GENERAL

Self-contained, wall hung electric refrigerated water cooler. Chilling capacity of 50F drinking water, based upon 80F inlet water and 90F ambient.

The Elkay EZSTL8LC has self-closing Easy-Touch Controls on front, left and right of each unit.

All models have a hooded stream projector with Easy-Touch Controls that require less than 3 pounds of force to activate commercial-grade solenoid based flow control. Patented* valve with built-in flow regulator provide constant stream from 20 to 105 psi water pressure. Bubbler orifice fully protected to meet all sanitary codes.

This model cooler consists of a refrigerated lower unit which requires a water supply, drain outlet and electrical supply.

These Water Coolers comply with the requirements of A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act) when properly installed. Unit is compliant if installed in an alcove and is also compliant when mounted on an exposed wall if a wing wall is located on the left side or if LKAPREZL apron is installed under upper unit. Also meets the guidelines for childrens environments providing the floor to orifice height is 30 or less on the lower unit and proper clear floor space is provided for parallel approach. (Based on Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board final ruling.) Check Local and State Codes.

These Water Coolers are certified to be lead-free as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Elkay Water Coolers are manufactured with a waterway system utilizing copper components and completely lead-free materials. These waterways have no lead because all lead materials, such as leaded brass, have been removed. All joints are brazed using silver solder only. No lead solder is permitted. A strainer with an easily cleanable screen is provided to allow trapping and convenient removal of waterborne particulate of 140 microns and larger prior to their entry into the water cooler.

These water coolers are certified to ANSI/NSF61.

5 YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY on the refrigeration system of the unit. Electrical components and water system are warranted for 12 months from date of installation. Sample Certificate available on request.

Elkay Pressure-Type Water Coolers are designed to operate on 20 psi to 105 psi supply line pressure. If inlet pressure is above 105 psi, a pressure regulator must be installed in the supply line. Any damage caused by reason of connecting this product to supply line pressures lower than 20 psi or higher than 105 psi is not covered by the warranty.

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Elkay EZSTL8LC Two Level Water Cooler Drinking Fountain ...

As superintendent, I would be happy to visit with you personally or speak to your group/organization. I am also willing to host your group at our Administration Building or one of our school buildings. I would also come to your facility or meeting place.

I have had the opportunity to speak and visit with many groups throughout our community and have hosted groups at our Administration Building. Please feel free to contact me at 665-3998 to arrange a time to visit. I can also be contacted using my email at wkindle@ysd.k12.sd.us

Lets make it a great year for our students!

Henry Ford stated, Coming together is a beginning. Staying together is a process. Working together is a success.

Crane-Youngworth Update

Our goal and first priority is to have our opening home game on Sept. 8 at home. The second option would be to have our first home game at home, even if it requires we rope off certain areas not deemed ready for use. Our final option would be to relocate and play our first home game at a different location.

We will keep all of you informed as we get closer to game day on Sept. 8. We want to thank you for your patience and understanding regardless of which option is needed.

There are several improvements being made at Crane-Youngworth Field. Areas included in the project are the bleachers & grandstand, press box, concessions and restrooms, ticket booths and the site itself.

The concrete grandstand was removed and is being replaced with a steel and aluminum grandstand on the north side of the field. The two elevated bleachers that flanked the former concrete grandstand will be the front seating of the new grandstand. A new elevated bleacher is in the east end zone for our high school students and YHS band. The visitors bleacher is on the south side of the field.

A new, single-story press box will line the back of the new grandstand. This will be home for the scoreboard and display operators, the games announcer, four radio station and media booths, both teams coachs boxes and the game recorders. We will live-stream the game, too!

One of the most appreciated improvements to the site will be the concessions and restroom facilities. We have an updated and modern concession area with great game day food! There is a large concrete plaza area in front of the concessions window where you can enjoy your treats and the company of your family, friends and other fans. On either side of the concessions area are the new restrooms with 20 fixtures each for the ladies and men. With the new building, we will not have concessions or restrooms available in the fieldhouse.

Finally, as you enter the updated facility, you will be greeted by the new ticket booths located on the north and south entrances. The north booth will also be home for the booster club with their fan appreciation items. All paths inside the stadium complex are concreted along with much needed fencing for security and safety reasons.

YSD Buildings/Grounds Report

Yankton High School/SAC

All the basketball structures in both gyms were inspected in May by Combined Building Specialties (Sioux Falls). Several winch cables and two winch motors/gears were replaced as preventive maintenance. Maintenance installed a new steam kettle in the kitchen. The roof was replaced over the industrial arts wing by McCoy Construction. The areas included in the replacement are the woods shop, automotive shop, metals classroom, art classrooms, band and vocal rooms and the boiler room roofs. Welfl Construction will be installing an inner office door into the assistant principals office. Maintenance installed new water fountains with bottle-fill stations in the classroom sections of the building. All of the student locker combination locks were replaced. Additional casework was installed in the vocal room by Custom Woodworks. Asphalt repairs were done at the site.

Yankton Middle School

The basketball structures were inspected prior to floor refinishing with a few cables replaced proactively. Carpet was replaced in the girls PE coachs office, the band & vocal areas, the guidance areas, the lecture hall and the library by Mozaks Floors & More. A boiler was replaced by Johnson Controls. The front sidewalk by the flagpole was replaced by Dave Stevens Concrete. In August/September, the maintenance crew will begin reseeding the proposed JV soccer field on the southeast field area. Tri-State Turf & Irrigation will install irrigation to the field at the same time. A fence will be installed around the area. Asphalt repairs were done.

