Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Published: Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 5:57 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 5:57 p.m.

New Hanover County is taking steps to transform Carolina Courtyard, located outside the main library downtown, from a degraded lot frequented by loiterers into a space that serves library patrons looking for reading or socializing spaces and children's activities.

The county put out a request for qualifications for the renovation and received three applications by the deadline earlier this month.

Paige Owens, assistant director of New Hanover County Public Library, said a committee of county and library officials is planning to review the materials soon and meet with potential firms in late October.

"We're looking for a company that shares our vision (and) understands the importance of the library as a place in the community and is excited about creative ways of extending that space," Owens said.

The plan is divided into three phases, the first being the most expensive. It involves creating an opening in the east side of the library on both the first and second floors. The first floor expansion will feature an enclosed children's story park accessible only from the inside of the library, topped by a second-floor outdoor deck for reading and studying, from which a stairway will lead down to the courtyard.

The second phase will add landscaping, seating for reading, and outdoor meeting space. The plan for the third phase is to open up the perimeter of the space for what Owens calls "parklets," small adoptable spaces that organizations can use to feature a design concept.

The courtyard is located at an advantageous spot to bring people downtown and provide a place for people to eat lunch, gather and meet and for children to have space for activities, Owens said.

That, she said, would be healthier than its current lack of purpose with people sitting there with nothing to do.

"When you have a lot downtown that's not built, it tends to have people just loitering," Owens said.

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County plans to renovate library courtyard

The unmemorable qualities of the 1970s often reappear in bathroom redesigns.

View this bath gallery here.

This one had a very cramped shower and toilet in one tiny box-like space, said Komal Sheth of Spaces Designed. With this outdated start, the master bathroom had a while to go to reach Sheths goal.

I wanted to transform a plain vanilla, dated bathroom into a work of art full of aha touches with seamless function and modern elegance, he explained.

The master bath previously sported the characteristic lights from the 1970s, as well as unsightly striped wallpaper. A lack of private toilet space and a plethora of brass and gold fixtures completed the outdated picture.

To create a sense of openness, the tiled areas were fitted with monochromatic shades of neutral color. The floors tan tone contrasts with the cabinetrys mahogany stained wood, which is dark enough to juxtapose the light palette without darkening the space.

I always have a Zen inspiration and influence in all the bathrooms that I design, said Sheth. I always want to give a spa-like feeling to the client.

The shower, which Sheth calls a work of art by itself, offers a contrast to the rest of the bath with linen tiles and a wall accented by a wave design. New shower fixtures and integrated lighting add vibrancy and visual interest to the canvas.

All of this is framed in a frameless shower to ensure an unobstructed visual treat for the observer, he added.

To maintain continuity with the linen tiles in the shower, the cabinets boast horizontal, subtle veining. Stainless steel hardware updates the cabinetry further and complements the new wood-and-stainless steel barn door to the bathroom. Lights placed strategically over the vanity illuminate the quartz countertop and mosaic tile backsplash.

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Work of Art

How To Quick Drain Your Sprinkler System
Step by step guide on how to quick drain a sprinkler system. With no steps skipped. fisklawnscapes.com twitter.com/FiskLawnscapes (719) 495-6300 As a full-se...

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How To Quick Drain Your Sprinkler System - Video

A couple of weeks ago I told you about the Skydrop sprinkler systemwhich usesyour soil conditions and local weather to better schedule when itwaters your lawn. That system was priced at $299. If you want a slightly less expensive solution, consider the Rachio Iro smart sprinkler system. Priced at $249, this system also mounts on the wall and can be controlled from your iOS or Android device.

The patent-pending controller acts as the brain of a landscape irrigation system, automatically adjusting to weather conditions and seasonality to use as little water as possible to maintain beautiful lawns and gardens. Iros Smart-Cycle feature applies water at a rate the local soil type can absorb to further prevent runoff and waste.

Installation is simple, just unplug your existing lawn irrigation controller, detach the low voltage zone wires and then mount the Iro to the wall, reconnect the wires and plug it in. Your Android or iOS device can be used to monitor or customize the automated watering schedule. For more info visit https://www.rach.io/.

Tagged as: gardening

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Rachio Iro smart sprinkler system keeps your lawn green while saving water

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Garage Removal Adelaide Contact AsbestosAdelaidecom on sbestos Sheds 08) 7100 1411 Asbestos Sheds - Video

Reuters

Militant Islamist fighters parade on military vehicles along the streets of northern Raqqa province, June 30, 2014.

Tufts University is the latest victim of an unfortunate name, having to rechristen its new student information portal due to negative connotations with the terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The Tufts Daily reports that the student portal had to be rebranded just over a year after it debuted.

Read MoreWhat's in a name? A lot, with the name 'Isis'

The portal was called 'iSIS,' which stood for Integrated Student Information System, and was launched back in March of last year well before the terrorist group was on the public's radar. 'ISIS' was replaced with the name of the student portal that predated it, SIS or Student Information System.

