By - Associated Press - Friday, January 23, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) - Officials in Chicago have announced the construction of a new office building for the Bulls and Blackhawks near the United Center.

The planned 190,000-square-foot facility would house a retail store, along with offices. Officials said Thursday that the facility would create up to 300 jobs and be privately funded.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and chairmen for the Bulls and Blackhawks announced the facility on Thursday. Construction of the new facility could also move the iconic Michael Jordan statue indoors. Drawings of the proposed building show the statue inside the atrium lobby.

Crews will break ground on the project in the spring. Its slated for completion in 2016.

The proposal detailed Thursday is smaller than United Center owners first proposed in 2012.

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Officials to build new office near Chicago's United Center

Crews continue to work on the state Capitol. Tom Scheck / MPR News

There will be no delay in the remodeling of the state Capitol after the House, Senate and governor announced an agreement today on how to allocate space in the building.

The Capitol Preservation Commission signed off on a final design this morning that increases public access to conference rooms, dining rooms and bathrooms.

The design reduces the number of offices for state senators insidethe Capitol building from 39 to 4. However, nearly all senators will have offices in a newly constructed building across University Ave. from the Capitol.

Every member of the commission, including Gov. Mark Dayton, praised the agreement.

Its a big step forward for the public and the peoples building, Dayton said.

Every member of the commission voted for the plan after Dayton, DFL Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and GOP House Speaker Kurt Daudt worked behind the scenes to agree on a floor plan that served all of them.

The truth is we would be sitting here right now approving renovations of the Capitol to permanently be a senate office building if we werent building an office building across the street, Bakk said.

Bakk said the senate leaders who have offices in the renovated Capitol will not have offices in the Senate Office Building.

Construction crews are currently working on a major overhaul of the 109 year old Capitol building. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

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No delay in Capitol construction

Recommendation going to council

After hours of sometimes heated debates, an ad hoc committee that was formed to recommend changes to the citys tree protection laws has reached a verdict.

The citizen-led committee was formed by the Thousand Oaks City Council after the removal of scores of trees from Westlake Plaza last spring ignited public outrage.

A moratorium on sections of the tree law expires in May. The committees suggestions will be considered by the planning commission and the City Council before that time.

The group voted 6-4 on Jan. 20 to recommend that owner-planted exemptions for the removal of oak trees only be granted to requests from single-family residential properties, not commercial, and for not more than three trees.

Requests for more than three exemptions would require review by the planning commission.

For trees in parking areas, the committee recommended that any request for removal or relocation of more than three oak trees or more than five landmark trees be considered by the planning commission, regardless of whether the trees are indigenous or nursery grown.

Requests for removal or relocation of more than five protected landmark trees should be reviewed by the planning commission. City staff may review requests to remove five or fewer.

On Tuesday, committee members engaged in a two-hour tugof war as some defended the rights of property owners to cut down trees they planted themselves and expressed concern that too-strict laws would deter people from planting oak trees. Others feared that the recommendations would fail to protect enough trees.

Its a tough decision because there are people who dont want to see any oak trees removed, committee member Judy Lazar told the Acorn after the meeting. On the other hand, you want to have reasonable use of private property. I think (the decision) is a good compromise.

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Board asks city to remove distinction between native, owner-planted trees

CHICO, Calif. -

PG&E presented the reasons Wednesday why trees lining the street near an Oroville cemetery have to be removed.

According to PG&E there are areas they have neglected for too long. The right away, which is the area directly above the pipelines have not been cared for as they should.

"We have allowed structures, patios, swimming pools and vegetation to exist very near and on top of our pipeline," said Chauna Moreland, director of gas safety program. "It's simply not acceptable, and we take full responsibility for that."

PG&E said they know trees near pipelines can be a risk to their employees and first responders, especially if they need to access a pipe in an emergency. They also know that third parties may dig into the pipe.

"What we didn't know, and were not aware of, is what roots are doing underneath the ground," explained Moreland.

The company conducted a study and found roots damage their pipeline by corroding them and leaving imprints.

"We know all those other items, trees are a risk to the pipeline, now we know roots interact with the pipelines as well," said Moreland.

Talk of relocating the pipeline across the street had been mentioned, but PG&E said it will take more time and effort, as well as have a serious impact on the community.

"It disrupts the community in terms of having to dig up streets and do additional construction activity," said Christine Cowsert Chapman, senior director of engineer gas operations.

