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The battle to manage pest plants and animals in the Lower North Island is heating up, with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and regional councils joining forces to protect the regions natural assets.

In areas like the Ruahine Ranges, the spread of wilding conifers is altering the landscape and reducing natural water flow to surrounding agricultural lowlands. Tackling this problem, like other pest control programmes, is a big job that crosses council and landowner boundaries. As part of a new pest accord, DOC and three regional councils will begin working more closely together to manage these kinds of issues.

The Chief Executives of Greater Wellington Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, Hawkes Bay Regional Council and DOC signed the first Lower North Island Pest Management Accord last month.

DOCs director-general Lou Sanson says the Accord will pave the way for more effective management of pests across the Lower North Island.

"The accord will see the four agencies working together from the planning stage, meaning we are all thinking bigger in terms of what we can achieve and coordinating work across the wider region. The Accord will bring benefits to the whole community by protecting the natural capital - water, soil, vegetation - which underpins the economic and social prosperity of the regions."

"DOC is already working with each of these councils individually on pest control projects, but this Accord takes that to the next level. It will enable much greater outcomes for conservation across the whole region."

Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon says the Accord provides a basis for a collaborative effort across the Lower North Island in the management of pest plants and animals.

"By having the three regional councils and DOC on board we can discuss initiatives together such as those concerning the Ruahines and coordinate the management of possums across boundaries. In that way we can reduce the threat to our native plants and animals, while protecting against production loss throughout the Horizons region."

The Pest Accord is the latest outcome of a formal conservation partnership between the three regional councils and DOC, which was agreed in December 2011.

Lou Sanson says the partnership has opened the door to much closer collaboration across the agencies.

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DOC and councils team up to tackle pests

Reynaers Hi Finity Aluminium Sliding Patio Doors | UK Designers Suppliers Installers
Reynaers Hi Finity Aluminium Sliding Patio Doors | UK Designers Suppliers Installers http://www.altitudealuminium.co.uk/reynaers-hi-finity-aluminium-sliding-...

By: Altitude Aluminium

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Reynaers Hi Finity Aluminium Sliding Patio Doors | UK Designers Suppliers Installers - Video

Crooks steal wrapped Christmas presents from Rayleigh home

1:49pm Wednesday 11th December 2013 in News By Ian Weinfass

HEARTLESS crooks stole wrapped Christmas presents from a Rayleigh home.

Burglars broke into a house in Queens Road on Monday evening between 7pm-8pm and took the items.

It is believed that two people got into the house by smashing open the rear patio doors.

They searched the house and opened wrapped Christmas presents.

They made off with a number of presents including black and white dinner and side plates from a full boxed set which had the name Miami on them and a camera.

They also took items of jewellery and a black Nike sports holdall.

Anybody who has any information about the burglary or if they saw anybody acting suspiciously in the area is asked to call Southend CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Crooks steal wrapped Christmas presents from home

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Screen Enclosures, Patio Enclosures, Hurricane Shutters and ...

AVON PARK - John Hawthorne was at the work site on Wednesday, and so was the family who was earning sweat equity by painting the interior so 903 W. Bell St. would become their new address.

It's a Habitat project, so volunteers were there as well. What was unusual was the number of contractors and subs.

Highlands County Habitat for Humanity is hiring local contractors, who are employing subcontractors for plumbing, air conditioning, flooring, drywall, stucco and cabinetry.

The local Habitat has received eight foreclosed properties in the past six months through Bank of America's Donation Program, and $480,000 has been awarded from the National Mortgage Settlement Funds. That $25 billion pool of money was created from the settlement of a federal lawsuit with Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citibank, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Habitat Florida shared $20 million with Habitat Highlands, which got $480,000.

"I've done two houses already, and I've got one more coming up," said David Marley, who operates his own roofing company with a crew of five. "It was a big shot in the arm to me."

Unlike Mason's Ridge, where Highlands Habitat built its own subdivision in east Sebring, the donated houses are in Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid.

