Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

From massive dredging and beach renourishment in Oak Bluffs and Edgartown to renovations at the Gay Head Cliffs overlook, a number of public works improvement projects are under way around the Island this winter.

North Bluff in Oak Bluffs has a brand new beach. Aaron Wilson

All are being paid for with a variety of public and private funds, including state grants, Community Preservation Act monies and private donations.

On the Beach Road running between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, piping and heavy equipment associated with dredging have been in evidence for months, as a two-town project to suck sand from Sengekontacket and replenish eroded beachfronts takes place.

The major project includes work on both ends of the north-facing coastline.

In Edgartown, sand dredged from Sengekontacket using the town-owned dredge has been sold to Oak Bluffs for its beachfront needs; more sand will be used to stave off ongoing erosion at Fuller street beach.

Meanwhile, Oak Bluffs obtained funding last year for a wide-ranging beach restoration project from the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program. The $2.7 million project, which includes a $689,000 contribution from the town, has included renourishing beach areas along Seaview avenue and the North Bluff, where a new seawall and boardwalk are already in place.

Final phases of the project will include the installation of new groins, and future phases will include refurbishment work on the Farm Pond culvert and jetties that line the entrance to the Oak Bluffs harbor.

Farther west, in Menemsha construction began early this month on a pedestrian path that will run along Basin Road, leading to beach. The path is aimed at better walking safety for pedestrians and beach-goers in summer, when the historic fishing village is jammed with tourists, residents and fishermen.

The idea was to improve safety around that corner. In the summertime its a choke point for pedestrians, and cars, and a lot of people felt it was dangerous, said town administrator Tim Carroll. We dont have sidewalks, so were just trying to make a little bit of room.

The new path will feature a crushed stone and shell walk in addition to a low stone retaining wall. The project is being paid for mostly by private donors, Mr. Carroll said. About $27,000 will come from taxpayers.

Funding was approved at a special town meeting in November 2018. Property owners who are abutters have donated easements, Mr. Carroll said. The work is being done by Merry and Sons Inc., and John Keene Excavation Inc.

[The path] is a small part of the discussion that has been going on for five-plus years, Mr. Carroll said. The so-called Menemsha corridor plan, commissioned by the town and the Marthas Vineyard Commission in 2017, outlined many renovations to make roads safer and ease the flow of traffic congestion to the village.

New sidewalk under construction on Basin Road in Menemsha. Albert O. Fischer 3rd

Other proposed improvements for Menemsha, including a VTA bus turnaround by the comfort station, parking lot changes and a boardwalk over the dunes, failed to pass muster with voters.

It was different for the small pedestrian walkway.

This is the one part of the project that has seen no opposition at all, Mr. Carroll said. Even the online chat groups are saying nice things, which in this day and age is rare.

The path runs across the road from the former Harbor Craft Shop, which will reopen this spring as the Ruel Gallery.

Next door, the Menemsha Bite has been vacant for almost two years. On the other side of the harbor, the Menemsha Market stands boarded up and vacant following a fire at this time last year. Chilmark building inspector Lenny Jason said the market will not reopen this summer.

Work has been under way in the harbor too, including maintenance dredging and the replacement of freshwater lines and new decking on the transient yacht dock.

Harbor master Ryan Rossi said the electrical issues that have plagued crab corner, a shallow wading area near the jetty, have been pinpointed. A light current that was turning up in the water was finally traced to a faulty ground.

The [warning] signs will stay up this summer, Mr. Rossi said, but he believes the problem has been solved.

This is all just . . . to make sure everything runs smooth during the summer, he said. Its all going very well.

In Aquinnah, a major upgrade near the scenic Gay Head Cliffs will include a new viewing platform and other improvements around the Circle and shops. The $220,000 project will be paid for by a combination of Community Preservation Act funds and money from private donors. Derrill Bazzy, chairman of the town community preservation committee, said the upgrade has been long overdue.

The area was so neglected, half of it was just asphalt and the rest was dirt, with poison ivy coming through the fences, Mr. Bazzy said. Once the decking goes in, we will be 90 per cent there.

He added: It will still feel like youre in the middle of an untouched part of the cliffs. It will continue to have a simple feel, but it will be a much better and safer place for visitors.

Future plans call for replanting the area with native species such as bayberry. New fencing will have less impact on the face of the cliff, Mr. Bazzy said.

The deadline is Memorial Day, and we seem to be on target, he said. I would consider it a hard deadline, thats when we start to get a lot of people coming up here.

Aaron Wilson contributed reporting.

Excerpt from:
Dredging and More: Public Works Projects Abound on Island - The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News

Latest news on the Belgrave Road landslip shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed

The Isle of Wight have been continuing to undertake daily site inspections (twice daily during the two named storms) and monitoring of the wall movement and cracking both at the top of the terrace and the middle and lower sections.

Wire netting held wall collapse in placeThe heavy rainfall during the storms has resulted in the top section of the wall moving further downwards, with falling material coming to rest on the lower terrace.

However, the wire netting has worked effectively and contained the materials within the site.

No movement or deterioration was observed in the middle wall and no additional cracking or deterioration was observed in the lower wall above Esplanade Road.

No signs road is in any danger of collapsingThe current movement notwithstanding, we are keen to reassure residents that, contrary to some media reports, there are no signs that the road itself is substantially in any danger of collapsing.

While the wall continues to move, it remains unsafe and impractical for us to intervene until we can be certain the situation has stabilised further. However, we are continuing to look at what steps we might be able to take as soon as it becomes safe for us to do so.

Site being topographically monitoredA topographical survey of the site area was carried out last week which will assist us in this process.

This, together with the installation and initial survey of monitoring equipment, will enable us to undertake more detailed monitoring of the site and allow us to see when it has stabilised sufficiently for us to carry out a more thorough investigation on site.

Work cant pose risk to othersWe understand that residents will be keen for this situation to the rectified and the road reopened as soon as possible, but we must wait until we can be satisfied that any work on site will not pose a safety risk either to residents or to our workforce or affect the stability of the area.

Visit link:
Belgrave Road landslip: Latest photos of retaining wall collapse - On The Wight

Key point:Light carriers are smaller than regular supercarriers, but they are cheaper to build and still function like a flattop. They also carry Marines and their supplies and weapons to any fight anywhere in the world.

Were the USS America to cruise alongside the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the average Joe might struggle to distinguish their purposes. Both flat-tops measure longer than two-and-half football fields in length and carry jet fighters and helicopters.

But the America and her sistership Tripoli are technically Landing Helicopter Assault vessels numbered LHA-6 and LHA-7 respectively: super-sized members of the gator navy of amphibious assault ships designed to deploy the expeditionary units of the U.S. Marine Corps onto hostile shores. In addition to the Navy crew of 1,000-1,200 sailors and officers, each LHA can carry nearly 1,700 Marines.