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PG&E explains Oroville tree removal plan

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) -

A utility company chopped down trees to protect power lines but one resident calling it malicious has filed a lawsuit.

With the damage to her landscape done, Inge Gray and her attorney Geoffrey Fieger says DTE Energy and tree removal company Davey Tree have to pay.

The Bloomfield Township homeowner filed suit for $54 million for unlawful destruction. A number that Gray said comes when you add up the scope of the damage.

"The amount of trees they took, the age of the trees, the species of the trees, how it affects everyone's property value," Gray said.

It is a story you first saw on FOX 2 in December when 100-year-old trees in the back of her home off Kensington Road were completely removed.

In December, DTE had this to say:

"About half of the outages that we have on the electrical system come from trees," said Trevor Lauer, senior vice-president at DTE. "And the number one goal of removing trees is to reduce the number of outages."

At the time Gray said they weren't told about the plan to completely remove the trees. a matter DTE addressed in December.

"Clearly we had some customers that do not feel that they were notified in the appropriate manner," Lauer said at the time. "And that's something that we can learn from."

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$54 million lawsuit filed against DTE Energy for tree cutting

The Peaceful Valley Youth Center has completed its move to Brownes Addition and settled in the downstairs area of All Saints Lutheran Church on Spruce Street, just across from CoeurdAlene Park inSpokane.

The church underwent extensive remodeling including the installation of a wheelchair ramp from Spruce Street, a lift and a partial sprinkler system. Most of the $300,000 the youth center had raised for the move has been spent, and the Rev. Alan Eschenbacher said the church kicked in another$20,000.

The youth center opened Dec.1.

Director Mark Reilly said the move was

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The Peaceful Valley Youth Center has completed its move to Brownes Addition and settled in the downstairs area of All Saints Lutheran Church on Spruce Street, just across from CoeurdAlene Park inSpokane.

The church underwent extensive remodeling including the installation of a wheelchair ramp from Spruce Street, a lift and a partial sprinkler system. Most of the $300,000 the youth center had raised for the move has been spent, and the Rev. Alan Eschenbacher said the church kicked in another$20,000.

The youth center opened Dec.1.

Director Mark Reilly said the move was fairlysmooth.

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Youth Center completes relocation to Brownes Addition - Thu, 22 Jan 2015 PST

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12x16 Barn(Gambrel) Shed 1 - Shed Plans - Stout Sheds LLC - Video

January 21, 2015

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John Hopton for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

It may be hard for modern people who consider themselves intellectually sensitive to be told that we are emotionally no better than our early ancestors were. Surely we have been able to throw off the shackles of our evolutionary history and allow intelligence to triumphright?

Yeah, right.

Discoverys Trace Dominguez explains that jealousy is not only still prevalent (duh), but likely to be a hangover from the earliest days of humanity, when we lived solely in Africa.

It also has its roots in basically the same things it does today: suspicion, envy, mistrust, anxiety, and protective possession. Males guarded the social group and found food while females maintained social structure and raised offspring. Thus, male jealousy is the result of wanting to protect their own genetic interests by making sure females werent, ehem, mixing with other males while they were out trying to keep everyone alive.

Females, on the other hand, felt they and their offspring were betrayed if a male went off and shared resources with other females.

Pretty run-of-the-mill, you-knew-this-without-having-to-watch-a-video stuff.

But, as always, it isnt that simple

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New research sheds light on male and female jealousy

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The owners of two old houses that were long ago converted to apartments are going to undertake an archaeological study of the properties in Brownes Addition before the city of Spokane will let them tear down the houses to make room for a new apartmentbuilding.

Kettrick Properties has submitted an application to demolish the adjoininghouses.

The houses were built in 1895 at 2335 W. Third Ave., and in 1898 at 317 S. CoeurdAleneSt.

They sit on a triangular piece of land on the east side of CoeurdAlene Street across from the Latah

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The owners of two old houses that were long ago converted to apartments are going to undertake an archaeological study of the properties in Brownes Addition before the city of Spokane will let them tear down the houses to make room for a new apartmentbuilding.

Kettrick Properties has submitted an application to demolish the adjoininghouses.

The houses were built in 1895 at 2335 W. Third Ave., and in 1898 at 317 S. CoeurdAleneSt.

They sit on a triangular piece of land on the east side of CoeurdAlene Street across from the Latah Valleybluff.

Original post:
Two houses to undertake archaeological study before demolition - Thu, 22 Jan 2015 PST