration camp. The concentration camp scenes were all photographed on Vision 200T, without an 85 filter, and then force-developed, Adefarasin says. Its the only footage of mine that we force-developed. However, I didnt want to introduce more grain, so I went for a very full exposure. The lack of correction lent the images an exaggerated contrast and a bit of color distortion. You knew the men were going into a ghastly area.

After a few relatively static initial shots, we went for a frenzy of handheld images, circling our troops and the camp survivors. However, we wanted the camera to respect their presence, as if the scene was really happening, so we never got into the actors eyelines. For a scene in which Capt. Nixon [Ron Livingston] returns alone to the camp a short time later, we ran the camera at 27 fps. You should barely notice the slow-motion, but I felt it helped give the sequence a haunting feel.

Adefarasin says Episode 9 was his main motivation for working on the miniseries. Not a single shot is fired, yet the whole horror of warfare is evident in that hour. [We see] how lives are destroyed, how hate breeds, and the futility of killing our fellow man, but we also see how people help each other. The episode is called Why We Fight, and its the reason I signed up for Band of Brothers!

The miniseries Band of Brothers was not only shot in England, but all postproduction was done there as well. The 10-part drama was shot on film, and then, in a scenario that is becoming increasingly commonplace, it was digitally color-corrected and manipulated. Going a technological step beyond the recent O Brother, Where Art Thou?, technicians working on Band of Brothers utilized 2K digital data courtesy of Philips Specter, a data-storage device that allows virtual access to a scanned negative. (See From Film to Tape, AC May 99, for more on the Specter.)

The Specter is essentially a Spirit without wheels the electronics of the Spirit but with disks instead of film, explains Band of Brothers colorist Luke Rainey of Kodak/Cinesites new digital-mastering lab in London. Its also called a Virtual telecine because it has all the functionality of the telecine except it [contains] data rather than film.

After the episodes of Band of Brothers were edited on the Avid and a cut negative was produced (with 17-frame handles), the negative was scanned at 2K resolution on a Philips Spirit Datacine and the digitized material was loaded into a giant server. For the final coloring and assembly, the filmmakers then utilized the Specter to call up the desired shots and on-line assemble them according to the edit decision list (EDL) provided by the editors. Both the MegaDef grading system and the Pogle control-corrector which regulates both the Specter and the MegaDef are products of U.K.-based Pandora International.

The process of calling up the shots is entirely automated, says Rainey. The Specter comprises more than 3,000 gigabytes of hard disks to store the 1920x1440 images, a control system which enables us to play these images in real time, a basic edit system that automatically assembles the shots in the order dictated by the EDL, and a very comprehensive grading and reframing system.

Visual-effects shots were also loaded into the Specter as they became available and were matched to their previously timed background plates. Opticals such as wire removal, speed changes, adding camera shake, etc. were then pulled into the Specter. When everything was finished, the episode was output to EID-D5 tape. From there, it could be played out in a wide variety of delivery formats and aspect ratios.

The most important thing on this show was to keep the viewer close to the characters, Rainey notes. For this reason, I wanted to keep the skin tones more natural than other parts of the picture. Because I can select any entity within a frame and manipulate it separately from the rest of the picture, I would isolate the skin tones and desaturate the remainder of the picture. If there is any other color or object that should be noticed such as the mailbox in the battle scene of Episode 4 Id bring that back as well.Cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, BSC, who alternated shooting episodes with Joel Ransom, CSC, was concerned about how green leaves and fields would photograph at night. In the spring, the trees and grass are lush and light, and when backlit they look like a cartoon, Adefarasin observes. To solve the problem, Rainey significantly reduced the color green throughout the series and timed down highlights in foliage in night scenes.

Greens tend to overpower the pictures, agrees the colorist. Of course, when you take color out, you lose apparent contrast, so I some times used the greens in a slightly distorted manner, bending them toward another color, making them more ochre or olive, and thus put a wash behind the foreground characters, who were wearing uniforms pretty much the same color as the background. I then flared out the skies to create a layered effect.

