Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

The plants and saplings I used to care for on our roof are gone. For a week, we had no electricity. We saw the rescuers work day and night though. They said it was too risky to restart supply as a lot of the areas were still submerged and there were torn wires lying all around, she says.

Indrani Roy Mitra Joint Managing Director Mitra and Ghosh Publishers, Kolkata

Ascion of the family that owns one of Bengals biggest book publishing companies with sales of several Crores of Rupees every year, she was working with an international NGO at Gopalpur On Sea in Odisha when the supercyclone struck in 1999.

I have now seen two of the worst ones but this one was definitely the strongest. I have never been so afraid in my life. All of us were huddled in one room in our 100-year-old house. It was like apocalypse. Somehow, our old structure held out, whereas I saw the balcony of a modern apartment in my area collapse. Fortunately, my house had power too though just six houses apart, the neighbourhood did not have any power for over three days.

She was heartbroken though when she finally visited her office in the historic Boi Para (The Books Neighbourhood), the largest book market in the world where thousands throng the length of Kolkatas College Street.

There was waist-high water and the 500 second hand book sellers had lost everything. Their stalls were lying strewn all over the main road, pages wet and tattered. Giant trees had been felled. The College Street like you knew it once has vanished, she says, choking on her own words.

The rest is here:
First person accounts of the devastation by super cyclone Amphan - National Herald

The deal to sell Peterboroughs electricity distribution system to Hydro One is set to close on Aug. 4, states a new city staff report and now city councillors have four new proposals to evaluate as they mull how to use the proceeds.

Councillors had previously considered banking the proceeds in a Toronto investment firm or backing its own renewable energy company, but now they can also think about four new ideas: creating a home energy retrofit program, creating a trust to support renewable energy projects, investing in a local bank or creating a stream of grants for local charities.

City council approved the sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI) more than three years ago after a contentious debate. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2018 and approval from the Ontario Energy Board came in April.

PDI is the wires and poles distribution arm of Peterborough Utilities Inc., which will continue to exist as a power generation company.

The agreement to sell PDI to Hydro One includes the wires, poles and transformers of Peterborough Utilities, which delivers electricity to 37,000 customers in Peterborough, Lakefield and Norwood.

Although the sale price is $105 million, the city is expecting to receive somewhere between $50 million and $55 million once fees and debate are paid.

In a virtual meeting on Monday, councillors will discuss the idea of striking a new group made up of city staff plus three councillors (Andrew Beamer, Gary Baldwin and Dean Pappas) to review all options for use of the sale proceeds and make recommendations to council later.

Councillors will also vote Monday on a staff recommendation to invest 100 per cent of the sale proceeds and spend only the returns from the investment.

At a meeting earlier this year at City Hall, councillors heard two detailed pitches: one to place the money in a bank portfolio with the Toronto non-profit One Investment and the other to invest instead in renewable hydro and solar generation facilities of the municipally owned City of Peterborough Holdings Inc. (CoPHI) in a plan that would return dividends to the city.

But now the city has received four new proposals that merit consideration, states the staff.

Those new proposals include:

Alan Slavin, climate activist and physicist, suggests investing the sale proceeds but using the interest as homeowner loans for energy retrofits.

Fred Irwin, founding director of Transition Town Peterborough, suggests the creation of a trust fund to ensure theres money available to maximize local renewable power generation in the future.

George Ripoll, investment adviser at BMO Nesbitt Burns, suggests investing through a local bank with a Peterborough-based adviser rather than going with the Toronto-based non-profit ONE Investments.

The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough suggests banking most of the sale proceeds but setting aside at least 20 per cent or $10 million for a new fund, with interest disbursed as grants for charities.

Although the sale closes Aug. 4, the report states that council may not have settled yet on a final plan by then and if thats the case, the money would be placed in a short-term investment.

Never miss the latest news from the Peterborough Examiner. Sign up for our email newsletters to get the day's top stories, your favourite columnists, and much more in your inbox.

PDI is a branch of Peterborough Utilities Inc., which was founded 105 years ago.

The previous councils decision to sell it wasnt popular with some residents who said at public meetings they didnt want the city to lose control of the asset because electricity rates could increase over time.

But CoPHI, which governs PDI, had advised council at the time that replacement of PDIs aging infrastructure would cost so much it would soon threaten the distribution systems viability and so the city was better off to sell.

joelle.kovach@peterboroughdaily.com

Read more:
Deal to sell Peterborough Distribution Inc. to Hydro One closing in August - ThePeterboroughExaminer.com

New Jersey is home to an array of architectural styles, from historic homes to contemporary builds. Whether you have an antique home with bubble glass or sleek walls of glass in your modern abode, get your windows looking their best with a professional window washer.

