text:
SPCA will use $500,000 state grant on $4.5 million new shelter
Charles Megginson July 26, 2021 Government, Headlines
This artist's rendering shows the design for the Brandywine Valley SPCA's new lobby.
The Brandywine Valley SPCA is preparing to move its New Castle operations to a new facility on Churchmans Road, thanks in part to a $500,000 grant included in the bond bill passed by the General Assembly in June.
The new facility will replace its current Old New Castle campus with a larger state-of-the-art shelter and low-cost veterinary clinic.
The total cost for the project is around $4.5 million. The organization currently has raised around $3.2 million, including the $500,000 allocated in the bond bill.
The SPCA's state grant was included among the $70 million community reinvestment projects listed in a record $1.36 billion 2022, thanks to the projection of an unexpected $1 billion-plus surplus.
The Bond Bill pays for one-time construction and infrastructure expenses, including road work, school buildings and more. The community reinvestment projects are chosen by legislators for their districts. Several animal shelters received funds.
The current SPCA campus at 600 South Street opened in 2016 after the BVSPCA leased and renovated a lumber warehouse.
Once completed, the new campus will feature the state's first shelter intensive care unit, double the organization's capacity to treat and spay/neuter family pets, and improve the housing and quality of life for shelter animals waiting to be adopted.
BVSPCA has already started retrofitting the 12,268 square foot property and plans to add an additional 7,658 square feet of shelter space.
The new SPCA building will include a catio — a patio just for cats waiting for adoption.
"This new facility will go beyond addressing the limitations of our current New Castle Campus to become the largest and most comprehensive of our four campuses," said Adam Lamb, the organization's CEO.
According to a press release, the new facility will allow shelter animals to benefit from larger, more comfortable housing.
"Every adoptable dog will enjoy an indoor/outdoor kennel and outdoor play yards not feasible in the current location in Old New Castle," It said. "Cat housing will double, and the shelter cats will have an outdoor catio."
The new intensive care unit will allow the organization to treat critically ill dogs and cats from all their locations.
Because the Brandywine Valley SPCA is contracted by the state to handle lost and stray dogs, cruelty cases, and emergencies, they often receive animals in immediate need of medical attention.
New indoor-outdoor dog runs and more outdoor dog play areas will be included in new buildilng.
Currently the shelter has to outsource many of its emergency care services. With the construction of the new ICU, animals will be able to receive critical care much faster.
"We receive over 60% of the state's shelter animals and quite a few of them come in with difficult conditions," said Linda Torelli, marketing director. "Having the ICU in-house is going to save us a lot of money, but more importantly it's going to help us save a lot more lives because we'll be able to treat them on-site."
Torelli said that the larger facility would likely lead to the creation of new jobs.
"We're doubling our clinic space, so we'll be able to see twice the number of family pets for low-cost veterinary care and house twice the number of shelter cats for adoption," Torelli said. "So by growing our space, that's going to lead us to where we'll need to incrementally grow our staff in certain areas."
The new campus will also feature a large community room and expansive outdoor areas. These spaces will allow the organization to expand its humane education, volunteering and service groups beyond what is possible at the current location.
According to the group, the organization has invested more than $5 million from private donations and grants in its infrastructure in Delaware, resulting in a shelter and veterinary clinic in each county. The Brandywine SPCA cares for more than 9,000 animals annually in Delaware, which amounts to 60% of the shelter animal intake in the state, and it employs 90 Delawareans.
In 2020, the organization cared for more than 16,000 lost, stray, owner-surrendered, and abused and neglected animals while achieving a 96% live release rate.
The new facility's state-of-the-art features also will include more indoor/outdoor dog runs and outdoor dog play yards; new specialty surgery capabilities for shelter pets & family pets from all locations; and quarantine treatment rooms to help more shelter & family pets with contagious diseases.
The organization is counting on donations from the public to complete its new facility. Donations can be made at bvspca.org/newcastle or by mail to: Brandywine Valley SPCA, 600 South Street, New Castle, DE 19720.
The new facility, located at 290 Churchmans Road, is expected to open in January 2022.
The current building features a stone entrance.
This artist rendering shows what the building will look like when it's expanded.
Carney hawks idea of new board to focus on Wilmington students
Advocates ask Delaware to prioritize vaccines for Type 1 diabetes
UD: All spring students must be vaccinated, boosted
Digital vaccine cards now come with convenient QR code
Charles Megginson
Charlie Megginson covers government and politics for Town Square LIVE News. Reach him at (302) 344-8293 or charlie@delawarelive.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmegginson4.
Adam LambAnimal sheltersBrandywine Valley SPCACatioChurchmans RoadCommunity reinvestments fundsLinda TorelliRecord Bond Bill
Founder's Folio: Bias and influence in American news media
Courtesy of the New York Public LIbrary We are faced with the difficult challenge of finding truth and the public narrative in a news landscape dominated by special interests, weaponized reactionary culture and media manipulation. In the digital media era where fast-moving news, opinion and narrative are constantly being influenced by outside interests, we must look for ways to see through narrative bias to get to the truth. There are numerous distortions impacting news and media reporting, especially at the agenda-dominated national level. These include the trends of corporations taking sides in politics, government-backed narratives manipulating the news media, and the pitfalls of conjoining business ethics with ecological and social concerns driven by biased, overly-simplified Power Scores accurately criticized by the likes of Warren Buffet and others. It feels like a lot to face to get to the truth in the modern news media. And it is, but the American News Media is no stranger to influence, narrative bias and even near-dictatorship. As always with the Founder's Folio, let's take an historical approach to the issue of narrative bias in the media to learn how our history in America responded to the issue. What did our Founding Fathers think? What did they do to help the people see through to the truth? American founding thinkers like Benjamin Franklin used the media earnestly, publishing smart, insightful, often witty and philosophical pieces in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay were first published in New York's Independent Journal, exemplifying how news media could be used to propagate ideas important and beneficial to the national conversation. Chris L. Kenny But many of our nation's founder's disliked and even despised the press, including George Washington and John Adams. Thomas Jefferson warned in his second inaugural address about the dangers of ill-intentioned individuals using the press as a weapon against others: "These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science, are deeply to be regretted," he proclaimed. He went even further, presenting a truly pessimistic view of the future of the press: "Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. …I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them…" While Jefferson's interactions with the media during his presidency left him with nothing but a bad aftertaste, is there hope still for a future of unbiased news media in the modern era, and what leading principles did the founders leave us with to guide us? The biased Party Era of the Press in the early 1800s was fueled by a need for funding to keep the presses printing; the political parties were able to fund the newspapers and so they were able to dictate the narrative their papers were producing. Once printing became more affordable, newer papers popped up and were able to produce more honest reporting, free from political influence and funding. Eventually the field of journalism developed to have a level of standards in reporting and ethics in search for truth that some newspapers began to carry as a core component of their identity. A clear takeaway we learn from our past is a constant need to detect and disclose the influence of money in news wherever possible. Ignoring the pitfalls of clickbait media and corporate and government influence is critical for presenting readers with accurate information. The Framers knew of this importance. Franklin mulled on the dangers of an unchecked, agenda-driven free press humiliating without recourse. Similarly, Tocqueville warned against an overly-powerful press unduly influencing public opinion: "When a large number of organs of the press come to advance along the same track, their influence becomes almost irresistible in the long term, and public opinion, struck always from the same side, ends by yielding under their blows." Our Founding Fathers saw firsthand how if left unconstrained, these attacks on free press evolve into an inevitable attack on Democracy itself. Thankfully there exists today a plethora of fact-checking and bias-reporting news, media and journalism organizations. These projects exist to remove the veil of influence in our news media. One such organization is News Facts Network a project of Media Bias Fact Check dedicated to reporting only fact-checked and verified news. Media Bias/Fact Check is the most comprehensive media bias resource on the internet with over 3,900 media and journalism sources in their system available for fact-checking. For political news and information, websites like the Franklin News Foundation are excellent sources for current, accurate and balanced news coverage related to state and government politics. Moreover, promising new initiatives like the Hazlitt Project are being created to ensure liberty-minded journalists are provided the resources they need to ensure that the truth is being told in our media. Following in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers, focused projects like these are important to keeping our media apparatus honest at all levels. So as you wade through all of the biases we are faced with in the modern media landscape, look for those outlets, reporters, journalists and media platforms who are not afraid to be transparent about their influence, money and agendas. Do not be afraid to be critical like some of our Framers were to the unchecked press, in order to maintain a level of accountability supporting the public narrative. "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectant." – Louis Brandeis, 1914 Chris Kenny is the founder of Delaware Live. His Founder's Folio column explores current events and modern issues in historical context and with respect to those who helped build America: The Founding Fathers. Follow Kenny on social media or read his personal blog The Sword in the Stone on ChrisLKenny.com.
New streaming UD play uses comedy, music and satire to look at race in America
UD actor, playwright Hassan El-Amin's play 'Talk About Race' is part sketch comedy, part satire, part history and part music.
Finally getting out to dine? Try these places in Wilmington
While Wilmington's city life took a hit during the pandemic, the dining scene has soldiered forward. If you're feeling more confident — or fully vaccinated — now is the time to check out what's been happening over the past year. Some places are open, and some plan to open in the months ahead. Le Cavalier Unless you've been in full quarantine and incommunicado, you probably know that Le Cavalier opened on Sept. 1, 2020. The restaurant made headlines for moving into the iconic Green Room's location in the Hotel du Pont. Chef-owner Tyler Akin, a Tower Hill alum, has created a French-inspired menu with a modern flair. Steak frites, for instance, are seasoned with Sarawak pepper, and duck frites with bearnaise is a fun take on the old bistro dish. Interestingly, the cheeseburger with Dijonnaise sauce and Cooper sharp cheese is a top seller and $19 to boot. Le Cav serves breakfast, dinner and brunch. Don't miss the Parisian-worthy sidewalk dining setup. 42 W. 11th St., Wilmington, 302-594-3154 Rosenfeld's Deli Fans of Jewish delicatessens were ecstatic last October when Rosenfeld's Delicatessen opened next to the Washington Street Ale House. The flagship restaurant is in Ocean City, Maryland, and there's a second in Rehoboth Beach. The Wilmington site has a similar menu. In May, Warren Rosenfeld and partner Big Fish Restaurant Group will open a South Bethany site in the old McCabe's Gourmet Market. And next year, they plan to open in Goat Kitchen & Bar's old space on Marsh Road in Brandywine Hundred. No matter the site, Reuben sandwiches — large enough to share — are a specialty, as are the famous giant eclairs. And fans of latkes say you can't miss with an order of them. 1204 N. Washington St., Wilmington, 302-427-7477 Dorcea Just a few blocks down Washington Street, Dorcea opened just as the pandemic rolled into town. Located in Domaine Hudson's old digs, the restaurant soon attracted Wilmington Hospital staff and the Mid-Town Brandywine community. Tony Bomba often works the bar, while brother Michael commands the kitchen. Meatloaf with a spicy tomato glaze is a specialty. What's with the name? Check out the artwork and plug the house cocktail names into a Google search. 1314 Washington St., 302- 691-7447 Tasties 302 On Market Street, Tasties 302 is delighting customers with fried turkey chops, turkey wings, fried chicken, rice-and-gravy and potato salad. The restaurant is owned by Barbara Devan, a Philadelphia native, who has opened several restaurants under the Tasties brand since 2013. The Market Street site is her first Wilmington endeavor. 825 N. Market St., Wilmington, 302-482-2584 Taco Grande On the Christina River, Joe's Crab Shack has closed, and Big Fish Restaurant Group plans to put Taco Grande, a Tex-Mex eatery, on the site. Big Fish owner Eric Sugrue has been considering the concept for some time. Then again, he has no shortage of ideas, and he has more plans for the Wilmington Riverfront. 600 S. Madison St. Serena's, Pachamama Serena's Soulfood is preparing to open in the Riverfront Market, and Pachamama recently began serving rotisserie chicken in the multi-store marketplace. Peruvian Chef Juliana Jimenez is heading up Pachamama's culinary team, which is also preparing Peruvian stir-fries and traditional desserts. The target audience includes local neighbors and businesses, catering clients and delivery customers. 3 S. Orange St., Wilmington, 302-762-1608 (Serena's); 302-655-3800 (Pachamama) Pachamama is part of Hakuna Hospitality, which has extended and weather-proofed the patio at Santa Fe Mexican Grill off Pennsylvania Ave. 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., Wilmington, 302-482-1954 Park Cafe Close to Wawaset Park, Park Café opened earlier this year in Moveable Feast's former location. The cute café is part of Jamestown Hospitality Group, which also has Tonic Seafood & Steak. The renovated dining room opens to a redone patio that's inviting in warm weather. Expect creative sandwiches, soups, salads and prepared foods for carryout. 2510 W. Fifth St., Wilmington, 302-543-2233 Goober's Diner In the Trolley Square area, Goober's Diner is up and running. The two-story stainless-steel structure, created by Atlanta-based Dinermite Diners, is next to a garage of classic vehicles owned by Goober's partner Vance Kershner. Kershner is also a Buckley's Tavern partner, and Chef Tom Hannum oversees both kitchens. According to Hannum, the diner offers "regular food made of high-quality ingredients served by friendly staff." And, of course, breakfast is available all day. Hannum waxes nostalgic with dishes from his youth — but with a twist. Instead of stewed tomatoes, you'll find tomato jam. Fish sticks are made with fresh flounder, and the grilled cheese wears a buttery coating of grated parmesan and panko crumbs. 1203 Lincoln St., Wilmington, 302-274-2692 Locale BBQ Post Locale BBQ Post — featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" — is about to cruise from Little Italy to Trolley Square. By June, the hotspot should be offering takeout at the former Scrumptious. (Old-timers will remember it as Sandy Hollow Herb Co). While concentrating on carryout, owner Dan Sheridan plans to pursue a full-service restaurant in the space with outdoor dining and a larger kitchen. The Post, as it will be called, will have a menu that ventures beyond barbecue but stresses local fare. Ciro Food & Drink Last summer, Venu Gaddamidi and chef Michael DiBianca opened Ciro Forty Acres in De La Coeur Café et Patisserie on Lovering Ave. The café is a sister location to Ciro Food & Drink on the Wilmington Riverfront. The second location is small but mighty. Consider croque madame with ham, brie, a fried egg and onion fondu or a fried chicken sub. You can't go wrong with a bracing mug of La Colombe and a funnel cake donut. 1836 Lovering Ave., Wilmington, 302-543-8948
Some under-the-radar aspects of Restore the Corridor
The work to redo I-95 in Wilmington also involves a contraflow ramp, a road diet on Maryland Avenue and dedicated bus lines on routes 13 and 202.
State to spend $50 million to help people qualify for better jobs
Among the things that new workforce development money will be spent on is helping women, minorities and the disadvantaged find jobs in construction and other fields. Photo by Anamul Rezwan/Pexels Delaware will put $50 million of COVID-19 relief money into workforce development, but exactly how that money will be spent isn't clear. The plan was announced by Gov. John Carney Tuesday morning without an explanation of where the money would go. A press release from his office two hours later listed some projects that will receive money but gave little detail on specifically how it will be used. To pay for the initiatives, Carney plans to tap the more than $1 billion in COVID-relief funds Delaware received from the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal stimulus package aimed at hastening the economic recovery from the pandemic. "We're focused on investments that will build on the strengths of Delaware's world-class workforce and support Delaware families and businesses who were most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," Carney said at the press conference. "These workforce development programs will help Delawareans develop the skills they need to succeed in a 21st-century economy." The press release listed the allocation of $41.3 million of the $50 million total, but not how the money would be spent once allocated or if there would be any mechanism to track the efficacy of the investments. Rep. Ruth Briggs King, R-Georgetown, said she believes Delaware needs to invest in workforce development but that today's announcement left her with more questions than answers. "It's needed," Briggs King said. "All industries are struggling to find workers and to develop the talent and recruit and retain their workforce. But looking at the timeline, how quickly do they plan on doing this? What do they plan on doing and what is the vehicle to do it? We didn't get a lot of detail." Included is a $15.8 million public-private expansion of Delaware's Pathways program, which allows high school students to gain real-world work experience while in school. The expansion will increase access to the Pathways program to 32,000 students — or 80% of the state's high school enrollment. Currently, about 20,000 students are served by the program, which helps them get internships, among other things. An additional $8.3 million will be allocated to the Pathways 2.0 program, which will expand the Pathways program into Delaware middle schools, reaching more than 6,000 students. The press release said $1 million will go to training and pathways to employment for Delawareans seeking employment in the hospitality industry, but offered no details about how, when or to what purpose. The press release listed $1.2 million for DelDOT's Workforce Development Academy. Carney said the funding specifically targets women, minorities and disadvantaged Delawareans seeking employment in the highway construction industry. Also included in the investment is $1.5 million for the Department of Labor's workforce programs. The training programs are designed to assist Delaware workers and their families who have been impacted most by the COVID-19 crisis with a specific focus on health care, logistics and transportation.


