WASHINGTON While both the president and vice president plan to attend the Demo-2 commercial crew launch, there will be far fewer people attending the first American human orbital spaceflight in nearly a decade than once expected.

The White House announced May 22 that President Donald Trump will go to the Kennedy Space Center for the Demo-2 launch on May 27, but provided few other details about the visit.

Vice President Mike Pence had already announced plans to attend the launch during the May 19 meeting of the National Space Council, which Pence chairs. Ill be with you next week, he said to Bridenstine, who participated in the meeting by video conference from the Johnson Space Center.

Excited to welcome @POTUS Trump and @VP Pence to @NASAKennedy to usher in a new era of space exploration on May 27th! Bridenstine tweeted May 23. Under President Trumps leadership, we are once again launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil. The commercial crew program that supported development of Crew Dragon started in the administration of President Barack Obama, and built on the commercial cargo program started during the administration of President George W. Bush.

Presidents have rarely attended NASA launches. President Richard Nixon was at KSC for the November 1969 launch of Apollo 12, the second mission to land astronauts on the moon. President Bill Clinton attended the STS-95 shuttle launch in October 1998, whose crew included senator and former astronaut John Glenn. Obama visited KSC to view the launch of the STS-134 shuttle mission in April 2011, but the launch was scrubbed because of a technical problem, and he did not return when the launch did take place a few weeks later.

A similar fate could befall Trump and Pence. In addition to the risk of technical problems scrubbing a launch, weather forecasts are not promising, with one by the 45th Space Wing released May 23 projecting only a 40% chance of acceptable conditions. Those projections exclude other issues, such as weather conditions at abort sites along the launchs trajectory, that could also scrub a launch.

While both Trump and Pence plan to attend, the number of other official guests will be limited because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to a slide presented at the flight readiness review for the Demo-2 mission May 21, visible in an image of the meeting released by NASA, KSC is preparing to host just 465 guests, of which 250 are assigned to a causeway site designated possible backup/overflow only.

NASA has also restricted the number of media credentials for the launch and changed media opportunities. At a May 22 briefing at KSC to discuss the flight readiness review that was just completed, a press conference room that ordinarily would be standing room only had no reporters present, with questions taken only by phone.

Here we are today in an empty room, talking to cameras, and all of us are six feet apart, said Bridenstine. The press conference participants, who normally sit shoulder-to-shoulder at the dais, were spread out across the stage to comply with social distancing guidelines. We all walked in here with our masks on.

A bigger uncertainty is how many members of the public will travel to watch the launch. Bridenstine has for weeks urged the public not to travel, instead recommending people watch the launch at home. NASA has provided special virtual guest content on its website and social media channels.

Were asking people not to travel to the Kennedy Space Center, and I will tell you, that makes me sad to even say it, Bridenstine said at a May 1 media briefing about the mission, saying that he was concerned that a mass gathering could spread COVID-19.

Local officials in Floridas Space Coast region have provided mixed messages. Were excited about the return to human space flight from Floridas Space Coast and understand the caution around traveling to view this historic launch, states the website of Space Coast Office of Tourism. There is plenty of room along our 72 miles of coastline to watch the launch and practice social distancing but we urge visitors to plan ahead.

A check of hotel booking sites May 23 found that a number of hotels in the Space Coast area, including in the cities of Cocoa Beach and Titusville, had vacancies around the May 27 launch date. Such hotels would ordinarily be fully booked for a launch as significant as this.

Viewing opportunities will also be limited. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, closed since mid-March, plans to partially reopen May 28, a day after the scheduled Demo-2 launch. The slide from the flight readiness review briefing stated that Delaware North, the company that operates the complex and hosts viewing opportunities even for relatively routine launches, will have no public guests for Demo-2.

You will have had a lot more people watching nearby at previous launches, Pence told the Demo-2 astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who appeared by videoconference at the National Space Council meeting. Theyre encouraging Americans to watch from afar, but I want to assure you that the president and I are looking forward, looking very much forward, to cheering you on.

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Trump to attend Demo-2 launch, but fewer other guests - SpaceNews

The top floor is reserved for the family while the rest of the home is up on rent

The task at hand was to convert an old single-storey home in a small town in Karnataka into a contemporary one, with the addition of two more floors. For Vinay Mavinakere, founder and principal architect, Sudaiva Studio, this was a special project as the home was in his ancestral town and belonged to his parents. The home was envisioned for renting out, with the top floor reserved for my folks as their holiday home that they visit once or twice a month.

Spread across 500 square feet, the top floor is a one-bedroom studio, with an additional 450 square feet of terrace space. Reveals Mavinakere, During construction, the astonishing views of the rain tree canopies from the top floor inspired the construction of an additional floor for a studio space to be used as a pied--terre for the family, who now live in Bangalore.