Beadle Elementary School

The front sidewalks have been replaced by Dave Stevens Concrete. Maintenance is installing a replacement water fountain in the fourth grade wing. A tree in front of the building was removed due to stress cracking. Hartington Tree will plant a new tree this fall.

Lincoln Elementary School

Miller Painting has painted the entire building.

Stewart Elementary School

Carpet in the kindergarten room was replaced by Mozaks. Asphalt repairs were made by Topkote.

Webster Elementary School

Carpeting was replaced in rooms 3, 4, 6, 8 and 13, and in the principal and secretary offices. Vinyl tile was added to rooms 2 and 3 for preschool expansion and to the nurses office. Mozaks Floors & More was the installing contractor. Fejfar Plumbing installed a sink in room 2 for the preschool classroom. A leaking water main was replaced by Feimer Construction.

Yankton School District Administration Building

The admin building was painted over Easter break by Miller Painting to allow more working time this summer at Lincoln. The board room audio/visual equipment was replaced by AVI.

Yankton School District Career Manufacturing Technical Education Academy

We have the fiber optic cable installed to the TEC building by SDN. Warren and crew installed the switch and servers for the phone and security systems. Kaiser Heating & Cooling is installing a dedicated cooling unit for the new servers. Dirt work has started on the new building for the student-built house and the concrete foundation has been poured.

YSD Technology Summer Report

The IT staff and summer help preformed a number of tasks at each of the school districts buildings over the summer. These tasks include but not limited to cleaning, testing and updating existing desktops, Laptops, Chromebooks, iPads, projectors and Smart Boards. We cable managed several rooms to help with ease of use for staff and students. We also reimaged Chromebooks, iPads and laptops in preparation for the 2017-18 school year. Printer replacement throughout the district is also taking place.

We removed several hardware tech items and prepared them for recycling. There have been several upgrades to software; PowerSchool and Smart Notebook being the most notable. Switching infrastructure has had its IOS and Firmware upgraded. Wireless infrastructure has been remapped to allow for a more effective coverage with less bandwidth usage.

Yankton High School

IT Staff installed and set up 39 additional Chromebooks, 17 laptops, 30 desktops and several projectors for the high school. YHS theaters projector has been replaced and the booth cleaned up.

Yankton School District Career Manufacturing Technical Education Academy

IT Staff installed a new HP Switch that is connected to YSDs WAN link. We have also installed several wireless access points with cable pulls. There has been a new rack installed to support the switching technology and any future hardware such as Security and Servers. The existing rack/switch room was cleaned up and reorganized.

Yankton Middle School

IT Staff installed and set up 90 additional Chromebooks and several projectors for YMS. We installed new wireless controllers to assist with all the access points that have been installed.

Beadle Elementary School

IT Staff installed and set up 30 additional Chromebooks, 30 desktops, 30 iPads and several projectors for Beadle.

Lincoln Elementary School

IT Staff installed and set up 30 additional Chromebooks, and several projectors for Lincoln.

Stewart Elementary School

IT Staff installed and set up 30 additional Chromebooks and several projectors for Stewart.

Webster Elementary School

IT Staff installed and set up 30 additional Chromebooks, 6 iPads and several projectors for Webster.

Yankton School District Administration Building

IT Staff assisted with the board room install of the new AVI system. We worked on and finished up the install for the new bus attendance and routing system.

Yankton School District

IT Staff installed and brought Citrix up to the current version. We also installed and replaced several virtual servers(VMs), server blades and installed Server 2012 and 2016. We installed and brought the district wide wireless controllers up to date to better serve YSDs wireless infrastructure. We completed a district wide technology inventory. We set up and installed new security software from Trend Micro and set up and rolled over several student and staff databases in preparation for the 2017-2018 school year. Clean up of several systems such as Active Directory, Google, PowerSchool, Busing and Mosaic was done by deleting staff/students that have left and adding new staff/students.

Stay Connected

In order to improve communication, the Yankton School District implemented a computer messaging system called Blackboard Connect 5. This service allows the school district to reach thousands of people within minutes with a personalized voice message, email and/or text message.

Anyone in the Yankton community alumni, friends and community members can stay connected. Just be sure we have your contact information in our system. You can subscribe at http://www.ysd.k12.sd.us/apps/pages/blackboardconnect or call the Superintendents Office at 665-3998.

Dr. Wayne Kindle is superintendent of the Yankton School District.

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Kindle's Korner - Yankton Daily Press

The large, long-dry fountain outside Fountain Valley City Hall may bubble and babble again soon, though it probably wont be as full as it was in its pre-drought days.

Landscape architects helping the city brainstorm a future for the fountain a 17,000-gallon, three-part centerpiece of the city complex along Slater Avenue presented four preliminary possibilities to the City Council on Tuesday night.

One would restore the fountain to its full watery glory, and three suggested it flow only in the section that contains the City of Fountain Valley sign.

The city turned off the fountain in May 2015 in the midst of the states years-long drought, which officially ended this spring. The tiles are battered or missing in large swaths, and fallen leaves bunch in the nooks, although groundskeepers maintain the grass and shrubbery along the flagstone.