Unlike the catapult-launched Rafale-M jet fighters on the Charles de Gaulle, the America and Tripoli can only deploy short-takeoff and vertical-lift capable jump jets from their decks. You can see a video of an F-35B hovering down for a landing on the America here.

Rather than using nuclear reactors to achieve brisk speeds of 30 knots, 45,000-ton LHAs use an innovative hybrid electric/gas-turbine propulsion system pioneered in the final Wasp-class LHD, USS Makin Island. The electric propulsion is used for slower cruising speeds while the gas-turbine becomes more efficient near the more modest maximum speed of twenty knots.

However, unlike the Wasp-class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) they were based upon, America and Tripoli lack floodable well deck which can carry landing craft to ferry troops ashore. (This video shows how the Wasps cavernous well deck works.)

All that space has instead gone to dramatically expanded aviation facilities and fuel stores. The ships medical facilities were also reduced by two-thirds.

Instead of watercraft, the LHAs rely on squadrons of MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotors, sophisticated hybrid aircraft combining the vertical lift ability of a helicopter and the speed and range of an airplaneto insert troops by air.

Officially, a typical air wing on the America would include a dozen Ospreys, six Harrier or F-35B jump jets, seven AH-1Z Viper attack and four CH-53K heavy transport helicopters to support troops ashore, and two MH-60S choppers for anti-submarine and search-and-rescue duties.

But if the Navy wants to, it could instead cram up to twenty fighters on the LHDs, turning them effectively into light aircraft carriersa class of ship the Navy hasnt built since World War II. Like the lower-end escort carrier, the concept was that there were many missions like aircraft delivery and convoy escort that would benefit from air support, but didnt require the massive firepower of a full carrier air wing with seventy to a hundred warplanes.

Indeed, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 the Navy used the LHDs Bataan and Bonhomme Richard as pocket carriers primarily to launch Harrier airstrikes in Iraq.

However, the subsonic Harrier, though a versatile support platform, was substantially inferior in performance to equivalent land-based or catapult-launched fighters.

The new supersonic-capable F-35B Lightning II stealth jets entering service with the Marine Corps are far more capable of taking on fourth- and fifth-generation fighters and launching longer-range strikes. Combined with the F-35s surveillance capabilities, this means future air wings on LHDs and LHAs will be far more versatile.

As the Pentagons chief strategic contingency is preparing for the possibility of conflict with China, the Marine Corps sees the Pacific Ocean as its most important likely battleground.

A U.S.-China conflict might play out over small islands in the South China Sea in which the Chinese military has installed airfields, missile batteries and naval bases. And it may prove inefficient or risky to delegate a full-sized supercarrier to operations targeting these islands, or defend islands to which Marine and Army forces have deployed their own missile batteries.

Indeed, the LHD USS Wasp deployed in April 2019 with ten F-35Bs onboard and buzzed Chinese troops deployed at Scarborough Shoal, an occupied by Chinese troops but claimed by the Philippines.

Light carriers might also be appropriate in scale for protecting vital convoys traversing the vastness of the Pacific against sporadic air and submarine attacks using their onboard fighters and helicopters respectively.

The cost of the America-class LHAs reflects the efficiency argument well: the three ships ordered together were developed and built for $10 billion. Thats less than a single $13 billion Gerald Ford-classsupercarrier.

Bringing Back the Well Deck

Nonetheless, Marines have understandable objections to the removal of the ability to deploy landing craft from a nominally amphibious ship.

Afterall, air-cushion landing craft (LCAC) can carry up to 180 soldiers, 60-75 tons of supplies on each load, and vehicles as large as an Abrams main battle tank. Meanwhile, an Osprey can only carry 10-15 tons or thirty-two personnel. The only vehicle the MV-22B is certified to carry internally is a Growler jeep.

The Marine Corps, however, is increasingly convinced that D-Day style amphibious landings on defended beachheads are less and less likely to be viable in modern warfare.

Its not merely that they fear a bloodbath on the beaches of the sort depicted in Saving Private Ryan or Letters from Iwo Jima.

Strategists worry that long-range shore-launched anti-ship missiles will make it unlikely that landing craft, and even the larger LHDs and LHA carrying those landing craft, will be able to approach close enough to even deposit their troops in the first place. Surely, giant amphibious ships stuffed full with over a thousand Marines would be particularly tempting targets.

America-class LHAs can at least thin out threats up to thirty miles away with their two Evolved Sea Sparrow missile launchers before having to rely on Phalanx gatling cannons and Rolling Airframe Missile launchers and Nulka decoys for point defense. But none of these systems can even hope to stop anti-ship ballistic missiles entering service in Iran and China.

Thus, the Marine Corps recently abandoned its former objective of maintaining thirty-eight amphibious assault ships in service (it currently has thirty-two) which can deployed two full brigades into battle between them, in favor of dispersing troops amongst more numerous, though less capable, auxiliary and even robotic ships.

That may explain why the Navy prioritized the ability to launch additional troop-carrying Ospreys from over a hundred miles away which can land behind enemy lines rather than exposed beachheads.

But that doesnt change the issue of logistical throughput: if you need to rapidly reinforce a beachhead with heavy weapons, vehicles and supplies, landing craft are preferableespecially once nearby enemy defenses are suppressed.

The Ospreys themselves, while highly flexible, are also expensive to maintain and operate per flight hour. Furthermore, exhaust from both the Osprey and, especially, the F-35Bs inflict heat damage to the flight deck over time, limiting the advisability and increasing the cost of surging high-intensity flight operations over prolonged periods. The Navy has been continuously adapting the ships to prevent heat damage for years.

Therefore, in a bid to restore flexibility, the third America-class ship, Bouganville (LHA-8) which was laid down in March 2019 in Mississippi, will see the well-deck restored with a capacity for two LCACS. The island is trimmed down to allow more flight deck parking spot in compensation for lost hangar space. Armament and sensors are re-situated onto the vessels island superstructure, including a brand-new EASR radar also destined to equip future Gerald Ford-class carriers.

The new configuration inevitably requires tradeoffs. According to a chart at Navy Recognition, Bougainville falls squarely in between the Wasp-class LHD and the first two America-class boats with 38,000 square feet of deck space dedicated to aviation, but has less than half the aviation fuel capacity of her sister ships and more limited vehicle stowage.

Despite these downsides, the restoration of the ability to carry landing craft should improve the America classs flexibility. Still, naval planners will hopefully bear in mind the carriers secondary potential to serve as economy-size aircraft carriers for missions that dont require $13 billion supercarriers.

Sbastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring.

Image: Reuters

Continue reading here:
F-35 Stealth Fighters Are Now Ready to Launch From America's "Light" Carriers - The National Interest Online

The following are real estate transfers filed in La Crosse County. By law, some transfers are exempt from transfer fees; these properties are listed without prices.

CITY OF LA CROSSE

Losey & State LLC to VSC Corp., 2415 Cass St.

Keith Belzer and Lisa Metz-Belzer to Lisa Metz-Belzer, 1217 Charles St.