Electronic grad filters (typically called Power Windows, which is the name theyre given in da Vinci color-correctors) were used extensively throughout the timing process. These work in the same way that a conventional grad does; however, instead of applying a color effect across the whole frame, it can be feathered in from an edge or even placed over an object and tracked. Rainey sometimes did this to reduce highlights on the side of a face. In wintry episodes, the filter effect allowed him to flare the snow without affecting the trees.

The data aspect of the process is the key that enables Rainey to do the things he does. He adds that when dealing with video in the past, he was always limited by color depth (i.e., the palette of colors available). But by working with virtual 2K data, he can be much more precise in composing the color imagery of a shot. He notes that every shot in all 10 episodes contains at least four layers of color effects, and often as many as eight. Blacks are squeezed, whites are flared, skin tones are manipulated and grads are added. Jean Oppenheimer

See the rest here:
Close Combat: Band of Brothers - The American Society of Cinematographers - American Cinematographer

We met up with Amanda Edwards from Poplar Home Waterproofing to discuss how they're business has grown and the many services they provide.

Below is a list provided by Poplar Home Waterproofing of when you may need their services and some of the services they provide:

When you may need our services...

Foundation or Structural Repair is often indicated by the following:

*Cracks in the exterior brick of the home (especially stair step patterns)

*Cracks in the drywall in the interior of the home (i.e. above doorways)

*Separation of the floor or ceiling system from the baseboard or moldings *Sticking doors or doors that wont close properly

*Unlevel floors, sloping floors, or bouncy floors

*Failing or over-spanned wood members under the home

*Termite damage, wood rot, or molded wood

Waterproofing Solutions are often necessary when:

*The house develops a musty or mold/mildew smell

*When mold or wood rot is found within the crawl space area

*Significant water intrusion is occurring within the crawlspace (i.e. standing water)

Exterior Waterproofing is usually necessary when:

*There is a failing retaining wall

*Complete washout of a portion of the yard

*When water is intruding into the home at below grade levels

*When the exterior grade of the home is above the interior slab causing water intrusion

*Wet garage or basement areas

Vapor Barriers

Custom cut and staked vapor barriers laid to prevent humidity from making it from the ground to the crawl space.

Encapsulations

Full crawl space wrap (floor and walls) to seal out moisture.

Mold Remediation

Full wipe down and clean up with shockwave mold removal chemical

French Drains

Trench filled with gravel or rock containing a perforated pipe that redirects surface and groundwater away from one area to another.

Dehumidifiers/Seal Vents

Work by removing the air moisture in a crawl space, draining the excess water to sump pump systems or outside and then blows out warm air.

Basement French Drain/Water guard

Drainage system installed inside the home beneath the slab

Foundation Drains/Exterior Waterproofing Solutions

Installed at the foundation of a structure to prevent water from collecting around it.

Additional exterior waterproofing solutions to prevent interior water intrusion.

Foundation/Structural Repair

Pier and drop girder systems for supplemental support to address over-span floor systems

Reframe structural members from beneath the home (girder, band, joist, rim, sub-floor)

Other miscellaneous support and reframing solutions

Retaining Walls

Extra support where necessary to prevent erosion due to weather or other causes

Interior Framing & Re-framing

Opening up walls/floor plans in homes, framing new additions in homes

Miscellaneous Work

Fascia and soffit repair, deck repair, tuck-pointing (brick), helical stitches/ties, siding repair and replacement, flooring installation, window and door installation, vinyl/wood siding

.and much more!

Poplar Home Waterproofing LLC

poplarhomewaterproofing@gmail.com

251-616-1666

http://www.poplarhomewaterproofing.com

All content 2020, WALA; Mobile, AL. (A Meredith Corporation Station). All Rights Reserved.

See original here:
Home repair services and more with Poplar Home Waterproofing - FOX10 News

By Thompson Smith

In my recent tenure as Chair of the Flathead Basin Commission, I wrote several opinion pieces raising concerns about Steve Bullocks administration. Yet Im urging you to vote for the Governor and send Senator Daines packing. Heres why.

Daines has long portrayed himself as what most Montanans want: reasonable, fair, a problem solver. But his actions and words, now illuminated by the rush to confirm Amy Barrett to the Supreme Court, have shattered that illusion.

