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STOMA NURSES
Links & Forms
ABOUT OSTOMY TASMANIA
Ostomy Tasmania Incorporated is a non-profit organisation, and a registered charity and deductible gift recipient. We are governed by a voluntary Management Committee, many of whom are ostomates themselves. Until 2007, the association was wholly managed and staffed by volunteers. In July 2007, the decision was made by the Management Committee to employ a part-time Administrative Officer, and this has now expanded to three part-time Administration Staff to meet the growing business demands on the organisation. Ostomy Tasmania is currently managed by the Secretary, who works in a voluntary capacity. We also could not operate successfully without our pool of 10-15 volunteers, who between them work over 400 hours per month. Many of our volunteers are either ostomates themselves, or are the friends or family members of ostomates.
Ostomy Tasmania provides appliances to over 1500 members in Tasmania. This involves ordering and warehousing stock, processing about 1000 member orders per month, and distributing products either by mail or at our office counter in New Town. We issue around 2500 products every month.
We work closely with the Tasmanian Stomal Therapy Nurses. You can find more information about the Stomal Therapy Nurses at www.stomaltherapy.com or click here to link to the names and contact details of the Stomal Therapy Nurse for your region.
The Management Committee meets twice a year for General Meetings and otherwise on an as-required basis, to discuss matters and make decisions pertaining to the operation of the organisation. Positions on the Committee are subject to election each year at the Annual General Meeting. Financial members present at the meeting are eligible to vote.
The 2019/2020 committee members are:
President: Mr Peter Clarke
Vice President: Mr Colman Dwyer
Secretary: Mrs Sue Hoyle
Treasurer: Chris Laugher
Minute Secretary: Ms Rebecca Thompson
Mrs B. Clarke, Mr A. Kok, S. Hicks RN, Mr P. Emery, T. Bonde RN, Mrs M. Ferguson,
Phone: 03 6228 0799 Fax: 03 6228 0744 email: admin@ostomytas.com.au
Home | About Us | Contact Us | Membership | Links & Forms | Ordering
DISCLAIMER: Ostomy Tasmania Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy or suitablity of any information contained within this or any other stated website. No person should act or refrain from acting solely on the information contained within this website. Always seek advice from a qualified medical practitioner.


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Palau: Shark haven is diver paradise
Soon there will be a blanket ban on all commercial fishing in the waters around Palau, encompassing an area the size of France. Photo / Thinkstock
By Neil Sands
Palau's fishing-free ocean sanctuary is a huge draw for adventure divers, writes Neil Sands.
In many places swimmers might prefer to avoid sharks, but wetsuit-clad tourists in Palau clamour to dive among the predators thanks to a pioneering conservation initiative that has made them one of the country's main visitor attractions.
Palau created the world's first shark sanctuary in 2009 and the move has been so successful that plans are now underway to completely ban commercial fishing in the island nation's vast ocean territory by 2018.
The fishing-free zone in the northern Pacific, described as unprecedented by famed US marine scientist Sylvia Earle, will cover 630,000sq km, an area almost the size of France.
The architect of the ambitious plan is Palau President Tommy Remengesau, who said the ban was needed to "let the ocean heal" after years of industrialised fishing in the Pacific that has seen stocks of some species such as bluefin tuna fall to critical levels.
Remengesau said Pacific island nations, which are also struggling to deal with climate change, were effectively "the conscience of the world" on environmental matters and had to lead by example because of their special connection with the ocean.
"The ocean is our way of life," he said.
"It sustains and nurtures us, provides us with the basics of our Pacific island cultures, our very identities."
Just a decade ago, dozens of so-called "shark boats" regularly docked in Palau's commercial centre Koror, hanging fins to dry from their rigging as they worked to supply a seemingly insatiable demand in Asia for the primary ingredient in shark fin soup.
During the height of the trade, an estimated 73 million sharks a year had their fins hacked off and were thrown back into the sea to die.
"I would have been very upset to see that," said Maayan Sagr, a 22-year-old Israeli tourist on a six-week dive master's course in Palau, which is regularly voted the world's top spot for underwater enthusiasts.
"The nature and the sharks are the reasons I came here," she said.
"Everybody knows it's quiet and peaceful, but the main attraction is the sharks, getting to see them in their natural environment."
Remengesau said Palau's world-first shark protection measures sparked global change in attitudes towards the top predator, which went from being seen as a dangerous pest to a valuable part of the ecosystem.
About one-third of the world's countries have followed the Pacific nation's lead in banning shark-finning, according to the Pew Environment Group.
Crucially, demand for shark fin soup in China has waned thanks to a ban from official state banquet tables and celebrities publicly speaking out against eating the dish, which is often regarded as a status symbol.
Remengesau said sharks had more value to Palau as ecotourism assets, citing a 2011 study that found a single reef shark could contribute almost $2.4 million to the economy over its 10-year lifespan via the dive tourists it attracts.
"We feel that a live shark is worth a thousand times more than a dead one," he said.
Although tourist numbers have climbed since sharks were protected, there have been no attacks on divers, with operators keeping visitors a safe distance from the creatures.
Remesengau said the no-fishing plan prioritised tourism - which contributes about $194 million or 50 per cent of gross domestic product annually - over the tuna industry, which contributes around $6.6 million a year.
Earle, a National Geographic Society "Explorer-in Residence" who has led more than 100 oceanic expeditions in a career spanning almost six decades, said it was the first time a government had committed to stopping commercial fishing in its waters.
"[There is] awareness in Palau that we need to protect the systems that keep us alive, to restrict what has clearly been unsustainable - taking the sharks, tuna and the ocean wildlife," she said.
"I think it will set a standard and wake people up around the world ... 50 years ago we thought the ocean was too big to fail, now we know there are limits to what we can take and still have an ocean that functions."
Source:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=11329295
Palau's plans to ban commercial fishing could set precedent for tuna industry
Shannon Service
The Pacific nation wants to conserve fish for its economy and marine reserves. How will this impact the fishing industry?
The Pacific island-nation of Palau is close to kicking all commercialfishing vessels out of its tropical waters. The move will single-handedly section off more than 230,000 sq miles of ocean, an area slightly smaller than France, to create one of the world's largest marine reserves. The sanctuary, which Palauan President Thomas Remengesau Jr announced at the United Nations last month, would also sit inside the world's last healthy stand of lucrative, tasty tuna.
Giving fishing vessels the boot is bold for any nation, but perhaps more so for Palau, a smattering of 300 islands east of the Philippines. Tuna,America's favorite finned fish, is a regional boon worth an estimated $5.5bn. Commercial fishing, largely by boats from Japan and Taiwan,represents $5m annually – or 3.3% of GDP – to Palau. But still, the island state says it will allow existing fishing licenses to expire.
The move, hailed by ocean conservationists, sets a worrying precedent for the tuna industry. While the commercial catch inside Palau is minimal, captains covet the freedom to chase warm-blooded, migratory tuna across jurisdictions. If Palau goes through with the plan, it will mark the first time a nation has completely banned fishing vessels from its entire Exclusive Economic Zone.
"Our concern is not so much a practical one as it is a concern with the precedent of closing areas with no scientific basis for it," says Brian Hallman, executive director of the American Tunaboat Association.
"The migratory range of tunas is vast, covering the waters of many countries and the high seas. So the only way to conserve stocks is by international treaty arrangements and this is already being done."
Palau's decision to act alone could be seen as a warning to the fishing industry to take the sustainability concerns of smaller, fish-rich nations more seriously and to work with these countries on more nimble and responsive solutions.
A domino effect?Palau currently works with seven of its island neighbors to co-operatively manage a large swath of ocean. Jointly, these eight nations set fishing quotas and sustainability standards to manage nearly a third of the world's tuna stock. Balancing both conservation and business, the alliance became the first group of countries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council for managing its tuna grounds sustainably.
But this arrangement hinges on allowing more-sustainable fishing inside member waters. If Palau bans commercial fishing, it's unclear how this will impact the broader regional effort.
"There's nothing in these agreements that require we allow fishing in our waters," Remengesau says in a telephone interview. "It's all about the regional area. Our conservation efforts would ensure that the stocks are healthy and that they gain in economic value as they move out of our territorial waters into other waters."
When it comes down to it though, banning commercial boats simply appears to be in Palau's interests.
Even though the bulk of commercial fishing in the region focuses on tuna, sharks are frequently hauled in as bycatch. Yanking sharks out of the sea directly hits Palau's biggest moneymaker: the $85m dive tourism industry.
"We feel that a live tuna or shark is worth a thousand times more than a dead fish," Remengesau says.
A visionary move?
A 2010 Australian study backs him up. The researchers calculated that shark divers bring Palau $18m per year, with each swimming shark worth $1.9m in diving and tourism. Through this lens, sharks contribute 8% of Palau's GDP.
Matt Rand, director of the global oceans legacy at Pew Charitable Trust, says taking full stock of the value of living marine resources makes both economic and conservation sense.
"I think it's visionary," he says. "[Remengesau] looked at the global picture for the oceans and decided to preserve the marine ecosystem, not only for the seas, but for his economy and for his people. I think there's tremendous conservation value in what Palau is trying to do."
But there's still a long way to go. While several studies show marine protected areas enhance fisheries and biodiversity, a study published in the scientific journal, Nature, last month shows that not all are created equal. Scientists examined 87 such areas and found that a marine preserve needs at least three of five criteria to be successful. The study found that many failed to do so, leaving 59% "not ecologically distinguishable from fished sites".
Palau's sanctuary would be large and legally protected – two key attributes for success – but its viability will likely hinge on the nation's ability to stop pirate fishing, which is no easy feat. Palau currently battles hundreds of pirate fishing vessels with a single patrol boat.
Pressure from the outside
Then there's the risk of international financial pressure.
Palau could stand to lose a lot more than the $5m in direct fishing revenue. The nation is slated to receive $215m from the US in economic assistance and grants through 2024. But Michael Tosatto, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says that if Palau bans American boats it may risk losing some of those funds.
"I wouldn't say everything is about tuna," he says, "but it's a large part. If it weren't for the tuna treaty, there likely wouldn't be a multilateral assistance agreement. I'm not with the State Department, so I can't say for sure, but if they fully extract themselves, they could lose access."
Will Palau remain committed to this plan even if it means losing US aid?
"We're very committed to it," Remengesau says. "But also, I don't believe the US would retaliate against a small island nation that is its best ally in the United Nations simply because they want to force something down our throats as far as our conservation efforts."
This story was produced by the Food and Environment Reporting Network, an independent non-profit news organization focusing on food, agriculture and environmental health
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/palau-sharks-ban-commercial-fishing-tuna-industry
More valuable alive than dead. Photograph: Brian J Skerry/Getty Images/National Geographic