Margaret Anderson-Chiraghdin to Goehner Investments 1 LLC, 931 and 929 S. 16th St., 1601 Jackson St., $182,000.

Derek and Julie Nordeen Revocable Grantor Trust to Derek and Julie Nordeen, 1408 King St.

Derek and Julie Nordeen to Felber Properties LLC, 1408 King St.

Clifford Strand to Christopher Strand and Nicholas Wateski, 1317 Caledonia St., $42,700.

Morton Revocable Trust to Richard Morton, 350 S. 28th St.

Richard Morton to Richard Morton Revocable Trust, 350 S. 28th St.

Sandra Winterfield to Andrew Dayton, 1825 Weston St., $124,000.

Kelly Strutz to Chadd Heilman-Schmidt and Adam Schmidt-Heilman, 1403 S. 28th St., $174,000.

Theresa Knothe to Ross Knothe Supplemental Trust, 2603 Prospect St.

Debra and Robert Ekern to Jessica Ekern, 1516 S. 10th St.

Daniel and Joanna Leach to Gregory Lundstad and Kelly Strutz, 3042 S. 29th Court, $179,900.

Kathryn and Michael Frie to WGW Holdings LLC, 2817 and 2819 Hass St., $57,150.

Norman Suhr to Chris and Sheila Eisermann, 1023 S. Eighth St., $68,000.

Michael Deal to Jennifer Steel, 2042 Prospect St., $15,280.

Richard and Sally Egan, Patricia Snow to Patricia Snow, 1422 Redfield St., $42,174.

Jonathan Powell to Haley Shepardson, 2226 Loomis St., $112,500.

Diane and Robert Midland to Matthew West, 1916 Barlow St.

Kratt Lumber Co. to Lexi Logsdon and Francisco Marquezpalmas, 1003 S. 25th St., $272,000.

Hub on Sixth LLC to Eric and Virginia Swails, 415 N. Sixth St., $210,000.

Hawkeye LLC to PE Rentals LLC, 919 Gould St., $1,200,000.

New Beginnings Christian Fellowship Assemblies of God to Kellogg Investments LLC, 122 N. Fifth Ave., $253,800.

Alexa and Christopher Lowry to Castle Investment Group, 913 Green Bay St., $100,000.

CITY OF ONALASKA

Kaye and Stanley Brueggen to Emily Everson, 1110 Well St., $124,000.

Emily and Miguel Guerrero to Ashlynne and Zachary Knutson, 1324 N. Third Ave., $320,000.

Edith MacDougal to Laura Anderson and Kevin Sipley, 618 N. 12th Ave.

Harold and Shirley Berberich to Kevin, Kraig and Kurt Berberich, 1213 La Crosse St.

Anne Besl to Katherine Miller and Christian Tischer, 512 S. Oak Ave., $166,400.

Terrance Herbst to MWT LLC, 3716 E. Emerald Drive.

Maria and Matthew Runde to Timothy and Laura Johnson, 3333 Emerald Valley Drive, $920,000.

HOLMEN

JMQ Properties LLC to Megalyn LLC, 3053 and 3049 Red Clover St., $79,900.

North Country Contractors of West Salem Inc. to Jason Berger, $365,623.

Charlene Timm Estate to Michael Burkhardt, $40,000.

WEST SALEM

Amanda and Scott Scholze to Kelly and Thomas Surrarrer, $133,000.

Jeffrey Frawley to Alexander and Lauren Jaromin.

Kevin Aleckson to Aben Farms LLC, $195,000.

Michelle and Robert Miller to Alleck and Holly Olerud, $320,000.

TOWN OF BARRE

Agnetha Ames to Agnetha Ames Trust.

TOWN OF FARMINGTON

Rita and Timothy Miller to Kimberly Buchholz and Vong Xiong, $240,000.

Leon and Ruth Pfaff to Craig and Roxanne Jaderston, $1,500.

Sandra and Steven Paisley to Kyle Kirchner, $165,000.

TOWN OF GREENFIELD

Daniel and Timothy Schneider to Thomas and Tracey Albrecht, $155,000.

TOWN OF HAMILTON

Jerrel Schomberg to the Jerrel and Denise Schomberg Revocable Trust.

Aben Farms LLC to Kevin Aleckson, $195,000.

TOWN OF HOLLAND

Dustin and Rhonda Berg to Paula and Stephen Hueners, $118,000.

Michelle Kelly to Michelle and Stacey Kelly.

TOWN OF ONALASKA

Mark and Xiaozan Anderson to Michelle McElligott and Phillip Randles Jr., $437,500.

Lorraine Shisler to Richard and Robyn Shisler, $90,000.

TOWN OF SHELBY

Kathleen and Robert Hancock Sr. to Hancock Family Trust.

James and Diana Birnbaum Revocable Trust to Town of Shelby, $39,900.

Continued here:
Photos: 9 homes recently listed in the La Crosse area - La Crosse Tomah Journal

Following are recent property transactions recorded in the Loudon County Register of Deeds office:

Feb. 14

Lisa Wilkerson Sheman, Thelma W. Brown, deceased, and Frank P. Hughes III to Trever M. Branson, warranty deed, District 2, $101,900.

Terry C. Dysinger and Janett L. Dysinger to New Season Properties LLC, warranty deed, District 1, Toqua Hills, lot 6, block 16, $9,500.

Brian Edwards and Casey Edwards to New Season Properties LLC, warranty deed, District 1, Toqua Hills, lot 5, block 16, $7,500.

Kanzie Ngyuen, Hieu Nguyen and Joe Hieu Nguyen to Jonathan Shamblin and Stacey Shamblin, warranty deed, District 5, James T. Gibson, lot 1, $125,000.

Thomas Woods LLC to TW2 LLC, warranty deed, District 2, Thomas Woods, lot 14, $25,000.

Foshee Properties LP to Malissa Katherine Meadows and Katherine Lee Meadows, warranty deed, District 5, Eleven Estates horizontal property, unit 1, $125,500.

Dan. W. Loftis and Lezlee M. Loftis to Roger K. Frantz, trustee of the Roger K. Frantz Living Trust, warranty deed, District 1, Willington Place, unit 11, $182,500.

Roy Bryan Petett to DR Horton Inc., warranty deed, District 1, Cedar Grove, lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, $1,410,000.

Wendell C. Redmond, Jeannette Redmond, Jeanette Redmond, Janette R. Walker, Janet M. Walker, Jack Redmond and Suzanne Redmond to Wendell C. Redmond and Jeannette B. Redmond, warranty deed, District 5, Jack Redmond, lot 1, $25,000.

Kenny E. Baker to Michael E. Julian and Frankie R. Julian, warranty deed, District 3, $40,000.

Feb. 18

Tony Butler, Jim Cherry, David Johnson, Alex Sherrill, David Thompson and Jerry Watson, trustees of the Nashville Road Church of Christ and Nashville Road Church of Christ, to Michael Hall and Sheldon Presley, trustees of Greenback Church of Christ and Greenback Church of Christ, quit claim deed, District 3, 5 acres, Town of Greenback, $0.