"We've got them coming from all over the county," Hawthorne said. Some need minimal work, others are stripped to the bones and rebuilt, the most dilapidated are tear-downs.

The same goes for roofs, Marley said. "We may tear the roof off down to the plywood and replace the water-damaged wood, and then put a metal roof on." Unlike asphalt singles, galvanized metal can last a lifetime.

As houses are completed, they'll be sold to families already on Habitat's waiting list.

"We're closing on one Friday, and one more is coming up," Hawthorne said. That's the Avon Park house.

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First rebuilt home to be sold Friday

Mary L. James

Born in Atlantic City, N.J., she moved during childhood several times on the East Coast. As a young girl, Mary was a proud member of the Order Of The Rainbow. Eventually, Mary and her family found their way to California, where she met her one true love and husband of over 50 years, Don James. Together their lives took them to Washington and eventually to Northern California.

Mary worked in many fields during her life and was happy to have been, among other things, a nurses aid, assistant to occupational therapists and an expediter for building contractors. She enjoyed crafting and evolved her artistic abilities throughout her life to include pottery, painting, sewing, scrapbooking and card-making, never failing to find new ways to express her artistic side. She was also an exceptional cook and baker.

Her best and most honored achievements were as a loving wife and an exceptional mother and grandmother.Mary provided a foundation of strength and love to her family, always supportive, perceptive, encouraging and willing to provide wise counsel when needed.

Surviving are her husband, Don, daughter Cindy, son Jesse; six grandchildren: Arianna, Kassidy, Duncan, KayLa, JenNa and Christopher; her brothers Arthur and Bruce, sister Sandie and father Arthur Sr.

Services will be held on Friday, Dec. 13, beginning at 11 a.m. at Leach Botanical Garden, 6704 SE 122nd Ave., Portland, Ore.

In lieu of flowers Mary and her family would prefer a donation be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Please sign the familys online guest book atwiersmortuary.com.

Arrangements are under the direction of Wiers Mortuary Chapel.

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Obituary: Mary L. James

Christmas outdoor lighting contest among neighbors
Watch this short video. It will make you smile.

By: Richard Walen

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Christmas outdoor lighting contest among neighbors - Video

Taipei, Taiwan GlacialLight, a subdivision of GlacialTech, a Taiwanese technology manufacturer, today releases the Outdoor Stake Light Bracket. This simple and sturdy light bracket lets you install any of GlacialLight's outdoor lighting fixtures easily and conveniently in almost any outdoor area, including plazas, parks, gardens and lawns.

The aluminum construction makes it light yet strong and resistant to corrosion. Placing and repositioning the light is simplified thanks to the garden spike. Additionally, vertical and horizontal rotational adjustments of the light are allowed with the bracket.

The Outdoor Stake Light Bracket is compatible with GL-FL12, GL-FL30-V2, and GL-FL60 flood lights.

Specifications:

For use with GL-FL12 / GL-FL30-V2 / GL-FL60

Product photos and detailed specs are available at: http://www.glaciallight.com/products/FL-stake.htm

About GlacialLight GlacialLight, the lighting division of GlacialTech, manufactures LED lighting solutions for indoor/outdoor applications and both residential and commercial uses. As well as having a wide range of finished LED lighting products, GlacialLight also offers its clients the option of customizing products for specific needs. Please visit the company homepage at http://www.GlacialLight.com.

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Outdoor Lighting Bracket facilitates fixture installation.

Austin, TX (PRWEB) December 12, 2013

TOTUS Solutions, Inc., the leading provider of outdoor lighting based security platforms, was named a Top 30 Technology Innovation company that set 2013s technology course according to Security Sales & Integration magazine. Earlier this year, TOTUS was awarded the Best in Outdoor Perimeter Protection by SIA (Security Industry Association), received the Platinum Level Award in Outdoor Lighting-Based Security Platforms by the GOVIES (Government Security Awards), and won New Product of the Year Award by Security Products Magazine.

