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The secondSpider-Manmovie franchise died a quiet death on Tuesday night. News broke that Sony will partner with Disney in an unusual, rival-schools-united-by-fate arrangement that will bring the web-swinging superhero into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That will be followed by a standalone Spider-Manmovie in 2017, and then probably by at least one Marvel-movie guest appearancethat will last just long enough for Spidey to ask what an Infinity Stone is.

Long live Spider-Man; Spider-Man is dead! For this news almost certainly sounds the Sad Funeral Trombone forThe Amazing Spider-Man, a preboot saga that Sony had once envisioned as a megafranchise to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe.Amazing Spider-Manwas supposed to produce spinoffs, sequels; there was a time when Sony boldly announcedAmazing Spider-Man 3and4before2had even arrived in theaters. Butlast yearsAmazing Spider-Man 2underperformed significantly at the box office, proving decisively that people maybe only needed twomovies where Spider-Man fightssome kind of Green-ish Goblin-type.

There are already some reports thatAmazingstar Andrew Garfield is definitely out as Spider-Man. Sony did not immediately respond to EWs request for comment, but even if Garfielddoeskeep the job, its a fair bet that Spider-Mans future will pretty much ignore the tone and plot of theAmazingsub-franchise. Best-case-scenario, Sony and Marvel decides to just skip a decade of Peter Parkers life and let the 31-year-old Garfield act his age. Most likely scenario, Marvel Studios pays about as much attention toThe Amazing Spider-Manas it does to any movie with the word Hulk in the title.

This would be the time to mournThe Amazing Spider-Man, if there was anything in particular to mourn about. But future historians will mainly remember Sonys prequel duet as a rare example of almost everything that could go wrong with Hollywood in the franchise era.Amazing Spider-Manwas a trope factory for hand-me-down concepts.

The first film was an awkward attempt to simultaneouslytransform theSpider-Manfranchise into bothThe Dark KnightandTwilight. Here was an explicitly darker-realer-grittier Spidey than the Raimi filmsPeter Parker wears ahoodie, bro!but that realness was already approaching sub-Poochie market-tested Xtremity. There is a scene where Peter Parker demonstrates his new powers by doing rad skateboard tricks; the scene is set to Coldplay. Spider-Man, Skateboard, Coldplay; Spider-Man, Skateboard, Coldplay: Repeat it 10 times and it still wont quite make sense.

ButThe Amazing Spider-Manalso bears a strong resemblance to the bumper crop of YA-inflected romances that followed inTwilights wake. The idea to send Peter Parker back to high school wasnt bad; theres plenty of material in the comics, and the notion of an everyteen loser superhero feels just as unusual now as it ever did. Superheroes onscreen now are trending biceppy(Hugh Jackman, Henry Cavill, Chris Hemsworth) and uber-rich (Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark.) Why not bring back lovable, puny, relatable Parker?

ExceptThe Amazing Spider-Manopted to include some of the less well-conceived later additions to the canonSpider-Mans parents were spies or whatever!and in the process transformed lovable, puny, relatable Peter Parker into a sneering James Dean-chosen one. A young boy, left on his aunt and uncles doorstep, hunting down a mysterious Great Evil who killed his parents mysteriously: Some of this comes from the comics, but it still felt like J.K. Rowling deserved a co-writing credit.

There were good parts in bothAmazingmovies, but even those good parts feel weirdly emblematic of the failings of contemporary blockbuster franchising. The films caught Emma Stone at the specific moment that she became Emma Stone: Filming onAmazing 1began just a few months after Stones star turn inEasy A, feels in hindsight like a gift from an alternate universe where teen films trended goofy instead of moody. The year beforeAmazings release saw Stone in fine form, inThe HelpandCrazy, Stupid Love; in the months sinceAmazing 2hit theaters, Stone earned her first Oscar nomination, forBirdman. So her work in theAmazingfranchise feels like a particular black hole on a sparkling resum: An excellent actress struggling against all odds to triumph over material that was always going to turn her into a damsel in distress. Her chemistry with co-star Andrew Garfield was palpabletheyre dating, have you heard?but you watch the movies now and wonder if a bold bit of casting couldve just given us thesuperheromovie we all really wanted. Emma Stone as Patricia Parker, maybe? With Andrew Garfield as handsome emo-BF Glen Stacy, her dude in distress? It couldve been bad; it couldnt have been worse than what we got.

In director Marc Webbs defense, the films looked prettyespeciallyAmazing 2, which was shot on 35 mm film in some actual New York locations. The locations look great inAmazing 2: Your eyes turn to them, desperate to get away from whatever is happening in the actual movie. TheAmazingsequel tried to pack a lot in: Electro, the Green Goblin, the Rhino made appearances; there were endingteases for Doctor Octopus and the Vulture; Felicity Jones played a character who was maybe kinda sorta the Black Cat, which if youre counting makes two future female Oscar nominees just utterly wasted. Jesus Christ, BJ Novak had a cameo as Alistair Smythe, a B-minus level villain who built anti-Spidey robots!