Frederick T. Fehl and Sheryl W. Fehl to David L. Cunningham, warranty deed, District 1, Toqua Greens, lot 25, block 8, $326,000.

Jack Redmond and Suzanne Redmond to Candace S. Johnson, warranty deed, District 5, 5 acres, Jack Redmond, lot 2, $396,900.

Randy Wheeler Austin to Joshua M. Songster and Jennifer Songster, warranty deed, District 2, Randy Wheeler Austin property, lot 2, $245,000.

Randy Wheeler Austin to Jennifer Songster and Joshua Songster, warranty deed, District 2, Randy Wheeler Austin property, lot 1, $37,500.

Yvonne Toon, executor, Betty P. Hicks, deceased, Yvonne Carson, Thomas Anthony Hicks and Betty M. Hicks, deceased, to Volhomes LLC, warranty deed, District 2, Johnson, lot 10, $76,000.

AKJ LLC to Mashburn Home Builder LLC, warranty deed, District 1, Mialaquo Coves, lot 15, block 20, $4,000.

Shawn Travis Vineyard and Jimmy Paul Vineyard, deceased, to Wendell C. Redmond and Janette R. Walker, warranty deed, District 3, Fort Loudon Estates, lot 19, $212,000.

Don L. Franklin to John Matthew Little, warranty deed, District 3, Franklin Estates, unit 2, lot 41, $25,500.

Randall Sparks and Debra Sparks to Whitney Hawkins, warranty deed, District 5, Randy K. and Debra L. Sparks, lot 3, $90,000.

Steven Sloan and Natalie Owens to Lucas Aaron Saylor and Symarah D. Saylor, warranty deed, District 1, John W. Simpson, lots 9 and 10, $168,000.

Mary Ruth Dunsmore to Joseph Michael Dunsmore and Sandra Shaw Dunsmore, warranty deed, District 5, 21.21 acres, $85,000.

Feb. 19

Otis Riley Washington Jr., and Luther Cordell Washington, deceased, to John A. Kaprocki and Lynne A. Kaprocki, trustees of the Kaprocki Family Living Trust, warranty deed, District 1, Tanasi Shores, lot 6, block 12, $208,000.

Lori A. Orlando to Richard W. McLeod Jr., and Sandra A. McLeod, warranty deed, District 1, Tanasi Greens, lot 11, block 6, $395,800.

Paula G. Miller and James H. Miller to Richard A. Moore Jr., warranty deed, District 2, $209,000.

WR Development Corporation to Edward Toro and Denise Hardin, warranty deed, District 3, WindRiver, phase 2, lot 145, $347,900.

Virginia R. Tolbert, trustee of the Helen Margaret Rose Revocable Living Trust, and Virgil Rose Jr., deceased, to Bruce Burger and Gerri Burger, warranty deed, District 3, Fort Loudon Estates, lot 35, $425,000.

Feb. 20

Patricia A. Winters to Thomas R. McDermott and Sandra W. McDermott, warranty deed, District 5, Avalon, unit 7, lot 41, block F, $578,000.

Teresa A. Hightower to Justin G. Locascio, warranty deed, District 2, 1.27 acres, $240,000.

Johnna E. Pope, Morgan A. Pope and John E. Pope, deceased, to Richard Neal Hagenson and Shona Renea Hagenson, warranty deed, District 1, 21.18 acres, $130,000.

Cyndie Hill to Joseph J. Wallace, warranty deed, District 1, Roberson Springs, lot 13, $17,500.

Arlin Gurley to Leilani S. Doyle and Daniel J. Doyle, warranty deed, District 2, Thomas Woods, lot 6, $476,514.

Feb. 21

Wilson & Associates PLLC sub trustee, Frances L. McConkey and Theodore W. McConkey to Braden Cutshaw, trustees deed, District 2, Lenoir City, lot 20, block 14, $47,581.

Karen Graham to Madewell Homes LLC, quit claim deed, District 1, Toqua Point, lot 26, block 11, $0.

Darlene R. Moore to Darlene R. Moore and Luther A. Moore, quit claim deed, District 2, $0.

Magen Shedden to Magen Shedden, quit claim deed, District 4, 30.37 acres, $0.

Richard F. Fortney and Joni P. Fortney to David Osterman and Debbie Osterman, quit claim deed, District 1, Chatuga Point, lot 36, block 9, $0.

Gregory L. Jackson and Alice H. Jackson to Jerry Byrd and Diane Byrd, warranty deed, District 5, Avalon, unit 1, lot 48, $470,000.

Teresa Fay Primo and Michael Bivens to Kimberly P. Carman, warranty deed, Jackson Crossing, phase 3, lot 9R, $189,000.

Daniel A. Dunlap and Tina J. Dunlap to Macklin C. Allan and Rachel L. Allan, warranty deed, District 2, Hardin Estates, lot 27, block G, $172,000.

Albert T. Purino to Michael L. Patterson and Brenda Ann Patterson, warranty deed, District 1, Tanasi Shores, lot 3, block 2, $10,500.

Jerome Horvath to Teresa Primo, warranty deed, District 2, James Hamilton, lots 123, 124 and 125, $40,000.

Kenneth Hunt to Remoda Diane Burch and Richard Burch, warranty deed, District 1, .44 acres, $13,500.

Michael S. Murr, Debbie Irvin, Tom Murr, Sandy Patton and Reba Kathleen Yates Murr, deceased, to Michael R. Tessendorf, trustee of the Michael R. Tessendorf Declaration of Trust, warranty deed, District 1, 6 acres, $225,000.

AKJ LLC to Norman L. Holtz and Sharon L. Mitchell, trustees of the Holtz Mitchell 2017 Joint Trust, warranty deed, District 1, Toqua Coves, lot 27, block 6, $3,800.

Nick R. Seagle to Richard Gerstenberg and Mary Gerstenberg, warranty deed, District 1, Tanasi Shores, lot 13, block 19, $3,250.

Claudia Maria Hernandez to David Osterman and Debbie Osterman, warranty deed, District 1, Chatuga Point, lot 36, block 9, $5,000.

Link:
Property Transactions: March 4 | Business - news-herald.net

(MENAFN - Caribbean News Global)

By Caribbean News Global contributor

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent Presenting the 2020 budget last month, St Vincent and the Grenadines minister for finance Camillo Gonsalves noted that last year, the government introduced the Pedestrian Access for Village Enhancement (PAVE) programme funded through grant financing from the United Arab Emirates. Phase One of the PAVE programme began in late 2019, with physical works in many communities commencing last month.

'The PAVE access paths, walkways, steps, handrails, wheelchair ramps, and inter-village connections will markedly and measurably improve the quality of life, comfort, access and safety of the most vulnerable populations in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

'Many of our commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals to reduce poverty, improve infrastructure, build climate resilience and make communities accessible and sustainable are partially addressed by the PAVE programme. Over the two-year life of PAVE, the project will build almost 40 miles of access paths in villages across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,' Gonsalves said.