Daines did recently join Sen. Tester in supporting the Great Outdoors Act. Unfortunately, thats far outweighed by Dainess support for more than 100 policy and regulatory changes that will leave future generations with dirtier air, dirtier water, and a poorer environment, including gutting the Clear Water Act, weakening restrictions on toxic air pollutants including mercury, hamstringing the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, allowing coal corporations to dump waste into streams, and dismantling the international effort to address the climate crisis.

Daines has been similarly supportive or silent on a many of Trumps worst actions and statements on matters of civil rights and social justice, the rule of law, and national security. That includes Trumps legitimization of white supremacism and racist hatred, the 26 public accusations of Trumps sexual misconduct, separating immigrant toddlers and infants from their parents and putting them in cages, firing Inspectors General and US attorneys who were investigating him, siding with Putin against US intelligence, and referring to soldiers whove given their lives as suckers and losers. Trump seeks power by dividing our country rather than uniting it; Daines has nothing to say.

On health care, the record is even worse. Daines blames COVID-19 solely on China, omitting the epic incompetence and deceit in the White House that has led to the greatest loss of American life since World War II. More than 215,000 of our fellow citizens have now perished, with 389,000 deaths projected by February 1. We have 4 percent of the worlds population, but 19 percent of the deaths.

Daines voted three times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, when there was no replacement healthcare plan and therefore no way to deliver affordable insurance or continue protecting those of us with preexisting conditions. Eleven years after the ACAs passage, theres still no Republican plan.

Which returns us to the matter of the Supreme Court, since a Justice Barrett might well rule against the ACA. Daines has already helped Mitch McConnell pack the courts with lifetime appointments for more than two hundred judges aligned with the Federalist Society, a special interest group funded by some $250 million in untraceable dark money thats created a pipeline of extremist judges, hostile to restrictions on corporate power, civil rights for common citizens, and environmental protection.

In February 2016, Antonin Scalia died, nearly nine months before the election. President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland. The Constitution obligates the Senate to consider a Presidents nominee, but Daines followed Mitch McConnells orders by refusing to even meet with the universally respected judge. Daines presented his brazen inaction as based not on the brutal fact that Republicans held power as the majority, but rather on a supposed ethical commitment to democracy, saying the Senate should not act until the American people elect a new President and have their voices heard.

We are now less than three weeks from the next election. Thousands of Montanans and millions of Americans have already cast their ballots. But Daines now says Republicans should proceed, simply because they can. Daines trumpeted principles when they served his political ends, and shamelessly abandoned them when they became inconvenient.

Perhaps the Senate should adopt a simple rule for when a nomination is too close to an election: if its before party conventions in July-August, the Senate can proceed; if its after the conventions, the Senate should hold off until the following February. Lets call it the Abraham Lincoln rule. When Chief Justice Roger Taney died on October 12, 1864, Lincoln deferred nominating a replacement until after the election so that the next President, with a new mandate, could do it.

156 years later to the day on October 12, 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsay Graham bulldozed ahead with the first day of hearings for a nominee from the far-right wing of the American legal spectrum. Like Daines, Graham hopes well forget his previous words: If theres a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, Lets let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination. And you could use my words against me, and youd be absolutely right.

Well, Lindsay and Steve, we do remember your words, and we are holding them against you, and we are absolutely right to do so. Thats why were voting instead for Governor Bullock.

Read the original here:
Opinion: Will we hold Steve Daines to account? - Char-Koosta News

GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, NL , Oct. 22, 2020 /CNW/ - The health and well-being of Canadians are the top priorities of the governments of Canada , and Newfoundland and Labrador . But the COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than our personal health. It is having a profound effect on the economy.

That is why governments have been taking decisive action to support families, businesses and communities, and continue to look ahead to see what more can be done.

Strategic investments in creating inclusive recreation spaces will play a key role in ensuring Newfoundland and Labrador residents have modern facilities to support a healthy community.

Today, Scott Simms, Member of Parliament for Coast of BaysCentralNotre Dame, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and the Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure for Newfoundland and Labrador , announced over $1.6 million in funding for the improvement and renovation of recreation and cultural facilities in five communities across Newfoundland and Labrador .