The pros will spray a high-grade cleaning solution on your windows, squeegee away, and finish with a microfiber towel. Here's why you should get in on the impressive results.

1. Results Look Better Than DIY

Unlike your average bottle of Windex, professional cleaning services use professional-grade solutions and equipment. Plus, they can safely access all of your windows and their hard-to-reach corners.

2. Pros Don't Cut Corners

If you're DIYing your window cleaning, chances are you want to be done as soon as possible. Professionals take pride in their work and clean your windows thoroughly. That's how good companies uphold their reputation. You can be sure everything will be spotless.

Looking for a window washer? Find a professional in your area.

3. It's Usually Cheaper Than DIY

If you tally up all of the equipment you'd need to DIY the joba hose, spray nozzle, squeegee, ladder, window cleaning solution, rags, and extension polesyou're looking at nearly $300. The average cost to clean windows is around $200.

Of course, the cost of the job will vary based on the number and size of your windows (typically between $150 and $300), but between materials and your own time, hiring a pro is actually a bargain.

4. You Can Get a Package Deal

Many professional window cleaning services provide other services. Oftentimes, they can offer bundle deals. You might be able to add on power washing, gutter cleaning, interior maid services, or even custom work like tinting.

You might want to go the extra mile and have your blinds, screens, sills, and tracks cleaned. Ask your contractor if these additional elements are included or charged separately.

5. It Looks Great!

Of course, squeaky-clean windows make your home look better. They boost your curb appeal from the outside, which can make a big difference if you're trying to rent or sell your spaceor simply want it to look great for passersby.

HomeAdvisor is a Patch promotional partner.

View post:
5 Reasons Why You Should Hire A Window Washer In New Jersey - Patch.com

Summer is nearly here, and with this fresh new season comes the chance to spiff up your home. Whether you're looking for ways to improve your home's curb appeal, inspiration to start your spring cleaning or a little direction on seasonal home maintenance projects, these five ideas will help you spring into summer on the right foot.

Repaint your front door

As your yard fills with bright tulips, daisies and daffodils, consider adding a pop of color to your front door to match. This quick project can go a long way in boosting curb appeal and making your home stand out from the others in the neighborhood. It's best to complete this project over a few warm, dry days to make sure the paint adheres and dries correctly. Talk to a painting pro to get the best result.

Wrap up your spring cleaning

It's not too late to finish those spring cleaning projects. Whether you're purging old clothes from the back of your closet, wiping down the refrigerator (and the coils in back) or doing a deep clean of the baseboards, blinds and ceiling fans, a good tidy will get your home shipshape. Be sure to give your home's exterior some TLC as well. A power-washing pro can help you shine things up and ditch grime on your driveway, patio, porch and siding.

Upgrade your landscaping

Now's a great time to clean up the yard and start creating an outdoor space that you can enjoy. Whether you choose to plant a few new trees to your yard or completely overhaul your landscaping, it's a good idea to talk to a professional to make sure your project goes smoothly. If you're not ready to commit to a huge change, you can start small with a container garden or make a few improvements by fixing slopes, reviving dead grass and trimming overgrown shrubs and bushes.

Fix up your fence

An old, damaged or unattractive fence is not an effective (or appealing) barrier for your home. If your fence is looking a little worse for wear, take the opportunity to give it an upgrade this spring. A fencing pro can help you choose the best option for your space. Some popular fencing materials include cedar, vinyl, composite and aluminum. If you're happy with the style of your current fence, restaining or resealing it can make it look like new.

Repair your driveway

Now that we've left freezing temperatures and harsh weather behind, go outside and take a look at your driveway to see if it needs any repairs. Freezing and thawing cycles can cause cracking and damage to concrete and asphalt driveways, so it's important to check for damage in the spring. Damaged pavement can create issues with drainage, and small cracks will only worsen over time. Consult with a professional to correct any issues quickly. If you have a gravel driveway, double-check to make sure water isn't pooling in certain areas, as this can indicate drainage issues as well.

HomeAdvisor is an online marketplace connecting homeowners with trusted service professionals to complete home projects. Visit HomeAdvisor.com.

Go here to read the rest:
Home projects to kick off this summer - The Providence Journal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released what it calls general considerations on safe actions for reopening houses of worship, but worship communities can accept or reject those considerations.

Religious worship allows tens of millions of Americans to demonstrate devotion to a higher power. It gives people an opportunity to commit and recommit to a set of values. In-person services foster a sense of community and belonging.

Unfortunately for millions whose lives are enriched by communal worship, traditional services are ideal places for virus transmission: lots of people, close together.

