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After two years of study, the city of Cupertino has updated city policy for dealing with protected trees.

On Nov. 18 the city council unanimously approved an update to its city tree ordinance that will affect how residents and applicants will need to work with city hall to remove certain protected trees.

Before the update, the ordinance required all removed specimen trees to be replaced with a tree based on the value and size of the removed trees. All specimen trees that are less than 12 inches in diameter are exempted from the process.

The resident or applicant has the option of paying an in-lieu fee only in cases where the physical planting of replacement trees was deemed to be infeasible by a professional arborist, according to the Nov. 18 city staff report.

The ordinance has been updated to allow the applicant and property owner the option of planting the replacement tree or paying an in-lieu fee at 1.5 times the cost of planting the replacement tree.

Tree-removal permits are needed for specimen trees between 13 inches and 24 inches in diameter in most zoning districts. In all zoning districts, where the planting of an on-site replacement tree is physically infeasible, the required in-lieu fee shall be equivalent to the cost of labor materials.

Protected specimen trees include: the California Buckeye, Big Leaf Maple, Deodar Cedar, Blue Atlas Cedar, Western Sycamore, and Bay Laurel.

There will be a second reading of the ordinance at the next city council meeting, likely on Dec. 2. During the second reading, the council and staff will give additional consideration for the listing of the Bay Laurel on the specimen tree list. The council could consider keeping the tree on the list, removing it, replacing it with the London Plane tree, or replacing it with another species entirely, according to the director of community development's report to the planning commission.

The Bay Laurel could be eliminated from the list because it is known to carry Anthracnose Fungus, a disease that can kill nearby oak trees. The city arborist is recommending that the that London Plane be added to the specimen list, because it is similar to Western Sycamore in physical form and water usage properties, according to city staff.

Since 2012, the city and the five-member council have been working routinely on tinkering with how the city and residents interact with public and protected trees. In March 2013, the council amended the city's tree ordinance to clarify references to public street trees and to modify penalties from a misdemeanor to infraction for cutting a public tree.

See original here:
Cupertino: New tree ordinance gives residents more options

After two years of study, the city of Cupertino has updated city policy for dealing with protected trees.

On Nov. 18 the city council unanimously approved an update to its city tree ordinance that will affect how residents and applicants will need to work with city hall to remove certain protected trees.

Before the update, the ordinance required all removed specimen trees to be replaced with a tree based on the value and size of the removed trees. All specimen trees that are less than 12 inches in diameter are exempted from the process.

The resident or applicant has the option of paying an in-lieu fee only in cases where the physical planting of replacement trees was deemed to be infeasible by a professional arborist, according to the Nov. 18 city staff report.

The ordinance has been updated to allow the applicant and property owner the option of planting the replacement tree or paying an in-lieu fee at 1.5 times the cost of planting the replacement tree.

Tree-removal permits are needed for specimen trees between 13 inches and 24 inches in diameter in most zoning districts. In all zoning districts, where the planting of an on-site replacement tree is physically infeasible, the required in-lieu fee shall be equivalent to the cost of labor materials.

Protected specimen trees include: the California Buckeye, Big Leaf Maple, Deodar Cedar, Blue Atlas Cedar, Western Sycamore, and Bay Laurel.

There will be a second reading of the ordinance at the next city council meeting, likely on Dec. 2. During the second reading, the council and staff will give additional consideration for the listing of the Bay Laurel on the specimen tree list. The council could consider keeping the tree on the list, removing it, replacing it with the London Plane tree, or replacing it with another species entirely, according to the director of community development's report to the planning commission.

The Bay Laurel could be eliminated from the list because it is known to carry Anthracnose Fungus, a disease that can kill nearby oak trees. The city arborist is recommending that the that London Plane be added to the specimen list, because it is similar to Western Sycamore in physical form and water usage properties, according to city staff.

Since 2012, the city and the five-member council have been working routinely on tinkering with how the city and residents interact with public and protected trees. In March 2013, the council amended the city's tree ordinance to clarify references to public street trees and to modify penalties from a misdemeanor to infraction for cutting a public tree.