text:
Customized travel agency Shijiebang goes under
Another renowned travel agency in China have gone bust under the sustained impact of COVID-19, but the pandemic may not be the only reason for its demise.
ChinaTravelNews learnt that employees from Shijiebang.com disclosed on June 10 that the company had suspended operation due to the impact of COVID-19. Xinyu Zhao, founder of the well-known customized outbound travel agency in China, posted a message on WeChat's timeline-like Moment channel: "Wish you all well. Hope we'll meet again."
A source told ChinaTravelNews that the pandemic was just a catalyst for the closing of Shijiebang, as the global crisis exposed its internal problems, just as it exposed the vulnerability of many startups' business models that accelerates the "survival of the fittest" process. "Shijiebang.com is not the first and won't be the last travel startup to fail in the pandemic," the source said.
Established in 2012, Shijiebang.com had attracted more than 1,000 travel experts and 10 million active users from around the world. It combines a self-service outbound travel community with an open e-commerce platform to provide more convenient and personalized travel services, covering thousands of cities in over 60 countries.
At the initial stage, Shijiebang.com leveraged major social media platform Sina Weibo to push its content, and attracted the financial backing of Sina Weibo, Fosun Capital, Yahoo's co-founder Jerry Yang and other investors. Since 2013, Shijiebang.com had raised more than USD 30 million.
But it also faced many obstacles.
The company's business model of using local itinerary designers as a selling point didn't fly. The tour designers' roles were limited to offering travel guide information, and their star power wasn't leveraged throughout Shijiebang's value chain.
For customized travel agencies, it's essential to have direct access to products and integrated local service systems. Shijiebang served only as an e-commerce travel platform and failed to integrate resources in a meaningful way.
Since 2015, integrated OTAs monopolizing outbound travel and the soaring costs of acquiring customers had forced many customized travel agencies to switch to corporate-facing services.
Investors were also losing their patience with the sector. As of June 11 this year, the total amount of investments injected into the customized travel segment had plummeted to only RMB 80 million (USD 11.31 million) from RMB 1. 5 billion (USD 212 million) in 2019.
In fact, very few agencies could make money in the business. When funding dries up, the intrinsic shortcomings of the segment became apparent.
According to a report released by iResearch Consulting Group in 2018, immature market has hampered the development of custom travel, and there are difficulties in expanding business scale, or gaining public awareness and adoption.
Users are not accustomed to paying for customized services. Instead, they will buy similar products on other platforms after getting tailor-made itineraries. Meanwhile, agencies find it difficult to build their own supply chains.
The COVID-19 outbreak has certainly made investors more cautious. Besides, the shrinking outbound market further squeezes customized travel.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating for most customized travel services, but they are still making efforts to find a way out of the crisis.
Prev: Bailout of Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific gets investors' scrutiny
Next: Maldives, China agree to bypass quarantine for returning Chinese tourists