In the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor , the Goodyear Avenue Ball Field will benefit from re-paving the existing parking areas, improving the walking track surface, and installing new backstops and new scoreboards in two baseball fields. This project, and others in Stephenville , King's Point, Twillingate , and Change Islands , will improve recreation infrastructure across the province, allowing residents and visitors alike to play sports and become physically fit in modern and accessible playgrounds, cultural centres, and arenas.

The Government of Canada is investing more than $509,000 toward these projects through the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream (CCRIS) of the Investing in Canada plan. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is contributing over $508,000 , with the municipalities providing the remainder of project funding.

Quotes

"Investing in cultural and recreational infrastructure is important to growing strong and healthy communities. The improvements being made to these facilities means that Newfoundland and Labrador residents can spend more time connecting, staying active, and having fun in modern and accessible facilities. We are proud to work with our partners to deliver these important projects. They are an example of how Canada's infrastructure plan invests in thousands of projects, creates jobs across the country and builds stronger communities. "

Scott Simms , Member of Parliament for Coast of BaysCentralNotre Dame, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

"Renovating recreational facilities so that they are modern and accessible is a priority for this government. These facilities allow people of all ages and abilities to take part in activities to promote healthy and active lifestyles."

The Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure for Newfoundland and Labrador

Quick facts

Related Products

Backgrounder

Five Newfoundland and Labrador communities to benefit from improved recreational infrastructure

Joint federal, provincial and municipal funding through the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan will support five recreation projects in communities across Newfoundland and Labrador , including renovating cultural centres and improving playgrounds and sport facilities.

The Government of Canada is investing $509,114 towards these projects through the Community Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream (CCRIS) of the Investing in Canada plan. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is contributing $508,961 , while municipalities are contributing $664,424 in total eligible costs to these projects.

Project Information:

Project Name

Location

Project Details

Federal Funding

Provincial Funding

Municipal Funding

Goodyear Avenue Parking and Ball Field Recreation Upgrades

Grand Falls-Windsor

Upgrades to the Goodyear Avenue ball field and recreation facility, including grading; paving the existing parking lot; improving drainage; paving the walking track around the playground and splashpad; installation of new backstops for two baseball fields; upgrades to existing dugouts and installation of new scoreboards in two fields. The project will support improved access to quality community, culture and recreation infrastructure.

$266,058

$265,978

$347,964

Playground Blanch Brook Park

Stephenville

Construction of a new playground to replace the current structure, creating a modern, inclusive playground which will be centrally located and easily accessible to all residents.

$152,580

$152,534

$199,551

New Steel Dome

King's Point

Installation of a new, pre-fabricated steel roof over the outdoor ice rink, allowing a greater number of residents to participate in more activities and events taking place at the rink.

$50,725

$50,710

$66,341

New Chiller for Twillingate Stadium 1

Twillingate

Replacement of the chiller system in the stadium, ensuring the stadium can continue to provide recreation, entertainment and cultural opportunities for people in the region.

$24,353

$24,345

$30,430

Recreation and Cultural Centre Upgrades

Change Islands

Renovation of the Recreation and Culture Centre, including new windows, doors and siding; repairs to the skirt of the building, improving the current state of the building and ensuring its operations for the coming years.

$15,398

$15,394

$20,138

____________________________________ 1 $4,872.00 will also be provided through the Federal Gas Tax Fund.

Associated links

Investing in Canada : Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

Investing in Canada Plan Project Map: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/map

Investing in COVID-19 Community Resilience: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/covid-19-resilience-eng.html

Canada Healthy Communities Initiative: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/chci-iccs/index-eng.html

Federal infrastructure investments in Newfoundland and Labrador : https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/prog-proj-nl-eng.html

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram

Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

More here:
Five Newfoundland and Labrador communities to benefit from improved recreational infrastructure - Stockhouse

Last year, the Chamber of Commerce, big businesss big lobby group, made a bit of a splash when it subtly changed its position on climate to distance itself from the rankest sort of climate denial it otherwise funds. This year, they continued their feint to the left,focusing on issue adsinstead of just electing Republicans, and even going so far as to support a handful of (pro-gas) Democratic politicians.

But as EDF recently pointed out, despite the Chamber hedging its bets with Democrats now (perits fired flack), its still working against climate action in court, where its siding with polluters and the Trump administration on the clean car standards.