As you view the home from outside, you notice the intricate jaali work running the length of the built structure. The architect wanted to work with a simple, cost-effective material that looked native, but was used in an extraordinary way. The idea of a perforated jaali wall was born that made for a striking faade whilst enclosing the corridors.He used custom-built aluminium C-channels to hold the perforated clay blocks together within a grid running horizontally as well as vertically.

Talking about additional floors, Mavinakere says, Building on a load bearing structure posed considerable challenges. Structural interventions included the use of steel beams to strengthen the existing slab on the first-floor level. The top floor studio had to be structurally light. The setback from the mass of the other floors provided a visual relief to the faade.

Inside the studio, an open plan accommodates a living room, eat-in kitchen and a bedroom. Within the compact plan, the living and dining spaces are demarcated with the use of colour. Primary colours in the living room furnishings and wallpaper echo the colour palette used in the building exterior. A perforated screen above the sofa provides ventilation while also casting visually arresting shadows from the western sun.

To keep the already tight space uncluttered, we chose very few furniture elements that doubled up in function wherever possible. For instance, an extension from the kitchen counter serves as a dining table, work table and also an additional preparation zone for the kitchen; a deep sofa with generous cushions also serves as a daybed; nested tables serve as side tables when required and can be stacked together when not in use, explains Geeth Gopinath, creative partner who did the interiors of the home.

Wood-effect vitrified tiles have been used for the flooring with a muted colour and a rustic grain. The tiles on the floor continue as cladding for the kitchen backsplash all the way to the ceiling. They left the exposed concrete ceiling untreated to contrast against the more refined material palette of the rest of the space.

The terrace on this floor is the highlight of the studio, making for a vast open space to enjoy the view. We tried to create a carpet effect by peppering a few ornate and colourful accent tiles within a background of neutral grey tiles. The tiles were custom cut at site. We also added a row of potted heliconia plants to foster a visual connection with the sub-tropical surrounding of the building, adds Gopinath.

The home is a balance of oppositesrefined and rugged, minimal yet cosy, colourful and muted, compact yet allowing for a perception of expansiveness. The house employs familiar, inexpensive materials and techniques. However, inventive application of these materials have given it a contemporary edge, bringing the 1999-built home convincingly to todays time, concludes Mavinakere.

This 9,000-square-foot mansion in Karnataka is gilded in gold

Read the rest here:
This home in Karnataka got a radical makeover with the addition of two new floors - Architectural Digest India

NEW YORK (AP) Filmmaker Sasha Joelle Achilli has made documentaries on the Ebola virus and now the coronavirus. Ask which virus scares her more, and the answer is easy.

The frightening thing about COVID is its everywhere, and you just dont know, she said. It is airborne and it feels much more easy to contract. So it was more frightening, definitely.

Achillis film, Inside Italys COVID War, is being shown on Frontline at 10 p.m. Tuesday on most PBS stations. While the documentary looks at the crisis through the eyes of an emergency room doctor at Cremona Hospital in northern Italy, the story is universal.

The scene at Cremona, where Dr. Francesca Mangiatordi calls various care providers, pleading for empty beds to place the coronavirus patients crowding her emergency room, could have been at any hospital where the pandemic has hit hard.

Achilli spent four months in Africa making the 2015 film Outbreak for PBS. Its not that Ebola wasnt scary youre more likely to die an ugly death if you get it but its easier to protect against than the coronavirus, she said.

Since shes from Italy and her father still lives there, the coronavirus story was more personal.

Finding Mangiatordi was a stroke of luck. A picture the doctor took of an exhausted colleague circulated widely online, and Achilli reached out before she even traveled to Italy. Mangiatordis cooperation, and that of her colleagues and family, enabled Frontline to tell the broader story through a personal lens.

It has a special quality to it, the intimacy she was able to foster and the trust, said Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer of Frontline. That kind of trust usually takes a lot of time, but Sasha was able to build that trust very quickly.

Achillis camera catches a 30-year-old woman, sitting alone in a wheelchair and calling her husband to say her the X-ray of her lungs didnt look good.

It feels like a nightmare, the woman said.

Most affecting is the story of 18-year-old Mattia. Frightened that he was going to die, he was too overwhelmed to take a video call with his mother before being intubated. The nurses thought he wouldnt survive. Later, after his recovery, you see an emotional video reunion with his mom.

At one point, Mangiatordi looks worriedly at a work chart, wondering if there will be enough doctors to fill all the shifts because many of them had gotten sick. One such doctor, Laura Bocchi, says Im a patient and I unfortunately possess medical knowledge, as she isolates from her family.