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Vincent van Gogh's Last Painting?
One year before his death on March 30th 1890, Vincent van Gogh chose to enter Saint Paul de Mausole, an asylum in Saint-Rémy, originally a 12th century Augustinian monastery. Isolation was what he wanted. There he created almost 130 paintings among which are his most famous ones – in the first week of his stay he began to paint his famous Irises, working from nature in the asylum's garden.
Van Gogh's brother Theo, after submitting Irises to Salon des Indépendants in September 1889, wrote to Vincent: "[It] strikes the eye from afar. It is a beautiful study full of air and life." For van Gogh, the painting was "the lightning conductor for the illness" because he felt that he could keep himself from going insane by continuing to paint. Observing his continued ability to paint, he felt sure that he was not really a madman.
If you look closer at Irises you can observe that each flower is unique. Van Gogh carefully studied their movements and shapes to create a variety of silhouettes. The painting's first owner, French art critic Octave Mirbeau, one of Van Gogh's earliest supporters, wrote: "How well he has understood the exquisite nature of flowers!". What's interesting is, the artist treated this piece as a study. The wavy, twisted lines, broken and pointed, anticipate the later works done at Saint-Remy.
The painting was probably influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, like many of van Gogh's works. In general the ukiyo-e were very popular; Degas and Cézanne loved them too. The similarities occur with strong outlines and unusual angles, including close-up views. All in all, van Gogh created four paintings of irises.
"Irises" held the record for the most expensive artwork in 1987 when it sold for $53.9 million USD, which would be around $100 million in the current economy. Now the piece belongs to the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.


text:
Home » Industry News » Technology
U.S. News & World Report: IT security role top job of 2022
By BizWest Staff — January 11, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Information security analyst is the top job of the new year.
According to U.S. News & World Report's Best Jobs 2022 rankings, the IT gig scored the highest among all job types based on criteria such as 10-year growth volume, 10-year growth percentage, median salary, employment rate, future job prospects, stress level and work-life balance.
"Information security analysts are increasingly critical as organizations work to protect against data breaches and cyber attacks," U.S. News consumer advice senior editor Antonio Barbera said in a prepared statement. "The 10-year outlook for the occupation is strong: It is predicted to be in high demand, with an expected expansion of the profession and an increase in its volume of jobs. Low unemployment and a high median salary make this career sector appealing as well."
Following IT security analysts on the rankings were nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, medical and health services manager and fashion designer.
Of the top 100 jobs, nearly 40% were in medical fields.
"It is no surprise that health care occupations continue to dominate the Best Jobs general rankings; the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly helped underscore the essential role they play in all of our lives," Barbera said in a statement. "The low unemployment rates and strong future prospects for many of these roles certainly reflect that."
In addition to ranking the top jobs of 2022, U.S. News identified cities where certain positions are particularly prevalent.
Locally, Greeley is a top city for computer systems analysts, who according to U.S. News and World Report earn an average annual salary of $121,790. Boulder is a hotspot for office clerks ($46,310 average annual salary), financial manager ($187,940), technical writer ($95,360) and nail technician ($44,000).


Pals, it's time to add Chloe Makes Music's "The Duel" to your ongoing 2011 female-fronted folk playlist. (You have one of those, right?) The San Francisco singer's latest single is a collaboration with the Morning Benders' Chris Chu, who produced her upcoming album, The Puppeteer. (Chu, apparently staking out a second career, also produced excellent L.A. indie-pop kids So Many Wizards recently.) He plays it cool vocally on "The Duel," leaving Chloe the showier role as acoustic guitars and cello dance around her. Her voice is damaged but hopeful, a teenager finding love again after a first heartbreak. Hearing this, you might, too.


If you've never owned a family pet before, now could be the best time to purchase a suitable one and introduce it into your home. While some people opt for cats, I happen to think they're a little too independent, and so you want something more fun and loving like a dog. The reasons for this are many and vast, which is why I'm going to spend the next five minutes highlighting some of the most prominent. Hopefully, after that you'll be under no illusion about what a dog can bring to your family unit, and why getting one now is such a fantastic idea. So, get comfortable and give me your attention for a little while because I guarantee both you, and your children will thank me later.
There can be no denying that dogs aren't the smartest animals in the world, but that just makes them more fun to be around. Many people claim owning a canine is a little like having a new baby in the house; you have to look after them and give them attention constantly. Even so, they are very responsive, and always offer their owners unconditional love. This is a joy for most, and so you definitely want to try it out.
While it is technically you that has to walk a dog, in truth, we all know they're the ones in control. So, if you currently spend a lot of time wasting away in front of the television when you get back from work, maybe getting a dog would be a wise move because you'd do something far healthier that helps you to get some fresh air, and also stops you from becoming too much of a couch potato.
You might have to pay for some dog training if your new little friend doesn't seem to know how to behave properly, but this is inexpensive, and worth every penny. Most dogs are brilliant company after they've been trained. They want to spend time with you on the sofa cuddling, they want to lie down with you in bed, and some of them even fetch you things from time to time (whether you need them or not).
I'm not trying to scare you here, and the chances of your property being broken into are pretty slim. Still, most dogs will go absolutely mental if anyone tries to break in, and the noise from their bark alone acts as a deterrent. So, while you don't want to purchase a dog for this reason alone, it is one of the many benefits and advantages of having one at home.
So my friends, you should now understand a little more about why getting a dog is the best idea you've had this year. Just remember that there are plenty of rescue animals out there who need a loving home, and so you should probably visit the shelters first.


Trying to date and have a love life as a single parent is very challenging. In addition to everything else, it takes a good amount of self-compassion, humor and strength. Taking off your "Mommy" or "Daddy" hat to have pleasurable adult time and meaningful relationships is necessary for you to have the balanced life you deserve. And when you have a more balanced life you, you're a better parent.
In this confidential and supportive group you can start parenting without the guesswork and share with others who get it. As a dating coach and parenting/child development specialist, I can help you think wisely about your child's development so that he or she can thrive, while you take care of yourself at the same time.


A Kids collection contains safe, beautiful and eye-catching products intended for children. These products have been designed and prepared for children who are very demanding users. High-quality bean bags for children, made of certified materials certainly will satisfy any taste.
In this category you will find bean bags for children, big bed cushions, bean bag balls (so loved by children) and classic bean bags to sit, which fit any child room. In Italpuof you can find also chairs made of colorful and pattern fabrics as well as ordinary pillows for children - perfect as a decoration or a practical element.
Bean bags for children are fantastic products for the youngest users, they are safe with no hard elements. Perfect as a gift, because every child will be happy when they would get a football-shaped bean bag or bean bag with an interesting print.
Bean bags for children has an additional Quick Cover - inner, additional cover thanks to which you can easily remove the external cover – it makes cleaning as easy as pie!


text:
"""
This module contains historical deprecations that the Evennia launcher
checks for.

These all print to the terminal.
"""

def check_errors(settings):
    """
    Check for deprecations that are critical errors and should stop
    the launcher.

    Args:
        settings (Settings): The Django settings file

    Raises:
        DeprecationWarning if a critical deprecation is found.

    """
    deprstring = ("settings.%s should be renamed to %s. If defaults are used, "
                  "their path/classname must be updated "
                  "(see evennia/settings_default.py).")
    if hasattr(settings, "CMDSET_DEFAULT"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % (
            "CMDSET_DEFAULT", "CMDSET_CHARACTER"))
    if hasattr(settings, "CMDSET_OOC"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % ("CMDSET_OOC", "CMDSET_ACCOUNT"))
    if settings.WEBSERVER_ENABLED and not isinstance(settings.WEBSERVER_PORTS[0], tuple):
        raise DeprecationWarning(
            "settings.WEBSERVER_PORTS must be on the form "
            "[(proxyport, serverport), ...]")
    if hasattr(settings, "BASE_COMM_TYPECLASS"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % (
            "BASE_COMM_TYPECLASS", "BASE_CHANNEL_TYPECLASS"))
    if hasattr(settings, "COMM_TYPECLASS_PATHS"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % (
            "COMM_TYPECLASS_PATHS", "CHANNEL_TYPECLASS_PATHS"))
    if hasattr(settings, "CHARACTER_DEFAULT_HOME"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(
            "settings.CHARACTER_DEFAULT_HOME should be renamed to "
            "DEFAULT_HOME. See also settings.START_LOCATION "
            "(see evennia/settings_default.py).")
    deprstring = ("settings.%s is now merged into settings.TYPECLASS_PATHS. "
                  "Update your settings file.")
    if hasattr(settings, "OBJECT_TYPECLASS_PATHS"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % "OBJECT_TYPECLASS_PATHS")
    if hasattr(settings, "SCRIPT_TYPECLASS_PATHS"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % "SCRIPT_TYPECLASS_PATHS")
    if hasattr(settings, "ACCOUNT_TYPECLASS_PATHS"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % "ACCOUNT_TYPECLASS_PATHS")
    if hasattr(settings, "CHANNEL_TYPECLASS_PATHS"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(deprstring % "CHANNEL_TYPECLASS_PATHS")
    if hasattr(settings, "SEARCH_MULTIMATCH_SEPARATOR"):
        raise DeprecationWarning(
            "settings.SEARCH_MULTIMATCH_SEPARATOR was replaced by "
            "SEARCH_MULTIMATCH_REGEX and SEARCH_MULTIMATCH_TEMPLATE. "
            "Update your settings file (see evennia/settings_default.py "
            "for more info).")