TOTUS Security Platforms are designed to incorporate energy saving LED lighting, 360 degree megapixel IP video surveillance, and communications in a single solution to turn video surveillance from a passive system that must be constantly monitored, to an Active Deterrence system capable of taking action on its own based on user set parameters. The actions can be any combination of lighting events, sounds, stored vs. streamed video, emails or SMSs, or other communications means to deter crime. TOTUS Security Platforms help save up to 70% energy versus the legacy streetlights through the use of improved LED technology. The ability to dim the TOTUS Surveillance Platform at pre-determined times allows the platforms to be set at 25-50% brightness mode at any time and revert back to 100% mode when motion is detected. This capability can be programmed for a single surveillance platform or grid of lights that form a security system to allow the end user to save more energy without the compromise of security.

Representing the team here at TOTUS, it is a pleasure to be recognized by Security Sales and Integration magazine and for Industry recognition for the fourth time this year. We strive to provide innovativeness, but also work to find practical ways to enhance security integration thru edge based, intelligent outdoor IP surveillance solution for our channel partners and end users, said Gregory G. Williams, President and CEO - TOTUS Solutions.

TOTUS Solutions has combined the discreet elements needed in an easy-to-install, operate and maintain package. The right lighting using refined and reliable LED technology selected to optimize IP video performance, multiday onboard video storage capabilities if the communication link fails, wireless communication technology and a 360 megapixel IP video imager are now combined in a single integrated package. Additional interesting features include a two-way audio communication option and edge-based video analytics (motion detection) that can trigger strobe lighting as well as E-mail alerts to different security personnel. The design has optimized power consumption making it attractive to government buyers. Paul Boucherle, Principal of Canfield, Matterhorn Consulting and Expert Columnist for Security Sales and Integration.

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TOTUS Solutions Named a Top Technology Innovation Company amongst 30 other Selections.

Program puts women through six months of financial and life lessons, mental health counseling and social counseling. The aim: teach them to care for themselves.

Adrian Deon Dawkins spent decades relying on men in her life, taking care of her children and never learning how or even why to care for herself.

Dawkins, then Adrian Deon Mitchell, was valedictorian of the class of 1978 at Evans High School, with a scholarship offer from Bethune-Cookman College. That smart, hard-working, ambitious student already was a teen mother and pregnant again, and she abandoned her own dreams within a month of graduation. Her mother insisted she marry the father. He insisted she not pursue college but stay with the family, find a job and raise the kids.

And that was that. Over the next few decades, Dawkins' husband left her and two other men came and went. She went on and off welfare. She committed welfare fraud and served 90 days in jail, because she received checks after she got a job. She watched her two sons and two daughters grow up and leave, while her own dreams never returned.

So when the last man left her two years ago, and she realized that even her own children weren't in any position to help her, she hit bottom. Though still working a minimum-wage, part-time job as a motel maid, she found herself essentially homeless, penniless and hopeless.

"I was messed up," said Dawkins, who is now 53.

Enter Jewish Family Services of Orlando and its Family Stabilization Program. For six years, the Winter Park human services non-profit agency has focused on turning around the lives of people such as Dawkins. The program puts them through six months of financial and life lessons, mental health counseling and social counseling. The aim: teach them to care for themselves.

"We were tired of putting band aids on people that came in," explained Susan Weissmann, FJS Orlando's clinical director.

With assistance from experts at other nonprofits, JFS Orlando set up classes, teaching consumer debt management, financial literacy, employment and life planning. It covered simple things like how to read a pay stub or how to shop for food, to more complex things such as how to assess insurance needs or budget to pay bills and save money, all at no charge to the clients. The one-on-one counseling sessions with JFS Orlando therapists get people to care about themselves.

The agency works with people who are employed yet earning only 50 to 80 percent of the federal poverty level. They go through a six-month program, then JFS Orlando follows up with them six months later and again a year later. This year, the program has worked with 70 clients, down a little from 2012 because of a drop in outside contributions. Weissmann said 80 percent get on their feet, often for the first time.

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ORLANDO SENTINEL FAMILY FUND Jewish Family Services helps women achieve independence