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Appreciate the collections at Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Give yourself a bit of retail therapy at Puerto Madero and El Ateneo Grand Splendid. Change things up with these side-trips from Buenos Aires: Museo de arte Tigre (in Tigre) and Reserva Natural Urbana (in Castelar). And it doesn't end there: admire the natural beauty at Parque 3 de Febrero, don't miss a visit to Recoleta Cemetery, admire the masterpieces at Museo Nacional De Arte Decorativo, and pause for some serene contemplation at Catedral Metropolitana.
To see ratings, where to stay, traveler tips, and tourist information, refer to the Buenos Aires trip itinerary planning app .
If you are flying in from Brazil, the closest major airports are Jorge Newbery Airpark and Ministro Pistarini International Airport. March in Buenos Aires sees daily highs of 29°C and lows of 20°C at night. Wrap up your sightseeing on the 21st (Thu) early enough to travel back home.


XXTEA is a fast and secure encryption algorithm. This is a XXTEA extension for PHP. XXTEA, also known as Corrected Block TEA is a block cipher designed to correct weaknesses in the original Block TEA (Tiny Encryption Algorithm), which was first published together with a paper on 'Tea extensions'. Block TEA is likely to be more efficient than XXTEA for longer messages. It encrypts and decrypts string instead of uint32 array, and the key is also string.


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Căldărușa – wieś w Rumunii, w okręgu Buzău, w gminie Cernătești. W 2011 roku liczyła 80 mieszkańców.