As a physician specializing in internal medicine I suggest, for now at least, that we reexamine how we worship. After all, what better way to embody the values of your faith than to take steps to protect one another?

Even with the uncertainty and variability of reopening plans, scientifically and medically sound information is available. For starters, youll want to assess your individual risk, the prevalence of the virus in your area and the availability of testing.

The four pillars

You may consider guidelines suggested by Dr. Atul Gawande, noted surgeon and author. He proposes four essential pillars for safe reentry into communal spaces: hygiene, distancing, screening and mask use.

All four must operate together to minimize transmission. Will your place of worship be able to enact these pillars? For example:

1. Will you have easy access to hand-washing or sanitizing?

2. Will communal surfaces and shared spaces be wiped down?

3. Will attendance be limited to allow distancing, and will attendees be screened with temperature checks and self-screening questionnaires?

4. Will your place of worship enforce mask use and distancing?

Anything short of all four pillars increases transmission risk.

And even with all the precautions, people with infections can be asymptomatic so despite the screening measures, you cant be sure who has the virus and whether you might become exposed.

Short, outdoors

Other factors influence viral spread. The dose you receive is higher when youre close to someone not wearing a face covering. Someone sneezing and coughing increases the number of virus particles near you. Singing or speaking forcefully releases more virus than speaking quietly. Outdoor rates of transmission are much lower than those indoors.

Thats why its best if services are short, outdoors and with no singing or physical contact. Only a limited number of attendees, spaced widely and wearing masks properly, would participate.

Early in the pandemic, faith leaders adapted their services: removing holy water, forbidding handshakes, limiting group size and livestreaming. Buddhist monks seeking alms wore face shields. But others protested any restrictions.

In dealing with the virus, we still have much to learn. But values common to all religions exist compassion, kindness, respect for fellow humans and some variation of the Golden Rule. Until more is known about COVID-19, lets choose a path following one of the major tenets of my profession: First, do no harm.

Dr. Claudia Finkelstein is a medical doctor and associate professor of family medicine at Michigan State University.

Follow this link:
How to be as safe as possible in your house of worship - Longview News-Journal

Tropical Storm Bertha signaled the start of hurricane season when it made landfall last week in South Carolina.Dominion Energy customers in Virginia and the Carolinas can continue to expect excellent response from crews this hurricane season as a result of measures taken to adapt to coronavirus impacts, stated a Dominion Energy press release. Crews have access to resources necessary to respond safely and quickly to storm-related outages.

Our team is prepared for a busy hurricane season and have spent the past three months incorporating new practices and health and safety guidelines that protect us, our colleagues and the public from spreading the coronavirus, said Ed Baine, senior vice president of power delivery. Even with additional precautions necessary during these unprecedented times, our crews will continue to be responsive and prepared to restore power safely and quickly.

Dominion reports that employees are following the hygiene practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the use of face coverings, frequent hand washing and the use of gloves. Workstations and vehicle interiors are wiped down each day. Additionally, employees check their temperature and answer health screening questions at least once every day.

In addition to essential services such ashospitals, fire and police departments, public water systems and 911 call centers, coronavirus testing and treatment centers have also been added to the companys restoration strategy.

As we saw with previous storms, including Hurricane Dorian, we have an experienced power restoration team, as well as a comprehensive plan to respond to the extensive damage that severe weather can cause, said Keller Kissam, Dominion Energy South Carolina president of electric operations. We encourage our customers to be prepared at home to keep their families safe with emergency supplies, including face masks, hand sanitizer and wipes.

There are many ways to begin preparing early. Dominion offers the following tips to prepare for severe weather:

Create an emergency kit with flashlights, batteries, cleaning supplies and face coverings.

Prepare a first-aid kit with bandages, anti-bacterial wipes, over-the-counter medications and prescription medications.

Remember to carry your healthcare information with you and to prepare your medical devices, especially if you are disabled or elderly.

Download the Dominion Energy App to track restoration efforts and report outages quickly and safely.

Prepare a supply of water and non-perishable food.

Charge your phone and other electronic devices fully before the storm arrives.

Make sure your contact information is updated in Dominions system so that they have a way to get in touch with you.

Safety is always our first priority, states Dominion. Heres how you can stay safe during storms:

Beware of downed power lines. Assume they are energized and dangerous. Stay at least 30 feet away and call Dominion Energy immediately.Virginia and North Carolina customers please call 1-866-366-4357. South Carolina customers please call 1-888-333-4465.

Connect your generator properly. Ensure it is fueled and tested before the severe weather arrives. Follow the manufacturers instructions and always operate outdoors with good ventilation.