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Cupertino leaves residents with options in new tree ordinance

Forest Garden - Overlap, Dip Treated, Pent Sheds
Forest Garden #39;s pent sheds are ideal for use when height is at a premium due to the pent design, giving extra head room inside.

By: ForestGarden2011

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Forest Garden - Overlap, Dip Treated, Pent Sheds - Video

Forest Garden - Overlap, Dip Treated, Reverse Apex Sheds
Forest Garden #39;s range of reverse apex sheds are available in a range of sizes suitable for any size garden, whatever your needs. Radio 4 #39;s Matthew Biggs talks through the benefits and clever...

By: ForestGarden2011

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Forest Garden - Overlap, Dip Treated, Reverse Apex Sheds - Video

Forest Garden - Shiplap and Dip Treated Apex Sheds
Forest Garden #39;s sheds have many fantastic features, making them long lasting and practical for all kinds of garden storage. Radio 4 #39;s Matthew Biggs talks through the benefits of our wooden apex sheds.

By: ForestGarden2011

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Forest Garden - Shiplap and Dip Treated Apex Sheds - Video

Underwater robot sheds new light on Antarctic sea ice
The first detailed, high-resolution 3-D maps of Antarctic sea ice have been developed using an underwater robot. Scientists from the UK, USA and Australia say the new technology provides accurate...

By: AntarcticSurvey

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Underwater robot sheds new light on Antarctic sea ice - Video

The first detailed, high-resolution 3-D maps of Antarctic sea ice have been developed using an underwater robot. Scientists from the UK, USA and Australia say the new technology provides accurate ice thickness measurements from areas that were previously too difficult to access.

The results, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience (Monday 24 November 2014), step up the pace of research in the polar regions aimed at understanding the dramatic sea ice changes in the context of climate change.

Scientists use a range of technologies and techniques to measure sea ice thickness. Satellite observations can measure large-scale thickness from space, but interpreting the data accurately can be difficult due to snow cover on the ice. Measurements made on the sea ice by drilling holes, together with visual observations from ships are critical for building a more complete picture, but difficulties in getting access to thicker areas of sea ice leaves gaps in the data. Now, with the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) known as SeaBED, scientists have an invaluable new tool to fill this gap.

While most oceanographic survey instruments look down at the seafloor, SeaBED was fitted with an upward-looking sonar in order to measure and map the underside of sea ice floes. The AUV operated at a depth of 20 to 30 meters and was driven in a lawnmower pattern. These lines of data were merged to form high-resolution 3D bathymetric surveys of the underside of the ice.

The yellow SeaBED robot, which is approximately two meters long and weighs nearly 200 kilograms, has a twin-hull design that gives the robot enhanced stability for low-speed photographic surveys.

"Putting an AUV together to map the underside of sea ice is challenging from a software, navigation and acoustic communications standpoint," says Hanumant Singh, an engineering scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) whose lab designed, built and operated the AUV.

"SeaBED's maneuverability and stability made it ideal for this application where we were doing detailed floe-scale mapping and deploying, as well as recovering in close-packed ice conditions. It would have been tough to do many of the missions we did, especially under the conditions we encountered, with some of the larger vehicles."

Co-author Dr Guy Williams from Institute of Antarctic and Marine Science adds:

"The full 3-D topography of the underside of the ice provides a richness of new information about the structure of sea ice and the processes that created it. This is key to advancing our models particularly in showing the differences between Arctic and Antarctic sea ice."

The data from SeaBED, combined with airborne measurements of sea-ice surface elevation, ice coring surveys, and satellite observations, vastly improves scientists' estimates of ice thickness and total sea ice volume.

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Underwater robot sheds new light on thick, deformed, Antarctic sea ice

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Nov-2014

Contact: Athena Dinar amdi@bas.ac.uk 44-012-232-21441 British Antarctic Survey @BAS_News

The first detailed, high-resolution 3-D maps of Antarctic sea ice have been developed using an underwater robot. Scientists from the UK, USA and Australia say the new technology provides accurate ice thickness measurements from areas that were previously too difficult to access.