Ryohei Ota of Irvine-based landscape architecture firm Tatsumi and Partners presented four concepts for reviving the fountain:

Estimated cost: $263,000

This would return water to all levels of the fountain, including the centerpiece bowl feature with shooting jets, plus enhance the ambiance and landscaping with moderate- and low-water-using plants. Ota suggested moving some benches and adding shade trees to encourage people to sit in the area but removing the water guzzler grass and replacing it with crushed granite.

Estimated cost: $230,000

This would be a more abstract garden with plant life in the fountain tiers closer to City Halls doors.

The large bowl would feature a sago palm and fountain grass to mimic a bursting spray, over a bed of aloe and blue chalksticks succulents with green-blue, finger-like leaves and trailing rosemary sprawling over the lip and agapanthus flowers in a gradient of darker to lighter blues as they approach the street. Rings of landscaping on the ground would mimic the arrangement in the bowl.

What were trying to do is utilize plants to sort of mimic the water features, Ota said.

Courtesy of city of Fountain Valley

The Modern Reflection concept for the Fountain Valley City Hall fountain shows plants that mimic water's movements.

The Modern Reflection concept for the Fountain Valley City Hall fountain shows plants that mimic water's movements. (Courtesy of city of Fountain Valley)

Estimated cost: $175,000

It would be similar to Modern Reflection but with a dry riverbed of boulders and pea-size gravel in the rectangular middle run.

Estimated cost: $231,000

Ota called this an interactive design with a vine-covered trellis over a picnic table and demonstration gardens in and around the middle of the fountain to capture California landscapes. Plants also would be nestled in the top bowl.

City Public Works Director Mark Lewis wasnt sure of a timeline for the fountain rehabilitation but said that if the council approves a design contract in September and then a construction contract, the overhaul could be underway next spring.

He said running the fountain completely would require refilling it with 17,000 gallons of water and would incur a monthly loss of 20,000 gallons to evaporation. Monthly electricity, water and cleaning costs would run about $1,500.

The partial-flow concepts would need 6,000 gallons to start, with 6,000 gallons lost every month to evaporation, he said. The monthly costs would total about $1,000.

Going with one of the latter concepts would save the city about 168,000 gallons a year and about $6,100 in maintenance costs, Lewis said.

The city budget allocates $120,000 to repair the fountain. Anything beyond that, such as landscaping, would need additional council approval, Lewis said.

City Finance Director David Cain said money to round out the project could come from undesignated reserves.

Mayor John Collins said he likes the aesthetic of a fully operational fountain but is conservative with the fiscal aspect.

That kind of bothers me, I gotta be honest with you, to take that money, because the next year or two anyway were gonna have some financial challenges, he said. I know [Measure] HH [new sales tax revenue] will start to come in and well start to use that for police and fire and stuff, but basically, I still think were gonna have some financial challenges that Id like that reserve in reserve.

Hillary Davis | Daily Pilot

The dry fountain in a view looking toward Slater Avenue.

The dry fountain in a view looking toward Slater Avenue. (Hillary Davis | Daily Pilot)

Councilman Mark McCurdy said the city is still telling residents to conserve water, even though the declared drought emergency is past, and that even the leaner fountain would lose water.

The minimum 6,000 gallons lost a month still seems like quite a bit, he said.

Councilman Steve Nagel also preferred cutting water use and not bringing the fountain back as it was.

I would rather see a small version of that, he said. I think we should be a leader for the community, that we need to be real cognizant of the water we use.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency in 2014 and ended it in April, although permanent anti-waste standards remain in place. In July, the Fountain Valley council dropped the city from a Level 1 water supply watch alert to the standard permanent water conservation level, which includes measures such as restricted watering times and durations and a ban on hosing paved surfaces.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD

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Fountain Valley's fountain might flow again, but how much? - Los Angeles Times

Michael Zebrowski has spent much of his career finding an equilibrium between art and science. Using architecture as the backbone, he's created a body of work that explores nature, light, and astronomy. Needless to say, Zebrowski and the upcoming solar eclipse are a perfect coupling, as he'll prove in his Eclipse SURVEY installation at the Gibbes Museum's pun-believably titled event, Total Eclipse of the Art.

For this eclipse exhibition, Zebrowski will put "devices" on display in place of typical sculptures or art pieces. "These are essentially odd instruments that are recording and sharing what they record," says Zebrowski. Each device will highlight a specific aspect of the moon's journey past the sun. There will be the tried and true must-haves like a live video feed of the eclipse projected in the museum, so folks can stare at the sun without igniting their corneas, while another camera will be fixed on the Gibbes' signature second floor glass dome to emphasize the change in light. "They're all based on 'How can I, as an artist, try and present some of this phenomena in a heightened way?'" says Zebrowski.

Just like an actual eclipse, Zebrowski's installation will impact more senses than just sight, with one device accentuating the sudden lack of sound that comes along with this medieval sign of the end-times. Dubbed "Fountain," the artist has rigged a water pump with a solar panel that creates a trickling white noise while the sun is still shining. When the lunar shade hits the art piece, the flow of the water and the background sound of the pump will stop. "One of the things I've read about is that the day goes to night, so the birds all take it like it's the end of the day."

Registering solar sound waves has an essence of Eclipse SURVEY's end goal in it. "For me, the whole point of this series that I've been working on as a 'Survey Series' is really about creating installations and work that aren't about themselves," says Zebrowski. "They're about trying to get us to look at the environment around us in a new way."