For more information, visitDominionEnergy.com/outages/outage-safety-and-preparation/hurricane-prep.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

RECENT HEADLINES:

North Carolina legislators aiming to reopen gyms despite Cooper order

KDH postpones fireworks until September, sets budget hearing for June 10

See the rest here:
Dominion Energy adapts to ensure quick response to hurricanes during coronavirus pandemic - The Coastland Times - The Coastland Times

This report is published in two parts. Part 1 reviews the Citys timeline of response in the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak and existing data on Latinx workers as essential workers in the City. Part 2 hears directly from six essential Latinx workers who contracted COVID-19 in San Francisco while on the job during the initial lockdown phase and about their experience seeking and accessing help when they were sick.

Compared to other large cities, San Francisco has fared remarkably well in limiting infections since the first novel coronavirus cases were reported three months ago. The early shelter-in-place order issued across five Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, on March 16 was crucial to this outcome. In the last two weeks, the curve of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and the number of patients hospitalized in acute care and intensive care units started trending down in the City. Last week, on May 28, Mayor London Breed drew a new timeline and plan for safely reopening San Francisco. This hopeful turn in the epidemic restrictions, however, came with strict health orders that indefinitely extended the shelter-in-place order and made wearing facemasks mandatory outside.

For the rest of the year, the valve on health order restrictions will open and close; it will be touch and go, depending on the rise and fall of infections in the weeks to come. Officials will need to collect and share as much information as possible about the virus and how the virus is moving within our communities for everyone to be on board with the next steps. Lessons must also be swiftly gleaned from the first wave of contagion in San Francisco in preparation for a possible, or perhaps inevitable, second wave, including who has been most impacted by the virus and why.

According to City data, as of June 1, 43 lives have been lost to the novel coronavirus. Ninety-three percent of these deaths involved people with one or more underlying health conditions, and 46.5 percent of those deaths are of Asian people. The specific health conditions of those lost lives have not been made known, but the Center for Disease Control (CDC) informs, based on currently available information and clinical expertise from across the country, that older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions, such as chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, serious heart conditions, diabetes, severe obesity, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, liver disease, and immunocompromised conditions, might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Yet, in San Francisco, deaths have taken a toll on people in the prime of their life: 23 percent of lives lost were in the 31-40 age range, 19 percent among 18-30 years old, and 18 percent in the 41-50 age range. In other words, 60 percent of all lives lost have been of young to middle aged people.

Nationwideworldwidethe virus has yet to be fully understood. For example, is it just a respiratory illness or also a cardiovascular disease, which would explain why it severely aggravates the health of those with diseases like diabetes, and not only those with underlying respiratory illnesses. The medical jury is still out, and as a result, so is a consensus on the most effective course of treatment. Prevention, therefore, is the first line of defense when combatting a new epidemiological event like COVID-19.

Prevention measures have unfortunately and disproportionately failed the Latinx community of San Francisco during the initial crisis. Per City data published on June 1, Latinx people represent 47.4 percent of all cumulative COVID-19 confirmed cases in the City since the start of March, despite representing only 15 percent of the City population. This percentage has been steadily increasing, even as the contagion rates have slowed down and testing rates gone up.

Understanding the timeline of the outbreak in San Francisco and taking stock of the governments preparedness and capacity to deal with an epidemic can help explain why the Latinx people continue to be overexposed to COVID-19. The role of Latinx workers, both documented and undocumented, as essential laborers in the City is also a clear factor to consider.

On May 28, the shelter-in-place order was indefinitely extended in the City. The City must provide a better response to all essential workers going forward, but especially, right now, to the Latinx community in order to beat back the spread of the virus within this community and protect Latinx people against grave health and economic consequences and greater social marginalization.

Timeline of the Outbreak in San Francisco

Acknowledging the high volume of travel to and from mainland China, the government of San Francisco began preparing for the appearance of the COVID-19 disease on Jan. 21 by activating the Operations Center of the Department of Public Health (DPH). The Operation Center supervises and coordinates health and medical responses in the epidemic. Preventive measures were also issued instructing the public to wash our hands, cover our sneezes and coughs, and stay home if we felt sick.

Six days later, on Jan. 27, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC coordinates government responses during an active disaster. The DEM, in general, supports government agencies to ensure that essential public services are provided after a disaster, and that they are prepared to accelerate post-disaster, long-term recovery and reconstitution. DPH toolkits published online have a decisive post-disaster outlook, and one best suited perhaps to unpredictable events such as earthquakes that can affect infrastructure. The Citys capacity to avoid the disaster that struckan epidemicrequired a decisive preventive response to contagion. Prevention requires widespread testing and contact tracing to contain the spread of a virus.