Przypisy

Wsie w okręgu Buzău

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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CHARLES KUCHER v. CARL J. KUCHER
400 N.Y.S.2d 549 (1977) | Cited 6 times
Hessling v. City of Broomfield
563 P.2d 12 (1977) | Cited 19 times
Chavez v. Lowe
74 N.M. 754 (1965) | Cited 2 times
BARNARD v. ZONING BD. OF APP. OF TOWN OF YARMOUTH
BROWNDALE INTERNATIONAL v. BOARD ADJUSTMENT FOR DANE COUNTY ET AL.
94 S. Ct. 1933 (1974) | Cited 164 times
FREDERICK S. DANZIGER ET AL. v. KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION ET AL.
400 N.Y.S.2d 724 (1977) | Cited 1 time
MOORE v. CITY EAST CLEVELAND
COMMUNITY SCHOOL v. ZONING BD. OF APPEALS
MATTER OF LAPPIE
WASHINGTON v. DAVIS ET AL.
WALSH v. CITY OF BREWER
CUNNINGHAM v. KITTERY PLANNING BD.
400 A.2d 1070 (1979) | Cited 14 times
FROST v. LUCEY
WRIGHT v. MICHAUD
160 Me. 164 (1964) | Cited 19 times
POOL BEACH ASSOCIATION v. CITY OF BIDDEFORD
TORREY v. CONGRESS SQ. HOTEL CO.
MOYER v. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
PRIDE'S CORNER
CHABOT v. SANFORD ZONING BD. OF APPEALS
408 A.2d 85 (1979) | Cited 1 time
City of Des Plaines v. Trottner
34 Ill.2d 432 (1966) | Cited 14 times
MICHAUD v. CITY OF BANGOR
LIPPOTH v. ZONING BD. OF APP.
VILLAGE BELLE TERRE ET AL. v. BORAAS ET AL.
SAN ANTONIO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT ET AL. v. RODRIGUEZ ET AL.
State v. Rees
RANCOURT v. TOWN OF GLENBURN
MAHANEY v. STATE
WALTMAN v. TOWN OF YARMOUTH
In re Christmas
FICHTER v. BOARD OF ENV. PROTECTION
SENDERS v. TOWN OF COLUMBIA FALLS
647 A.2d 93 (1994) | Cited 2 times
STATE v. PERRY
Kirkpatrick v. City of Bangor
728 A.2d 1268 (1999) | Cited 1 time
MARCHI v. TOWN OF SCARBOROUGH
05/04/83 CIVITANS CARE v. BOARD ADJUSTMENT CITY
437 So. 2d 540 (1983) | Cited 0 times
Sawyer v. Town of Gorham
PUTNAM v. TOWN OF HAMPDEN
ONAT v. PENOBSCOT BAY MEDICAL CENTER
NORTHERN MAINE GENERAL HOSP. v. RICKER
BROPHY v. TOWN OF CASTINE
BUSHEY v. TOWN OF CHINA
TRI-STATE RUBBISH v. NEW GLOUCESTER
State v. McConkie
HUFFMIRE v. TOWN OF BOOTHBAY
35 F. Supp.2d 122 (1999) | Cited 0 times
Green v. Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
State v. Anderson
OUR WAY ENTERPRISES v. TOWN OF WELLS
MEASUREX SYSTEMS
In re Christmas C.
LOVELL v. ONE BANCORP
818 F. Supp. 412 (1993) | Cited 0 times
TRI-STATE RUBBISH
02/06/90 BENJAMIN L. HALL & ANOTHER *FN1 v. ZONING
549 N.E.2d 433 (1990) | Cited 1 time
PENOBSCOT AREA
434 A.2d 14 (1981) | Cited 31 times | Supreme Judicial Court of Maine | August 14, 1981
[EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINED AND ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE, THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.]
This appeal presents several issues, novel in our jurisdiction, as to the applicability of local zoning ordinances to state-related projects.
The Penobscot Area Housing Development Corporation is a private, nonprofit Maine corporation, recently organized to provide housing for retarded citizens. For that purpose it has negotiated a purchase and sale agreement to acquire a house and lot in a district of the City of Brewer which is zoned for low density single family residential use under the City's zoning ordinance. The Corporation applied to the City's code enforcement officer for an occupancy certificate and described the proposed use as "group home for six adults or older minors, which group home would be licensed as a Boarding Home by the State." The Corporation intended to use the property as a group home for six retarded persons who would be supervised by "approximately two" full-time employees. The Brewer Code Enforcement Officer, William L. Wetherbee, denied the occupancy permit because he concluded the Corporation's proposed use did "not meet the terms of the City of Brewer's zoning ordinance as a single family." Wetherbee recommended that the Corporation comply with the ordinance by applying for a nursing home use rather than as a single family use, and by meeting the additional requirements of a nursing home prescribed by the ordinance. Declining to adopt Wetherbee's suggestions, the Corporation appealed to the City's Board of Appeals. See 30 M.R.S.A. § 2411 (1978). The Board of Appeals held a hearing and later issued a statement, which set forth findings of fact and affirmed Wetherbee's decision that the proposed use could not be classified as a single family use under the ordinance.
From the Board of Appeal's decision, the Corporation sought review of that decision by the Superior Court (Kennebec County) pursuant to 30 M.R.S.A. § 2411(3)(F) (1978) and M.R.Civ.P. 80B. Joining in seeking that review were the State of Maine and the State Bureau of Mental Retardation. The Defendant in the Rule 80B review was the City of Brewer.
Before a plenary hearing was held in Kennebec County the City moved to dismiss the action for improper venue, arguing that neither the State nor the Bureau was a proper party to the review and thus venue should have been laid in Penobscot County where both the Corporation's principal place of business and the City were located. See 14 M.R.S.A. § 505 (1978). After a nontestimonial hearing the court denied the City's motion to dismiss. The Plaintiffs then amended their complaint to allege that the Bureau was before the Superior Court on Rule 80B review both individually and as the legal guardian of three incompetent persons from the Brewer area who already had been selected to live in the proposed group home. In that posture, the court held a hearing to review the Board's decision on its merits and, by an order dated April 16, 1980, affirmed it.
On their appeal to this Court, the Corporation, State, and Bureau challenge the Superior Court's order and raise several important issues concerning the applicability of local zoning ordinances to state-related projects, the proper construction of the Brewer zoning ordinance, and the constitutionality of the Superior Court's construction of that ordinance. The City of Brewer cross appeals, contending that the Superior Court erred in denying its motion to dismiss for improper venue.
We deny both the appeal and the cross appeal.
The City contends that the Superior Court erred in denying its motion to dismiss for improper venue. This assertion requires our evaluation of the status of both the State and Bureau as participants at various stages in the proceedings. The right of appeal to the Superior Court from decisions rendered by municipal boards of appeal is statutorily governed by 30 M.R.S.A. § 2411(3)(F) (1978). That section provides:
An appeal may be taken, within 30 days after the decision is rendered, by any party to Superior Court from any order, relief or denial in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 80B.
The hearing before the Superior Court shall be without a jury.
Id.(emphasis supplied). This Court has liberally construed the term "any party" to accommodate the informal features of hearings before municipal bodies and to promote the Legislature's interest in providing a forum for aggrieved persons. Pride's Corner Concerned Citizens Association et al. v. Westbrook Board of Zoning Appeals et al., Me., 398 A.2d 415, 417 (1979). Thus, in contrast to the more rigid standards regulating party status under M.R.Civ.P. 17, we held in Pride's Corner that "party" under section 2411(3)(F) means no more than "a participant in the proceedings who is aggrieved by the action of the appeals board." Id. at 418. We went on to specify, however, that an aggrieved party is one that suffers a "particularized injury" and that this definitional component of party derives from the judicial requirement that a party have standing to bring an action. Id. See also Chabot v. Sanford Zoning Board of Appeals, Me., 408 A.2d 85 (1979); Cunningham v. Kittery Planning Board, Me., 400 A.2d 1070, 1078 (1979); Matter of Lappie, Me., 377 A.2d 441, 443 (1977); Walsh v. City of Brewer, Me., 315 A.2d 200, 205-07 (1974).
While we are satisfied that the State and Bureau participated in the proceeding before the appeals board, we agree with the City that the State and the Bureau did not suffer a particularized injury sufficient for purposes of standing and the status of party which standing confers. The State and Bureau argue that they have significant interests at stake and that these interests have been frustrated by the Brewer Code Enforcement Officer's refusal to grant the Corporation an occupancy permit for the proposed group home. Specifically, the State and Bureau contend that they must observe mandates of state1 and federal law2 to protect the rights of mentally retarded citizens and to promote their welfare. These mandates include placement of the retarded in home-like environments in the general community. In response to these mandates, the State and Bureau have sponsored a variety of programs designed to assist qualifying private organizations in financing and operating community group homes.
While persuaded that the State and Bureau have legitimate concerns with the statewide success of community group homes, we conclude that those concerns alone do not give rise to a particularized injury in this case. Nothing in the record generated before the Brewer Appeals Board indicates that the State or Bureau have more than a general policy interest in this particular Corporation's proposed group home. In fact, at the hearing before the Appeals Board, the Bureau's Regional Administrator frankly admitted he had not seen the site proposed for the group home, that the site had not been licensed or inspected by the State, and that the State would have to inspect the site before the group home could accommodate residents. Moreover, although the Corporation had negotiated a purchase and sale agreement with the seller, the State and Bureau were not parties to that contract and no contract for financing, grants, or services had ever been negotiated between the Corporation and the State of Bureau. All the record reveals is that the Bureau had provided the Corporation with general information no different from that available to any organization considering the prospects of establishing a group home in Maine. To hold that a "particularized injury" was suffered by the State or Bureau on such a record would debilitate that statutory requirement.
Under the unique circumstances of this case we need not reviewthe decision of the Superior Court on the question of venue.M.R.Civ.P. 61. See Torrey v. Congress Square Hotel Co., 145 Me. 234, 75 A.2d 451 (1950). Less than one month after the SuperiorCourt denied the City of Brewer's motion to dismiss and beforethe hearing on the merits, the Plaintiffs filed an affidavit of the Director of the Bureau of Mental Retardation with theSuperior Court. This affidavit specifically identified threenamed individuals as incompetent wards of the state and membersof the plaintiff class in Wuori v. Zitnay, No. 75-80-SD (D.Me.July 14, 1978) and averred that these individuals had beenselected to reside in the proposed group home before the AppealsBoard hearing was conducted on July 12, 1979. The Rule 80Bcomplaint was then amended to make them parties to the action.
Under both state legislation3 and the mandate of the federal court,4 these three incompetent persons were entitled to living accommodations in an environment least restrictive of their liberty. Group homes located in the general community are clearly favored under state policy as best fulfilling the living accommodation needs of mentally retarded individuals. See Wuori v. Zitnay, supra at App. B, § A.2.(a), § C.3; 34 M.R.S.A. § 2147(2)(B) (1978). The specific designation of these three incompetent individuals as future residents of the proposed group home in Brewer thus established a sufficiently definite interest in the controversy to conclude fairly that these individuals suffered a particularized injury under the test set forth in Pride's Corner, supra, when the City of Brewer denied an occupancy certificate to the Corporation. Unlike the State and Bureau, they were proper parties to the Rule 80B appeal. Cf. Chabot v. Sanford Zoning Board of Appeals, Me., 408 A.2d 85 (1979) (plaintiff was improper party where he failed to plead or prove a particularized injury).
Because these three individuals were proper parties to the Rule80B review, we think the participation of the State and Bureau inthe capacity of public guardian pursuant to P.L. 1973, ch. 640 §15 was appropriate. Venue in actions which are local innature between a natural person or corporation and a municipalitymay be laid in the county where either party lives or issituated. 14 M.R.S.A. § 505 (1978). A guardian's residence orsitus is cognizable in selecting proper venue. Haines v. Lamb,206 Cal.App.2d 322, 24 Cal.Rptr. 146 (1962); Kimsey v. Caudell,109 Ga. App. 271, 135 S.E.2d 903 (1964); Chavez v. Lowe, 74 N.M. 754, 398 P.2d 622 (1965). Accordingly, the problem, if any, ofvenue in Kennebec County was cured once the fiduciaryrelationship of the State and Bureau to the incompetents wasformally identified by amendment to the complaint.
Significantly, no other grounds for prejudice have been established by the City. We conclude that ultimately the venue in this action was properly laid in Kennebec County.
Zoning Exemption for the State
Municipal home rule powers to prescribe and enforce zoning ordinances are limited by statute. Relevant to this controversy is a statutory provision declaring that "Any zoning ordinance shall be advisory with respect to the State." 30 M.R.S.A. § 4962(1)(E) (1978).
The Corporation contends that this statutory provision exempted its proposed group home from the Brewer ordinance because the Corporation was acting as an agent of the State in furtherance of clearly articulated state obligations and interests by initiating the group home project in the City of Brewer.
Under Maine law, nonprofit corporations may be organized for a wide variety of purposes which may often promote state interests. See 13-B M.R.S.A. § 201 (Supp. 1978). Such corporations are often the beneficiaries of financial assistance, programs, and counsel offered by state agencies.
We cannot conceive that by the statute cited the Legislature intended to exempt all such corporations from local zoning ordinances. Our construction of section 4962(1)(E) is aided by the presence of other provisions in section 4962. Illustratively, subsection (1)(C) provides that a public service corporation can be exempted from an ordinance only where "the Public Utilities Commission has determined that such exemption is reasonably necessary for public welfare and convenience." For a second example, subsection (1)(D) unequivocally makes county and municipal governments subject to zoning ordinances. These companion provisions reveal a clear legislative preference for compliance with local zoning ordinances by all institutions affected with a public interest so as to prevent capricious disruptions in planned community development. Although we are sensitive to the difficulties faced by organizations like this Corporation in finding appropriate locations for group homes, we do not read section 4962(1)(E) as authorizing unrestricted suspension of legitimate zoning regulations for nonprofit corporations serving state interests absent a showing of compelling need, and unless existing, as well as continuing, state involvement of a substantial nature has been established by the party claiming the exemption. See Comment, Governmental Immunity from Local Zoning Ordinances, 84 Harv.L.Rev. 869, 883-86 (1971).
The court below concluded that evidence before the Board of Appeals was insufficient to support a finding of such state involvement. Our review of the record finds support for the conclusions reached by that court.6 The degree of state involvement in the proposed group home was not only speculative but, moreover, there was simply no showing that other suitable locations were unavailable in the Brewer area. We, therefore, conclude that the Corporation was not exempt from legitimate local zoning regulations pursuant to 30 M.R.S.A. § 4962(1)(E).7
The Ordinance Provision for Family Uses
The Plaintiffs next challenge the Superior Court's affirmance of the Board's construction and application of a section of the Brewer Zoning Ordinance providing for districts in which low density, single family residential uses were favored. Brewer Zoning Ordinance, Art. 3 § 302. Another section of the ordinance explicitly defined family:
"FAMILY" is a single individual doing his own cooking, and living upon the premises as a separate housekeeping unit, or a collective body of persons doing their own cooking and living together upon the premises as a separate housekeeping unit in a domestic relationship based upon birth, marriage or other domestic bond as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house, lodging house, club, fraternity or hotel.
Brewer Zoning Ordinance, Art. 1 § 101. After a hearing, the Brewer Board of Appeals concluded that the proposed group home for retarded persons did not meet the definition of family in the ordinance. The Board's decision recited a litany of factual findings which, taken together, led the Board to affirm the enforcement officer's refusal to grant an occupancy permit based on the Corporation's characterization of the use under the definition of family set forth above. The Brewer ordinance permitted other uses in the low density single family residential districts if special requirements were met. Brewer Zoning Ordinance, Art. 3 § 302.3, § 401. However, the Corporation proposed its group home as a single family residential use in its application and appeal to the Board. Our review of the action below is thus limited to the single issue of whether the Superior Court erred in affirming the Board's decision that the concept of a single family use in the Brewer ordinance did not cover the proposed group home. See Lippoth v. Zoning Board of Appeals, City of South Portland, Me., 311 A.2d 552, 556 (1973).
Construction of zoning ordinances is a legal determination. Moyer v. Board of Zoning Appeals, Me., 233 A.2d 311, 318 (1967). On appeal both before the Superior Court in a Rule 80B proceeding and before this Court pursuant to Rule 80B(d), the reviewing court's function is to determine only whether the decision of the Board of Appeals was unlawful, arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. Lippoth v. Board of Zoning Appeals, supra at 557; Frost v. Lucey, Me., 231 A.2d 441, 448 (1967). In reviewing the ordinance before us, we note at the threshold that relationships other than those based on blood or law, i.e., founded on birth or marriage, are included in the definition of family. Relationships based upon "other domestic bond[s]" satisfy the ordinance as well.