But, the best way to change how you see an eclipse is by actually seeing an eclipse in person, and Zebrowski's been hard at work one-upping classic eclipse glasses. "I've always thought of my work as this mediator between somebody and their experience of something. I really thought of the glasses as holding that gateway," he says. Zebrowski's design studio UP END THIS has shipped out specially made eclipse glasses (called Observers and Surveyors) that, in addition to being much sturdier than the paper eclipse glasses everyone's moms ordered in bulk, come in a handful of different styles. Eclipse chasers take note because the glasses are reusable, and the installation at the Gibbes will provide Surveyors for attendees.

Originally, the exhibition was spread out across four installations in four states and had a planned live feed that would track the totality of the eclipse over the continental U.S., but the plan was dropped in favor of a wider cross-country campaign. Now, everyone who has ordered a pair of Surveyors is asked to take a selfie with the glasses at the time of the totality. The pictures will all be compiled across various social media at #eclipsesurvey and will be used in a later public exhibition. The glasses will come with a survey and, just like the glasses-selfie, are a chance for people to share their eclipse viewing experience. "There's something intrinsically human and social about that pursuit of knowledge and truth," says Zebrowski.

While Zebrowski lives in Vermont, where he works as a 3D art professor at Johnson State College, he's had his eyes set on the Gibbes Museum as the key installation spot for a while now, thanks to its East Coast real estate in the middle of the eclipse's totality. His prior projects have included Light Box, an architecture project that saw a shipping container and recyclable materials turned into an office space, and "Observatory," his sculpture for a 2015 exhibit.

Eclipse SURVEY will touch on many similar themes of the artist's past works. "I think the biggest [theme] for me, and this is always present in my work, is the idea of looking for some kind of truth. Truth in experience, truth in knowledge."

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Michael Zebrowski embraces the power of the senses in this Gibbes installation - Charleston City Paper

As Georgetowns population grows, the Georgetown Parks and Recreation Department is working on several projects to ensure residents have spaces to enjoy, said Kimberly Garrett, the departments director.

Its one of the big draws that brings people to Georgetown: our parks, Garrett said. We hear that over and over again. Theyre enjoyed by all ages. Little kids up to senior adults can enjoy parks.

Garrett said the parks department is fortunate to have the support of City Council and residents alike.

Just because you have a parks system doesnt mean its great, she said. Its that investment that people appreciate, that they know [the parks are] safe and well-maintained.

After three years of design work, construction on Garey Park began in March. The $13.5 million project should be complete for the park to open by April 2018, Garrett said.

When finished, Garey Park will be about 1 1/2 times larger than Austins Zilker Park in terms of size.

Garey Park was made possible by Jack and Cammy Garey, who donated their 525-acre ranch and house to the city in 2004, along with a $5 million cash donation, Garrett said.

The parks construction is also funded with a $10 million parks bond package approved by Georgetown voters in 2008.

Upon completion of construction, the Gareys former home will be utilized as an event center, and the land surrounding the house will include an equestrian facility and horse trails, play ranches for both children and dogs, hiking trails and open play fields.

San Gabriel Parks first phase of improvements will be completed in early 2018 after 2 1/2 years of construction funded by the 2008 bonds.

The first phase includes traffic-calming measures, pavilions, restrooms, parking, a trailhead and entry monuments with signage.

In a second phase, the city will install four picnic and barbecue tables, a large multiuse pavilion, 10 smaller pavilions for picnics, more trails and two childrens play areas. The second phase also includes an extension of a park trail about half a mile northeast along the San Gabriel River to the nearby Katy Crossing neighborhood. The extension will be funded by a $50,000 state grant awarded to the parks department.

Garrett said design for a third phase could begin in 2019. Potential features of that latter phase include an event lawn for festivals, she said.

Construction on improvements at Founders Park, at the corner of East Ninth and Church streets, is slated to begin in September, Garrett said.

The upgrades include sidewalk repairs to make the park more accessible, the installation of picnic tables and a water fountain and new signs to indicate the area is a city park.

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Park projects underway in several areas of Georgetown - Community Impact Newspaper

A pair of Augusta University professors is making sure the citys latest public art venture doesnt lose sight of what matters most the community the art represents.

Augusta voters approved $1 million to install public art such as larger sculptures along city gateways, and tax payers dollars helped fund Greater Augusta Arts Councils new public arts master plan, which was approved by the Augusta Commission. The plan calls for numerous forms of public art to go in various locations in and around downtown Augusta.

Public art might be a sculpture or group of them, monuments, murals, displays of light or water, fountains, mosaics, paintings, public music and performance or something interactive that moves, said Scott Thorp, chairman of the art and design department at Augusta University.

Public art occupies a public space and is publicly owned, or at least very publicly visible, Thorp said. It provides a free experience for the public, and is generally publicly supported, he said.

In a lot of peoples minds, what public art means is that its paid by taxpayers money, he said, but beyond that, public art may be controversial as it seeks to be memorable.

Its telling people this is who we are; this is what we want you to remember us by, Thorp said. Its not going to appeal to everyone, and its not expected to do so, but it is expected to attract attention.

Before Augusta can launch the program, it has to figure out what it is, and has employed AU Associate Professor William Hatcher, director of the Masters of Public Administration program, to ensure the public is engaged.