Read MoreIsis Wallet rebrands to avoid confusion with militants

The portal is used by students of the Boston-area university to check grades and register for classes. So far, it looks like the name will be the only thing that changes, with the system's functionality remaining the same.

For more on the story, click here.

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College sheds ISIS name for new one

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - SELLER: Reese Witherspoon LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA PRICE: $3,550,000 SIZE: .66 acre (with 3,053 square foot fixer upper)

YOUR MAMA'S NOTES: Reese Witherspoon and her Hollywood power player husband Jim Toth have been on a serious real estate tear the last few years, buying and selling a series of multi-million properties a clip that's lickety-split even amongst notoriously real estate fickle rich and famous.

In November 2012 she/they sold a multi-acre residential parcel in L.A.'s rustic-luxe Mandeville Canyon area to big-time movie producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall for $7.5 million. She bought the 2.53-acre property 2010 from whackadoodle action flick actor Steven Seagal for $6.9 and the Kennedy-Marshalls, in case any of y'all might be curious, quickly flipped the property for $7.535 million.

In late 2013 Miz Witherspoon sold a picturesque and picture perfect country compound in Ojai, CA, for $4.983 million to an as-yet unrevealed buyer -- she paid $5.8 million for the 7-ish acre spread in 2008 -- and six or so month later semi-quietly made her long time home in a discreet gated enclave in L.A.'s Brentwood area available for $10.5 million as well as an adjacent parcel for another $3.5 million.

Digital listings show the main portion of the estate encompasses two parcels that include a five-bedroom and 5.5-bathroom Spanish/Mediterranean-style mini-manse is currently in escrow and about to be sold to an unknown buyer for an unknown amount. (Anyone who knows the story should be sure to give Your Mama a digital jingle. Anyhoo....) Miz Witherspoon recently had the Vogue people over to her house for one of their fab 73 Questions interviews during which she roams the property, bounces on a sunken trampoline in the backyard, says she host pool parties every weekend and says she'd love to have all the female senators over for lasagna and snow-cones in the formal dining room.

The third parcel, as was first revealed by the long-legged gal at Trulia Luxe, was sold earlier this month for $3.55 million to a corporate entity that Your Mama would bet the farm is controlled by a high-end developer. The Witherspoon-Toths picked up the adjoining property in December 2012 for exactly $3,000,000 from the estate of Mark Harmon's mother, Elyse Knox, a former fashion designer and model turned actress and painter. We really don't know what the Witherspoon-Toth's original plan was for the property -- A tennis court, maybe? A guest house, perhaps? -- but at the time they bought it had an existing fixer upper residence of just over 3,000 square feet, extensive red brick terraces, lush gardens a swimming pool and a separate art studio/guest house.

Even though she has long-owned a mini-mansion in a gated neighborhood in Nashville, TN, in July (2014) the couple shelled out $1.95 million for 6.51-acre estate with a stately if down-on-her-heels, 1930s-era fixer-upper plus a much more modern (and architecturally prosaic) guest house next to the swimming pool. Property gossips went hog-wild just a few weeks later when it was revealed the couple's multi-year search for new mansion to call home in Los Angeles ended with the $12.705 million off-market acquisition of a not yet completed, Ken Unger-designed spec-built mansion designed in the low-key but decidedly swish -- not to mention celeb-saturated -- Riviera area of Pacific Palisades.

Given the couple's near ceaseless merry-go-round property portfolio, this gossip can't help wonder just how long before the they come down another case of The Celebrity Real Estate Fickle and decide they don't really want the new mansion in Pacific Palisades. Any of the children want to take bets?

Listing photos: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

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Reese Witherspoon Sheds Brentwood Compound

Jon Ostendorff, jostendo@gannett.com 2:28 p.m. EDT September 29, 2014

Mission Health System is expanding in Haywood County.(Photo: Special to the Citizen-Times, Special to the Citizen-Times)

ASHEVILLE Mission Health System has cut 130 jobs but the layoffs come under a reorganization that will ultimately add more workers, CEO Ron Paulus said.

The company next year will end up with an increase of 147 jobs to handle growth in outpatient services, he said.

We are reshaping our organization to meet the needs of our community in the future and there will be more caregivers at Mission next year than there are here today, he said.

The company will also raise prices for some laboratory services under the plan.

The not-for-profit started reorganizing months ago with the goal of cutting $42 million in costs year-over-year and growing revenue by $10 million. That goal increased by $4.2 million this summer to cover additional staff for mental health services.

The company operates six hospitals in Western North Carolina and ambulatory care offices with about 10,000 employees. The company expects $1.5 billion in gross revenue next year.

Like other health systems nationwide, it is struggling with declining state and federal reimbursement rates.

Mission also wanted to give its employees a raise next year.