    gametime_deprecation = ("The settings TIME_SEC_PER_MIN, TIME_MIN_PER_HOUR,"
                            "TIME_HOUR_PER_DAY, TIME_DAY_PER_WEEK, \n"
                            "TIME_WEEK_PER_MONTH and TIME_MONTH_PER_YEAR "
                            "are no longer supported. Remove them from your "
                            "settings file to continue.\nIf you want to use "
                            "and manipulate these time units, the tools from utils.gametime "
                            "are now found in contrib/convert_gametime.py instead.")
    if any(hasattr(settings, value) for value in ("TIME_SEC_PER_MIN", "TIME_MIN_PER_HOUR",
                                                  "TIME_HOUR_PER_DAY", "TIME_DAY_PER_WEEK", "TIME_WEEK_PER_MONTH",
                                                  "TIME_MONTH_PER_YEAR")):
        raise DeprecationWarning(gametime_deprecation)

def check_warnings(settings):
    """
    Check deprecations that should produce warnings but which
    does not stop launch.
    """
    pass

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Durdle Door...
Durdle Door is possibly the most iconic feature of the Dorset coast. It's been painted, photographed, used on TV and in the movies. It has also made national news.
All of which isn't bad for what is essentially a rock with a hole in it! But that's a bit like saying St Paul's Cathedral is an interesting pile of stones.
Believe it or not, Durdle Door and St Paul's are more closely related than you might think. One may be in the middle of the Nation's capital city and the other poking its nose into the English Channel, but both are made from Portland Stone.
It's true that one was built by an army of stonemasons and the other carved by the sea, nonetheless, they are hewn from the same, very special, Jurassic limestone that runs all along this part of the Dorset coast, including the Isle of Portland, which gives the stone its name.
Whilst St Paul's may be impressive, nature's stone mason has achieved something just as inspiring from the same materials - if not more so!
The stretch of coast of which Durdle Door is part, will take your breath away, in more ways than one! By any yardstick this is a serious piece of coastline, cliffs and coves, beaches and promontories, landscapes and seascapes. But to get the best out of them you have to put in some effort!
You can get to Durdle Door by walking along the beach from "Dungy Head" near Lulworth Cove, but walking on shingle is a hard slog and for your effort you get a view of the sea on one side and the bottom of a cliff on the other!
The alternative route is an even harder slog, but takes an aerial path, which rises steeply from the Lulworth Cove car park and provides an awe inspiring view of what happens when undulating Dorset limestone meets 185 million years of erosion by the sea.
It's not an easy walk, but it is well worth it. The view across St Oswalds Bay towards Durdle Door and Swyre Head and Bat's Head beyond is all a cliff-top view should be: white cliffs, rolling green hills that layer and overlap themselves into the middle-distance and, of course, there's the sea.
The walk from Lulworth to Durdle Door is one of those treks that never looks the same twice. Clear, crisp blues and greens one day and wild greys and white-topped waves the next. It's not a particularly long walk, but it is one which deserves to be treated with a degree of respect. It is steep, can be slippery and skirts some fairly high and unprotected cliffs in places - which have been known to fall down! So take care.
The descent to Durdle Door itself is also challenging, with lots of rough-cut and narrow steps, but once there, you find yourself on a gently curved and fairly sheltered shingle beach, with clear water and one of the best known pieces of empty space on the South Coast, the one that makes the doorway of Durdle Door.
The beach can get busy in summertime, and the walk from Lulworth is popular at most times of the year. But you'll always find somewhere to sit and marvel at what nature has achieved. You'll be amazed that Durdle Door stays up. And one day, no doubt, it will fall into the sea and become just another rock. Hopefully it will be at least a few thousand years before it does so.
In the meantime, this magnificent and gravity defying piece of Dorset and the landscape around it has inspired writers to write, painters to paint and film makers to use it as a backdrop to their stories.
More recently it has also inspired a "tomb-stoner" to jump from the top of the arch with predictably catastrophic results. Whilst it's one way to get on the national news, it's a piece of publicity Durdle Door and Dorset could have done without. So if you think that might be the sort of thing you'd like to try, don't! One way or another, you're likely to pay a very high price.
So, there you go, Durdle Door: a hole surrounded by rock; a lovely beach; and a walk with a purpose. For many locals it's what Sunday afternoons were made for! And an excellent way to burn calories!
Durdle Door: a hole surrounded by rock; a lovely beach; and a walk with a purpose. "


Unlike big lenders, credit unions didn't suffer heavy losses in recent months because they never made risky subprime loans. Bill Hampel, chief economist at the Credit Union National Association, says that while some credit unions have experienced "collateral damage" from the subprime crisis, as members have lost jobs in depressed areas, most have strong balance sheets and near-record capital levels. As a result, they're "going to make any loan they possibly can make," he said. Many credit unions continue to refinance subprime loans and offer banking products no longer available from other lenders, including five-year adjustable-rate mortgages.
Steve Renock, executive vice president of the Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union in California, says credit unions are often more flexible in making loans because they make "story loans," he says. "We want to hear the story behind why they have had credit problems." That flexibility makes it more likely for them to lend to someone who had a temporary financial setback because of, say, an illness or divorce.


text:
February 28, 2019 By FLFAF
Judge rejects city of Elkhart's subpoena seeking records from South Bend Tribune
South Bend Tribune by Christian Scheckler
SOUTH BEND — A federal judge this week rejected the city of Elkhart's attempt to force the South Bend Tribune to turn over records of its reporting on Keith Cooper, the Illinois man who is suing the city over his wrongful conviction in a 1996 robbery and shooting.
Lawyers for the city issued the subpoena in June, amid an investigation by The Tribune and ProPublica, a nonprofit news agency, into the flawed investigation that led to the convictions of Cooper and another man, Christopher Parish.
The subpoena sought records of communications between Tribune journalists, Cooper and his lawyer. In subsequent filings, the city alleged The Tribune was conspiring with Cooper to write stories that advanced his lawsuit against the city.
In his order quashing the subpoena, however, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Gotsch said Elkhart's "suspicions about a conspiracy…are not supported by the evidence currently before the Court."
Martin Kus, a lawyer representing the city in Cooper's lawsuit, did not respond Wednesday to an email or a phone message left at his office.
Emails and text messages already turned over by Cooper's lawyer did not indicate a conspiracy between Cooper and The Tribune, even though the city framed the exchanges that way, Gotsch wrote.
"The City views the communications…through a cynical lens that sees conspiracy behind every corner," Gotsch wrote.
The judge pointed to one email exchange between a Tribune reporter and Cooper's attorney, arranging what the city's lawyer described as a meeting to "plan strategy to advance their mutual interests."
In fact, Gotsch wrote, the emails discussed neither "strategy" nor "mutual interests," and were simply a journalist's attempt to schedule an interview with a source knowledgeable about the topic of his reporting.
"The City cites…other examples of communications that it interprets as evidence of conspiracy," Gotsch wrote, "when they simply reflect a reporter doing what a reporter does — pursuing sources with information about the story, identifying inconsistencies in a story and confronting the relevant characters with that information, giving both sides to a story a chance to be heard."


Seton has a full range of heavy duty metal nameplates for all your industrial asset management needs. These metal name tags can be etched, screened or embossed to your exact specifications. Most have mounting holes for easy installation. Our blank nameplates allow for quick and easy customization.
Properly code and identify your facility's property. Seton provides you with a variety of nameplates that are made to provide a clear, practical means of identifying equipment and other items.
Choose from among blank nameplates or tamper-evident tags. Nameplates are manufactured from various type of materials such as brass, stainless steel, and aluminum, so they can be used for different purposes.
Identify and organize items inside your facility with nameplates. Get them only from at Seton.


text:
from ironicclient import client as ironic_client
from ironicclient import exc as ironic_exception
from keystoneauth1 import discover as ksa_disc
import keystoneauth1.session
import mock
from oslo_config import cfg

import nova.conf
from nova import exception
from nova import test
from nova.tests.unit.virt.ironic import utils as ironic_utils
from nova.virt.ironic import client_wrapper

CONF = nova.conf.CONF

FAKE_CLIENT = ironic_utils.FakeClient()

def get_new_fake_client(*args, **kwargs):
    return ironic_utils.FakeClient()

class IronicClientWrapperTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):

    def setUp(self):
        super(IronicClientWrapperTestCase, self).setUp()
        self.ironicclient = client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper()
        # Do not waste time sleeping
        cfg.CONF.set_override('api_retry_interval', 0, 'ironic')
        cfg.CONF.set_override('region_name', 'RegionOne', 'ironic')
        get_ksa_adapter_p = mock.patch('nova.utils.get_ksa_adapter')
        self.addCleanup(get_ksa_adapter_p.stop)
        self.get_ksa_adapter = get_ksa_adapter_p.start()
        get_auth_plugin_p = mock.patch('nova.virt.ironic.client_wrapper.'
                                       'IronicClientWrapper._get_auth_plugin')
        self.addCleanup(get_auth_plugin_p.stop)
        self.get_auth_plugin = get_auth_plugin_p.start()

    @mock.patch.object(client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper, '_multi_getattr')
    @mock.patch.object(client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper, '_get_client')
    def test_call_good_no_args(self, mock_get_client, mock_multi_getattr):
        mock_get_client.return_value = FAKE_CLIENT
        self.ironicclient.call("node.list")
        mock_get_client.assert_called_once_with(retry_on_conflict=True)
        mock_multi_getattr.assert_called_once_with(FAKE_CLIENT, "node.list")
        mock_multi_getattr.return_value.assert_called_once_with()

    @mock.patch.object(client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper, '_multi_getattr')
    @mock.patch.object(client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper, '_get_client')
    def test_call_good_with_args(self, mock_get_client, mock_multi_getattr):
        mock_get_client.return_value = FAKE_CLIENT
        self.ironicclient.call("node.list", 'test', associated=True)
        mock_get_client.assert_called_once_with(retry_on_conflict=True)
        mock_multi_getattr.assert_called_once_with(FAKE_CLIENT, "node.list")
        mock_multi_getattr.return_value.assert_called_once_with(
            'test', associated=True)