Hatcher said all public policies, including public art, must be effective, efficient and fair.

With public art decisions you want public input that is both meaningful and representative of a community. You want public art to be based on a communitys identity, he said.

The department continues to solicit input through surveys and forums, including a Tuesday forum for local artists, who have been among the programs critics.

Augustas slim stock of existing public art has made development of the new program a slow process, Thorpe added.

We havent really had a lot to appreciate, so were having a hard time getting going with what our community wants, he said.

The master plans survey of existing public art found just 42 examples across Augusta ranging from 19th-century monuments and murals on the city waterworks to the citys last large foray into public art, Springfield Village Park.

The survey found only 13 examples downtown, far fewer than art-infused cities such as Asheville, N.C., and Greenville, S.C. Downtown Augustas public art examples included the James Brown and James Oglethorpe statues, the Confederate Monument and the Haunted Pillar, which a driver knocked down last year.

The list did not include 11 Art the Box painted downtown traffic signal boxes commissioned by the Arts Council that are among the citys most popular, Thorp said.

If theres a lesson to learn from Springfield Village Park, Thorp said it might be to budget a maintenance plan.

Built as part of a 1990s downtown revitalization, the $6 million publicly and privately-funded park features two sculptures by renowned Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt, Tower of Inspiration and And They Went Down Both to the Water, yet the bronze fountain and reflecting pool dont function and most days the park sits empty.

The park adjoins historic black Springfield Baptist Church and opened in parallel with the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and botanical gardens, which the state shortly defunded and the city ceased to maintain.

With the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center going up rapidly at the former gardens, Springfield Village Park is being eyed in the master plan for more installations tied to others across Reynolds Street. The master plan also suggests a sculpture garden surrounding historic Trinity CME Church, which preservationists are fighting to save, or sculpture trails lining the Augusta Canal or around downtown. The plan posits that Augusta Recreation and Parks would maintain the carefully curated installations.

The master plan also suggests a monumental piece with a big budget, such as an abstract representation of James Brown and his music, or a Savannah rapids fall-line theme, done by a nationally-recognized artist.

Public art can include whats currently a more controversial element, the Art Car project being funded by local golf car manufacturer Textron thats sure to drive discussion Tuesday.

But a more accessible piece can help enamor the public as Augusta develops its public art program, Thorp said.

You have to walk people up the ladder. You dont start like New York and Chicago by putting large-scale controversial works up, he said.

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Augusta arts plan needs public to define it - The Augusta Chronicle

Around 2005, workers renovating the Dallas County Records Building in downtown Dallas removed some tiling on a wall near a drinking fountain and revealed the remnants of an old sign. It read, in faded discolored outlines on the marble wall: White Only.

The revelation was an embarrassment and a reminder that it was not long ago that the sign carried the weight of the law, that public buildings in Dallas were segregated, and by extension, the justice distributed within and rule of law represented by those public buildings was denied to thousands of Dallas residents simply because of the color of their skin. The discovery of the sign was also an uncomfortable reminder that such signs were once ubiquitous in this city, simple perfunctory instructions inserted everywhere into daily life not only to ensure that people of color did not enjoy the full rights, privileges, and protections of American society, but also to attempt to erase people of color from the white experience of that society.

The letters, faded discolorations on marble, could not be erased. They were scars, indelible and unforgettable. The county responded by placing a historical marker on the wall next to the sign to recognize and explain the history of the Jim Crow south. But one Dallas resident, artist Lauren Woods, had another idea. Woods didnt believe that a historical marker was enough, that it couldnt carry the full weight of meaning contained in the fact that the sign had been placed on the wall and was somehow still on the wall of a public building in Dallas. In 2013, Woods was commissioned by the county to turn the water fountain into an art installation as simple and direct as the words on the wall.

Today, when someone presses the button to activate the drinking fountain under the old White Only sign in the Dallas County Records Building, a video projector turns on and a news clip appears that shows little girls being power-sprayed by fire hoses during a Civil Rights demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. The art installation is as poetic as it is blunt. It doesnt soften the blow of the past, it amplifies it. In a single image, Woods makes explicit the abuse, torture, and hatred that is the real subtext of the White Only sign and exposes the racism that it truly represents: a moral world that attempted to deny and destroy African-Americans very humanity. With that simple gesture, Woods artwork completes and corrects the historical record.

The symbols and artifacts of the past and the nature of the history they convey has once again risen into the citys public discourse. Responding to a national trend that has seen cities and towns across the southern United States reconsider the value and meaning of various monuments to the Confederacy and the Confederate heroes of the Civil War, Dallas has been debating whether it should remove its Confederate monuments, of which two most notably stand out: the statue of Robert E. Lee at Lee Park in Oak Lawn, and the massive Confederate memorial that stands outside the Convention Center at the edge of Founders Cemetery.

The debate has been framed around the question of whether the monuments should stay as they are or be removed. (My colleague Glenn Hunter argued yesterday that they should stay.) I believe the binary nature of that debate sells it short. The monuments are very much like the White Only sign in the Dallas County Records building that is, historical artifacts that convey half-written or poorly written histories. They insert a historical reading into an aesthetic sphere, and so the response to the invalidity of that historical reading must also be aesthetic.

