Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Matt Caron Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 3:41 pm Related Content

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Westfield students had the chance Wednesday to get up close and personal with a sports celebrity.

Greeted with chants of: USA! USA! USA!, city native and two-time Olympic Silver Medalist Kacey Bellamy toured five schools, speaking with students of all ages.

It was just weeks ago that the dreams of Bellamy and the rest of the U.S. Olympic Womens Hockey Team fell short in Sochi, when they lost the gold medal game to Canada.

Bringing her two silver medals with her, she took questions and spoke about her Olympic experience.

She told 22News that she wanted the students to understand that its important to set a goal, pursue it, and to never give up.

Winning the silver medal, it was tough, but its a complete honor. Being here, seeing these kids on this homecoming smiling and just seeing how they make me feel; it brings it all into perspective. Its all about the journey, she said.

As for Kaceys dream, she said she hasnt made a final decision yet, but shes leaning toward taking one last shot at Olympic gold in four years. She will be 30 years old for those games, which will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea.

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Olympic star Kacey Bellamy back in Westfield

WHO WANTS TO BE A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT HD

By: erica manahan

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WHO WANTS TO BE A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT HD - Video

by Kaley O'Kelley

azfamily.com

Posted on March 12, 2014 at 11:04 AM

Updated today at 11:20 AM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- If watering your yard is killing your household budget, the idea of a desert landscape might be appealing to you.

Planting cacti might help because they don't need much water to survive. While they can be a nightmare for parents and pet owners, they don't have to be, according to master gardener Cesar Mazier.

"Opt for the Totem Pole Cactus," he said. "They're spineless and that means you can plant them around pools, really anywhere you might find kids playing!"

Mazier would know. He spent 16 years of his career at the Desert Botanical Garden.

He also says planting aloe will help to attract hummingbirds to your outdoor living space. Planting it near windows you enjoy sitting near is the key to creating a sanctuary you can enjoy inside and out.

That aloe should also attract lizards, which is a good thing if you're struggling to get rid of scorpions.

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Create a worry-free desert oasis and keep scorpions away, too

Pleasant Hill keeps 'marching' along. The recent rainfall has made our hillsides awash with green, even in this drought year of 2014. St Patrick's Day beckons and some people will be donning the green.

It is also the month where you will likely see the start of some major city projects costing a total of $33 million. That's definitely a lot of green!

I am not sure the luck of the Irish has anything to do with this (though I am the grandson of Irish immigrants) but nearly 90 percent or more than $30 million of the project construction costs are being paid from regional, state and federal grants and not the city's general fund.

Other communities are surely green with envy at the resourcefulness of our city staff in identifying funding for important infrastructure improvements without negatively impacting our budget priorities or depleting our revenue.

Here are some of the improvements that are underway.

Geary Road enhancements

This $10 million project, in partnership with the city of Walnut Creek, will improve Geary Road from Putnam Boulevard to Pleasant Hill Road.

The improvements will include the construction of continuous left-turn lanes, a bike lane and new pedestrian sidewalks.

The redesign of the intersection of Geary and Pleasant Hill roads, which has already begun, will be completed with gateway monuments identifying Pleasant Hill boundaries (more on that below).

Enhancements for Contra Costa Boulevard

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ViewPoints by Timothy M. Flaherty: Pleasant Hill roadway, sign improvements to begin

Our recent run of good weather has been perfect for getting out and enjoying a walk. We dont lack for quality parks in Gwinnett County I have four great ones within 20 minutes or less from my home but sometimes its easier, not to mention more informative, to walk around the neighborhood.

It gives you a chance to not only say hello to neighbors but to get a pulse of the area. You see who drives fast, who drives slow, whos driving something new, who has the best landscaping and who has the worst (Im always happy when it isnt me.)

There used to be a time when on those walks Id also see plenty of wildlife, mostly deer who called the unfinished part of the subdivision home. I previously wrote about those suburban deer, who have had to find new homes because of the human ones being added a bad deal for the deer but a great one for the economy.