No one should be particularly surprised by this, as it tracks completely with theirbehavior last yearwhen, after their supposed change of heart on climate, they werestill filing motionswith polluters and by themselves to oppose the Clean Power Plan and defend the Trump administrations replacement the dangerously Orwellian-named Affordable Clean Energy rule.

Speaking of which, the D.C. circuit court recently heardargumentson the rule, and according to the experts whospoke with Dawn Reeves at InsideEPA, things arent looking good for the Trump administrations proposed rule. According to one of the half-dozen sources Reeves quotes, all three judges did not like the ACE rule, and said theres a high likelihood it would be struck down.

For less reading of the tea leaves and more of a straight read of the arguments presented over a grueling nine hour virtual hearing, PoliticoPROs Alex Guilln covered theseven big take-aways. Ranging from the authority the EPA has to regulate carbon dioxide at all and narrowly targeting coal plants, or by looking at the entire grid writ large, the facts that the rule would only reduce emissions by less than 1 percent, and had no minimum for acceptable levels of pollution for each states plan, appear to be looming large in the judges minds.

One judge, the recently Trump-appointed Justin Walker, was particularly incredulous that the ACE rule was so lacking in any sort of standard. I think thats really hard to wrap my head around. Were talking about a program to reduce air pollution and it doesnt even require you to consider how much pollution youre reducing?

That was likely a turning point in the case that one source described to Reeves. Initially, Walker started out wanting to be the champion for what [Trumps] EPA was doing, but when they sat up and realized ACE doesnt do anything, that its clearly a coal bailout, thats when he finally started really understanding it.

So if even the Trump appointee is sounding skeptical of how lax this proposed regulation is, thats certainly something!

That said,a second piece by Reeves at InsideEPApoints out that all this may end up being a moot point after November 3rd anyway.

Because if Biden wins, his administration would almost certainly scrap the ACE rule for something more appropriate and less created by polluters. If not, the Trump administration would likely appeal any adverse ruling from the district court up to the Supreme Court, putting the decision in the hands of a handful of judges appointed by Trump after having been cleared by the pro-polluter Federalist society.

See the original post:
Chamber of Commerce still committed to blocking climate change action - Red, Green, and Blue

Fall is a great time to tackle projects around the house.

The weather allows homeowners to make improvements to their homes' exteriors without worrying about extreme heat or cold, while interior projects like painting are made easier because homeowners can open the windows to allow for proper ventilation.

Fall also marks a great time to prepare for upcoming projects that can make winter work that much easier.

For example, fall is a great time to take stock of your gutters so you can address any issues before leaves begin to fall or the first snowstorm touches down.

Compromised gutters can contribute to water issues in basements and adversely affect a home's foundation if not addressed immediately, so it behooves homeowners to learn the signs that gutters are in need of repair or replacement.

Gutters were once installed predominantly with spikes. However, many industry professionals now install gutters with hanger brackets.

Why the change? Spikes loosen over time, leading to the gutters hanging off the home. That can contribute to serious issues if left untreated. Gutters hanging off the home need not necessarily be replaced, but rather secured to the home, ideally with hanger brackets instead of spikes.

Brackets hook into the front of the gutter and are then screwed into the fascia of a home. A professional who specializes in gutter repair can perform this task relatively quickly, and it's an inexpensive yet highly effective solution.

Gutters that are no longer fastened together can leak and contribute to issues that affect the home's foundation, siding and appearance.

Clogs and the accumulation of debris can cause gutters to separate because they are not designed to hold too much weight. Replacement of separated gutters may or may not be necessary depending on how big the problem is and the condition of the existing gutters.

If replacement is not necessary, separated gutters may be remedied by securing the joints, another relatively simple and inexpensive fix.

Paint that appears to be peeling off of your home may indicate that water is seeping over the edge of the gutter closest to your home. When that happens, water is coming down the side of the house, causing the paint to peel. In such instances, replacing the gutters is often necessary.

Not all signs of deteriorating gutters are outside a home. Many a homeowner has been flummoxed by flooding in their basements, and such flooding can be caused by aging, ineffective gutters.

That's because deteriorating gutters sometimes allow water to leak near the foundation of a home, contributing to basement flooding.

Excerpt from:
Signs your gutters are in need of repair - Reading Eagle