It is important to remember, as others have pointed out, that many of the monuments to the Confederacy erected throughout the South were born of a particular time and are the manifestations of a particular kind of cultural nostalgia, an early 20th-century attempt to come to terms with the complicated, contradictory, and conflicted history of the American South and to rescue from it its unique Southern cultural identity. But in reclaiming the valor of the imagined heroes of the past, the monuments reassert the primacy of the moral vision of that past. And regardless of any nuances of biography and history, the moral vision of the Confederate South was one of white supremacy.

It is impossible to separate that historical reality from the memorials erected in honor of that past, and so it is not at all surprising that African-Americans who have grown up in an America still very much shaped by racism and discrimination would understand those statues as nothing less than implicit conveyers of the power of the racist past extending into the present. Furthermore, to deny the validity of this response to the monuments is to participate in the very act of neutering engendered by the monuments implicit power that is, it is to deny or attempt to erase the validity of the African-American experience of America.

But like the White Only sign, it is not enough to remove these markers. The monuments should not be covered up, but confronted, and as Woods managed to achieve with her water fountain project what is objectionable about these monuments should not be mollified but amplified. Because if we are ever going to come to terms with the reality of racism in America, the history must be confronted in its fullness.

I see two options for achieving this:

The first is to handle the statues exactly as the county handled the White Only sign. The city should commission an artist or artists to create a new work of art that could engage with, re-contextualize, and complete the monuments. I wont venture to guess what this would look like, exactly. Im not an artist. But I believe that, as with Woods and Cynthia Mulcahys Negro parks project, which attempted to bring attention to the complicated history of this citys segregated parks and extend education around their historical research, the monuments offer an opportunity for Dallas to confront that history head on. Artistic approaches to re-contextualizing the monuments presence in the city would amplify the weight of their history while simultaneously symbolically reclaiming the public spaces they loom over for all the people of Dallas. Leaving them alone wont achieve this. They must be co-opted and appropriated. If allowed (and, as a warning, permission was a real obstacle for Woods and Mulcahy with regards to the Negro parks project), good artists can do this, and it is precisely their role in society to do so.

The second option is to remove the monuments and place them in Old City Park, a setting already designated for the preservation and interpretation of the artifacts of Dallas past. Perhaps the monuments could better serve the historical import their defenders impart on them if they were not allowed to lord over Dallas public spaces, but were instead placed alongside the other artifacts of the society that they represent, like the Freedman Town shotgun shanties that already sit in Old City Park and testify to the abject poverty, abuse, and discrimination that was the flip side to the monuments nostalgic glorification of the Old South. But it would not be enough to simply leave the former locations of the monuments vacant. Rather, new monuments, historical markers, or artworks should be erected at the spot of removed Confederate monuments that reference the removal and the historical corrective the removal represents.

(Postscript: after writing the foregoing, I was reminded that Doyle Rader raised some of the same points for D Magazine in 2015.)

See original here:
A Better Solution for Dallas' Confederate Statues - D Magazine

CITY CENTRE Surreys homeless along 135A Street have a water fountain, once again.

A Surrey woman who runs a soup kitchen met the Now-Leader on Surreys infamous Strip Wednesday morning after the city installed a temporary fountain for the homeless.

In late June, Erin Schulte was disappointed after she noticed the absence of a water fountain the city had installed in the past during heat waves.

It was simply hooked up to a fire hydrant.

Schulte launched an online petition that garnered close to 800 signatures calling on Surrey Fire Services and city hall to put it back.

Schulte, who visits the Strip almost every day to distribute food and lots of water, said the homeless were begging her to try to get it back.

They were out of energy, she said. They were lying on the ground. People with heat stroke. People really, really sunburnt. We go overseas and we do wells for third-world countries to get them access to fresh water. Although theres a sink inside the front room theres 200 or more people on this Strip.

The city said its reason for not installing the fountain this summer was because water was available through service providers and they could mobilize very quickly if the homeless were not getting water quickly enough. The city also cited health issues, specifically people bathing there in years past, as another reason it had yet to be installed.

But on July 26, the water fountain was installed, much to Schultes excitement.

The citys bylaw enforcement officer Jas Rehal told the Now-Leader the city has been monitoring the situation and given the extended forecast, we had the fountain installed to ensure there is adequate water supply.

Surrey's homeless no longer have to endure the heatwave without a water fountain. Meet Erin Schulte who started a petition urging the city to put back a water fountain that garnered hundreds of signatures. See more: http://www.surreynowleader.com

Standing at the freshly installed water fountain, which also has a spout for people to fill up water bottles or buckets, Schulte could barely contain her happiness.

Asked what she wanted to say to the city, she replied, Thank you.

She only wishes it was done earlier.

I just wish that they felt the same way that I did about the people down here because then this would have been here a month ago. Its a small effort, she said. We already had all the equipment, we already have the manpower to install it and the cleaning supplies are really at a minimum to keep it in good condition. Again, I think its just dragging feet and politics and things taking so long. Its a necessity. Its clean water. This is a big city. Were building all over the place. The least that we can do is give our most lost some dignity and some access.

She doesnt credit her petition as the reason the city put the fountain back.

I would like to think the right thing would have been done regardless, she told the Now-Leader. If you spend any amount of time down here with these people, you see how bad of condition they are later in the afternoon, when the sun is at its hottest. They already have to put their tents down so there isnt a lot of shade. As you can see theres not a lot of trees. There just isnt the ability to hide away in the heat. Its definitely necessary.