Addressing the issue of road repair and reconstruction finance minister Gonsalves requested Vincentians to identify a strip of roadway in urgent need of repair.

'Despite record expenditure on construction and rehabilitation over the past two decades, the condition of our road network remains a sore point. The generally excellent condition of our Windward, Leeward and Vigie Highways is belied by the uneven quality of the secondary and feeder roads that take most commuters to those main thoroughfares.'

Gonsalves further pointed out that 'the road network requires constant and very expensive upkeep, due to the mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall, and an upsurge in the number of cars on the road.

'In the last two decades, we have experienced an eightfold increase in the number of automobiles in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an increase that shows no signs of abating.

'As recently as 2013 and 2014, an annual average of 940 cars was imported to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. However, over the last four years, that average has shot up to 1,680 cars per year, a 79 percent increase. Last May, a record 263 vehicles arrived at Port Kingstown, an ominous harbinger of future traffic jams and escalating pressure on our road network.'

Despite all of those problems gazing Dr Ralph Gonsalves-led government, the Vincentian minister for finance said that the government is committed to maintaining the highways and roads in a responsible and sustainable manner.

'Budget 2020 allocates over $39 million to the repair and construction of roads and bridges this year, not including the $15 million subventions to the Buildings, Roads and General Services Authority (BRAGSA).

These resources and additional support that is being creatively sourced will form part of a multipronged programme of road repair, rehabilitation, and reconstruction, taking into account our fiscal constraints, the increasing stresses on our road network, and our desire to build back better.

'Two overlapping road reconstruction projects, funded by Kuwait and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), will spend $14 million on the reconstruction of roads in Belair, Benjamin Bristol, Brighton, Calder, Carriere, Chapmans, Colonaire, Copeland Mountain, Erie Hill, Enhams, Fair Hall, Gomea, Greiggs, Lammie Mountain, Maloney Mountain, Mongoyia, Ottley Hall, Palmyra, Richland Park, Sayers Village, Veryvine Mountain and Montreal Gardens.

'These represent almost 50 kilometres of roadway that will be repaired under this programme. While construction work on the Kuwaiti-funded rehabilitation programme began in earnest in 2019, it was plagued by administrative challenges that unduly lengthened contractors' approval and payment processes.

'The ministry of transport and works, in consultation with our Kuwaiti partners, has resolved these challenges. As such, we expect accelerated progress on these roads in 2020. Road reconstruction will also take place under the CDB-funded Natural Disaster Management Programme (NDM).

'Budget 2020 allocates $10 million to the NDM programme of works. Roads and bridges in Langley Park, Maroon Hill, Dickson Village, Gracefield Mountain, and Ferguson, among others, will receive attention under the NDM in 2020.

'In addition to the complete reconstruction of roads envisaged by the Kuwait, OFID and NDM programmes, BRAGSA plans a comprehensive campaign of patching and repairs to less seriously affected thoroughfares. The minister of transport and works will likely speak to this far-reaching patching and repair programme over the course of our debate on budget 2020.'

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Major infrastructure works underway in St Vincent and the Grenadines - MENAFN.COM

Clever feeding and bedding kit is helping livestock farmers shave hours off their daily routine.

Weve picked out some of the best ones from the many entries to our 2020 Inventions Competition

Check out the videos for some of the entries below too.

See also:Workshop tips: How to make the perfect MIG weld

David Boyd built a slick swing-down frame to ensure trouble-free calf feeding.

The first of two moving sections involves a box-section frame that can hold six buckets.

This pivots down to put the buckets in their feeding position and carries shields between each calf to prevent the greediest members of the group pilfering from their neighbours.

The second moving part is the headlock, which prevents fast-drinking calves from bothering slowcoaches.

It means Mr Boyd can get on with other jobs while the calves are feeding, safe in the knowledge that each one has sunk its allotted amount.

He can also quickly identify sick animals if they have gone off their milk.

Pneumonia was proving a problem for Nick Eccles hutch-housed calves, so he decided to assemble a circulation system that would maintain a fresh breeze through the accommodation, no matter the weather.

This, he hoped, would reduce issues on windless days when the hutches have a habit of getting stuffy, exacerbating infections.

The starting point was a solar fan, typically used to ventilate caravans, that was sourced from China for a meagre 25.

It was neatly grafted into the roof of the hutch, drawing stagnant air out and encouraging a fresh flow through the entrance. It also has a battery to keep it spinning on still days.

We have seen several cubicle brush attachments over the years of our Inventions Competition, but few look as polished as Andy Dymonds so-called Xtra Arm.

The first iteration was assembled from scrap found on his farm at Colyton, Devon. However, after fine-tuning the design, he is hoping it will appeal to other dairy farmers looking at ways to improve bed cleanliness and reduce instances of mastitis.

Its attached to the front of a tractor a two-wheel-drive New Holland, in Mr Dymonds case via a mounting plate that can be adapted to suit different models.

A locking pin at the top of the main frame holds the brush in its upright position when out of work. The pin can also have a rope attachment, allowing it to be pulled free without leaving the tractor seat.

Power is provided by a single spool, and brush speed is altered by adjusting a flow restrictor in the hydraulic line. A non-return valve means the brush will only spin one way, so it remains static as the hydraulic ram retracts into its upright, locked position.

Custom spacers allow the brushs working height to be adjusted as the bristles wear and there are three grease points for maintenance.

To take a little of the hassle out of handling sheep spread over a large area, David Devine from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, built a neat mobile race to tow behind his ATV.

His multi-use design incorporates a foot-bath and weighing crate and has the option of three-way shedding. It can also carry 10 x 1.8m and 10 x 1.2m hurdles on board.

He says the setup is particularly handy in the summer, when ewes and lambs are running together in small groups. It means he can send all the animals through the foot-bath and quickly single out the heaviest lambs.

A simple strap and winder allows him to raise the rear of the crate, making it quick to remove and refit the wheels.

The entire frame was built in Mr Devines farm workshop and the only components he bought in were the plastic foot-bath and the Salter clock.

Once the frame was completed, he had it galvanised, before fitting a chequer plate floor and 6mm stock board on the sides.

It took a few months to put together and cost about 1,500.

Eighteen-year-old Molly Robson built a feed hopper to slot in the back of a John Deere Gator, reducing the sheep feeding workload for her grandparents.

The container is strapped onto hooks on the UTVs rear deck, so can easily be taken out and put back in using a telehandler. Feed is emptied through a sliding shutter on the side.

Being 6ft 8in tall comes with its own unique set of challenges, especially when bending over to trim cows feet.

This issue has prompted lofty Ayrshire farmer Nigel Rowney to modify his 35-year-old Wopa cow crush to lift each one of the 600-strong herd 800mm off the floor to save breaking his back.

The crush is powered from the mains and runs a hydraulic power pack. There are four rams on each corner from various front-end loaders the farm has owned over the years Massey Ferguson and David Brown units are on two of the corners.