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Mission Health sheds 130 jobs

NEW YORK (AP) - A federal immigration judge says his priority when dealing with traumatized children facing deportation is to create a kinder, gentler courtroom.

New Yorks assistant chief immigrant judge, Robert Weisel, told a City Council hearing Monday that he takes off his black robes and speaks to young children from the bench in a more casual tone.

Our objective is to lower the level of anxiety, lower the level of fear, because after all, when you see someone in a black robe, its very scary, the judge said.

Weisel testified before the councils Committee on Immigration, which is assessing the needs of children smuggled into the United States from Central America. The cases of more than 1,100 of them are pending before New York City immigration judges. Some face deportation.

Almost $2 million was recently allocated to cover the childrens legal expenses - $1 million from the city and $900,000 in private funds.

New York is the nations second leading state - after Texas - in receiving these children, some as young as 5.

Officials say many of them appear in court for the first time with no legal representation.

A coalition of not-for-profit groups preparing attorneys for the task include the New York Law School-based Safe Passage Project, which has trained nearly 800 lawyers in the past few months to work with the often anxious, vulnerable young refugees appearing alone before judges in a daily docket processing the cases.

The question we face now is how will we treat these children relocating to New York state? asks project founder and law professor Lenni Benson, who urges legislators to provide additional social workers and educators to integrate the youths into American society.

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said at Mondays hearing that on a recent visit to a courtroom, she was distressed to see traumatized children standing before a judge without a lawyer.

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NY judge sheds black robes for kids facing court

By Clayton L. Thyne and Howard Sanborn September 29 at 3:30 PM

Joshua Tucker: As part of our continuing collaboration with political science journals, the following is a guest post by political scientists Howard SanbornandClayton L. Thynebased on research that is forthcomingin the October issue of the British Journal of Political Science. In conjunction with this post on The Monkey Cage, the article will be available ungated (for free) for the next 30 days.

*****

This past weekend, the world was startled by images, caught in real time, of a Hong Kong in crisis. Police, protected by armor and gas masks, pushed forward into the throngs of students and pro-democracy supporters, through a choking fog of tear gas. Protesters, in large part students and other young people, stood firm with hands raised clutching cellphones, umbrellas (to protect from smoke and debris overhead) and cameras.

Students have played key roles in the various movements over the past century to check the power of abusive or unresponsive governments. Numerous scholars have detailed the decisive actions taken by students in different parts of the world. Over the past few years, we have seen students take the lead in protests against authoritarian regimes, be it in Tunisia, Egypt or, indeed, China.

Educational philosophers like John Dewey and Jurgen Habermas linked the provision of education across wide swaths of the population to the development of the values necessary to support democratic society. Dewey believed that students learned from their experiences; they could properly assess preferences based on their interests and develop, through repeated interactions, tolerance for the preferences of others. Habermas argued that the university had as much a responsibility to inculcate the cultural values of society as it did to provide students with the tools necessary for their careers. In addition, college students gained a political consciousness, aware of the outside world and their effect upon it.

If students, imbued with this political consciousness, played important roles in social movements that challenged institutions and authorities, what effect might this mean for the authoritarian regimes that go to great lengths to provide education to their citizens? In our piece from the October issue of the British Journal of Political Science, we find that the increased enrollment of students at the primary and university levels produces a greater chance that an authoritarian regime will transition to democracy. Put another way the more students that are educated under an authoritarian regime, the more likely it is that the regime will transition to democracy.

If it is the case that educated citizens living in these authoritarian systems agitate for regime change, one may ask: Why would a dictator ever provide more education to his citizens when this investment could lead to his eventual overthrow? Tunisia proves an effective illustration of this conundrum. Habib Borguiba, who took control of Tunisia after its independence from France in 1957, embarked on a program of liberal economic reforms to spur investment and instill a common, secular, Tunisian identity. These efforts led to a dramatic rise in the literacy rate and educational attainment, and a World Bank report from 2001 notes the widespread distribution of education to more people across the country.

As much as these reforms were successes of political will, they were also the seeds sewn for future unrest. Education to produce critical and productive workers is successful inasmuch as there are jobs for them upon graduation. Fairer provision of schooling to both men and women, as well as expansive connections to foreign cultures through the forces of globalization, instills post-modern values but also arms even more of the population with the tools and evidence to articulate high expectations for government.

It was, in part, this confluence of factors that undermined the authoritarian regime of Borguibas successor, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in 2011. Indeed, in our study, we find the authoritarian regimes that make efforts to provide education, equally, to men and women and permit those connections to the outside world see their chances of transitioning to democracy rapidly increase. We also find that economic conditions, to no ones surprise, have an effect on these chances, too; authoritarian countries are largely immune to the democratizing pressures of education so long as the economy is healthy. When the economy takes a downturn, a sign that opportunities for graduates have fallen, the number of enrolled students is a strong predictor of the fall of the authoritarian regime and a movement to democracy.

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Monkey Cage: Educating those who will overthrow you