    @mock.patch.object(keystoneauth1.session, 'Session')
    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test__get_client_session(self, mock_ir_cli, mock_session):
        """An Ironicclient is called with a keystoneauth1 Session"""
        mock_session.return_value = 'session'
        ironicclient = client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper()
        # dummy call to have _get_client() called
        ironicclient.call("node.list")
        self.get_ksa_adapter.assert_called_once_with(
            'baremetal', ksa_auth=self.get_auth_plugin.return_value,
            ksa_session='session', min_version=(1, 0),
            max_version=(1, ksa_disc.LATEST))
        expected = {'session': 'session',
            'max_retries': CONF.ironic.api_max_retries,
            'retry_interval': CONF.ironic.api_retry_interval,
            'os_ironic_api_version': ['1.46', '1.38'],
            'endpoint':
                self.get_ksa_adapter.return_value.get_endpoint.return_value,
            'interface': ['internal', 'public']}
        mock_ir_cli.assert_called_once_with(1, **expected)

    @mock.patch.object(keystoneauth1.session, 'Session')
    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test__get_client_session_service_not_found(self, mock_ir_cli,
                                                   mock_session):
        """Validate behavior when get_endpoint_data raises."""
        mock_session.return_value = 'session'
        self.get_ksa_adapter.side_effect = (
            exception.ConfGroupForServiceTypeNotFound(stype='baremetal'))
        ironicclient = client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper()
        # dummy call to have _get_client() called
        ironicclient.call("node.list")
        self.get_ksa_adapter.assert_called_once_with(
            'baremetal', ksa_auth=self.get_auth_plugin.return_value,
            ksa_session='session', min_version=(1, 0),
            max_version=(1, ksa_disc.LATEST))
        # When get_endpoint_data raises any ServiceNotFound, None is returned.
        expected = {'session': 'session',
                    'max_retries': CONF.ironic.api_max_retries,
                    'retry_interval': CONF.ironic.api_retry_interval,
                    'os_ironic_api_version': ['1.46', '1.38'],
                    'endpoint': None,
                    'region_name': CONF.ironic.region_name,
                    'interface': ['internal', 'public']}
        mock_ir_cli.assert_called_once_with(1, **expected)

    @mock.patch.object(keystoneauth1.session, 'Session')
    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test__get_client_and_valid_interfaces(self, mock_ir_cli, mock_session):
        """Confirm explicit setting of valid_interfaces."""
        mock_session.return_value = 'session'
        endpoint = 'https://baremetal.example.com/endpoint'
        self.get_ksa_adapter.return_value.get_endpoint.return_value = endpoint
        self.flags(endpoint_override=endpoint, group='ironic')
        self.flags(valid_interfaces='admin', group='ironic')
        ironicclient = client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper()
        # dummy call to have _get_client() called
        ironicclient.call("node.list")
        expected = {'session': 'session',
                    'max_retries': CONF.ironic.api_max_retries,
                    'retry_interval': CONF.ironic.api_retry_interval,
                    'os_ironic_api_version': ['1.46', '1.38'],
                    'endpoint': endpoint,
                    'interface': ['admin']}
        mock_ir_cli.assert_called_once_with(1, **expected)

    @mock.patch.object(client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper, '_multi_getattr')
    @mock.patch.object(client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper, '_get_client')
    def test_call_fail_exception(self, mock_get_client, mock_multi_getattr):
        test_obj = mock.Mock()
        test_obj.side_effect = ironic_exception.HTTPNotFound
        mock_multi_getattr.return_value = test_obj
        mock_get_client.return_value = FAKE_CLIENT
        self.assertRaises(ironic_exception.HTTPNotFound,
                          self.ironicclient.call, "node.list")

    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test__get_client_unauthorized(self, mock_get_client):
        mock_get_client.side_effect = ironic_exception.Unauthorized
        self.assertRaises(exception.NovaException,
                          self.ironicclient._get_client)

    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test__get_client_unexpected_exception(self, mock_get_client):
        mock_get_client.side_effect = ironic_exception.ConnectionRefused
        self.assertRaises(ironic_exception.ConnectionRefused,
                          self.ironicclient._get_client)

    def test__multi_getattr_good(self):
        response = self.ironicclient._multi_getattr(FAKE_CLIENT, "node.list")
        self.assertEqual(FAKE_CLIENT.node.list, response)

    def test__multi_getattr_fail(self):
        self.assertRaises(AttributeError, self.ironicclient._multi_getattr,
                          FAKE_CLIENT, "nonexistent")

    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test__client_is_cached(self, mock_get_client):
        mock_get_client.side_effect = get_new_fake_client
        ironicclient = client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper()
        first_client = ironicclient._get_client()
        second_client = ironicclient._get_client()
        self.assertEqual(id(first_client), id(second_client))

    @mock.patch.object(ironic_client, 'get_client')
    def test_call_uses_cached_client(self, mock_get_client):
        mock_get_client.side_effect = get_new_fake_client
        ironicclient = client_wrapper.IronicClientWrapper()
        for n in range(0, 4):
            ironicclient.call("node.list")
        self.assertEqual(1, mock_get_client.call_count)


It is no longer hollow talk as Tiger Woods fixes his sights on more titles. Picture: Getty.
I t may have sounded hollow for so long when Tiger Woods talked about winning again but not any more. Against all the odds, the 42-year-old looks as though he can indeed add to his incredible title haul and, yes, there is a chance of that being a major.
Yes, that would require one of the best performances of his astonishing career. And, yes, there are a lot of very good players around in the game at the moment, so winning again is way more difficult for Woods than it once was.
Only those with heads buried in sand, though, could deny that what we have seen from the 14-time major winner over the past few months has made that a distinct possibility, which is absolutely brilliant for the game.
That Woods eventually finished joint 11th behind Webb Simpson in the Players Championship on Sunday was slightly disappointing, but not if you factor in making the cut at Sawgrass with nothing to spare after opening rounds of 72 and 71.
He started the weekend 14 shots behind Simpson yet, after a brilliant 65 on Saturday and covering the first 13 holes in the final round in six under, had hauled himself into second spot and only four off the lead.
Okay, the old Woods wouldn't have taken an untimely bogey at the 14th nor dumped his tee shot into the water at the 17th, by which time his hopes of reeling in Simpson had gone, but there's definitely a spark there again and the man himself knows it.
The effort lifted Woods up 12 spots to 80th in the world rankings.
Pretty impressive, given that he ended last year languishing in 656th position and had slipped as low as 1,199th at one point during his absence last year. His next appearance is likely to be in The Memorial at the end of the month, with the US Open at Shinnecock Hills soon after that. His last major victory, of course, was in that event a decade ago and it does seem a tall order for him to deliver again at that level.
While Woods didn't really get close enough to have an intimidatory effect on this occasion, fair play to Simpson, a former US Open winner, for landing his first victory since 2013 in real style. Many in Scotland, of course, will still remember his less than convincing opening tee shot in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, but there was nothing meek about this display.
"I feel like it's my first win," he admitted of a success that threw up an interesting fact in that Simpson ranked first in driving accuracy and last in driving distance in the event.
Add in Justin Thomas doing enough by finishing alongside Woods to end Dustin Johnson's run of 64 consecutive weeks at world No 1; Tommy Fleetwood breaking into the world's top ten for the first time on the back of claiming a share of seventh and Ian Poulter producing another strong performance in this event to bolster his Ryder Cup hopes, and the so-called fifth major certainly threw up plenty of good storylines on this occasion.
For Jordan Spieth, it ended with a kick in the teeth as he signed off with a quadruple-bogey 8. Yet that didn't stop him from signing autographs for a big group of kids afterwards and, along with many others at the moment, including a Woods who actually looks as though he's enjoying himself, golf really can be thankful to have such a terrific ambassador as the young Texan.


The Law Offices of Paul A. Maranan, S.C. provides family law representation throughout southeastern Wisconsin. When you come to our office you will feel welcomed. We care about your needs and will be straightforward with you. We strive to help you get the best resolution to your legal matter.
Contact Milwaukee attorney Paul A. Maranan for a consultation regarding issues we handle arising primarily in family law, real estate and estate planning.
Family Law – Milwaukee family law and divorce attorney Paul A. Maranan represents individuals in divorce, legal separation, annulment, property division, paternity, post-judgment cases, maintenance and child custody and visitation. We also provide representation in collaborative divorce law cases.
Real Estate – We help individuals who are purchasing their first home, or selling their home after the family has moved away. We cover all your residential real estate needs.
Estate Planning – Our practice includes wills and trusts, living wills/health care directives, powers of attorney, revocable trusts, probate and estate administration.
Our firm has the necessary experience and caring attitude it takes to help clients with the important details of estate planning. Right from the first meeting we will take the time to discuss your dreams and goals. Next, we strive to understand your family. We know the law and will put that knowledge to work for you. Let us help you plan for the future with an eye toward protecting those you love.
We have represented hundreds of Wisconsin individuals and families. Our experience and dedication go a long way in negotiating or litigating for our clients' interests. If your legal issue needs an aggressive approach or an agreement cannot be reached through negotiation, our attorney will go to court for you.
Contact Milwaukee attorney Paul A. Maranan for experienced advice in family law, real estate and estate planning.