The animal walks on and Mr Rowney raises it via a little hand control button, trims the feet and then lets it down again. He reckons his design has saved thousands on anything brand new.

This year we can officially claim that the Farmers Weekly Farm Inventions Competition has gone global, with our first entry from Tasmania, Australia.

Dairy farmer Rob Frampton milks 400 cows and to put an end to having to pick up and manhandle heavy calves, he came up with a trailer that lowers to the ground using an electric winch.

The so-called Kaleeya Calf Carrier has a clever, but simple, design where the wheels are attached to a U-shaped frame that only has two permanent attachment points at the rear of the trailer body.

During transport, the front of this is clamped to the drawbar, giving the trailer a normal ride height.

But for loading, the clamp is released and the winch is wound out, allowing the front of the U-shaped bar to rise and the rear of the trailer to drop slowly to the ground.

Mr Frampton has also fitted one-way gates so he doesnt have to fiddle around with latches and he opted for a mesh floor, which gives plenty of grip and makes it easy to keep clean.

He says the trailer is also handy for fencing work, as makes it easy to load heavy rolls of wire. Mr Frampton put the trailer together in his shed and had it galvanised to make it last longer.

To avoid using tractors and trailers to block openings when moving cattle, Keith Maxwell built a set of cattle guide gates to help funnel the animals to their destination.

The sets weigh about 150kg and have three gates in, with a single span measuring 3.9m long by 1.4m high.

These are self-standing, thanks to some big feet at the base, but Mr Maxwell admits they work better when slightly staggered for extra stability.

Based in East Lothian, Mr Maxwell has made six sets in total and all are galvanised before use. Helpfully, he can shift them around on the front of the telehandler and each set can be pinned to a neighbour to make some long runs.

The metal needed to build a set costs about 100 and then a further 90 for the galvanising. Mr Maxwell tends to make the gates in his spare time and reckons it takes less than four hours to manufacture a full set.

Wanting to spend less time bedding cow pens without spending vast sums on an extra tractor, Cumbrian farmer Ian Cleasby has mounted a sand spreading box on top of his cubicle scraper to combine the two jobs.

The Scrapenser holds enough sand to bed more than 100 cubicles and is the right width to be loaded by a skid-steer loader bucket.

Under the sand is a hydraulically driven toothed belt to propel the sand into the cubicles, and the belts speed can be adjusted via a control panel.

A clever hinged design brings the contents at the back of the box onto the belt at the front to make sure all the sand is spread.

Cows can then return to their cubicles quicker and it can be run on any tractor with a two-way spool valve with the belt able to discharge from both sides.

Mr Cleasby is starting to sell these commercially after the first idea way back in 2003. The retail price is 3,900.

Raking sand in cow cubicles was a two-hour job each day for Richard and David Pike while looking after their 350-strong herd in Gillingham, Dorset.

Then they had the idea popped to convert the old Terex dumper that was sat in the yard without a job into a cubicle leveller. They removed the body and attached a full-width cubicle rake to the front.

It works from the same hydraulic feeds as before, with the arm cobbled together from an old McConnel hedgecutter.

Once the farmers had realised it was a bit of a game changer, they treated the setup to some new bushes and beefed up the design a little. It took a few days to build and saves hours of raking a day and .

James Small was having issues with cattle turning around when waiting to go into the crush. After realising there was nothing on the market to suit his need for a self-adjusting cattle squeeze, he set about designing and building his own.

The self-adjusting side squeeze can accommodate any size of animal consecutively without the need for manual adjustment.

The sides are set narrow and as an animal walks in, the boarded sides move and apply only light pressure on the animal.

Once the cow walks through, the squeeze returns to its original size, ready for the next animal. The springs that apply the pressure are from Mr Smalls defunct childrens trampoline, and the whole build cost about 300, labour included.

He says it works with four-month-old calves, right up to the biggest bulls on the farm, set within the Mendip Hills, Somerset. Since it was built, he hasnt had any of the 250-strong herd attempt to turn around and Mr Small says it helps to keep them calmer before going in the crush.

In a bid to speed up the chopping of beet going into cattle and sheep feed, Oliver Uffold, who farms near Craven Arms, Shropshire, created an electric pulping machine.

The starting point for the build was an old GHL chaff cutter, which he cut up and spilt the chopping rotor in half. He then remounted the two halves with the blades meshing and rigged up the driveline so they rotate toward one another.

This means the beet can be tipped into the top of the machine with a wheelbarrow, before being finely chopped and falling through a hole he cut in the bottom.

Power is provided by an electric motor that sits in place of the old petrol engine, and drive is sent to the first rotor via a belt.

Drive to the second rotor comes from a sprocket at the opposing end of the first rotor and the chain passes over an idler gear to reverse the drive to the second one.

Finishing touches included fitting a remote greasing bank for the bearings and installing weld mesh guards to protect all moving parts.

An integrated ramp was also fashioned out of an old set of twisted John Deere combine steps, making it easier to bowl the wheelbarrow up to the hopper.

According to Mr Uffold, the machine is significantly faster than the Bamfords Root Pulper they used to use and the finer chop makes it easier to mix in with concentrate cattle and sheep feed.

Regular inventor Marcus Tucker came up with a portable sheep foot-bath to speed up the treatment due to their spread-out locations around the village of Talaton, Devon.

He is a strong believer that sheep should have regular foot-baths, so he made a 2.4m race to accommodate the bath he already owned.

A no-spill wooden cover was added so it can be transported without spillages and, when the sheep dont need foot treatment, the cover can be walked on. It raises the animals up by 250mm to an ideal height for drenching.

There is a small race section that has a guillotine gate on the exit and a swing gate on the entrance. Handily, the whole unit can be picked up by pallet forks and taken to wherever it is needed and there is space for a couple of 25-litre drums inside.

It took a couple of days to knock up and cost about 600, including labour. The whole frame was made out of hollow steel box section and has been galvanised to protect it.

Dairy farmer Philip Davies has developed his own automatic flood wash system to keep shed passages, the parlour and outside collecting yards clean for his 220-cow herd.

He first developed the system for his milking parlour 19 years ago, but the latest iteration has added automated functions to eliminate operator input.

The setup centres on an 18,000-litre tank, which he mounted on 3m-high stilts in the shed. A 12cm Mono water pump brims it with recycled water until it is tripped by a level sensor.

In work, a double-acting pneumatic cylinder powered by the parlours compressed air system and engaged by a 24V DC solenoid valve opens butterfly valves on a pair of 35cm pipes.

The plumbing system is gravity fed, so when the valves are opened, a tsunami runs through the two 60m-long walkways. The same system also produces a strong enough flow to clear the 12m-wide collecting yard.

Complete automation comes by way of a timer-based control. It has two settings the first determines the times between washes and the second dictates how long the valves are open for (typically 30secs).

Mr Davies says the system produces a far cleaner finish than a scraper tractor and its a massive time saver, too.