The Plaintiffs' principal argument appears to be that the interpretation of the ordinance by the Board and its affirmance by the Superior Court placed undue emphasis on the role of the staff and ignored the fact that the plain purpose of the group home was to create a family environment for the residents. The requirement of a domestic bond, the Plaintiffs argue, would have been met by the relationship forged among the residents themselves as they lived and worked together. As authority for their position, the Plaintiffs cite several decisions from other jurisdictions in which similar definitions of family have been construed to include group homes. See Group House of Port Washington v. Board of Zoning, North Hempstead, 45 N.Y.2d 266, 380 N.E.2d 207, 408 N.Y.S.2d 377 (1978); Oliver v. Zoning Commission of Town of Chester, 31 Conn. Sup. 197, 326 A.2d 84 (1974). We reject the Plaintiffs' argument. Read in context with the definition as a whole, the concept of "domestic bond" implies the existence of a traditional family-like structure of household authority. Such a structure would include one or more resident authority figures charged with the responsibility of maintaining a separate housekeeping unit and regulating the activity and duties of the other residents. City of White Plains v. Ferraioli, 34 N.Y.2d 300, 306, 313 N.E.2d 756, 759, 357 N.Y.S.2d 449, 453 (1974). See Boyd, Strategies in Zoning and Community Living Arrangements for Retarded Citizens: Parens Patriae Meets Police Power, 25 Villanova L.Rev. 273, 295 (1979-80). In so doing, this resident authority figure serves legitimate zoning interests of a community by stabilizing and coordinating household activity in a way that is consistent with family values and a family style of life. See Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 9, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 1541, 39 L.Ed.2d 797 (1974); Barnard v. Zoning Board of Yarmouth, Me., 313 A.2d 741, 745 (1974).
Concerning the structure of authority at the proposed group home as it relates to the existence of a domestic bond, the Board found that although a staff would be employed by the Corporation for the purposes of maintaining a home for six retarded adults, staff members would not necessarily reside at the home; rather, the Board's findings suggested the staff would serve on a rotating basis. Thus, a central figure of authority residing on the premises similar to a parent or parents in a traditional family setting was clearly absent in the group home proposal tendered by these Plaintiffs.
As the Superior Court observed, the absence of a resident authority figure in the Corporation's proposal clearly distinguishes this case from cases cited by the Plaintiffs in which the definition of family was held to include group homes. See Oliver v. Zoning Commission of Town of Chester, supra (resident houseparents for 10 retarded adolescents); Group House of Port Washington, Inc. v. Board of Zoning, supra (resident surrogate parents for seven children). See also Hessling v. Bloomfield, 196 Colo. 124, 563 P.2d 12 (1977) (married resident couple as surrogate parents for six retarded children); Freeport v. Association for Help of Retarded Children, 94 Misc.2d 1048, 406 N.Y.S.2d 221, aff'd 60 A.D.2d 644, 400 N.Y.S.2d 724 (1977) (resident house parents); City of White Plains v. Ferraioli, supra (permanent foster home for children with single married couple acting as surrogate parents). As such, evidence of a central component of the domestic bond concept was deficient. See Browndale International, Ltd. v. Board of Adjustment, 60 Wis.2d 182, 208 N.W.2d 121, cert. denied, 416 U.S. 936, 94 S.Ct. 1933, 40 L.Ed.2d 286 (1973) (supervisory personnel not resident at homes). Indeed, where the domestic bond is not based on a biological or legal relationship among the residents, the importance of a relatively permanent, resident authority figure to the existence of a domestic bond may be particularly significant.
Like relationships founded on marriage or birth, the notion of domestic bond also connotes a quality of cohesiveness and permanence in the relationship of residents greater than that which typically exists among boarders, members of a fraternity or club, or hotel guests. See City of White Plains v. Ferraioli, supra, 34 N.Y.2d at 304-05, 313 N.E.2d at 758, 357 N.Y.S.2d at 452. The language of the definition itself clearly suggests the comparison is appropriate. Relevant to the potential for cohesiveness and permanence in the relationships developed at the home, the Board of Appeals found that the residents would not control "the choice of who the incoming residents would be nor when other residents would leave." Some residents would ultimately be transferred to foster homes. The Board of Appeals further found that the average stay of a resident would be one to one and one-half years. These facts are not consistent with the development of permanent and cohesive relationships among the residents, especially in the absence of a resident authority figure. See Lakeside Youth Service v. Zoning Hearing Board of Upper Moreland Township, 51 Pa.Cmwlth. 485, 487, 414 A.2d 1115, 1116 (1980). Accordingly, the bond between the residents may well more resemble the relationship among boarders, club or fraternity members, whose exclusion from single family districts has been upheld in other jurisdictions. See Des Plaines v. Trottner, 34 Ill.2d 432, 216 N.E.2d 116 (1966); Theta Kappa, Inc. v. city of Terre Haute, 141 Ind. App. 165, 226 N.E.2d 907 (1967); City of Schenectady v. Alumni Association of Union Chapter Delta Chi Fraternity, Inc., 5 A.D.2d 14, 168 N.Y.S.2d 754 (1957).
Finally, the definition of family further specifies that the persons comprising the collective should not only be living together in a relationship founded on a domestic bond but should be "doing their own cooking and living together upon the premises as a separate housekeeping unit." Brewer Zoning Ordinance, Art. 1 § 101 (emphasis supplied). The Board found that the Corporation and its rotating staff would plan and manage the activities of the residents. Further, staff members were to be responsible for preparing meals and providing "some cleaning and other services." The Board of Appeals could reasonably have concluded that such an arrangement would not comply with the requirement of the ordinance that the residents do their own cooking as a separate housekeeping unit. Indeed, as the decisions of other courts suggest, extensive outside aid in the management and operation of a household detracts from the family nature of the home. See Browndale International, Ltd. v. Board of Adjustment, supra.
In light of the definitional specifications of the Brewer ordinance reviewed above,
we conclude that the decision rendered by the Board of Appeals and affirmed by the Superior Court was clearly reasonable and adequately supported by factual findings of record. The Board could reasonably have decided not only that the Corporation's proposal failed to meet the definitional criteria of a domestic bond but that it failed to satisfy more concrete specifications of the ordinance as well. While the purpose of such homes is laudable and, while the promise they hold for the retarded is heartening, we decline to interpret and apply local zoning ordinances by abandoning relatively objective standards of evaluation in favor of a judicial approach that requires an intimate evaluation of a home's purpose and effect in each case. If, as these Plaintiffs contend, the problem of locating group homes is pervasive in this state, legislative, not judicial, action may be most appropriate. See Comment, Zoning for the Mentally Ill: A Legislative Mandate, 16 Harv.J.Legis. 853 (1979).
The Constitutional Arguments
The Plaintiffs finally contend that the Brewer ordinance as interpreted and applied by the Board of Appeals violates their rights to due process and equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Zoning ordinances, implemented pursuant to the police power conferred on municipalities, are accorded a strong presumption of constitutional validity. Barnard v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Yarmouth, Me., 313 A.2d 741, 744 (1974); Wright v. Michaud, 160 Me. 164, 177, 200 A.2d 543, 550 (1964).
The Plaintiffs contend that the application of the Brewer ordinance arbitrarily deprives them of fundamental rights in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it excluded the proposed group home from single family districts based on distinctions irrelevant to legitimate zoning concerns. They contend that the ordinance, as applied, confuses "the power to control physical use of premises with the power to distinguish occupants making the same physical use of them." Hessling v. City of Bloomfield, 193 Colo. 124, 563 P.2d 12, 14 (1977).
At the outset we note that what, if any, fundamental rights have arguably been infringed upon in the case before us is unclear. The Plaintiffs have failed to identify in this substantive due process claim those fundamental rights they must claim were affected by application of this ordinance. Unlike the case of Moore v. City of East Cleveland, the fundamental right to decide matters concerning the traditional family, an institution "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition," was never implicated here. 431 U.S. 494, 503, 97 S.Ct. 1932, 1937, 52 L.Ed.2d 531 (1977). Rather, as the United States Supreme Court observed in Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 7, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 1540, 39 L.Ed.2d 797 (1974), where an ordinance similar to the Brewer ordinance was upheld, the record reveals no fundamental right to have been affected by the Brewer ordinance. Accordingly, the Plaintiffs' only appropriate argument may be limited to whether they were denied equal protection of the laws under the ordinance. See id. at 8, 94 S.Ct. at 1540.
Even assuming arguendo that the record revealed what fundamental rights the Plaintiffs claim were infringed, it does not necessarily follow that application of the ordinance violated due process of law. Zoning ordinances, enacted pursuant to the police power of municipalities, comply with due process guarantees if they "bear a substantial relation to the advancement of the public health, safety, morals or general welfare." Barnard v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Yarmouth, supra at 744; Wright v. Michaud, supra, 160 Me. at 171, 200 A.2d at 547. Ordinances which restrict designated areas of a community to single family residential uses serve the state interests enumerated above in several ways. In Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, supra 416 U.S. at 9, 94 S.Ct. at 1541, the United States Supreme Court specifically recognized that such ordinances may properly serve to "lay out zones where family values, youth values, and the blessings of quiet seclusion and clean air make the area a sanctuary for people." Again, in 1977 the Supreme Court affirmed the legitimacy of zoning ordinances directed at promoting "family needs" and "family values" by "limiting the types of groups that could occupy a single dwelling unit." Moore v. East Cleveland, supra 431 U.S. at 498-99, 97 S.Ct. at 1935. These decisions unquestionably make state interests in the preservation of land use zones which facilitate a family way of life and promote family values the proper objects of the exercise of the police power. See A. Rathkopf, 4 The Law of Zoning and Planning § 33, c. 79, at 240-42 (Supp. 1980). Thus, the Plaintiffs' due process argument may be reduced to the contention that the Brewer ordinance does not rationally serve these legitimate state purposes.
We disagree.
The Plaintiffs' specific charge that the ordinance confuses the power to control land use with the power to distinguish persons making the same use of land ignores facts of record relevant to the definitional components of family set forth in the ordinance. The absence of a resident authority figure, the relatively short period of a resident's stay, and the extensive external control over and assistance to the residents all detract from the familylike character of the use. These facts, as we indicated above, are highly relevant here.
In fact, the language of the Brewer ordinance itself refutes the Plaintiffs' claim that the ordinance is improperly directed at relations among persons instead of land use. The ordinance's definition of family includes relationships based on domestic bonds other than those established by birth or marriage if the residents otherwise function as a separate housekeeping unit.8 The fact that there may be situations in which application of the ordinance would not perfectly implement the Plaintiffs' conception of land use consistent with the promotion of family values and a family lifestyle in a community does not compel a finding of unconstitutionality. As Justice Douglas wrote, "[E]very line drawn by a legislature leaves some out that might well have been included. That exercise of discretion, however, is a legislative, not a judicial, function." Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, supra 416 U.S. at 8, 94 S.Ct. at 1540.9
The Plaintiffs further challenge the application of the Brewer ordinance on equal protection grounds from two perspectives. First, they argue that the mentally retarted parties to this appeal represent a suspect class. Accordingly, the Plaintiffs contend the Brewer ordinance must be evaluated under a standard of strict scrutiny and that the ordinance cannot be upheld under that standard. Second, the Plaintiffs contend that even if we decline to agree with them that the mentally retarded are a suspect class, the ordinance as applied is violative of the equal protection requirement because it does not bear a rational relationship to legitimate state interests. For reasons that include many of the points we have made in rejecting the Plaintiffs' due process claim, we find no merit in these contentions.
While the status of mental retardation does possess many characteristics similar to other classifications recognized as suspect by the United States Supreme Court,10 we find it unnecessary in this case to decide the issue. Central to any equal protection claim is the existence of some state activity which discriminates against a person or group for arbitrary or invidious reasons. See A. Rathkopf, 1 The Law of Zoning and Planning § 8.01, c. 8 (1981). Under any standard of constitutional review, the state action challenged here, namely application of the Brewer ordinance, does not constitute such discrimination.
There is nothing on the record before us to indicate that application of this ordinance, neutral on its face, would affect mentally retarded persons any differently than other persons, not related by blood or law, who might wish to reside in this single family district. Furthermore, the Plaintiffs are free to revise their application to meet the requirements of an authorized use.
Neither is there sufficient evidence on this record to suggest that the Board of Appeals here applied the ordinance with any intent to exclude the mentally retarded from the district, a critical requirement in challenges on equal protection grounds to facially neutral state action.11 The claim of discrimination underlying the Plaintiffs' equal protection argument is thus indistinguishable from the claim made by six college students and squarely rejected by the United States Supreme Court in Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, supra.
In sum, these Plaintiffs have failed to overcome the presumption of constitutional validity of the ordinance which they challenge.
The entry, therefore, will be:
Appeal denied.
1. See generally 34 M.R.S.A. § 2001 et seq. (1978 & Supp. 1980-81).
2. Wuori v. Zitnay, No. 75-80-SD (D.Me. July 14, 1978).
3. 34 M.R.S.A. § 2141(2)(A) (1978).
4. Wuori v. Zitnay, supra at App. A, §§ A.1, A.2; App. B, § F.1.
5. Formerly codified at 18 M.R.S.A. § 3638 (Supp. 1980), the provision has been repealed by Me.P.L. 1979, ch. 540 § 1 which enacted the new probate code.
6. In the court's opinion accompanying its order affirming the Board of Appeals, the court found:
The matter (application of 30 M.R.S.A. § 4962(1)(E)) was not developed in full before the Board . . . . While the present relationship was well elucidated, the record does not show the long-term State connection with the home beyond generalities. Regulations on operations were not introduced. No testimony as to the substance of the contract [the Plaintiffs alleged would be negotiated with the State] appears on the record. Half of the persons to be resident are not state wards, and it is unclear what their exact status is, or whether all residents might be outside State guardianship in the future.
Courts should hesitate to avoid legitimate municipal regulations in the absence of a definite showing of continuing State action. The evidence in this record is insufficient to grant the relief requested.
7. Although application of section 4962 was the subject of some general remarks at the hearing before the Board of Appeals, it is not clear that the issue was ever formally raised by the Plaintiffs or that the Board of Appeals ever formally ruled on the issue. While we here affirm the Superior Court's conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to exempt the Corporation, we note also that this Court and the Superior Court generally will not review issues not litigated before the Board. Community School v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the town of Camden, Me., 369 A.2d 1146, 1148, n. 4 (1977); Lippoth v. Zoning Board of Appeals et al., Me., 311 A.2d 552, 556 (1973); Moyer v. Board of Zoning Appeals, Me., 233 A.2d 311, 316 (1967).
8. Indeed, the particular ordinance challenged by the Plaintiffs can hardly be faulted for being too broadly drafted. There is simply no evidence to support a finding that group homes of the sort proposed by the Plaintiffs were prohibited in every district of Brewer. In fact, the record suggests that the group home could have been lawfully located at the location in question if, rather than insisting on styling their application for a certificate of occupancy as a family use, the Plaintiffs had restyled their application and cooperated with local officials to meet the additional qualifications required of uses permitted in the zone other than single family uses.
9. In rejecting the Plaintiffs' due process claim, we are aware of decisions rendered in other jurisdictions which have struck down ordinances limiting the types of groups that can occupy a single dwelling unit. In particular, both California and New Jersey have held ordinances similar to the Brewer ordinance before us unconstitutional on grounds that they were violative of certain fundamental rights. E.g., City of Santa Barbara v. Adamson, 27 Cal.3d 123, 610 P.2d 436, 164 Cal.Rptr. 539 (1980); State v. Baker, 81 N.J. 99, 405 A.2d 368 (1979). Both jurisdictions, however, have frankly acknowledged that the ordinances were offensive to rights protected under their state constitutions and not under the federal constitution. This Court has long adhered to the principle that the Maine Constitution and the Constitution of the United States are declarative of identical concepts of due process. Pool Beach Association v. City of Biddeford, Me., 328 A.2d 131, 135 n. 6 (1974); Michaud v. City of Bangor, 159 Me. 491, 493, 196 A.2d 106, 108 (1963); Jordan v. Gaines, 136 Me. 291, 294-95, 8 A.2d 585, 587 (1939). We discern no persuasive reason to depart from that principle here.
10. See San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 28, 93 S.Ct. 1278, 1293, 36 L.Ed.2d 16 (1973). See also Note, 43 Albany L.Rev. 539, 562-63 (1979).
11. See Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229, 96 S.Ct. 2040, 48 L.Ed.2d 597 (1976).