text:
NYHC: What's It Mean?
Because if you could distill a fistfight into musical form, it'd probably sound a lot like this. Which, if you think about it, is probably a far better way to experience it.
By Eugene S. Robinson
The Daily Dose SEPT 10 2014
"These guys hung on to this shit for dear life, because it was their life!"
Tony Rettman could just as easily be talking about himself. He's the author of the forthcoming book NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990 and a fan nonpareil of the super aggro musical stylings that grew out of the death throes of New York City punk rock. Despite his media pedigree, including bylines in the Village Voice, Vice, The Wire and the Philadelphia Weekly, Rettman still works about 40-hour weeks in a banking firm's copy shop with "brainless slime who just want to talk about reality TV and other pointless bullshit."
Pointless bullshit that, in Rettman's mind, doesn't hold a candle to the electrifying blast of chaos that hit New York in the 1980s right after the earlier generation of punk rockers aged out, or morphed into adults who needed to make a living and therefore made new wave music. Hardcore was the soundtrack for those left behind, and it was laden with all kinds of unspoken, but clearly screamed about, markers of class warfare. Kind of like Rettman's day job, and an indication of why the music sounds so angry: No one drawn to it is going to go quietly.
So like Alan Lomax, the great chronicler of Southern folk and blues, Rettman decided to document it all. The end product is due this November, a book culled from over 100 interviews with bands and participants who lived it then and are still making noise, and lots of it.
Source Ken Salerno
"I was waiting for someone who experienced that entire decade of NYHC to write a book solely on the scene and the way it developed. I couldn't wait anymore for that. So, I interviewed as many people as I could to find out the stuff I always wanted to know," Rettman says.
And what better way to put his nine-to-five in perspective? "I was taking shit from junior bankers who were calling me stupid and assuming I was an idiot because I worked in this department," Rettman says. "All the usual working-class crap you know and love." Not so far from the circumstances of the blue-collar kids from the outer boroughs and as far as New Jersey who descended on the Lower East Side, fucking up the whole go-go program of the '80s.
Runaways, first-generation immigrant kids, lost boys and girls, street kids, even the occasional trust-fund kids and other assorted teenagers were drawn by the heat and dark light thrown off by art that couldn't have said it more clearly: Screw our diminished prospects, and screw you who benefit from their staying diminished.
They went all in on what came to be called New York Hardcore, or NYHC, an enveloping music that went well beyond song and well into a lifestyle. A permanent lifestyle for many, either because they died en route or because of a principled commitment to, well, NYHC.
Source Danielle Jelley
"The thing that makes NYHC stick out is it went beyond the music and became its own culture and way of life," says Rettman. "There's something that runs throughout that music to this day. It's the palpable desperation in their delivery. That's something that can't be duplicated." Desperation born of living at the ass-end of a war on poverty, coming from broken homes, seeing only a bleak future ahead — all things that living in New York in the 1980s might have caused you to feel. In other words: the blues for kids who knew how to throw a punch.
As Rettman sees it, this decade was special. "It was the last time that music could be made with no game plan. NYHC is definitely more significant now than it was then, but at that time, there was still some wiggle room because there were no reference points," he says, while cooking dinner for his wife.
"I hate to sound like an old man, but you had to make it up as you went along rather than download every piece of music in the world. And you never knew what to expect when you showed up for a show on Sunday."
With over 1,000 images to paint the picture, Rettman's book will make it much easier for those with neither a time machine nor interest in climbing into a sweat-soaked moshpit to enjoy what it was like to hear the sounds of resistance, baby. Truly.
Eugene S. Robinson, Editor-at-LargeFollow Eugene S. Robinson on FacebookFollow Eugene S. Robinson on TwitterContact Eugene S. Robinson


STANDARDS: Why do they matter?
Standards fundamentally are documents that contain technical and quality requirements that products, services, processes and systems have to meet. Standards are therefore 'yardsticks' against which goods and services may be judged.
They are tools which help us to judge if products, services and processes are good or bad, right or wrong, safe or unsafe, acceptable or unacceptable, fit for use or unfit for use, satisfactory or not satisfactory.
Standards are developed by interested parties based on consensus. They make enormous contribution to most aspects of our lives, although very often that contribution is invisible. When standards meet our expectations, we tend to take standards for granted. It is when there is an absence of standards when their importance is brought home. For instance, producers or users of products soon notice their importance when the products in question, turn out to be of poor quality, or not fit for consumption.
Standards play critical roles in our daily and national lives by raising levels of quality, safety, reliability and efficiency. They provide economic benefits in various areas such as manufacturing or production, testing, environmental quality assessment, health and safety issues, assessments of quality goods and services, mining and agriculture.
Other areas include trade and commerce, engineering and architecture, export and import business, inspection and certification or accreditation.
Standards generally provide the necessary assurance that goods and services are of good quality, promote the growth of industry, facilitate trade, enhance consumer's protection, and underpin sustainable development. They work for the safety and convenience for all, ensuring that processes, services and products are safe, ethical and easy to use, thereby making the world a safer place to live. Standards are useful to conformity assessment professionals, regulatory bodies, governments, consumers, business community and to the society at large.
- TRADE: They facilitate this activity by making products competitive on the local and international market and reduce or remove technical barriers.
- MANUFACTURING: Standards provide information and guidelines for the manufacture of goods and the provision of services thereby ensuring efficiency and quality output. They are tools of market access and when applied effectively enhance products performance.
- BUSINESS: Standards open doors to national and international businesses on a global scale. They ensure that businesses become sustainable as they are able to attract and retain markets for their products and services. This implies increased output, business expansion, generation of employment, large exports volumes and ultimately higher foreign exchange earnings.
- CONSUMER: Standards serve as protection for public health safety, guaranteeing good quality products and services, hence value for money.
Matilda Kasanga is the Documentation and ICT Manager at TBS.
Quality packaging: Why equity and brand names?


The July meeting was a gathering of the Union at Mrs Words. After the a bounteous picnic supper was indulged in. The devotionals consisted of the reading of the 12th chapter of of John and sixth chapter of Ephesians. Followed by singing The Tide rolls in. After devotionals Our President read Total Abstinence in Scotland Minutes were read and approved —. Business deffered this occasion being more of a social gathering Interesting reports of the convention was given by Messes Watland Kearney Baily and Stocks Mrs Kingslans had change of the program. Miss Kingsland gave a very interesting reading Mrs. [Steaks?] read a very interesting paper. A large number present.


What were the reasons behind implementation of transformation efforts in SBI?
Emergence of new players: After Liberalization Indian government was forced to implement economic reforms. A lot of new players entered Banking Industry due to the lowered entry restrictions such as Increased lending volumes, setting up deposit and lending rates, abolishing 1:4 policy for branches. The new entrants invested heavily in technology and emphasized more on customer service. These new features were unheard of for the Indian customers and the millennials flocked to the new glass Branches.
Dwindling prominence of SBI: SBI was considered to be a temple and the Branch manager was considered as important as a District Magistrate. But with the increase in the number of Branches and Banks SBI had become any other bank. SBI no longer played an influential voice in India- in the economic sphere, Industry and government circles.
Employees attitude: Bank employees were not energized anymore. They did not have a sense of Belonging to the Bank. For any organization to succeed it is very much important to have motivated staff. But that was lacking in SBI. The employees were not aligned to the common goal. The whole organization lacked goals, vision and commitment.
Perception: SBI was considered to be a classical old type Banking Institution. It was not considered to be a leader in product Innovation, marketing or distribution. There was no focus on market share or customer segmentation. Focus on young customer was missing.
Market share: From 35 % market share in 1970s the market share of SBI fell to 15 % by 2006.At this share of growth of other private Banks ICICI was to overtake SBI in 4 years in terms of deposits. It was soon to lose its position as a Market leader. Also the rating as per Banker Magazine has decreased to 107 from 82.
Changing the legacy attitude: It was becoming very difficult to manage with the employees attitude towards the customers and their reluctance to use the technology. The fear that any ushering in technology would decrease the number of work force created an impediment to bringing in new Technology.
SBI's Top down approach and one way communication was becoming an impediment to the growth. Lack of human touch to the services, hierarchical approach towards problems, faulty HR policies were some other reasons.
To overcome all the above barriers SBI needed to implement the transformation effort to become a bank which was modern, customer focused and technologically advanced universal Bank.
2. What specific steps did the SBI undertake during the transformation effort and what were the results of these steps?
Shuffling of top deck of employees such as GMs.
Creation of four new strategic business groups namely Rural and Agricultural banking group, Corporate strategy, and a entirely diverse group named as Corporate Communication and Change group.
Outcome: This It helped in capturing of large and midsized corporate companies. Also, it helped in rolling of new businesses such as private equity.
II. Shift of Focus from going ahead with software to audits and training. This helped in crating expertise among the employees with regard to software used and all the glitches and bugs were corrected.
Several transformation agendas were crafted related to business initiatives, enabling initiatives for facilitating business and people initiatives.
Created enthusiasm among employees by involving them in long-term decisions.
Revamped IT platform: In the second time, the software was implemented without any glitches.
Outcome: Process effectiveness increased, introduction of Anytime, Anywhere banking.
Shifted to Centralized, back-office processing cells so that the branches could focus on sales & services.
To expedite decision making, Modular structures were dismantled where each circle had modules or zonal offices responsible for about 300 branches each and DGM post was removed, instead now GMs are responsible to Regional General Managers.
Quick decision making, direct interaction between GMs and Regional GMs.
The staff is now closer to the customer.
Started a campaign of "triggering posters" each one posing a simple question.
Leveraging technology to improve customer service and introduced "SMS unhappy" through which anyone unhappy with its services could get his grievance resolved within 24 hrs.
Details of all the 196 products were available at a mouse click.
Building confidence in employees through resolution of queries the "service desk" internal website.
SBI strengthened and integrated its risk management systems and created the position of a new Managing Director who also functioned as the bank's Chief Credit and Risk Officer.
It designed and implemented a new system for measuring business performance.
It also focused on exploiting synergies with its existing non-banking subsidiaries in the areas of capital markets, credit cards, mutual funds, life insurance by using the bank distribution channel.
Focus on people was one of the cornerstones of Bhatt's transformation agenda. Bhatt took the following steps to make the environment at SBI more open, friendly, caring and more encouraging bonding, teamwork thus leading to more conducive business.
"State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant" Essays24.com. 01 2019. 2019. 01 2019 <https://www.essays24.com/essay/State-Bank-of-India-Transforming-a-State-Owned/88171.html>.
"State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant." Essays24.com. Essays24.com, 01 2019. Web. 01 2019. <https://www.essays24.com/essay/State-Bank-of-India-Transforming-a-State-Owned/88171.html>.
"State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant." Essays24.com. 01, 2019. Accessed 01, 2019. https://www.essays24.com/essay/State-Bank-of-India-Transforming-a-State-Owned/88171.html.


