Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Katie Schoolov

Above: The San Diego River is one of the regions most scenic and historic treasures. Its also the birth place of California. But one San Diego group says its in need of a rebirth. They dream of a river-long system of parks and trails. KPBS reporter Susan Murphy tells us first, theyre working to clear a path through all the trash.

It's warm and dry, the middle of a mid-week morning, as Richie Aguilera looks for all the world like a fishing guide leading his band to the banks of the San Diego River.

But they're not carrying poles and bait boxes. Instead they've got black garbage bags and sharp, metal sticks ideal for snatching up trash.

"Were going to be in this area; and then if I can get a person or two, maybe you and Alex to help me scout out the other side," he says.

They're not here to pull fish from the historic waterway; they're harvesting trash, hoping to restore the river to its once-scenic splendor.

"Im willing to have a hand on this tarp here if anyone is willing to come over here with me," calls out one volunteer, balancing on a log as she retrieves debris from the river-bottom.

This small group is among thousands of volunteers credited with pulling 1.6 million pounds of trash from the river over the past six years.

Their main challenge? The refuse (and worse) left behind by homeless souls drawn to the river's edge by its seclusion and promise of a respite from hard times, however brief.

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San Diego River Restoration Involves Clearing Homeless, And Their Trash

No public money is available to build a replacement leisure centre and swimming pool in Shrewsbury should a 40 million five-star hotel get the go-ahead in The Quarry, Shropshire Council has revealed.

Private investors are being sought to fund the building of a new 200-bedroom hotel, with one site under consideration being The Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre, which would be demolished to make way for the hotel.

It had been hoped the plans would include provision for a new leisure centre to be built elsewhere in the town centre.

But council bosses said today there are no public funds available for such a move.

Even if the hotel idea does not come to fruition, the council said the ageing leisure centre is coming to the end of its natural life. But they said there are no current plans to close the centre.

They said the current financial climate means there is no money available for a replacement, despite the scheme being identified by the former Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council as one in need of funding before it was replaced by Shropshire Council in 2009.

Councillor Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Councils Cabinet member for leisure, said: The Quarry swimming and fitness centre is coming to the end of its life and its replacement is something that has long been aspired to by both the former Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council (SABC) and Shropshire Council, subject to funding being available.

However, its important to make clear that no money was set aside by SABC for the replacement of the swimming centre.

He added: Shropshire Council wants to provide people with the best possible swimming and leisure facilities. Unfortunately in the current financial climate there is no money available at the moment for the replacement of the swimming centre in Shrewsbury, and we have no current plans to close the centre.

Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Councils cabinet member for business growth, has previously said it is estimated the hotel would cost 40 million to develop and build. He said: A number of possible sites in or close to the town have been identified, including the Quarry Pool site, and we are keen to talk to hotel operators and leisure developers about the options.

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No cash set aside for replacement Shrewsbury leisure centre

Southland Park Racing and Gaming, the West Memphis greyhound race track that now makes its big money from casino gambling,has announced a $37 million expansion and remodeling.

The work includes a new exterior, entrance and parking. Also planned is a 41,000-square-foot building with room for 500 slot machines, which will bring the total capacity of gambling machines to 1,950, plus a new restaurant and sports bar. It's the second expansion since 2012.

The track's release follows:

WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (January 16, 2014) Southland Park Gaming & Racing today announced a $37.4 million project planned for 2014 to once again expand its gaming and hospitality amenities, plus redesign and enhance the venues exterior, main drive and south entrance.

The key component is the construction of a 41,000-square-foot building addition to house up to 500 new gaming machines which will bring Southland Parks total capacity to more than 1,950 games and a 150-seat themed restaurant and sports bar. Upon completion of the expansion, Southland plans to have more than 1,700 games featured on the gaming floor.

The current buildings exterior will be reskinned so that both it and the addition appear as one seamless complex. The exterior will feature new walls with improved signage and LED lighting, as well as improved disability access and parking. The southeast entrance from North Ingram Boulevard will be redesigned, and a new main drive created to a new porte-cochere and entrance of the venue. This will also create space for an expanded valet parking program. A new loading dock on the east side of the complex will also be constructed.

Southland Park is planning a ground breaking ceremony on January 27, 2014 and anticipates completing the expansion by the end of 2014.

Our business keeps growing, so we want to continue the expansion and transformation of Southland Park into the unquestioned premiere gaming destination in the Mid-South, said Troy Keeping, Southland Parks president and general manager. This project will provide our guests with more space and allow us to add more of the best gaming machines on the market and another popular restaurant and entertainment spot within our complex.

The project will mark the second major expansion and renovation project since 2012 for the increasingly popular regional entertainment destination in West Memphis, Ark., about 10 miles from Memphis, Tenn. Southland Park completed a $11 million renovation and expansion project in 2012 that added 200 gaming machines, a larger event center, kitchen and serving space for the World Market Buffet, and the new Shine Blounge.