text:
Valorant Act 3 adds a frosty new map, ranked changes, and new healer
Valorant is growing up fast. The competitive FPS game's already approaching its third battle pass, with a new hero and a fifth map set to arrive as part of Act 3. Ordinarily, the reveal of new Valorant characters would be the main talking point, but for Act 3 all of the attention is on Icebox, a snowy new map that's set to release three months ahead of schedule due to player feedback about the limited size of Valorant's map pool.
Icebox will be the fifth Valorant map, and like all maps in the game, it's got its own unique gameplay mechanic to add a little more strategy to the gunfights. Instead of teleports and sealable doors, Icebox features a zipline across its A site, which caters to quick, aggressive plays. This is arguably the most convoluted map in Valorant so far, offering a stark departure from the simplicity of the rest of the map pool. There are many, many more angles to clear, a lot more verticality across the map, and a number of intersecting lanes.
For anyone experiencing flashbacks of perfect-aim rappel lines on Split, worry not as the zipline that crosses the A site will severely hamper your accuracy while you're attached to it. Icebox will arrive alongside the Act 3 battle pass, but a new agent is also joining Valorant a few weeks later, which should allow the team ample time to iron out any kinks with the new map first.
The new agent is Australian eco warrior Skye, who brings a delectable medley of support and initiator utility to the roster. Sage mains finally have an alternative healer to pick, as Skye's C ability, Regrowth, can slowly heal all allies (excluding Skye herself) within a few metres.
Skye's E ability, Guiding Light, let's you cast a hawk that you can bend around corners like Jett's smokes, and when you reactivate the ability the hawk will detonate, blinding any enemies in range. You'll hear a hawk screech if you successfully blind any players, so you can use this to gather intel or swing and pre-fire. Trailblazer is Skye's Q ability, letting you control a wolf and scout out ahead. The wolf is nearsighted so you'll only be able to spot close-range threats, but if you do see an enemy you and left-click to pounce on them, dealing a small amount of damage and disorienting them.
Finally, Skye's ultimate is Seekers, which summons three seekers that will go around the map hunting down enemies. When they spot an enemy they will hone in on them, revealing themselves before detonating and giving their victim temporary nearsightedness.
It's important to note that all of Skye's abilities can be shot out while in-use – with the exception of Regrowth – so while her loadout seems very oppressive, you'll always have a chance to counter her.
Competitive matchmaking is also undergoing some much-requested tuning in Act 3, although many of the announced changes are expected to arrive later on in Episode 2. The first step is decreasing the maximum rank disparity in queues from six to three so that you won't find yourself queuing with a silver as you attempt to break into diamond. In addition to this, Riot Games is also simplifying how you gain and lose MMR from matches in Immortal ranks or higher. Your personal performance won't matter at all, win or loss is all that counts. However, there will be a notable difference in MMR gain and loss depending on whether you stomped your opponents or struggled past them in overtime. These changes are all set to go live with Act 3.
There are no exact timings for when all of this goodness will hit live servers, but it's an exciting time for any Valorant Sage mains – here's hoping Skye reaches the upper echelons of our Valorant tier list with her distinct blend of support and initiator abilities.
Jordan Forward Deputy editor
Published: Oct 9, 2020
Jordan prides himself on one thing alone: being better than you at Rainbow Six Siege. Oh, and his job. He joined PCGamesN way back in 2015, and now has a shiny deputy's badge to show for it.
Valorant - all you need to know
Valorant system requirements