On Feb. 25, Mayor Breed issued a declaration of a local emergency, which legally allowed the City greater agility in mobilizing resources, accelerating emergency planning, staffing response centers, and coordinating agencies, among other actions. No Coronavirus or COVID-19 cases had yet been reported in San Francisco, but it was only a matter of hours or days given that other Bay Area counties had begun announcing infections from community spread: Santa Clara and Sonoma County were followed a week later, on March 2, by confirmations of cases from community spread in San Mateo.

In other words, these cases were unrelated to travel to China, the patients were unrelated to each other, and had no prior contact with any known carriers of the COVID-19 virus. The virus had already moved from person to person, away from the originally infected person or community, and it was no longer possible to trace the original source of the novel virus. For San Francisco, and the Bay Area at large, this was bad news. It meant that many unidentified cases had been missed and the transmission of the virus could no longer be checked at its source. It was in circulation and spreading.

On March 3, Twitter told its Bay Area employees to start working from home. The next day Facebook and Google followed suit. The corporate and financial offices of downtown San Francisco shutdown in tandem.

In coordination with the CDC and as part of the existing national influenza surveillance network, the San Francisco DPH Laboratory (SFDPHL) began testing for COVID-19 on March 2. Three days later, the first two cases of COVID-19 in San Francisco were confirmed: a 90-year old man in serious condition, and a 40-year old woman in fair condition being treated at two different hospitals. They had contracted the virus through community transmission. On March 8, the City confirmed a total of eight cases. In the days that followed, San Franciscos Health Officer escalated health recommendations: large events were cancelled of over 100 people, vulnerable populations were urged to limit outings, businesses asked to limit employee exposure, and the public was urged to practice social distancing and hand washing. A variety of social security measures were also put into motion, including a moratorium on evictions, penalty waivers for delinquent payments on water and power, and funding for homeless shelters and SROs.

On Monday March 16, 11 days after the first COVID-19 cases were identified in San Francisco, the Health Officer of San Francisco issued a shelter-in-place order to further limit the spread of the disease. The order, one step down from a full emergency lockdown, allowed residents to leave home only for essential businesses and travel, and listed a series of essential businesses that would remain open.

The shelter-in-place order was a coordinated action of Health Officials across five Bay Area counties of the order, and in it saved lives, it undoubtedly saved lives. Consider that New York City issued a similar order on March 20, but by then, it was reporting 2,952 new daily cases and 29 deaths per day with numbers exponentially climbing.

Two weeks after tech and corporate workers were ordered to work from home by their employers, essential workers continued to work harder than ever, commuting on the empty streets of San Francisco. For the first time, we woke up to learn who beyond first responders were essential workers: garbage collectors, restaurant workers, delivery people, tow-truck drivers, construction workers, grocery cashiers, and transport drivers to name a few. We could finally name them for what they were: essential to the day to day functions of the City, whether documented or undocumented. And yet, they are among the lowest paid.

On March 17, Dr. Grant Colfax, the head of DPH, explained to the Health Commission of the Board of Supervisors that the SFDPHLs capacity to test and contact trace for COVID-19 was very small, compounded by a lack of CDC testing kits. The DPH initiated a process of establishing a testing plan with UCSF to track the availability of tests (including at private labs) to understand who, how many and where people were being tested. Toms Aragn, the Health Officer of the City, at the Board of Supervisors meeting that day also stressed that the real spread of the virus in the City was unknown due to the lack of testing. On March 24, the Citys Health Officer ordered private and public labs in San Francisco to report complete COVID-19 testing information to the DPH.

Available testing also followed mandatory CDC guidelines which prioritized symptomatic healthcare workers, seniors and people with underlying chronic or immunocompromised conditions. Testing was next made available to people who showed severe symptoms: a fever with acute respiratory illness, such as a cough or difficulty breathing, requiring hospitalization. In other words, if a person came in with a fever or cough or shortness of breath but didnt require hospitalization, a test was denied and they were sent back home. The obvious problem with this approach was that cases went undetected, even when people felt ill enough to ask for help at a public hospital.

Access to testing for COVID-19 became a test of privilege. By mid-March, those with health insurance or the means to cover the out-of-pocket expense could get a doctors order for a test in a private medical facility in the Bay Area such as Stanford, Kaiser, John Muir Health, and Forward. The rest would have to wait until March 23, when the first free tests for active COVID-19, without doctors orders, were made available in the Bay Area at the Hayward Fire Station. Drop-ins were still heavily screened according to CDC guidelines.

While around the globe the sick overwhelmed hospital capacity and the death count rose exponentially, each day that followed in San Francisco seemed to bring a new positive response from the City government: nurses were expeditiously hired, relief provided for artists, the City bought N95 masks, and hotel rooms were available for those ill with COVID-19 who needed to quarantine.