Amazing 2ended with a tease for future films: A mystery man walking through a laboratory filled with evil supervillain hardware. Remarkably, insanely, this was almost precisely whereAmazing Spider-Man 1had ended. The intrinsic message of both movies seemed to be: Stick with us! Were almost about to start getting to the good stuff! In that sense,theAmazingscould be Patient Zero for encroaching Origin Fatigue: The sense that people might finally be getting fed up with the storybeforethe story. How many more times do we have to see Uncle Ben get killed? How many more times do we need to watch Peter hanging out with his best pal Harry Osborn, blissfully unaware that anybody named Osborn will probably go Green sooner or later?

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'Amazing Spider-Man': Requiem for the Andrew Garfield era

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Construction is underway for the largest geothermal residential community in the United States, inside Norton Commons.

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The development is building 1,800 homes using special geothermal heating and cooling, which makes use of the earth's natural temperature to keep homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

"The earth will maintain a constant 52 degrees so we're running that pipe down 400 feet, two holes manifold that pipe together and bring it into the house," said Jay Kaiser, director of sales and marketing for Corken Steel Product Company.

The geothermal system connects to a unit inside the house that builders say is quieter than the traditional air conditioner or furnace.

For new homes, it costs the builder about $18,000 to install this system, with a possible tax credit of 30 percent for the buyer. But Norton Commons anticipates significant savings on utility bills.

"You can save anywhere from 65 and 80 percent on your utility bills," Kaiser said.

That means if it usually costs $200 per month to heat a home, this system could slash that to as low as $40.

"It taps into renewable energy and therefore is green, and Norton Commons is well versed in green initiatives," said Marilyn Osborn Patterson, marketing director at Norton Commons.

"Our homeowners are excited, our prospective homeowners are very excited but also we've gotten a lot of positive feedback regionally and nationally too."

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Construction underway at Norton Commons for largest geothermal community in US

SAUGEEN SHORES-

The average Saugeen Shores homeowner faces a combined 3.09 percent increase for town, County and school board taxes this year - but that number could change if councillors add or cut more from the operating and capital budgets before final approval at the end of March.

That 3.09 percent total tax hike is an additional $87.63 this year for a combined tax bill of $2,919 for the average homeowner.

The capital budget which requires $1.2-million in taxes, and the $9.8-million operating budget are described as "stay the course' by Kate Allen, the town's Director of Finance, who said there are no new services and no major service level changes in a status quo financial plan.

Deliberations were tough according to Mayor Mike Smith who said they had to balance wants with needs in times of dwindling provincial dollars - $350,000 less than last year - and a growing wish list from citizens.

'We got (the increase) down there by deferring some things and cutting a bunch of things," Smith said after a four-hour budget meeting Feb. 4 that cut approximately $60,000.

For the town's portion of the tax bill, the budgets include a 3.87 percent increase which equates to an additional $48.36 on the average house assessed at $270,000. The town will collect $11.9-million in property taxes this year, up from $10.4-million last year

"I'm happy that we got down to where we are, and that's probably where we're going to end up," Smith said after the meeting.

Councillors voted not to borrow $1.3-million to begin implementation of phase one of the Port Elgin Waterfront Master Plan.

Vice-deputy mayor Diane Huber said with little or no discussion on how the proposed $1.39-million would be spent, the proposal was a weird one to even have here.., and was very premature.

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Compromise budget means a total 3.09 percent tax increase in Saugeen Shores- probably

A view of city wall at Chaoyangmen in Xincheng district of Xi'an and the layout of the office building inside it. [Photo/cnwest.com]

A four-story office complex built inside a renovated section of the ancient city wall in China's northwestern city of Xi'an has sparked preservation concerns.

An article posted on the provincial government publicity department's website claimed that a section of the ancient wall had been hollowed out to make way for the office complex.

The story drew much criticism, especially as local authorities had been working toward securing world cultural heritage status for the wall.

The modern office complex features conference rooms, offices, a dining hall and a rehearsal hall. It is used by the administration's committee for the Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area.

The report quoted a city preservation expert, who said the construction work had damaged the cultural relic.

However, officials from the committee were of a different opinion.

Since the early 1980s, the Xi'an government has initiated restoration projects for the 13.74-km-long ancient city wall, as it has been seriously damaged throughout its 600-year history. As a result many of the wall's multiple breaches, or hollow caves, have been filled in.

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Building in ancient city wall sparks controversy

Aurora Health Care, the city of Sheboygan and the Sheboygan Area School District announced today plans for a new $81.4 million Aurora outpatient surgery center and medical office building along with the construction of upgraded baseball, soccer and football fields.

The surgery center and medical office building will be located on the northwest corner of Taylor Street and Saemann Avenue in Sheboygan. Plans are still being finalized, but the facilities at this point are anticipated to be 120,000 square feet to 140,000 square feet, according to Dave Graebner, president of Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center.

Pending approval, the surgery center and medical office building are expected to be completed in 2018, Graebner said. Sixteen to 20 physicians will work at the new facilities, and an unspecified number of employees will be hired.

The new facilities will be located at the site of the Sheboygan Area School District Field of Dreams. (The $81.4 million includes the cost of the land.) Consequently, Aurora will invest another $5 million toward the development and upgrade of the Field of Dreams recreation facilities being relocated.