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South Carolina's state parks are beautiful, but nearly all of them are money-losing public services.
Earlier this year, Governor Nikki Haley said all that must change, and that parks must be able to generate enough revenue to cover their own expenses by the end of 2013. The park system has previously been making much progress towards of self-sufficiency: in 2002 the system covered some 66% of its expenses and by 2011 they reached 83%.
However despite new fee schemes bringing in record revenue at the end of the fiscal year, the parks system is only reaching 84% of its goal — that means the park system has 96.3% of the gap left to cover.
The State offers a report on the latest numbers and fees; take a read here.
Indeed the parks must make approximately $4 million more to reach their funding goals and a plan has yet to be presented, however our April fool's gag of corporately sponsored parks still remains a McNature option.


text:
©Hyperion_S Perry
Martyn Brabbins, Musical Director of the English National Opera, on soothing the nation in the time of Covid-19
The British conductor on his return to composing, the future of theatre and the unifying power of culture during the pandemic
"I think just about everybody realises how music, and culture in general – including great writing and great art – is something that binds us all together"
7 January 2021 | Susan Bradley
here was a time when taking a break was a rare occurrence for Martyn Brabbins, the energetic and avuncular musical director of the English National Opera. Then, one day in March 2020, Brabbins took time away from the London Coliseum to listen to a rehearsal of Dvorak's lyric fairy tale Rusalka.
Back then, life was pretty hectic, with a working schedule that saw him conducting both in London and around the world. On that March day, Brabbins and his baton had already conducted a critically-acclaimed production of Madame Butterfly at the Coliseum. The recent first night of the much-anticipated performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro had been a huge success. Rusalka, the rehearsal of which Brabbins was now listening to, was due to play to eager audiences in the coming weeks.
Little did Brabbins know that within a few hours the music would stop: the doors of the world-famous theatre would close; hundreds of singers, orchestra members, stagehands, costume designers and other members of the English National Opera family would be adrift in a sea of uncertainty; and nobody would have the opportunity to immerse themselves in live performances for months.
"We had a full spring season lined up and things were looking so good," Brabbins, who joined the ENO four years ago, recalls. "Artistically these shows were sure-fire winners. They were great for the box office and reputation of the company, but they all went by the wayside."
ENO Drive & Live La Boheme, Red Company, ENO Orchestra © Pablo Strong
The set of Rusalka was on stage at the Coliseum, and at the rehearsal in Blackheath Brabbins had heard "fantastic music and a wonderful cast and orchestra", which never got the chance to be heard by a wider audience.
"Butterfly had to be abandoned partway through the run; we put on five of the scheduled 10 performances. It was cut off mid-flow, which was really upsetting because it was going so well. It was a wonderful cast, a beautiful production and people were flocking to see it. It was a personal loss because I was conducting.
"We want to get Rusalka and the Marriage of Figaro back on, but the challenge is that we have already planned 2021 and you cannot just cancel these plans. We're looking at slots in the future when we can do it: we owe it to the original people in the productions that were cancelled."
March 2020 marked the start of a period of uncertainty for the English National Opera. While all contracts for the full spring season were honoured, Martyn is worried about the loss of income suffered by many musicians, singers and others involved in putting on productions – especially those newly out of college without the sufficient tax returns needed to claim government grants.
"The ENO takes its responsibility to staff and freelancers very seriously," says the 61-year-old. "Even when shows were cancelled we paid everybody from our reserves. It's been incredibly challenging for staff and singers. Everybody had to stop what they loved doing. For everybody involved in opera it's a job, but it's so difficult for singers and musicians not to be able to perform. I feel for those cut off in their prime."
© Ben Ealovega
Once the initial shock of the implications of coronavirus had worn off, the ENO started thinking of ways it could help maintain the nation's spirits, ranging from singers joining forces with comedian Matt Lucas for the Baked Potato Song to a drive-in opera, which for many was one of the highlights of summer 2020. Thousands of opera lovers flocked to Alexandra Palace to watch performances of Puccini's La Boheme from their cars, with the music relayed through an FM radio band.
"It all stemmed from a crazy idea that came up in passing conversation with the artistic team, then everybody got very excited and got behind it, and we made it happen," says Brabbins. "We were doing something that nobody had ever tried. It was a challenge from beginning to end: for a start we had to build a stage. We needed to ensure the sound quality was good, which was one of my main concerns, and protect the quality of life of our neighbours. There was also the English weather in September to consider."
Despite the challenges, the ENO set about making it happen, organising red and blue teams containing scaled down orchestras, casts, choruses and teams of stage hands and crews and putting on two performances a day.
"Each bubble had its own guidelines and parameters," explains Brabbins, who conducted his red company from a gantry. "We socially distanced everything, including the production, with none of the singers getting close to each other. La Boheme is one of the top 10 operas of all time and it's very beautiful, but the poignant part of the story is when Mimi the heroine dies from respiratory disease. We didn't make a big deal of the Covid 19 connection but it was obvious to most people. We could have done something with lots of happiness in it, but we felt La Boheme reflected the mood of the country."
ENO Drive & Live La Bohème 2020 © Lloyd Winters
Looking to the year ahead, Martyn and fellow top team members Stuart Murphy, the ENO's chief executive, and artistic director Annilese Miskimmon are keen to ensure a sound future for the organisation, along with the upkeep of the 116-year-old Coliseum.
Over the next few months, they're hopeful that repayable finance from the Culture Recovery Fund, announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport in December, will enable the ENO to take forward plans to restructure and make the theatre Covid secure.
The pandemic has caused Martyn, a man used to crisscrossing the world with his baton, working in places like Japan, Australia and China, conducting operas at The Kirov, La Scala and the Bayerische Staatsoper, to reflect on his 50-plus years as a musician.
His career began shortly after his family moved from Leicester to Towcester when he was eight. It was in the Northamptonshire market town that he made friends with some lads who were members of the local brass band, leading him to take up the euphonium. "My love of music, and my career, flowed from joining that brass band and I'm incredibly grateful for that experience," he says.
Listening to the radio was a rare occurrence for Martyn before March 2020, but a programme about musical education and the way it was suffering due to Covid prompted him to contact his local music service and offer to be its patron. "I was comprehensive educated and benefited from free lessons at school, and I had a wonderful conducting teacher in Russia," Brabbins explains. "I felt I wanted to give something back. Over the past few months, I've been taking part in Zoom sessions with staff, question-and-answer sessions with a youth orchestra and I've been talking to a couple of young musicians looking towards a career in music."
ENO Orchestra 2019, conducted by Martyn Brabbins © Alastair Muir
The various lockdowns have also given Martyn time and space to return to composing, resulting in the haunting piece Matchless Space for the viola, a recording of which can be watched online on The Violin Channel. "I was inspired to write this piece by the truly matchless viola playing of Lawrence Power, with whom I have enjoyed a long and fruitful musical friendship," Brabbins explains. "The title Matchless Space also refers to the London Coliseum, the architect for which was Frank Matchum, so it's a play on words of his name, too."
Away from music, Brabbins has made the most of the unexpected opportunity to spend more time at home, going for long walks with his poodle, pottering in his garden and reading a few books.
"Life as a musical director means constantly toing-and-froing and I spent a month to six weeks away at a time; I never experienced that incredible sense of being in one place with my wife, Karen." Brabbins met Karen, a violinist, in 1977. They have "kind of grown up together" and have three children.
ENO The Marriage of Figaro 2020, Ensemble © Marc Brenner
"I have spent a lot of time doing normal things people take for granted that I have never had time to do, and it's just been great. I had a guilty sense of enjoying the fact I was not having to rush around, but it was an enforced quiet time. The thing that enforced it was shocking, but nevertheless on a personal level, having the chance to quieten down was really refreshing."
As the UK begins to look to life beyond Covid-19, a revitalised Martyn is looking forward to seeing the buzz and bustle return to the ENO and implementing bold plans for its future. "It's been tough, but we hope we're going to come out of this strong," he says. "The lesson for me from the last few months is that the arts are generally so fundamentally important to everybody in this country, probably more than people realise.
"I think just about everybody realises how music, and culture in general – including great writing and great art – is something that binds us all together."
Read more: Rare David Bowie images released by London's Zebra One Gallery
eno.org
The ultimate guide to culture in London in 2021
Inside the palaces and country estates where Netflix's Bridgerton was filmed