In addition, Southland Park this summer relocated some of its office space in the complex to accommodate an addition of 50 gaming machines on the gaming floor; that gaming expansion will be complete in mid-December of this year. It also recently completed renovations to the popular Juke Joint entertainment venue by adding a new bar and well featuring a walk-up service window that allows guests to order drinks directly from the gaming floor, new carpeting throughout the room, a new elevated seating area, a new dance floor, larger performance stage and a public-accessible restroom.

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Southland Park announces $37 million casino expansion

At 97, Peg Rogers moved into a semi-private room at the Amie Holt Care Center. She said she was lucky; she likes her roommate. Rogers said that she couldnt ask for a better living situation but that if she had to gripe about something, it would be sharing a bathroom.

Carolyn McGill, 75, moved into the nursing home in November. She said she loves living at the Amie Holt Care Center and would recommend it to anyone, but she also has to share a bathroom.

The nursing home has 23 semi-private rooms and four private rooms. It was built in 1965, with subsequent additions in 1973, 1987 and 2006. Having a private bedroom and bathroom is an anomaly at the facility, but that may soon change.

At its Jan. 8 meeting, the Johnson County Hospital District Board gave the final nod to send a new nursing home project to bid and start construction.

The only thing that might stop the project now would be bids coming in substantially more than the estimated $12.8 million cost, said Sandy Ward, administrator of the Johnson County Healthcare Center.

I dont anticipate that happening, Ward said. Both (Fletcher Construction and CTA Architects and Engineers) have done detailed cost estimates for the project. We are pretty comfortable that we are pretty close.

Come March, health care center officials, CTA Architects and Fletcher Construction will request bids for the 39,307-square-foot facility. The new nursing home, which will be constructed just west of the current health care center, will include 44 private bedrooms and baths, two levels, a large dining room over looking the golf course, administrative offices and sitting areas.

A semi-private room in the existing facility is 200 square feet and is attached is a 20-square-foot bathroom. Rooms in the new facility will be 330 square feet and will be attached to a 49-square-foot bathroom.

The new rooms will all be private, so its a pretty dramatic increase, Ward said. Its going to be a substantial increase for these folks.

If the board approves the bids, construction would start in late April or early May.

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Amie Holt Care Center gets thumbs up for new digs

BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO | Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio.

The tax bill on Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglios Baiting Hollow home increased by 43 percent for 2014 amounting to a $5,200 increase due in part to a $2,300 payment owed on a previously untaxed finished basement and second-floor addition. The bill bump comes months after a contentious Republican primary for her council seat, during which news surfaced that the home improvements lacked proper town approvals.

The $2,300 represented an increased assessment for the current and prior tax years, based on those improvements, which is all the town can collect from Ms. Giglio and her husband, Mike, said Riverhead Assessor Laverne Tennenberg.

Even though the improvements, a second-story addition to the house and a finished basement, went unassessed for several years, the town by law can only go back one year in recouping unpaid taxes. Nevertheless, Ms. Giglio said, she and her husband will voluntarily pay the rest of the back taxes owed on those improvements, a figure Ms. Tennenberg estimated at about $15,000.

It was revealed during last years primary that the Giglios had failed to pay taxes on additions to the property dating back several years. However, because the town is only legally allowed to collect back taxes a year after they were due, the rest will come in the form of a donated gift to the town.

Under the law, she has no obligation to pay that, Ms. Tennenberg said. We can only legally go back one year, on anybody.

But Ms. Giglio says the couple will begin making gifts this year, spreading the payments over several years once the amount owed is pinned down. She said, however, that she believes the total will be lower than $15,000.

I believe elected officials should be held to a higher standard, Ms. Giglio said in an interview Tuesday.

The additions to the home, and the fact that Ms. Giglio hadnt received certificates of occupancy for them or paid property tax on them, came to light last summer during the town election campaign, in which Ms. Giglio ran in both a Republican primary and in the general election to retain her council seat. GOP primary candidate Anthony Coates who ultimately finished third in a field of three candidates had called for her resignation at the time.

That was stuff we hadnt picked up, Ms. Tennenberg said of the oversights.

Continued here:
Councilwoman Giglio’s past taxes come due, in part

Friday January 17, 2014 9:11 AM UPDATED: Friday January 17, 2014 9:58 AM

Spring is still a few months away but the Wilds is already celebrating a booming baby season.

Two healthy white rhino calves were recently welcomed at the Wilds. A female calf was born on November 21, 2013. The second calf, also a female, was born two weeks ago on January 3, 2014.

The Wilds spokesperson says both mothers and calves are doing fine and will be slowly introduced to the rest of the herd after the weather warms up in the spring.

The birth of these calves are the 19th and 20th rhinos born at the Wilds since 2004.