Schulte acknowledges its impossible to guarantee no one abuses the water fountain. And that was part of the citys reasoning for not installing it when the Now-Leader inquired about the fountains absence last June.

Back in 2015, she said people were abusing it, but added theres the mentally ill down here and theres people who really just dont know any better.

What I can promise the city is that there are people in place down here who have said they will monitor the fountain.

One is the same lady that takes it upon herself to bleach out the porta-potties for the homeless community, said Schulte.

The homeless have put together a plan, she noted, later adding, Theres a lot of of people really worried this is going to be taken away.

amy.reid@surreynowleader.com

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VIDEO: Advocate thrilled water fountain for homeless put back on Surrey's 135A Street - Surrey Now-Leader

The Israeli summer is blistering hot. Yet pedestrians strolling the steaming streets will find little succor from cool free water, because there isnt any. Drinking fountains have all but disappeared from the Israeli street.

There are two main reasons for their disappearance. The first is the successful campaign by bottled water companies, which seem to have persuaded people that paying money for something they can get for free water whose quality is supervised by government is a good idea. The second is that stores, kiosks and restaurants that sell bottled water dont want the competition.

Israel has eight months of summer each year, says city planner Ayal Zaum: Pedestrians need public water fountains as badly as they need shade.

Why arent there laws mandating public drinking fountains in Israel? When asked, the Health Ministry said that while there are standards for installing and maintaining public fountains, there is no requirement to actually have them.

Public drinking fountains are not the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Ministry, nor of the states Water Authority, which referred us to the Interior Ministry. Officials there said that city planning had been reassigned to the Finance Ministry, which suggested that we turn to the Union of Local Authorities, an umbrella organization for local governments. The ULA said it was not aware of any directive requiring communities to provide drinking water in public places.

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Israel is not alone when it comes to the gradual disappearance of public drinking fountains. Its a problem in the United States as well. The International Plumbing Code, which builders use to determine how many bathrooms an office building should have and how pipes should work, has halved the number of drinking fountains required in each building.

In the U.S., consumption of bottled water quadrupled between 1993 and 2012, to 9.67 billion gallons a year.

The snob factor

The real problem is the snob factor, claims landscape architect Michal Halevy Bar, who has been studying the development of water culture over decades: Ordinary tap water has lost status to the gods of bottled water. (She was referring, tongue in cheek, to an ad by one purveyor of bottled water.)

Once, the fountain was a place to relax in the middle of the day drinking, splashing water during heat waves. Strangers and acquaintances could interact. Any fountains around today are almost always clogged. They arent maintained, and there are puddles around them that attract mosquitoes. Who drinks from that? Only cats and dogs. The watering hole has morphed from a place to congregate, into a blight.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines water as the fundamental right on which all human rights depend, Halevy says.

But the water culture in Israel has changed. Even the ancients acknowledged the duty of the sovereign to provide this existential need. Arab cities and Rome too featured public troughs, fed by springs or some other source, going back centuries. Israel has some 400 of these troughs, most of which dont work anymore,

The modern eras first free public water fountain was unveiled in London in 1859. Thousands gathered to watch officials turn on the tap and at its peak it was used by about 7,000 people a day.

By 1930, access to free, healthy tap water in public places was so common that bottled water was disparaged, used only in offices and factories that couldnt afford plumbing. In much of Europe bottled water retained its cache, but the rest of the world began to imitate it starting in the 1970s, when Frances Perrier spent $5 million on an advertising campaign in New York, selling itself as a chic, upscale product. By 1982, U.S. consumption had doubled to 3.4 gallons per person per year.

That culture change, which privatized and commercialized an existential need, while causing ecological damage to boot, gradually reached Israel, too. So, when Israelis are wandering the streets and want a drink, theyre accustomed to buying a bottle.

The mineral water companies have appropriated public natural resources, with the approval of the state. They invented a new business of water consumption while piggybacking on the health trend, Halevy Bar says. Through clever branding, companies have created demand for a natural resource that already exists in the faucet. Moreover, they sell this free product in plastic bottles that are causing global contamination.

Even in the market for bottled water has it own internal snobbishness. The market research firm Euromonitor of the Israeli market found that increasing polarization. Premium brands such as Perrier and San Benedetto and low-cost brands such as Aqua Nova are gaining share, mid-priced brands are dropping.

Consumers are seeking more interesting beverages, and are willing to pay for premium bottled water offering specific value, Euromonitor said.

Infrequent fountains

Meantime, its hard to find a water fountain even in places such as courts, train station and government offices. Maybe its because there are no rules. Or they want to preserve the livelihood of the local kiosk. Malls dont have fountains as a courtesy to the restaurants: The only faucets with free-flowing water are in the restrooms.

Yuval Arica, owner of faucet manufacturer Shaham-Arica, says government bodies buy between 1,000 and 2,000 water fountains a year, some for parks, most for schools, where fountains are a rule (one per every 40 pupils). In fact Arica cant remember the last time he was asked to install a fountain in the street.

But even if they had, Halevy points to a poll showing that not a few parents forbid their kids from drinking from public water fountains. Thats how effective the bottled water companies campaign has been, she says.