The City response appeared gloriously successful and forward-thinking, except for two events: a worrisome outbreak at San Franciscos largest nursing home, the Laguna Honda Hospital, at the end of March, followed by an outbreak in San Franciscos largest homeless shelter, the MSC South. On April 13, the City confirmed that 90 residents and 10 staff members of the MSC South homeless shelter tested positive for COVID-19. The news came after weeks when experts relentlessly lobbied for and Supervisors urged the Mayor to shelter the 8,000 homeless residents of the City in empty and available hotel rooms to reduce the spread of the disease. Instead of solving homelessness, Mayor Breed went with her longstanding stance against housing the homeless of San Francisco, no less in the middle of a historic pandemic.

It was in the days of public outrage over the MSC South outbreak that questions also arose about whether the virus lurked undetected among the Latinx population of the City. The questions began when Unidos en Saluda partnership between UCSF, the Latino Task Force for COVID-19, DPH, and the District 10 (D10) communityannounced that the second densest census tract in the City and the highest with a significant Latinx population had been selected for a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 testing effort from April 25-28. As a resident of the tract, I reached out to Unidos en Salud asking about the spread of the illness in the Mission District and specifically that tract, but my questions were deflected with a canned answer about researchers needing a densely populated census tract. I sensed, as many others probably did, that there was gato encerrado, something fishy going on. We didnt wait long for answers.

In advance of the Unidos en Salud testing dates, on April 20, the DPH released a Map of the Coronavirus Impact in the City by Zipcode. The 94110 zip code, which covers a vast part of the Mission District, since then continues to show the highest number of COVID-19 cases, and the third highest density of cases in the City. In San Francisco, the Latinx population is most heavily concentrated in the Mission District, but also in the Tenderloin District and Excelsior District. The north and south corridors of the Mission District overlap with the 94103 and 94112 zip codes, respectively. The 94103 zip code mostly covers SOMA but also the north edge of Mission District. This zip code then and now continues to have the highest density of COVID-19 cases in the City. The 94112 zip code that carries south into the Excelsior and Outer Mission sustains the second highest number of COVID-19 cases.

In releasing the map, the City informed that of 1,216 confirmed COVID cases up to April 20, Latinxs represented 25 percent of the positive cases. Unidos en Salud cited a higher statistics: ~34% of COVID-19 cases (with known race/ethnicity, as of April 18th) are in Latinx population, despite Latinx people comprising only ~15% of SFs total population. Unidos en Salud further confirmed that 80 percent of the hospitalized coronavirus patients at San Francisco General Hospital were Latinx, where generally, Latinx people comprise 30 percent of the hospital population. The statistics were alarming.

Before then, the City released data on the Coronavirus epidemic piecemeal, and information about the impact on the Latinx community had been entirely unknown. If not for the Unidos en Salud study, how long did the City plan on withholding statistical information literally vital to the health of the Latinx community? How many cases could have been avoided if the Latinx community had been better informed of the developing situation? The City officials acted recklessly in failing to disclose the spread of the virus among the Latinx population in real time. As of May 31, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in San Francisco have more than doubled, and the Latinx population now represents 47.3 percent of all COVID-19 confirmed cases in the City of San Francisco.

In four days of testing, Unidos en Salud increased the total number of COVID-19 tests in the City by 29 percent, and days later released initial results from that one census tract: out of nearly 3,000 people tested, 62 people tested positive for active COVID-19. While seemingly low, the 2.1 percent infection rate was 2 percent above the city reported rate at the time. Moreover, of those who tested positive 95 percent where Latinx and 90 percent of those positive cases represented people who could not stay at home to work. The results highlighted the role that Latinx people were playing as essential workers, as well as their economic vulnerability that impeded them from staying at home.

A 2017 survey by Mission Promise Neighborhood of 584 households with children in the Mission District shows that in the year prior, two in five families had gone without basic needs, including housing, health care, food and child care. Seventy-seven percent of the 447 respondents to questions on household income were earning less than $35,000 a year with 30 percent living below the federal poverty threshold at the time. At the time, almost all families were spending more than half their income on rent, with food related expenses being the next highest expense. Unemployment among these families was nearly four times that of the City rate, with 21 percent of working parents working more than one job to make ends meet. This snapshot of the Mission Latinx families provides a worrisome outlook for a community today simultaneously facing an epidemic and economic depression.

Following up on the Unidos en Salud results, the Bay Area Equity Atlas analyzed data from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey provided by the Center for Economic and Policy Research that describes the characteristics of essential workers in the nine-county Bay Area. The data shows 1.1 million essential Bay Area workers account for 28 percent of the regions workforce. Among these essential workers, people of color are overrepresented: 66 percent of essential workers were people of color, even though only 58 percent of all workers were people of color. Of all essential workers in the Bay Area, 43 percent are immigrants, and 31 percent of essential workers are Latinx (even though Latinx people are 21 percent of all Bay Area workers).