Just thirty short minutes away from Malé by speedboat is the island of Maafushi; an island which has established a name for itself for its successful guesthouse tourism. The island lies on the eastern rim of South Malé Atoll and is one of eight island towns in the administrative region of Malé Atoll.
Maafushi is just 12 kilometers long and 265 kilometers wide, not particularly small in comparison to many other inhabited islands across the country. The population is just over 2,700. On the waterfront, right in front of the harbor is an island school, and the island's administrative office, its central mosque, and the stadium are located in the center of the island.
With 41 registered guesthouses on the island, it offers ample choice of accommodation for holidaymakers who opt to visit the island. From tiny little four-bedroom properties to its largest 50-room hotel, there are various sizes and styles to choose from. While the smaller one may offer a cozier atmosphere, the larger is likely to provide more services. However, no matter where you stay, the atmosphere is relaxed, friendly and comfortable, and you are free to explore and find whatever you may be looking for on the island. The average size of the guesthouses in Maafushi is between 12 and 15 rooms.
Many of the guesthouses are located on the eastern and western waterfront of the island, with the others dotted around and along the sandy streets of the island among the island residences.
Unsurprisingly, travel to the island is by boat and being a well-established tourist destination; there are several ferry services available every day from Velena International Airport, as well as from Malé. The local ferry operates daily from Malé to Maafushi costs around US$2,00 each way. This is a relaxing journey through the islands and reefs of South Malé Atoll and takes about 90 minutes to reach the island.
A much faster option is offered by speedboat ferry services on which the fare is US$25 each way and the travel time is around 30 minutes. There are several speedboat services that operate from Velana International Airport every day from early in the morning until late at night. Guesthouses will provide information on speedboat timings on request.
Maafushi offers a reasonable number of options when it comes to food. Most larger guesthouses come with their in-house restaurants and breakfast is usually part of your package. However, if you are not booked on half or full board, you can choose to dine at one of the many in-house restaurants of hotels that sumptuous buffets or fusion á la carte menus, or from one of the local cafés on the island. Many of these are on the eastern and western waterfront where you have the choice to seat yourself outside and enjoy the view of the lagoon as you dine under the rustling palms.
The beach is what most visitors look for when they are on holiday in the Maldives. The white sandy beach on the north-eastern side of the island is exclusive for tourists and won't disappoint. Most visitors to the island spend much of their day on the beach, relaxing, and enjoying the view and taking a dip to cool down from time to time, in the crystal-clear waters of the shallow lagoon.
Maafushi offers a range of water sports and diving options. While some guesthouses may have their own watersports facilities and services, there is a choice of independent watersports and dive centers and excursion services. Just walk around, and you will not miss the activity around the centers. You may try out jet skiing to get that rush of adrenalin or parasailing to enjoy the view of the island, the beach and the reef from atop, or may try kite surfing or a more relaxing time canoeing around the island.
When it comes to diving, it is no different from any other destination in the Maldives. With an abundance of reefs, the Maldives offers the best options for diving both beginners and seasoned divers. While the shallow lagoon of the island provides the perfect environment to learn to dive, well-known dive sites around the island provide thrilling dive experiences for the more advanced. Dive centers on the island provide professional dive courses for beginners with certified dive instructors and offer day and night dive excursions for certified divers.
The daily excursions organized by the guesthouses are popular with visitors to Maafushi. Trips offer guests the opportunity to explore other inhabited island towns such as Gulhi and Guraidhoo nearby, enjoy the white powdery sandbanks around the island and experience snorkeling on various reefs away from Maafushi. Excursions are organized by many of the guesthouses and watersports centers. For snorkeling trips fins, masks and snorkels can be rented from the guesthouses or the centers or are provided as part of the package. You may also join an excursion to one of the resort islands nearby and enjoy the atmosphere of the resort for the day.
Night fishing is another activity that is enjoyed by many. You head out to sea before sunset. The boat is anchored along the reef, and hand lines are dropped to the bottom of the sea weighted with sinkers. Expect to catch snappers, jackfish, grouper or trevally if you are lucky. When you return from your fishing trip, your catch is prepared for your dinner that evening.
Maafushi offers a choice of accommodation, convenient travel to and from the airport and a selection of restaurants. The island destination also offers all the options for watersports, diving, and excursions that a visitor may desire to enjoy when in the Maldives.