Toward the back of the subdivision, near where a gate used to be situated to keep people from driving through the unfinished part, is a real sign. And it was a nice discovery the first time I saw it while on a walk with the dog. It marks the site where a new home will be built which isnt novel in a neighborhood that seems to be growing every day.

However, its not a for sale sign, but a for sign. The lot, you see, is for the future home of Sgt. Perry Haley and his family.

Haley was injured while serving in Iraq and Korea and is dealing with health problems due to a brain tumor. The house is being presented to the family by the PulteGroup in partnership with Operation Finally Home, a group dedicated to providing custom-built, mortgage-free homes to Americas heroes and the widows of the fallen who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedoms and our way of life.

Haley is a veteran, a hero like all the other men and women who serve our country. He has received several commendations, including the Army Achievement Medal, Army Superior Unit Award and Good Conduct Medal. He and his wife Autumn have three daughters, Georgia, Eva and Hannah and they will be present on Wednesday at 2 p.m. for the official groundbreaking at Barrington Estates in Sugar Hill.

Theyll get to see the site where Pulte Homes, with support from its trade partners and vendors will build, decorate and donate the home, which is expected to be completed by this summer. Sugar Hill Mayor Steve Edwards will be there as will folks from Pulte and Operation Finally Home. Presumably some future neighbors will stop by as well.

Programs like these that honor veterans are always nice to hear about, even more so when the donated home is in your own neighborhood. The Haleys future home is one I walk by often. This summer I look forward to waving hello, and to making sure their yard doesnt totally put my to shame.

Email Todd Cline at todd.cline@gwinnettdailypost.com. His column appears on Wednesdays.

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CLINE: A nice addition to the neighborhood landscape

By Jenny Barwise

Published at 11:23, Wednesday, 12 March 2014

People power looks set to win as plans to build a highly controversial wind turbine near Cockermouth are likely to be refused.

Nearly 30 people living at Gilcrux, Tallentire, Bridekirk and Cockermouth have lodged fierce objections against Fine Energy Limiteds planned development at Gilcrux.

They say that the nearby land is already saturated with wind turbines and another will only add to the misery that they bring.

Next week Allerdales development panel is being urged by the authoritys planning officers to throw the plan for the 77m turbine out, who say that the landscape and visual impact of the turbine would result in significant cumulative harm to the landscape.

Last year villagers hit out after plans for a six 328ft turbines at Tallentire Hill were passed. The turbines have since been built and the experiences of this wind farm features in the majority of objectors letters.

Alan Bateman, who lives at Newton House, Gilcrux, said that the six massive, ugly and very visually intrusive turbines spoiled the rural tranquility of the area.

Another turbine nearby will only exacerbate that intrusion, he added.

Another objector, Roy Stenson of Bridekirk, near Cockermouth, said: Being sited so close to the existing six wind turbines at Tallentire Hill farm can only have significant accumulation effect. It is a planning application by stealth coming so soon when the six at Hill Farm have only been on stream a few months.

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People power set to topple Cumbrian wind turbine plan

Houston Land Clearing Expert
In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that "the part of populace progress in a nearby setting may change from conclusive t...

By: Joe Tran

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Houston Land Clearing Expert - Video

Global Witness and Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) today welcome the commitment by the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to make any expansion by the British palm oil company Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) onto Jogbahn Clan land dependent on the approval of the communities affected.(1)

EPO has been accused by the communities of taking their land and clearing it without their consent.(2) In September 2013, community members were apparently beaten and detained by EPO security staff and the Liberian police on their way to lodge a complaint about the expansion to the authorities.(3) The company denied that it acted without community consultation or outside Liberian law.(4) The commitment by the President marks a significant victory in the battle for customary land rights to be respected.