In all, it cost roughly 6,000 to assemble one-third of which went on the pump.

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Video: Time-saving feeding and bedding kit inventions - FarmersWeekly

Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel and harder than diamond. Its also flexible and transparent. Graphene is also the best heat and electricity conductor. As can be expected, the research community is very excited about this wonder material, and the business world follows suit

The Economist magazine published an article in 2017 about the new commodity that was fuelling a lucrative fast growing industry. It predicted the possible need of antitrust regulator stepping in to control the monopolising the said commodity, similar to US government intervention to restrain Rockefeller familys Standard Oil Company in 1800s. Since this publication by the magazine, the topic has generated much discussion and Data is new Oil became the common catchphrase in conferences, public speeches and magazine columnists.

The basis of The Economist argument was the massive wealth created by data companies during the last decade surpassing the wealth of rich oil companies. There were six energy giants in the 2016 list of top 10 companies in terms of market capitalisation. They were Exxon Mobil (US), Gazprom (Russia), Royal Dutch Shell (The Netherlands), British Petroliam (UK) and Petro China (China). But none of them were in the 2019 list. They were all replaced by digital new kids from US and China whose primary assets are digital intellectual property and data. Seven digital companies, namely Apple (US), Microsoft (US) , Amazon (US), Google (its parent company Alphabet/US), Facebook (US), Tencent (China), Alibaba (China) were occupying the slots and none of the oil companies made it to the top 10 list of 2019.

Replacement for oil

However, with the rise of electric vehicles and the decline of internal combustion engine for transportation, a question arises whether The Economist magazine got it right. By 2025, the electric battery will become the new oil barrel as the world drives to electrify its vehicles. Then a question arises whether the new oil is data or graphene?

It is a fact that fortunes of data is yet to unfold. Raw fossil fuel in the era of kerosene oil did not become the wonder commodity until the internal combustion engine was invented resulting the proliferation of mass land, sea and air transportation. Similarly data will create its augmented wealth when companies develop the real art of monetising the data for business use.

While data companies continue to create wealth, the electric vehicles era will create new wealthy nations and companies. And these new wealthy nations will be the countries rich in natural resources which would be used to fuel electric vehicles.

Growth of electric vehicles

Electric vehicle enthusiasts believe that the era of the internal combustion engine is over. That means era of oil is reaching the end of its life cycle similar to coal automation cycle ended in mid of nineteenth century. The winning electric technology will be the one that allows power units to store energy when the wind blows and the sun shines, while being able to release energy that can respond to the swings in demand. The only widespread and reliable technology at the moment is the lithium-ion battery which is being widely used from the thinnest smartphone to the heaviest electric bus.

The lithium-ion technology has been around for a decade and its mass production and use have made it significantly cheaper over time. It does, however, have its shortcomings, one of which is its inability to store energy for long periods.

On a global scale, electric vehicle sales have a recorded 63% year on year growth in 2018. Figures in 2019 that are yet to be released would be even impressive. Not only electric cars but an electric air craft which can fly more than 500km have already been tested successfully. More electric vehicles on the roads will not only mean cleaner air, but better health and longer life-expectancy.

Cobalt and batteries arms race

Cobalt is used to create the lithium-ion batteries required for electric vehicles and energy storage. The mineral is used to produce lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars, laptops and smartphones. Critical to the construction of batteries, it has emerged as central to some of the industries set to determine the future. Roughly 10Kg of cobalt is needed to make an electric car.

The vast majority of the planets cobalt is located within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where a plethora of interested parties are engaged in a frantic contest for control over mining operations. DRC produces 60% of the worlds supply of cobalt. In 2009, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had an estimated $24 trillion in untapped mineral deposits, including the worlds largest reserves of Coltan and significant quantities of the worlds cobalt. The United States Geological Survey estimates that the DRC has one million tons of lithium resources.

Mineral looting in DRC

After Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundis successful 1998 invasion of Eastern and South-eastern DRC in the second Congo war (1998-2003), mass scale looting took root, according to the United Nations. While initial invasion tactics were still being worked out, military commanders were already making business deals with foreign companies for Congos vast mineral reserves.

Between September 1998 and August 1999, stockpiles of minerals were illegally confiscated from Congolese businesses, piled onto trucks, and sold as exports from the confiscating countries. An American mineral field executive allowed rebels to use his private Lear jet in return for a $1 billion mining deal (source: Wikipedia).

The Western mining companies rush to acquire coltan-rich land in the rebel territory of the DRC was a classic continuation of the pattern of exploitation for gold and diamond in late 18th and early 19th centuries.

US lost the cobalt race

On the cobalt front, China controls seven of the largest DRC mines. Over the past decade, China has systematically set about creating and securing global supply lines in strategic raw materials, including securing its own forward supplies of key raw materials and battery-ready high-grade chemicals for its electric vehicle sector, at the expense of the rest of the world.

Emergence of the wonder material: Graphene

Early In 2004, Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim, two physicists at the University of Manchester discovered graphene. At just the width of an atom, graphene is the thinnest material known to humans, and also the strongest. Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel and harder than diamond. Its also flexible and transparent. Graphene is also the best heat and electricity conductor. As expected, the research community is very excited about this wonder material, and the business world follows suit.

Graphene for electric cars and mobile phones

Many experts predict that graphene will become a key raw material in electric vehicle batteries for the next decade. Both synthetic graphite and natural graphite, in the form of the intermediate product spherical graphite, are graphite products used in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries.

In a remarkable local development, Ceylon Graphene Technologies (CGT), a joint-venture between Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTECH) and LOLC group recently announced about its plan to produce the worlds first graphene applied lead acid battery. Huawei has been tipped to release a smartphone with graphene-assisted batteries in the near future. The batteries are said to be able to charge fully in a matter of minutes and have an increased battery capacity and life.

The commercialisation of graphene is just in its infancy, but already dozens of new companies have been established to develop graphene based material, graphene production processes and other related activities. Several large and public companies (such as Samsung, Intel, Nokia, IBM and Sony) are involved in heavy graphene research. These companies may be on the forefront of graphene research, especially in high-end fields such as electronics and photonics.

Graphene in Sri Lanka

Like many other worlds bests, such as Ceylon Blue Sapphire, Ceylon Tea and Ceylon Cinnamon, Sri Lankas graphite is known to be one of the purest form of graphite on the planet with around 98% purity. It is sad to note that over a century, Sri Lanka has been exporting purest graphite in its raw form.

The Government recently 2020 announced the decision by the cabinet of ministers to approve a project for Kahatagaha Graphite Mine to develop value added graphite based products through private sector investments.

This is a great step for taking the country forward to prosperity through the wonder material graphite and its electric car powering era. Graphite mines were nationalised in the 70s by the United Front Government and Sri Lanka has the rights for the remaining graphite reserves which will be worth than oil in the era of electrics cars. However, out of our nationalised mines of Bogala, Kahatagaha and Kolongaha, Bogala graphite mine has been acquired by a foreign company.