Southern white rhinos were almost extinct in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Wilds says effective conservation efforts in the 1950s led to the exportation of individual wild white rhinos to zoos in North America and Europe. The current wild population is estimated to be about 20,000 animals.

Calves are born after a gestation of 16 months. White rhinos can grow to be 4,000 pounds and 6 feet tall at their shoulder.

Click here for more information about the Wilds - http://www.thewilds.org.

2014 by 10TV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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The Wilds Welcomes Two Southern White Rhino Calves

Frank Micelotta/FOX

Kevin Reilly

Days after Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced he was abandoning the traditional pilot process, the network has picked up two drama projects with an eye toward series commitments.

The network announced Friday that it has added Red Band Society with a "go" on a series prototype and additional backup scripts; and Runner, which has received an off-cycle commitment with an eye toward series production in the summer.

STORY: TV Pilots 2014: The Complete Guide

Red Band Society, which received a script commitment in November,explores with dark humor the daily lives of a group of teenagers living in a hospital who become unlikely friends. The depth of the unexpected friendships allows them to survive the challenges of growing up under such intense circumstances. It's based on the acclaimed Spanish series Polseres Vermelles.

Margaret Nagle(Boardwalk Empire) will pen the script and executive produce the Amblin Television and ABC Studios entry.Y Tu MamaTambien'sSergio Aguerowill executive produce alongside Amblin's Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank.

Runner is based on the Turkish series Son and hails from writer Michael Cooney (Identity), with Peter Horton directing and exec producing the 20th Century Fox entry alongside Ian Sander and Kim Moses. The drama, which is to guns what Traffic was to drugs, centers on the traditionally masculine world of arms dealing through the unexpected lens of a woman. After a simple twist of fate, Lauren Marks learns her husband is not the person she believed him to be.Faced with the harsh reality that her life is forever changed, she goes on a truth-seeking journey that entrenches her in a U.S.-Mexican war over weapons and terrorism.

STORY: Fox's Kevin Reilly Reveals Plans to 'Bypass Pilot Season'

This marks the second Traffic-like project set up this season. NBC's drama pilot Odyssey -- which also hails from Horton -- is described as a Traffic-like thriller that is pulled into an international military conspiracy.

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Fox Picks Up Dramas 'Red Band Society,' 'Runner' With Eye Toward Series Commitments

January 17, 2014 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Sky Blue FC PHILADELPHIA, P.A. (Jan. 17, 2014) - Sky Blue FC made new additions to its roster today, selecting four players in the 2014 National Women's Soccer League College Draft. The team selected forward Maya Hayes from Penn State, defender Hayley Haagsma from Texas Tech, defender Michelle Pao from Pepperdine University, and midfielder/forward Elizabeth Eddy from the University of Southern California.

"We're very happy with how things went for Sky Blue today," said Head Coach Jim Gabarra following the draft's conclusion. "For the most part, things went as expected and I was really happy with the atmosphere and turnout at the draft."

Hayes, who is a native of West Orange, N.J., joins her hometown club after a stellar four-year career at Penn State. As a senior, Hayes tallied 19 goals, including four game-winners, while adding six assists. Following the season, Hayes was named to the All-Big Ten first team, as well as a NSCAA second team All-American. She finished second in the Big Ten and eighth in the nation in goals and points with 19 and 44 respectfully. The former Nittany Lion closed out her collegiate career amassing 71 goals and 21 assists.

Hayes is a current member of the U23 National Team pool. She was also a member of the U20 National Team that won the 2012 FIFA U20 World Cup and the 2012 and 2010 CONCACAF U20 Women's Championship. She was also a three-time finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy.

With the club's second round selection, Sky Blue FC selected Texas Tech senior defender Hayley Haagsma. Haagsma, one of the nation's premier center-backs, helped guide the Red Raiders to an 18-2-3 record during 2013. She earned All-Big 12 Second-Team honors as well being named to Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team. The California native tallied four goals and three assists in her final season in Lubbock.

In the third round, Sky Blue FC selected defender Michelle Pao from Pepperdine University. The California native finished her senior season with seven points (two goals, three assists) while earning All-West Coast Conference First Team honors. She also has the distinction as being the only player in Pepperdine history to garner four First-Team All-Conference honors. In addition, she is also a former NSCAA All-American Second Team honoree.

With Sky Blue FC's final selection, the team took Elizabeth Eddy from USC. The speedy winger tallied 13 points (six goals, one assist) in her senior season for the Trojans. She is also a former U.S. youth national team player.

"We're glad to have added Maya, Hayley, Michelle, and Elizabeth today and we're looking forward to having them in camp," said Gabarra.

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Sky Blue FC Adds Four in NWSL College Draft

Lepage Window Balance Tube Replacement
How to Replace a balance tube on Lepage window.

By: Matt Schardan

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