A further breakdown by specific essential industries shows that Latinx people represent a majority percentage of essential work in construction, cleaning and waste management, grocery, convenience and drug store, domestic services, trucking, warehouse and postal services, and agricultural work in the Bay Area. In regards to women, the Bay Area Equity Atlas found that Latina workers make up one- tenth of the labor force, but nearly half of all domestic workers (47 percent), 37 percent of building cleaning services/waste management workers, and 23 percent of childcare and social services workers.

By the numbers, the extended City and State shelter-in-place order place the brunt of our survival needs square upon the shoulders of essential workers of all stripes, and their labor exposes them the most to contagion. In the case of San Francisco, it is the Latinx population, both documented and undocumented that is most impacted by illness in the City, physically and economically, whether out of exposure to the illness or lack of income, without any fallback resources.

The restrictive access to existing testing in the City left Latinx essential workers overexposed and under-attended. The City did not expand access to free testing at its two CityTestSF to essential workers (without a requirement for a doctors referral) until early May. Now that the City has significantly expanded its number of free and accessible testing to anyone who lives or works in the City, Latinx people as a percentage of cumulative COVID-19 cases continue to go up.

There are lines of over 500 people a day at the various food pantries in the Mission District. These families with mixed or undocumented immigration statuses are ineligible for most of the federal and state relief funds and unemployment benefits. In any case, the one-time $500 City or state handouts for undocumented works cannot adequately compensate their high-risk labor or their economic losses after falling ill to COVID-19 for playing an essential role in sustaining our quality of life in San Francisco. The virus, even when it has not made them ill, but left them unemployed, is leading the Latinx community towards extreme poverty.

These days, we protest the humanitarian homeless crisis in the City. We protest the legacy of police brutality and inequity against the Black community. But we must also protest the disproportionate suffering of the Latinx community and other people of color as they bear the brunt of the disease in the City as essential workers. Echoing the Bay Area Equity Atlas recommendations, the essential working class of San Francisco needs to be supported by guaranteeing its basic human rights to living wages, paid and expanded sick leave, safe working conditions. free testing and free health care, facilitated by culturally appropriate methodologies, and stable housing, through eviction moratoriums, cancelled rent, mortgages, and utility payments

Its the only humanitarian way forward.

Story by:

View original post here:
Essential, Sick and Marginalized: Latinx people represent nearly half of all COVID-19 cases in the City - El Tecolote

Irish Water has confirmed that it is increasingly likely that a Water Conservation Order, more commonly known as a hosepipe ban, will have to be put in place following increased demand on water and deteriorating drought conditions.

This comes during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, when hand-washing and hygiene remain critically important.

Two weeks ago, Irish Water, urged the public to choose hand-washing over power washing as domestic water usage increased by an average of 20% as more people were staying at home in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Advertisements are currently running on radio and social media advising the public on tips to save water in the garden and in the home.

Now the increased domestic demand and increase in commercial demand as businesses are reopening is being exacerbated by warm weather and the widespread emergence of drought conditions.

Since March Irish Water has been carefully monitoring all of its raw water sources, that is the water from lakes, rivers, springs and ground sources that feed our water treatment plants. Of Irish Waters 900 drinking water schemes, 16 currently are in drought and 38 are at risk of going into drought. The weather forecast is for continued dry conditions which will exacerbate the situation and Irish Waters data shows spikes of water usage on very sunny days.

To instigate a Water Conservation Order strict criteria must be met under the Water Services Act 2007. Irish Water needs to be able to demonstrate that a serious deficiency of water available for distribution exists or is likely to exist.

Irish Water is currently gathering this data and if the current trend continues the likelihood is that a hosepipe ban will have to be imposed. Regardless of the outcome of this process and irrespective of whether a formal Water Conservation Order is in place or not Irish Water is again appealing to all customers to conserve water for essential use.

Speaking about the developing situation, Irish Water Operations Lead Duane OBrien said: We are appealing to the public in Clare to redouble their efforts in conserving water in the home and in the garden. With so many people staying at home during the Covid-19 crisis, domestic demand for water increased by 20% at a time when our water treatment plants were working at maximum capacity.

The decrease in the commercial use of water could not off-set the increase in domestic demand. Some of our highest water users include hospitals, food and pharmaceutical manufacturing and data centres, all of which used the same amount of water as normal during the Covid-19 crisis.