That is an indication that the Graphene Rush had already begun in Sri Lanka more than a decade ago, as the German company GraphitKropfmuhl AG bought 90% ownership of Bogala graphite mine as way back as in 2005. It exports raw Ceylon graphite at a price less than $ 3 per kilogram and sell value added graphite in Germany at an estimated value of $ 2,000 per kilogram if not more.

Sri Lanka gearing up for the graphene era

The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government formed the Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology in 2012 as Public Private Partnership (PPP) which has been playing a pioneering role in graphene research, value addition and commercialisation in the country. Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology has private sector shareholders LOLC, Brandix, Dialog, Hayleys, Loadstar, Lankem Ceylon, and MAS Holdings. The first graphene and advanced material company in Sri Lanka, Ceylon Graphene Technologies was established in June 2018.

Gold deposits in Sri Lanka

In the meantime Professor Athula Senaratne, a renowned geologist and the former Vice Chancellor of University of Peradeniya recently announced the discovery of gold reserves in the Seruwila area.

How the West become rich

It is no secret how the West became rich and prosperous. In addition to many other reasons such as the innovations and inventions during the last three industrial revolutions, looting the rest of the world was one big factor. They conquered countries rich of natural assets to rob the wealth through military invasions and various conspiracies.

The West became rich and the countries which were the victims continue to be poor and people are imposed with engineered conflicts one after another as part of the continuous looting strategy.

The table shows the wealth worth billions of sterling pounds looted from only one goldmine in Witwatersrand, South Africa by the British during the Gold Rush within the very first decade of 20th century.

Right step forward

On the 27 last month the Government announced that it does not intend to sign the MCC agreement. The writer sees this as the right step towards safeguarding the precious natural resources of the country. Sri Lanka is rich of the purest form of graphite in the world and in a recent announcement, renowned geologist and academic Professor Athula Senaratne disclosed that Sri Lanka possesses a vast quantity of gold deposits. Land liberalisation under MCC would have weakened the control over sovereign land under which vast deposits of precious mineral deposits worth billions of dollars are lying underneath our sovereign land.

On 6 February Cabinet Spokesmen Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Ramesh Pathirana announced the decision by the Cabinet to approve a project for Kahatagaha Graphite Mine to develop value added Graphite based products through private sector investments. This is a great step for taking the country forward to prosperity during the wonder material graphene powered electric car era. It is said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a technocrat backed by professional advisors has well understood tech priorities to deliver his vision for prosperity.

On the 10 February 2020 Ceylon Graphene Technologies (CGT), a joint-venture between the Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTECH) and LOLC group announced its plan to produce the worlds first graphene applied lead acid battery. This will be done with the commissioning of CGTs latest plant to convert locally mined raw graphite to worlds purest Ceylon graphene.

These developments signal that country is in the right path to leverage precious natural assets to realise its development objectives. Sri Lanka should be smart enough to manage geo-political complexities and not to be another victim nation destroyed due its own valuable natural assets.

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Is graphene the new oil? - ft.lk

The New Orleans Police Department has released photos of porch priracy throughout Uptown. Contact the Second District, 504-658-6020, with any information on the suspects below.

3200 block of Upperline (via NOPD)

NOPD officers are searching for a suspect a package theft in the 3200 block of Upperline Street.

On Feb. 21 around 2 p.m., the pictured man reportedly stole the victims package from the front porch of her residence.

He may be driving a 2007 silver Chrysler PT Cruiser, bearing Louisiana license plate 593CHV.

3600 block of Octavia Street (via NOPD)

The NOPD is also seeking assistance from the public to identify and locate the pictured subject who is wanted in connection with a package theft that occurred in the 3600 block of Octavia Street.

On Feb. 20 between 4:51 p.m. and 5:20 p.m., the pictured individual walked onto the victims front porch, stole two packages and fled the scene.

3200 block of Upperline Street (via NOPD)

Two subjects were involved in a theft incident that occurred on Feb. 20.

The pictured man and woman were captured on security cameras walking on the front porch of a home in the 3200 block of Upperline Street, and seen stealing packages.

2400 block of State Street (via NOPD)

Another package theft occurred on Feb. 19.

At about 6:30 p.m., the pictured man was seen on video surveillance walking onto the front porch of the victims residence in the 2400 block of State Street and stealing a package from the porch.

4500 block of South Tonti Street (via NOPD)

The NOPD also is seeking to locate and identify a suspect in the investigation of a package theft that occurred on Feb. 14.

At about 4:10 p.m., the above woman was seen walking onto the front porch of the victims residence in the 4500 block of South Tonti Street and taking a package containing two 810 picture frames and a pack of footie socks. The suspect then fled the scene on foot.

Anyone with information regarding identity and whereabouts of any of the above suspects is asked to contact Second District detectives at 504-658-6020. Citizens with information that can help solve a crime are asked to call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.

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Suspects sought in thefts from Uptown porches - UptownMessenger.com

Citing a shift to its brewing operations and ongoing construction on Market Street, Bills Front Porch has closed its doors. Its owners plan to convert the space into a taproom and event space. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)

WILMINGTON After a nearly four-year run on Market Street, Bills Front Porch has announced it will close and convert the building into a full-time taproom and event space for the companys growing brewing operations.

The brewpup part of a Bills campus that includes Captn Bills Backyard Grill, a large sand volleyball court complex, and a new brewing production facility announced the decision Tuesday morning on its Facebook page. A new taproom is expected to open inside the building on March 17.

Bills is a family-run business, owned by John Musser and his daughter Brookes Musser, whose husband Donnie Stone helps run the brewerys operations with head brewer Jim Deaton.

The decision was based on two years of construction on Market Street that hurt customers ability to reach the location, a shift towards beer production, and a desire to condense business operations.

We made this decision based on multiple factors, according to the Facebook announcement. One reason is due to the opening of our production facility and continuing to shift our focus to the beer side of the business. We also took a hit with the road construction that took place on Market Street. During the three-and-a-half years we were open, two of those years our customers had to work really hard to get into our parking lot to come eat with us, which over time took its toll.

The decision was also made to condense the companys operations to spend more time with a growing family, according to the post.

The building is now planned to be converted to a full-time taproom and event space called Bills Brewing Co. Taproom. Taproom customers will be able to order food from Captn Bills next door, which will now offer Bills famous fried chicken, tater tot skillets, the Pub-Fil-a and other favorites from the original Bills Front Porch menu, or they can bring their own food.

The new taproom will be open Tuesday-Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m., Friday from 4 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Mussers also plan to host special events in the taproom, including beer dinners with local vendors, pop-up food nights, and weekly specials and events.

They also announced that Bills Food Truck will continue to serve the Wilmington area.

We thank you all for the support youve shown us and continue to show us and we hope to see you on March 17th as we open the doors to Bills Brewing Co. Taproom, according to the post.

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Bill's Front Porch closes, will re-open as taproom to support growing brewery - Port City Daily