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Of the 400 game titles available via Microgaming software program, some of the most well-known titles consist of five Reel Generate, Cosmic Cat, the Tomb Raider series and the progressive slots King Cashalot and Key Tens of millions
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Nottingham Trent University has been selected to take part in research aimed at improving higher education outreach schemes.
Commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), the study aims to improve understanding the impact of outreach schemes on access to higher education for students from disadvantaged groups, and to improve evaluation practice across the sector.
Led by the University of Warwick, with researchers from the University of York, the team will set out the principles underlying 'good' evaluation and develop protocols designed to enable institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their own outreach schemes. These will be informed by the diversity of current practice within the sector, suitable for use by all institutions, and applicable irrespective of the current stage of development or implementation of their outreach schemes.
Nottingham Trent University, along with Aimhigher West Midlands, the Universities of Birmingham and Sheffield, Bournemouth University, Sheffield Hallam University, and researchers from the Higher Education Access Tracker team, will take part in the research by helping to ensure that the protocols are applicable to all.
David Woolley, Head of Schools, Colleges and Community Outreach at Nottingham Trent University, said: "The Schools, Colleges and Community Outreach department is ideally placed to contribute to this important piece of research. One of the key features of the department is our strength in evaluation. We have data tracking the progress of the participants of our programmes across the student lifecycle from 2006/2007 which we use to inform provision and evidence success. But in addition to us using our strengths to support the sector, this research will prove invaluable in ensuring our outreach provision is as effective as it can be."
Professor Les Ebdon, Director of Fair Access to Higher Education, said: "This important project will help universities and colleges find out more about what's working best in their own contexts, so they can focus on the activities that have the greatest impact and thus ensure that the investment of over £150 million they have committed in their latest access agreements is well spent."
Dr Lee Elliot Major, Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust, said: "Universities are under more pressure than ever to recruit students from disadvantaged homes, yet the access gap remains stubbornly wide. A major weakness in universities' efforts to widen access has been the lack of proper evaluation and evidence. This important piece of research by the University of Warwick will help give us a much clearer idea of which strategies work best when it comes to widening participation."
* The project is funded by OFFA and the Sutton Trust.
* The Sutton Trust is a foundation set up in 1997, dedicated to improving social mobility through education. It has published over 170 research studies and funded and evaluated programmes that have helped hundreds of thousands of young people of all ages, from early years through to access to the professions.


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EBSCO Information Services Releases RILM Music Encyclopedias™
~ Global Repository of Music Encyclopedias and Dictionaries for Music Researchers ~
IPSWICH, Mass. — December 4, 2015 — A new resource designed to meet the research needs of the international music community is now available from EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) and Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, Inc (RILM). RILM Music Encyclopedias™, available via the EBSCOhost® platform, provides researchers with key music encyclopedias and dictionaries published from 1775 to 2015.
RILM Music Encyclopedias is an extensive global repository that offers music researchers a compilation of 41 seminal full-text titles and is comprised of more than 80,000 pages with approximately 165,000 entries, the majority of which are not available anywhere else online. Coverage spans the disciplines of historical musicology, ethnomusicology, popular music, opera, instruments, blues, gospel, recorded sound and women composers. This new resource will continuously expand with titles that fit the needs of the international musicological research community.
RILM Music Encyclopedias is also a valuable research resource for the international music community with content spanning multiple countries and languages including: English, German, French, Italian, Dutch and Greek.
The addition of RILM Music Encyclopedias further expands EBSCO's collection of music resources for researchers including RILM Abstracts of Music Literature™, Music Index™ and RIPM e-Library of Music Periodicals™.
About RILM
Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (RILM) facilitates and disseminates music research worldwide. It is committed to the comprehensive and accurate representation of music scholarship in all countries and languages, and across all disciplinary and cultural boundaries. RILM's flagship publication, RILM abstracts of music literature, is a comprehensive international bibliography of writings on music covering publications from the early 19th century to the present. RILM music encyclopedias, a full-text repository of seminal music encyclopedias, was launched in December 2015. In late 2016, in partnership with the publisher Bärenreiter and J.B. Metzler, RILM will release MGG online, which comprises the 2nd edition of Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart along with new and substantially updated content.
RILM is a joint project of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres (IAML); International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM); and the International Musicological Society (IMS). For more information, visit the RILM website at http://www.rilm.org
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 8,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, point-of-care medical reference, and corporate learning tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 750,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944.


The intent of the National Seabee Divers Association is to preserve the history of the United States Navy Seabee Divers while at the same time educating the general public about the unique underwater construction and waterfront work that a very select few service members perform in support of national security. Rather than reinventing the wheel, the NSDA has begun working with the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, CA to further the missions of both organizations.
The NSDA is reaching out to connect with all current and former service members who were either Seabee divers or support personnel stationed at one or the other of the Underwater Contraction Teams located in Port Hueneme and Little Creek, VA in order to help facilitate the donation of individual historical documents and information so they can be preserved in an individual collection by the museum's archivist.
The NSDA is also working with the Underwater Constructions Teams to set up a protocol whereby unclassified after action reports along with a series of photos depicting a project are provided to the museum for archiving. This effort will be starting with current and future projects and gradually working backwards to past projects.
Additionally, the NSDA is working with the Seabee Museum's director to create a historical timeline exhibit with photos and objects that document the history of the Seabee divers dating back to World War II, along with an interactive display for museum visitors where they can touch and feel the diving equipment and tools, and a historical video documentary to supplement with stories and testimonies from the various generations of divers dating back to the plank owners of the Underwater Construction Teams commissioned back in the 1974 to modern day Seabee divers.
In the mid-1990s, or perhaps a bit earlier, a number of former Seabee divers decided that an organization of some sort was needed to help preserve the history of the Seabee divers, ensure the collective memory of those who had served as Seabee divers was not lost with the passing of time, and educate newer generations about the valuable work that Seabee divers have done and continue to do today, perhaps even inspiring a few to join the Navy and become Seabee divers themselves.
The founding group was comprised of Seabee divers who had been assigned to Battalions, who had worked on Man in the Sea projects (TEKTITE, SEALAB) and who had been assigned to the Underwater Construction Teams. Over the course of about fifteen years several reunions were held, however, during the 2004 reunion in Port Hueneme, California, a collective desire was expressed to grow the organization into something more than it had thus far been.
Some basic steps were taken to make this a reality, and the organization merrily bumped along for another five years leading up to the 2009 reunion in Port Hueneme celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Seabee diving community. Some of the very first Seabee divers attended the event and shared photos from their missions. It was a great opportunity to share then and now stories, check out how much equipment and gear has changed over the years and build upon initial efforts to preserve and share the history of the Seabee divers.
So here were are in 2013, one year before the 40th anniversary of the commissioning of the Underwater Constructions Teams and as you can see from the welcome page, there is a lot going on with the National Seabee Divers Association and much to be excited about and look forward to.


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A Paróquia de Iberville é uma das 64 paróquias do estado americano da Luisiana. A sede da paróquia é Plaquemine, e sua maior cidade é Plaquemine. A paróquia possui uma área de 1 691 km² (dos quais 89 km² estão cobertas por água), uma população de 33 320 habitantes, e uma densidade populacional de 21 hab/km² (segundo o censo nacional de 2000).

Iberville


With the passage of time, we understand that every thing is connected or integrated. To give perspective to this unforeseen phenomena, Wishi(Alexander Shillets) is back with another full length album - "Integration" and make life better for us.
Ajja, Skyhigh Pirates, Assioma, Mole, Jumstreet and which are positively dancefloor bombs in its truest sense.