The prolonged dry weather has exacerbated the demand on water. A drought means that the water sources like rivers, lakes, springs and ground water that supply the treatment plants are struggling, so at a time when all of the water we produce is being used, the amount we can produce is under threat in several areas around the country.

Imposing a Water Conservation Order is not a measure that Irish Water wants to take but it is increasingly likely that we will have to do so. It is essential that our water supply is protected if we are to avoid restrictions and outages over the coming weeks and months.

There are lots of helpful tips for conserving water onwater.ie but the key things are to leave the hose and the pressure washer in the shed; dont use paddling pools; reuse household water for the garden; and take shorter showers. Safeguarding the supply of water is essential at this time when hand-washing and hygiene is of critical importance. We are calling on everyone to play their part.

See the rest here:
Water Conservation Order 'increasingly likely' - The Clare Herald

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) June 1st, 2011 is a day many western Massachusetts residents will never forget. An EF3 tornado with winds of up to 160 mph carved a path of destruction 38 miles long from Westfield to Charlton.

The Munger Hill and Shaker Heights neighborhoods in Westfield were some of the areas that were first hit by the tornado. Fallen trees and power lines made some roads impassable and part of the roof was ripped off the Munger Hill Elementary School.

Nobody could even get through the neighborhood, the trees were everywhere. I did have friends that were still at school, their car got spun around in the air, it was terrifying, said Bethany Liquori of Westfield.

Well It was mostly the tops of the trees, we did have a couple that uprooted. We lost 32 trees in our yard and it was very scary. The power lines were all down, said Carrie Salzer of Westfield.

You can see from SkyView22 that the school has been repaired but there are a lot fewer trees in the neighborhoods than there used to be.

The tornado then intensified as it moved through West Springfield and across the Connecticut River even passing directly over the Memorial Bridge.

In the Island Pond Road area of Springfield a lot of the trees are gone but most of the homes have been rebuilt or repaired.

The steeple on the First Church of Monson that was toppled by the tornado has been rebuilt at a cost of around $2.4 million dollars.

Homes that were completely destroyed in the area of Stewart Ave and Heritage Lane in Monson have also been rebuilt but the hillside still shows the scars of the tornados path.

Nearly 10,000 acres of woodlands were destroyed by the June 1st Tornado.

Read the original here:
A look at how the June 1st Tornado changed the landscape of western Massachusetts 9 years later - WWLP.com

There are certain June mornings here on the prairie that remind us why we chose to live here. We awoke this morning with a faint breeze from the northwest and the promise of rain and so sat on the front steps of the ranch house, enjoying a hot mug of coffee and taking in a free avian chorus.

Framed by ponds on three sides, the yard forms a natural palette, if not an amphitheater, for the vocals on this open prairie. Let the music begin!

A true ornithologist could have closed their eyes and quickly documented the number of bird species participating; we make do with a dog-eared Audubon bird guide and years of applied observation. It starts around 4:30 am, the squeaks of flycatchers in the half-dark, the coo of doves, chirp of robins, and the chatter and buzz of swallows and blackbirds.

English sparrows scold all others and mix with the winnowing sound of snipe swooping high overhead in their courtship displays.

Now add the honk of Canada geese, wigeon whistles, soft gadwall quacks, and the patter of Ruddy Duck drakes as they rapidly slap bill to chest in their breeding display.

Missing this morning is the warble of meadowlarks, although they are happy to offer solos once you leave the yard and travel any distance. The scaup and their raspy call are noticeably absent, along with the hard quack of mallard hens, still tending their nests.

Rooster pheasants call from distant hills and mix with the faint clatter and wheeze of our ancient pump-jack below the house as it labors to raise well-water from the depths for our Juneberries. A bittern is nearby, adding his own pump-a-lunk call.

The most accomplished vocalists may be the sooty and understated coot, which possess a repertoire of sounds more at home in a jungle rather than here in Prairie Pothole country. They call to each other across the yard.

A musky fragrance of sage and lilacs competes with the sweetness of chokecherry and hawthorn blossoms but the resulting perfume cries out Spring! And now the black dog barks at a wide-bottomed mule deer at the edge of the yard and chases it up the driveway and over a hill before trotting back dutifully as if mule deer were the largest threat facing us these days.

There is a weight here, of the landscape, and of the knowledge that other people sat on this same spot, listening to these same birds, over many generations.

There is also an undeniable sense of comfort, with world events intruding only via elective electronic media. Comfort too in knowing the sounds and rhythms of this landscape have continued for centuries, and sometimes millenniums, without regard to disease or human conflict and sufferingand knowing they will continue for centuries longer.

It is a lot to ponder on this windless morning, on the front steps, with a hot mug of coffee.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Follow this link:
On the front steps | News, Sports, Jobs - Minot Daily News