The results, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience (Monday 24 November 2014), step up the pace of research in the polar regions aimed at understanding the dramatic sea ice changes in the context of climate change.

Scientists use a range of technologies and techniques to measure sea ice thickness. Satellite observations can measure large-scale thickness from space, but interpreting the data accurately can be difficult due to snow cover on the ice. Measurements made on the sea ice by drilling holes, together with visual observations from ships are critical for building a more complete picture, but difficulties in getting access to thicker areas of sea ice leaves gaps in the data. Now, with the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) known as SeaBED, scientists have an invaluable new tool to fill this gap.

While most oceanographic survey instruments look down at the seafloor, SeaBED was fitted with an upward-looking sonar in order to measure and map the underside of sea ice floes. The AUV operated at a depth of 20 to 30 meters and was driven in a lawnmower pattern. These lines of data were merged to form high-resolution 3D bathymetric surveys of the underside of the ice.

The yellow SeaBED robot, which is approximately two meters long and weighs nearly 200 kilograms, has a twin-hull design that gives the robot enhanced stability for low-speed photographic surveys.

"Putting an AUV together to map the underside of sea ice is challenging from a software, navigation and acoustic communications standpoint," says Hanumant Singh, an engineering scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) whose lab designed, built and operated the AUV.

"SeaBED's maneuverability and stability made it ideal for this application where we were doing detailed floe-scale mapping and deploying, as well as recovering in close-packed ice conditions. It would have been tough to do many of the missions we did, especially under the conditions we encountered, with some of the larger vehicles."

See the article here:
Underwater robot sheds new light on Antarctic sea ice

Biz Markie in 2014 (left) and 2011

*Nobody beats the Biznot even a diagnosis of diabetes, if the rapper has anything to say about it.

Biz Markie, 50, told ABC News that hes dropped 140 pounds over the last three years after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

I wanted to live, he told the network. Since I have to be a diabetic, if I didnt make the changes, it was going to make the diabetes worse. Im trying to get off [the diabetes medication]. The way you gotta do it is lose the weight. Im off half my meds, I just got to get off the rest.

At the time of the diagnosis, doctors told Markie that he was going to have to start living a healthier lifestyle if he wanted to overcome the disease.

They said I could lose my feet, he said. They said I could lose body parts. A lot of things could happen.

Rapper Biz Markie attends the 20th Century Fox presentation during Comic-Con International 2014 at San Diego Convention Center on July 25, 2014 in San Diego, California

Markies new lifestyle hasnt just been a boon to his health, its also made him a better performer.

When I used to be on stage, I used to be out of breath, I couldnt walk that far, he said. Now, I got so much energy. I can do a whole show.

Biz hopes to drop 10 more pounds next year.

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Biz Markie Sheds 140 Lbs after Diabetes Diagnosis: I Wanted to Live

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, more than one in five fatal crashes involves a drowsy driver.

An example of those dangers recently played out in Berks County.

On Wednesday, a Lehigh County man and a Berks County woman were killed and nine others injured after a tractor trailer plowed into several cars on Route 222 in Maidencreek Township.

Jeremy Augustine, 23, of Emmaus, and 32-year-old Jane Harakal of Topton both died.

The tractor trailer driver accused of causing it, 49-year-old Steven Bernier of Reading, remains jailed on homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter charges. Bernier was allegedly asleep at the wheel.

Back in January, it was a similar incident when a truck driver plowed through one of the toll booths on Interstate 78 coming from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.

Fifty-five-year-old Robert Gawne was charged with homicide by vehicle after police say he fell asleep at the wheel while approaching the I-78 toll plaza in Williams Township, Northampton County.

Officials say his truck was airborne, landed on a car and hit the toll booth before bursting into flames. The driver of the car, Daniel Murphy of Hackettstown, N.J., was killed.

Asif Aslam owns and operates Advance Driving School in Lehigh Valley and says truck drivers should listen to their bodies to avoid collisions.

"As professional drivers, they have to meet some deadlines. They have long distances to travel. They need to stop often," Aslam said. "They need to take enough breaks."

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Local tragedy sheds light on drowsy-driving epidemic