I'm testing a card number with three different DID geographic number.
All is working perfect but with one of this three geographic number is missing completly the DTMF.
and not the business version of digium g723?


I have been shooting an HK import SBE since 1992 and over decoys I always use 3" for my 1st and 2nd shots with a 3.5" for my last. If pass shooting(I hate)I use 3.5" always. The ammo is much better now, so I rarely use 3.5", except on snow geese.
If its a reliable gun whats the difference in shooting 3" through a 3.5" chamber and shooting 3" through a 3" chamber? I like to have a 3.5" chamber for turkey season so I can have 2 1/4 oz. of lead.
A while back I ended up buying a 3.5 inch gun and found myself using 3.5 shells maybe once a year. I do not think it is neccesary for a 3.5 inch gun I think you can do the exact same with a three inch gun.
It's all about pellet count. An extra handful here and there never hurt anyone.
When Benelli makes one, I will consider your idea.
Don't forget about full chokes. Keeping that pattern tight out to farther distances will allow you to hit those far birds. I prefer 3.5" shells because of the extra pellets and the joy of shooting larger rounds, but I've nailed a bunch of geese with 3" loads. Either way have a great time!
A while back I ended up buying a 3.5 inch gun and found myself using 3.5 shells maybe once a year. I do not think it is necessary for a 3.5 inch gun I think you can do the exact same with a three inch gun.
Do your 3" loads cycle any better in a 3" chamber than a 3.5"? I use 3.5" during turkey season and I have never shot over 5 3.5"s a year while hunting. You can kill a turkey the same with a IC choke so why dont you? One time I was turkey hunting with 3" 2 oz shells and I had a slightly less tight choke than I thought I had and I called a jake in and it just wouldn't get any closer than 45 yards for some reason and I shot it, it started flopping, I stood up and walked toward it, and it stood up, ran away must have been injured I dont know why it didnt fly. I think if I would have had a little more lead I would have killed it. So now I use 2 1/4 oz 3.5"s, check my choke before I leave and run towards the turkey right after I shoot. Having a little more lead lets you do a tiny bit more damage, and I want my gun to be as effective as possible.
3.5 is probably better for killing birds. But I honestly don't believe it's nessesary. 4 guys in my group shot 200+ mallards and 175+ honks last year with out shooting a 3.5 inch shell.
decoy um right and save some cash.
Sure using 3s is cheaper, but when the limit is 2 turkeys a year, I want the most out of my gun when turkey season comes.
I got my turkey this spring with a 3" magnum turkey load at 50 yards but that was before I picked up my SuperNova, I cant wait to throw some 3.5" rounds at those toms. Too bad our fall season is archery only, I guess I will have to wait till next year.
Or you can invest in a bow but I dont bow hunt turkeys either.
I would but up here in Maine they require a bow hunter safety course. Its so pathetic that you have to take hunter safety that allows you to use firearms which obviously have a much farther range and than you need to go out and spend more money and time on the same coarse with bows in mind. They should have just combined the two courses. Either way if my brother ends up getting a bow I'm going to use it.
Whats next FALs? Federal airrifle licenses?
Also has anyone heard when they are releasing the accessories and parts for the vinci?
ask tucker to pm you.
one day I'm gonna be part of the 3.5 club,then I''ll be able to talk smack.


Black-eyed Peas are a must for many on New Year's Day, as they are said to bring good luck in the New Year. Whether or not that's true, they will definitely bring you warmth and goodness anytime you cook them. A Louisiana and Southern tradition since the early days of our country, Black-eyed Peas are comfort food as rich in tradition as they are in flavor. Here is Sweet Daddy D's simple, no-angst recipe for Black-eyed Peas, simmered in rich stock with Creole seasoning and Andouille Sausage. Serve this over rice for memorable and traditional New Year's fare, but I bet you'll end up wanting these year-round.


The apparent sizes and associated errors of sources reported in the Chandra Source Catalog are determined using a Mexican-Hat optimization method, based on the extent of a source before subtraction of overlapping source regions. This is a refinement of the source extent results produced by wavdetect, the source detection algorithm which identifies source candidates in each observation in catalog processing. Only point sources and compact sources with extents ≲30 arcseconds are included in the catalog. Highly extended sources, and sources located in selected fields containing bright, highly extended sources, were excluded from the first catalog release; they will be added as a supplementary list in the second release.
The spatial regions defining a source and its corresponding background are determined by scaling and merging the individual source detection regions that result from all of the spatial scales and source detection energy bands in which the source is detected during the source detection process (wavdetect). The result is a single elliptical source region which excludes any overlapping source regions, and a single, co-located, scaled, elliptical annular background region. The parameter values that define the source region and background region for each source are the ICRS right ascension and signed ICRS declination of the center of the source region and background region; the semi-major and semi-minor axes of the source region ellipse and of the inner and outer annuli of the background region ellipse; and the position angles of the semi-major axes defining the source and background region ellipses.
In the first catalog release, the source region is defined on a tangent plane projection. The 0 deg position angle reference is defined on that tangent plane to be parallel to the true North direction at the location of the tangent plane reference (refer to the tangent plane reference right ascension (ra_nom), declination (dec_nom), and roll angle (roll_nom)).
The modified source region and modified background region for each source are defined as the areas of intersection of the source region and background region for that source with the field-of-view, excluding any overlapping source regions.
In order to estimate the intrinsic extent of a source in the sky, one first needs to realize that the measured extent of the source on the detector is the result of a convolution between the source itself and the PSF corresponding to that particular observation. It is therefore necessary to estimate the convolved extent of the source and of the PSF, and then perform a deconvolution.
Here, φ (pos_angle_raw) is the clockwise angle between the positive x-axis and the ellipse major axis; a1 and a2 are the 1σ radii along the major and minor axes of the source ellipse (mjr_axis_raw, mnr_axis_raw); s0 is the amplitude of the source elliptical Gaussian distribution.
For source extent purposes, the parameters of the ellipse are estimated by performing a spatial transform with a Mexican-Hat wavelet (also known as Ricker wavelet) directly on the counts in the raw source region.
where α = (a1,a2,φ) are the semi-major axis, semi-minor axis, and rotational angle of the Mexican-Hat wavelet. The quantity ψ(x,y;α) = C(x,y;α)/(a1a2)1/2 is maximized if the dimensions of the ellipse and the Mexican-Hat wavelength are related as: ai = 31/2σi and φ = φ0. We can therefore estimate the parematers of the source extent ellipse by maximizing φ(x,y;α). Note that this assumes that sources can always be described as elliptical Gaussians. In practice, the maximization is evaluated as a discrete version of the equations above on the pixels of the image.
In the first catalog release, the source extent is defined on a tangent plane projection. The 0 deg position angle reference is defined on that tangent plane to be parallel to the true North direction at the location of the tangent plane reference (refer to the tangent plane reference right ascension (ra_nom), declination (dec_nom), and roll angle (roll_nom)).
The same approach as for the convolved source extent is used to estimate the elliptical parameters that best represent the instrumental point spread function (PSF) in each science band at the location of the source. The inputs are the the PSF counts in the source region. The parameterization of the PSF can be compared with the parameterization of the detected source to determine whether the latter is consistent with a point source (see below).
Nσ is the number of counts above background inside σi. A minimum of 15 counts are required for this estimate to be meaningful.
The deconvolved source extent is (well-described below).
The deconvolved source extent is a parameterization of the best estimate of the flux distribution defining the PSF-convolved source, which is determined in each science energy band from a variance-weighted mean of the deconvolved extent of each source measured in all contributing observations. The parameterization consists of the best estimate values and associated errors for the 1σ radius along the major axis, the 1σ radius along the minor axis, and the position angle of the major axis of a rotated elliptical Gaussian source that is convolved with the ray-trace local PSF at the location of the source spatial event distribution.
In the first catalog release, the rotated elliptical Gaussian parameterization of the deconvolved source extent will be approximated by a circularly symmetric Gaussian parameterization. This limitation will be lifted in a future release.
In the Chandra Source Catalog, the deconvolved source extent is defined by the 1σ radius along the major axis σ2, the 1σ radius along the minor axis σ1, the position angle δ of the major axis of the elliptical Gaussian defining the PSF-convolved source, and the associated errors.
In the first catalog release, the deconvolved source extent is defined on a tangent plane projection. The 0 deg position angle reference is defined on that tangent plane to be parallel to the true North direction at the location of the tangent plane reference (refer to the tangent plane reference right ascension (ra_nom), declination (dec_nom), and roll angle (roll_nom)).
We use the results from wavdetect to set the initial parameter guess for the source size. The correlation integral is maximized using the Nelder-Mead Simplex optimization method, but only the scale and orientation of the Mexican-Hat wavelet are free parameters. The centroid position is estimated prior to the fit by maximizing a simplified version of the wavelet that uses the initial guesses for ai (from wavdetect), and φ=0. Therefore, the position of the pixel where the maximum occurs is found first, and then the orientation and size of the ellipse are optimized for.
Adding the effect of aspect blur to the PSF. Both the aspect solution and detector effects add an aspect blur to the instrumental PSF that effectively increase its extent. We have added an estimated blur in quadrature to the PSF extent in order to improve our estimate of the deconvolved source extent.
Improving the PSF image fitting by adjusting image centering and size, and using sub-pixelated PSFs where appropriate.