The surgery center and medical office building are needed, according to Aurora spokesman Adam Beeson, because Auroras hospital and main clinic are at capacity.

Aurora is dedicated to the health and wellness of this community, and we are excited to invest in the future of Sheboygan, Graebner said. Our medical campus has been operating at capacity for many years. This multi-faceted proposal will expand patient access to high-quality health care and have a significant positive impact on Sheboygan.

Added Don Hammond, president of the Sheboygan Common Council: This is great news for the city of Sheboygan and the future generations of our community. Todays proposal is an example of dedicated community partners working together to find creative solutions and long-term benefits for our city.

Two upgraded baseball and soccer fields will be moved to the northeast corner of Taylor Drive and Saemann Avenue, and a 54-acre youth sports complex will be developed at The Butzen Farm property on the south side of Sheboygan. (The property was previously donated to the city for recreational use.)

Additionally, the existing baseball field at Roosevelt Park will be upgraded, and the community gardens (currently located at Taylor Street and Saemann Avenue) will be relocated to property next to Optimist Park.

We are happy to work with Aurora as they expand in our community in a way that will benefit the local economy, said David Gallianetti, president of the Sheboygan Area School District board of education. There are many winners in this project.

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Aurora to build $80 million-plus surgery center, medical building

A takedown of corrupt city inspectors Tuesday uncovered a disturbing pattern: The officials routinely took cash to look the other way on serious building code violations, authorities said.

By late Tuesday morning, 49 of 50 defendants were in custody, paraded out of the 1st Precinct stationhouse in Tribeca in handcuffs for arraignment on a variety of corruption charges in multiple schemes dating back to 2012.

The case involved payment of $450,000 in bribes, with city Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters describing a widespread network of corruption in the construction industry and the workers charged with keeping that industry safe.

Among the overlooked violations were some that presented real safety threat, said Peters.

The tainted crew included eight building inspectors, two Buildings Department borough chiefs, five Housing Preservation and Development inspectors, and a Small Business Services employee, according to a source familiar with the case.

Also arrested were multiple contractors and property owners or managers. A handful of defendants are associated with the mob, the source said.

Among the first defendants arraigned was a suspect accused of paying $600 in bribes to expedite delivery of city permits. The hulking suspect entered a not guilty plea, and left the courtroom without saying a word.

Prosecutors, as the arraignments continued, detailed cash payments and wiretap evidence involving the defendants. Buildings inspector Derick St. Rose advised ... developers on how to beat the system, said an assistant district attorney.

One building inspector arrested a month ago by the city Department of Investigation and the NYPD was caught with cocaine and guns, a source said. The worker was in city uniform and getting into a city car, where cops discovered bags of cocaine packaged for apparent sale. A search of this worker's home then turned up illegal firearms, the source said.

The investigation began two years ago and over time investigators uncovered multiple unrelated schemes an indication of just how pervasive the bribe-taking was.

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NYC building inspectors surrender to cops in bribery scheme

Comparing commercial to residential construction is like comparing apples to oranges.

But a downward trend of big builds over six years means much less green in the regional district's building permit basket.

During the years of boom, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) built up reserves when the service's building inspectors were occupied with engineering or architectural plans, and on the road field checking industrial and commercial sites stretching from Ross Spur to Big White.

With that money stream drying up, save for mostly homeowner renovations, the regional district is looking at ways to sustain its building inspection service.

The department provides building inspection services to all five electoral areas and on a contract basis, to six municipalities.

Two RDKB building inspectors are based in Grand Forks, and three in the Trail office.

The regional district is contracted by each municipality to ensure that all buildings conform to the B.C. Building Code and applicable bylaws.

A sizeable revenue reserve was established to offset taxation when construction activity was very high at Big White and elsewhere in the region, explains Mark Andison, RDKB's general manager of operations. But, with lesser building activity over the past few years (since 2008), that reserve has been depleted.

The service's year-end report shows a decrease of 50 permits since 2013. The combined total construction value amounts to $16.6 million compared to $33.8 million the year previous, within RDKB's rural areas and municipal participants in Fruitvale, Montrose, Trail, Warfield, Greenwood and Midway.

While that number appears dramatic, locally there's more to the service than dollar signs.

Excerpt from:
Construction decline has RDKB reviewing building service

Video footage may hold the key to identifying two men who smashed a window at a rural petrol station only to find an empty ATM machine inside.

Five staff at the West Melton BP petrol station, west of Christchurch, spent three hours cleaning up shattered glass after the incident about 5am Sunday.

The store owner, who would only go by the name Diane, said video surveillance showed the two men smashing a store window to access the ATM machine.

The piercing alarm forced them to flee, without taking any items, in what police believe was a stolen ute. The vehicle was later torched near Weedons Ross Rd.

The identities of the perpetrators was not initially obvious on camera footage, but Diane hoped police could "clean it up".

She believed there may have been a third person involved waiting in another vehicle.

Constable Bryan McQueen, of Rolleston, confirmed police were investigating the incident.

He urged anyone with information to call police on (03) 347 9248 or anonymously on Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

- The Press

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West Melton break-in caught on video

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