text:
Turmoil Plagues Wealthy Keck Family : Whodunit Reveals Problems of the Rich and Feuding
By EDWIN CHEN
LOS ANGELES —
Libby Keck was distraught as she stood in the conservatory of her $42-million, treasure-filled Bel-Air mansion.
"Look at that!" she shrieked.
"Yes, ma'am," her bodyguard and chauffeur, Roger Paine, replied hesitantly.
Sensing his uncertainty, Keck led him by the hand to a painting and ran his fingers across its surface.
It was as smooth as glass. Paine knew right away that it was no Impressionistic oil painting but a high-quality color photograph.
"Well, hell! Somebody has stolen this painting," he concluded.
"I know it! I know it!" said Keck, her hands still shaking. "It's gone!"
On that afternoon in August, 1987, which was later relived by the two in Los Angeles Superior Court, it hardly seemed likely that Keck had touched off a scandal that would titillate the world of fine arts from Los Angeles to the Louvre. The painting's disappearance led to the prosecution of the Keck family butler on a grand theft charge last year.
But a jury refused to believe the butler did it, and what ensued is a whodunit that also has raised questions about the veracity of Elizabeth Avery Keck, matriarch of one of America's leading philanthropic families.
The painting's disappearance also flung open the curtains on the war among the Kecks, heirs to an immense oil fortune, as they hurled charges and countercharges of betrayal, theft, family jealousies, illegitimacy and, behind it all, pure greed.
Court battles in the internecine combat have already cost members of the Keck family well over $12 million in legal fees.
It all began when Howard and Libby Keck's oldest child, Howard B. Keck Jr., or "Little Howard," filed a "friendly" lawsuit in 1983 to clarify inheritance issues.
At stake were hundreds of millions of dollars as well as the world-renowned collection of priceless French objets d'art that fill La Lanterne, the 11,000-square-foot Stone Canyon mansion that Libby Keck, a lifelong Francophile, designed and named after a pavilion in the park at Versailles.
But the trust litigation quickly degenerated into no-holds-barred warfare among the Keck family members that left lawsuits strewn from Los Angeles to Houston.
The acrimony also led to a messy divorce between the Kecks in which "Big Howard" questioned the paternity of "Little Howard."
Libby Keck said her husband at one point even threatened to "go out and have more children" and maybe adopt the entire Marlborough School for girls to dilute the inheritance of the next generation of Kecks.
'Torn Family to Shreds'
"This thing has really torn our family absolutely to shreds," Libby Keck said with a sigh of resignation.
Other Keck family members refused to be interviewed. Especially adamant in refusing to comment was Howard Keck Sr., even though his lawyer was advised that many of his kin, including his ex-wife, had ugly things to say about him. Even Libby Keck, who sat for two interviews in her lawyer's office, abruptly withdrew, terminating all contact.
"Everybody's afraid to talk. Even the little children are afraid," she rued.
Through it all, Libby Keck has remained an active if stoic player in the local art and museum scene, serving on the boards of the County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Huntington Museum and the Music Center.
Board members say her personal problems have not come up. "We've never discussed Mrs. Keck's situation. She has been a very satisfactory trustee," said Los Angeles attorney Frederick M. Nicholas, chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art board.
Aside from the art world, sports fans, too, might recognize the Keck name. She owns Ferdinand, the thoroughbred that won the Kentucky Derby in 1986.
Libby Keck is best known as a world-class collector who has assembled a museum-quality treasure of French tapestries, paintings and exquisite furnishings once owned by the likes of Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette and Napoleon.
In happier days, La Lanterne, a walled estate on Bellagio Road, was a regular stop for curators from Europe's finest museums, many of whom had competed with Libby Keck for those precious objects.
Howard Keck Sr., 73, sponsored cars that won the Indy 500 in 1953 and 1954. He retired as chairman of Superior Oil Co. in 1984 after it was purchased by Mobil for $5.7 billion, a sale triggered by a dispute with his late sister, Willametta.
The Keck family fortune can be traced to William M. Keck Sr., a one-time candy and sandwich salesman on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Oil Firm Is Born
Early this century, he went into the oil business as a roustabout in Pennsylvania. Eventually, he made his way to California and, as a speculator, drilled wells on contract for big oil companies, often taking leases as payment instead of cash.
By 1921, Keck had accumulated enough leases to start his own firm, Superior Oil Co. Within a decade, it had wells in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Louisiana and Venezuela.
Keck died in 1964, leaving most of his estate to his three surviving children through the $640-million William M. Keck Foundation, one of California's largest private grant-making foundations. He also left five beneficiary trusts set up at USC, Stanford, Pomona College, Occidental College and the Church of Our Savior in San Gabriel.
As the family became increasingly mired in litigation, some feared the hostilities would adversely affect the foundation's charitable giving, which over the years has totaled tens of millions of dollars to museums, schools, churches and community programs throughout the country. But those concerns have been allayed.
The family trusts came into being in 1978 after a 14-year probate over Keck's estate.
His children never got along well, according to some of the Kecks. Initially, William M. Keck Jr. was installed as Superior's chief executive officer. But Howard B. Keck Sr., or "Big Howard," eventually wrested control of the company away from his brother.
"The reasons they didn't get along go back to childhood," explained Libby Keck. Their father baited the brothers and encouraged the rivalry, she said.
Such intense competition, Libby Keck said, later also poisoned Big Howard's relationship with his own son, Little Howard. It was as if her husband had transferred that sibling rivalry from his brother to his son, she said.
Willametta Keck, Howard's sister, was seriously ill in Santa Barbara when Howard dispatched emissaries who urged her to grant him sole control of the trusts set up by their father. She refused, calling her brother a "dumb son of a bitch" in the Wall Street Journal.
Their dispute prompted Willametta, who died shortly afterward, to start a successful proxy fight against her brother, which triggered the 1984 sale of Superior to Mobil Corp. for $5.7 billion.
It was after that sale that Little Howard filed his lawsuit to clarify the complex inheritance issues involving the family trusts.
According to court documents, income from the trusts was to be distributed to the grandchildren of the patriarch, William Sr. And the trusts themselves were to terminate with the death of his last surviving child with all assets to be divided among the living descendants. Big Howard now is the sole surviving child of William Sr.
But Little Howard's "friendly" lawsuit proved anything but amicable.
In and out of court, Big Howard and Little Howard became increasingly hostile toward one another. At one point, Libby Keck said, Big Howard vowed to bring his son "to his knees."
Such enmity hardly surprised her.
Libby Keck said her son always "idolized his father. He killed himself to be everything his father wanted him to be." But it was never enough. His father wanted him to become a geologist; instead, he studied economics and finance at USC and Pepperdine. Later, Big Howard sent his son to northern Canada and then to Africa--assignments that scared her son "to death," she said.
'Just a Prelude'
"He (Big Howard) sent him as far away as he could. He didn't want the threat of a son or an heir-apparent around," she said. "So we always fought over that. But I never dreamed for an instant that it would blow up in the end the way it did. All that was just a prelude."
As the father-son lawsuit progressed, the Keck daughters began taking sides. One of them, Kerry C. Vaughn, joined Little Howard's lawsuit.
But the other daughter, Erin Anner Lower, and stepdaughter Francesca Elizabeth Drown joined Big Howard, alleging that Little Howard is not the biological child of Big Howard--"based on recently discovered evidence." But according to Sorrell Trope, Libby Keck's divorce lawyer, that issue has been laid to rest through genetic analysis.
Married for more than 38 years, the estranged Kecks continue to live--separately, rarely speaking to each other--in their Bel-Air mansion.
Until 1988, little was known about the deepening Keck family misery because much of the litigation was inaccessible to the public. Throughout the trust litigation, a Texas judicial gag order prevailed. And even though the litigation has been settled out of court, most of the documents remain sealed and its participants have signed a confidentiality agreement.
Similarly, the Kecks' divorce proceedings in Los Angeles Superior Court have been sealed at their mutual request.
But all that secrecy began to crack in August, 1987, after Libby Keck instructed Paine, her bodyguard-chauffeur, to summon Los Angeles Police Department detectives to investigate the disappearance of a painting in La Lanterne's conservatory.
It turned out that the century-old painting, "I Fria Luften," (In Free Air) a nude of a mother and child by Swedish master Anders Zorn, had fetched nearly $500,000 at a Swedish auction that spring.
It is not disputed that the Kecks' then-butler, Roy Donell, had received the proceeds.
Charged with grand larceny, Donell proclaimed his innocence before a Los Angeles Superior Court jury, saying he had acted at Libby Keck's behest because she needed money to pay her lawyers.
'Black Lies'
Donell said he turned over the proceeds to her, minus his 20% commission, in installments in white envelopes on her breakfast trays under a napkin. A second, minor painting was also allegedly stolen by Donell.
Libby Keck took the witness stand and called Donell's assertions "black lies."
But after a monthlong trial last summer, the jury exonerated Donell. In the meantime, the Kecks were paid off by their insurance company, minus a $50,000 deductible.
It was this criminal trial--attended by numerous lawyers representing the conflicting interests of the many Kecks--that served to part the curtains on the Kecks' private affairs.
Denouncing Donell's claims, the elegantly dressed Libby Keck told the jury: "The suggestion that I would conspire with my butler to sell these paintings for a sum of money which is but a small fraction of 1 month's income of myself and my husband is ludicrous."
She said she never had any financial worries, noting that she had sole control of an $11-million account. "I could have written a check for the whole amount," she testified.
A document from the divorce proceedings, produced at Donell's trial, showed that she also had a monthly allowance of $5,000 for groceries, $3,300 for dinners, $1,200 for lunches, $10,000 for dinner parties and $25,000 for clothing and other accessories.
Husband Takes Stand
During final arguments in Donell's criminal trial, Donald Randolph, the butler's defense attorney, told the jury that it would come down to Libby Keck's word against his client's. "She says X, and he says Y."
It did not help Libby Keck when her husband took the witness stand and told the jury that she was not one to be trusted. "I don't think she is a truthful person," he testified.
After acquitting Donell, jury foreman Joel Nenzell said the jurors did not necessarily believe Donell was innocent--only that his story seemed more believable than Libby Keck's.
Despite his acquittal, Donell is not out of the woods.
Libby Keck has sued him in civil court for theft, slander, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress, demanding $31 million. The former butler, who earned $25,000 a year, has been representing himself during the pretrial machinations.
Libby Keck said she filed the suit to clear her name.
"I want the truth out. I don't want to live with the lies that have been cast upon me by the bludgeonings of fate," she said.


text:
United Airlines to offer direct Palm Springs to New York service starting in December
United Airlines will offer a direct flight from PSP to New York/Newark between Dec. 19 and March 30
United Airlines to offer direct Palm Springs to New York service starting in December United Airlines will offer a direct flight from PSP to New York/Newark between Dec. 19 and March 30 Check out this story on desertsun.com: https://desert.sn/2rFLdPw
Nicole Hayden, The Desert Sun Published 11:27 a.m. PT May 14, 2018 | Updated 1:18 p.m. PT May 14, 2018
United Airlines to offer expanded service between Palm Springs and New York/Newark(Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAY)
Flying options for Coachella Valley residents to reach the East Coast continue to grow.
United Airlines is adding a seasonal daily non-stop flight between New York/Newark and Palm Springs starting in December.
The service, using a 119-seat plane, will run every day from Dec. 19 through March 30, typically departing New York/Newark at 7 p.m. and arriving in Palm Springs around 10 p.m., and departing Palm Springs at 9:45 p.m. and arriving in New York/Newark the next day at 6 a.m.
"The new service between EWR and PSP was created to offer more nonstop flights to destinations popular with our New York area customers," said United Airlines spokesman Robert Einhorn in an email. "We saw an opportunity in the PSP market, and are excited to complement our service from our other hub cities to the market."
United Airlines already offers flights out of Palm Springs that connect in other cities before flying to New York/Newark, as well as a variety of other destinations. But this will be the first time the airline is offering a direct flight to the East Coast airport, upping the competition for Jet Blue.
Mark Crabb, Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau vice president of sales and service, said it is exciting for the Coachella Valley to have two direct flight airline options out of New York during that seasonal travel period – United Airlines and JetBlue.
More: JetBlue expanding Palm Springs to New York service, starting 2018 season early
"Having access to nonstop service from New York/Newark on United will give us the opportunity to reach more of one of our biggest market segments for meetings and groups," Crabb said. "During these cold winter months our business traveler will become a 'bleisure' traveler with the option of splitting time between meetings and enjoying the warm sunshine and activities in Greater Palm Springs."
JetBlue will be starting its fourth year of seasonal nonstop flights between Palm Springs and John F. Kennedy International airport in New York. Beginning in October, JetBlue will offer nighttime flights four times a week to New York and in mid-December will expand to daily service. JetBlue will also offer its Mint service, with lie-back seats, an expanded menu, espressos and other amenities, on Palm Springs flights from Dec. 20 through Jan. 3.
But United Airlines and JetBlue aren't the only airlines competing for more customers though. Palm Springs International Airport continues to grow as it saw a record year in 2017, serving more than 2.1 million passengers, a 5.1 percent increase from 2016.
Air Canada announced in early March that it would be expanding services to Palm Springs. Air Canada already offers seasonal flights out of Palm Springs, but will be adding a daily flight between Calgary and the desert starting in October. American Airlines announced in March it would be adding a red-eye flight from Palm Springs to Dallas/Fort Worth four nights a week for the summer season, due to high demand.
More: American Airlines adds red-eye from PSP to Dallas-Fort Worth for summer
United Airlines said it will continue to adjust flights to please their customers by adding new destinations, additional flights and larger two-cabin aircrafts where needed.
"We approach these schedule adjustments with our customers in mind, knowing that we wanted to create a schedule that offers customers beginning their travel in the New York City area convenient flights to many of the business and leisure destinations they frequent the most," said United Airlines Vice President Ankit Gupta in a news release.
Palm Springs City Manager David Ready said he appreciated the additional service.
"The City of Palm Springs is delighted that United Airlines continues to recognize
the desire for more flights to and from Palm Springs to the East Coast," Ready said in a release. "This is a great compliment to the Palm Springs destination and we thank United Airlines for their continued investment in our airport."
Read or Share this story: https://desert.sn/2rFLdPw
Three armed men rob Palm Springs business; flee with cash
Coachella festival train is not happening this year
Indio couple arrested after death of infant
Temecula prostitution sting involves former valley deputy
Historic 'Wave' house on Modernism Week tours
Nonprofit: 2,000 affordable housing units coming to valley