"While Liberia desperately needs investment it cannot afford to do business with companies which trample over vulnerable people. By this decision, the President has shown that she intends to put her people first." says Natalie Ashworth, Global Witness. "The commitment by President Sirleaf to protect some of Liberia's poorest people is laudable."

British company, EPO, has two palm oil concessions in Liberia covering a total of 89,000 hectares. The company, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, took steps in late 2012 and throughout 2013 to expand its operations in Grand Bassa County onto land customarily held by the Jogbahn community.

The expansion of the company's operations would have destroyed the forests, farms and wetlands upon which the Jogbahn people rely for their livelihoods and food. In a response to a letter by Global Witness the company stated that it respects "the Liberian community rights and land." [sic] (4)

Communities reported to Global Witness that over the course of 2013 they were subjected to increasingly severe intimidation by EPO security staff. The intimidation escalated in September 2013 when 17 community members were reportedly beaten and arrested by EPO security staff and officers from the elite Liberian Police Support Unit (PSU). (5)

In a letter to Global Witness the company stated that "they were not involved" in the incident, had been "falsely accused" and they "never instructed or directed any of its staff or PSU officer to intimidate Jogbahn community members... at any time."(4)

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Liberia: NGOs Welcome President's Commitment to Stop British Palm Oil Company 'Taking' Community Land

KUCHING: The health and welfare of the people must never be compromised on the altar of industry and development, motor vehicles, large scale plantation land clearing or open burning and forest fires whether from internal or external sources.

Prominent social activist Dato Sri Ang Lai Soon, who said this, pointed out that financial considerations should not be allowed to take precedence over the well-being of the people.

That price is just too high, he added.

In a statement yesterday, Ang said it was rather alarming that in the year 2014, the public should still see a headline in a national newspaper on March 10, stating six areas in Malaysia record unhealthy air pollution index readings.

He said surely by now, positive action should have been taken by the authorities to bring this under control to fulfill their duty of caring for the health of the citizens.

Ang noted the Department of Environment had listed the main sources of air pollution in Malaysia as industries, development activities, motor vehicles, land clearing, open burning and forest fires.

He said since all could be controlled through legislation and enforcing strict adherence to that legislation, the quality of life of all citizens should, therefore, never be compromised in the interests of industry, development and other pollution-causing activities.

He believed a certain BMZ, a German concern, was commissioned to study Air pollution control for Malaysian cities: transport and industry from 2002 to 2006.

The context of this commission read Malaysias developments into a modern and sustainably managed industrial country requires a modern comprehensive environmental policy, including air pollution control.

However, he observed that with the recent headlines, it was patently obvious policy needed urgent bringing up to date with present day realities without prevarication.

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Ang calls for action against serious air pollution

The Indonesian National Police (POLRI), along with the Ministry of Environment, say they are continuing a crackdown on plantation companies that burn forests and cause serious smog.

National Police Chief General Sutarman asserted Wednesday that the police took action against three companies accused of burning the forests in their land clearing efforts.

Whoever [is] doing the forest fires that causes air pollution will be arrested. There are elements of deliberate intent by the offenders," he said. "So far we have found that offenders have come from both the plantation companies and the communities.

He added that 25 people are being investigated. He also stressed the Indonesian police are committed to ensuring enforcement for all involved.

Earlier, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono criticized the handling of the haze as not being fully resolved. The president said authorities must deal firmly with anyone found negligent in contributing to the disaster.

"Actually, the government, both the central and local authorities, has worked to overcome the problems, but not all have been fully resolved," said the president. "Frankly, I would say that the situation is still not good."

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) says starting fires to clear land is still common on the island of Sumatra.

The agencys Head of Data Information and Public Relations, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in a press release Wednesday that satellite observations show 145 hotspots in Riau Province.

Dense smoke from the forest fires has reduced visibility to only 200 meters in some places. The smoke is also causing air quality problems in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Air quality problems in previous years have drawn complaints from Indonesia's neighbors.

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Indonesia Intensifies Crackdown on Companies Starting Forest Fires