However, while fountains have been disappearing, kicky displays featuring water spouting around have been proliferating. Decorative fountains and pools have been delighting the urban citizenry for millennia. Today there are even fountains featuring music and light shows. Another modern trend is ecological pools, which are an imitation of nature, featuring plants and animals that are supposed to keep the water clean, without need to pump through filters or add toxic chlorine.

Landscape architect Asif Berman describes the function of fountains and ponds in cooling down towns in arid climes. Take the Roman city in Israel, Beit Shean, where water installations the empire built for the welfare of its inhabitants were preserved.

Water works like an air conditioner, and when the wind passes through it, it cools far-off places, says Berman.

The latest wrinkle in facilities where water is used for amusement and play. Berman, whose office designed and designed the Beer Sheva beach in the middle of the Negev desert, distinguishes these facilities from pools and fountains: This is water that can be touched.

The most common model is surfaces from which fresh water erupts in gushes. These facilities are so fashionable that they were recently installed in London, between Kingston Station and nearby residential and commercial buildings a bit of a silly gesture given how much it rains there, and in Montreal schools.

Decorative fountains can cost millions of shekels, and their maintenance is costly too. Cities that sport them have to maintain special staff to take care of them.

A standard public drinking fountain costs about 4,000 shekels ($1,000.) A fancy one that cools the water first can come to as much as 15,000 shekels, plus an additional 1,000 shekels a year for maintenance.

In other words, for the price of one fancy decorative fountain, a city could install 150 regular drinking fountains. But they dont, and when the public fountains break down, the cities often simply block them up.

Local governments really should provide their citizens with free drinking water outside, Zaum says: At the very least, water is healthier than sugary drinks. It contributes to equality and to the environment, too. He suggests installing drinking fountains next to places that rent out bicycles. Perhaps these businesses could foot the bill.

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Drinking Fountains Have All but Disappeared From Israel's Streets - Haaretz

Still image from Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kellys "Modern Living," courtesy of Seattle Art Fair.

Summer at SAM Dog Night

You dont need a reason to take the pooch to the Olympic Sculpture Park since its always dog-friendly. But itisFirst Thursdayandthere are all sorts of special canine-oriented activities planned for this special night: make apet tag and keychain; decorate a sun hat for your fur baby; or treat the four-legged creature to their own food trucks. They can chow down on something from The Seattle Barkery while you munch on a Dante Inferno dog. Your dog might also want to be a literacy buddy for children who practice reading to dogs through the Reading With Rover program. Water stations and a misting tent will be on hand.

If you go: Summer at SAM Dog Night, Olympic Sculpture Park, Aug. 3 (free)F.D.

Seattle Art Fair

The third annual Seattle Art Fair returns,bringing in exhibits and galleries from afar and celebrating art and artists of the Pacific Northwest, as well. Theres a lot to look forward to this year: the interactive family exhibit See/Saw;BorderLands, a local exhibit in which a variety of local artists explore nationalism and belonging; and Jessica Jackson Hutchins large-scale sculpture (featuring stained glass!) installation Reason to Be, among so many others. This year, the launch date happens to coincide with First Thursday in which the usual host of Pioneer Square art galleries open their doors to art fans. Check out Crosscuts guide by local art insider Michael Upchurch for his picks.

If you go: Seattle Art Fair, CenturyLink Field and King Street Station, Aug 3-6 ($20)N.C.

Fantagraphics Yard Sale

In the Fantagraphics shop in Georgetown, off the main rooms of dreamy records and alternative comics culled from near and far, theres a walk-in-closet-sized room of sale books. In there, Ive seen everything from Peanuts to Prince Valiant to Daniel Clowes and R. Crumb. Now, imagine a giant version of this room with $1 and $5 books, and You-Fill-Em Bags for $25. Partake in this treasure hunt by heading to Lake City to the Fantagraphics Warehouse where theyll have water, soda, and smiles, and, of course, a huge selection of rare, out-of-print and like-new and damaged books.

If you go: Fantagraphics Yard Sale, Fantagraphics Warehouse, 12 p.m. Aug. 5N.C.

Happy Hour at Westlake

Its looking to be a scorcher over the next three days, as Seattle could hit triple digits. Cool off in the shade at Westlake Park, sip on a cold drink and listen to some live music to beat the heat. The Downtown Seattle Association does this event twice a month, where it pairs Washington state Wineries, live music and free drop-in painting classes. You have to be over 21 years old, but a glass of wine from Eagle Harbor Wine Co., Robert Ramsay Cellars and Eternal Wines will only cost you $5. Interested in cooling off with water? The Westlake Park water fountain will be flowing.

If you go: Happy Hour, Westlake Park, 4-7 p.m. Aug. 3 ($5 for wine)C.R.

Science and a Movie: Jaws

Growing up, I had a deep, crippling fear of sharks. Nevermind that I swam only in pools, in Wisconsin and that my grandma never let me swim in water above my knee. Thus was the power of the movie Jaws, which remains just as haunting and suspenseful today as when it was upon its release in 1975. Head to Central Cinema for the next edition of Science and a Movie (co-presented with the Pacific Science Center) to watch the classic film and hear from Dr. Aaron Wirsing, a wildlife scientist at UW. Drawing on his own research in Western Australia, Dr. Wirsing will talk about the ecological importance of these unmatched predators and participate in a Q&A after the film.

If you go: Science and a Movie: Jaws, Central Cinema, Aug. 8-9 ($10)N.C.

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5 things to do in Seattle this weekend - Crosscut