Through it all, the medical staff rides a roller coaster, briefly euphoric when the number of cases go down only to see another rush.

After grinding days of work, Mangiatordi came home to a family she literally couldnt touch a husband whos both proud and fearful, and an 11-year-old daughter who cries at the thought of life without mom. We wouldnt know how to do anything, she says.

Some of the moments with her family are ones that Ill never forget, Aronson-Rath said. We didnt want to do a congratulatory film about doctors but what emerged was a heroic portrait of people trying to save other people.

Frontline has other coronavirus projects in the works, including a June 16 documentary investigating what went wrong with the response and others about the financial fallout and conspiracy theories.

Although Achillis father lived an hour away from where she was filming, she wasnt able to see him. In addition to making sure that she and a partner were fully protected while filming, there was the additional worry that they would unwittingly transmit the virus themselves.

Watching the film comes with a deep sense of foreboding. Purely by chance, Achilli says, the characters that she focused upon all had good outcomes.

I hope that it gives people strength, that if you are to contract the virus, there is a light, she said. I think we need strength right now. Were all living this quarantine. Were not seeing what is really happening.

Achilli finished her film and lived through stay-at-home orders from London. She recognizes that people are becoming antsy, wanting to get out of the house into some measure of a normal life.

Those people might want to watch her film.

Having seen what happened to the health system, having seen what the doctors had to go through, I think that the lockdown and going through these draconian measures is the only way to get this under control, Achilli said.

I understand that our freedoms have been taken away that were not used to living like this, and not used to having governments tell us what we can and cant do, she said. But when you see what theyre going through, for their sake, stay home.

Read the original here:
Film shows nightmare of an emergency room in Italy - The Associated Press

Photos courtesy of Bailey & Weiler Design/Build

When Don and Lisa Weiler decided to build a new home in 2002, they chose a local Bloomington designer named Craig Bailey. Not only did the Weilers get their dream home, Don also got a new business partner.

Craig nailed the style we sought and his ability to visualize our home before we even started building was amazing, Don says. Craig is incredibly creative and talented with design.

On the other hand, Don says, his background is in engineering and project management. We operate out of different sides of our brain, so together it made for a great partnership.

Discovering that the two men worked together well convinced them to start Bailey & Weiler Design/Build in 2005. Headquartered in downtown Bloomington, the company recently was named Builder of the Year by the Building Association of South Central Indiana.

We try very hard to deliver projects that create homeowners dreams with detail to budget, Craig says. We listen to our customers and create what they want on time and budget.

In fact, this is the fourth time Bailey & Weiler has been honored with the award by their construction peers. Each year, local members of the construction industry select a company for the honor. Bailey & Weiler was selected for 2020 based on the quality of their design and construction projects, business reputation and contributions to the industry and community.

Humbled and thankful would be the best way to describe our reaction, Don says. It is an award from our peer builders, subcontractors and suppliers in South Central Indiana, which means a lot.

The company has 14 employees plus the co-owners. They are a great crew of talented and dedicated carpenters, designers and project managers, Don says. Many of them either ran their own company or worked with some of the best local builders that have since closed up shop.

Not surprisingly, both founders of the Bailey & Weiler company grew up to be exactly what they wanted to be when they were kids. Well, at least part of the childhood ambition for Craig who wanted to be a race car driver and a designer.

I learned construction and home design in high school, Craig says. My first job after high school was in construction.

For Don, I never really gave much thought to being anything but an engineer. When I was in grade school, I filled out a homework assignment with a very specific answer to that question: I wanted to be an engineer from the University of Wisconsin.

The college goal came from seeing his older brother attend the University of Wisconsin to become an engineer. My only brother is 15 years older, and my first memories of him are visiting his dorm room at Wisconsin, Don says. He was an engineering student and he had the cool railroad engineers lantern.

Dons father was a millwright at the local paper mill in central Wisconsin. His mother was a homemaker. If something broke, we fixed it, Don says. I learned a lot from them because they were always problem solving and had a great can-do attitude.

That attitude is a good one to have as a builder, Don says, because no project ever goes exactly as planned. There are always things to figure out. Every challenge has a solution. The key is to remain positive and honest in your effort.

Bailey & Weiler Design/Build specializes in the design, construction and renovation of custom homes and commercial properties. We have recently seen an uptick in remodeling, says Craig. There are very few lots and subdivisions to build homes on and the land costs are very high.

With the current trend of living closer to town, Don says the best way to get there is to buy and remodel an existing home. Remodeling in Bloomington has been on a steep incline the past few years. Homeowners who would sell and build new smaller or larger homes cannot find a lot on which to build or realize that the cost to build new just does not make sense relative to their current home.

As a design/build company, Craig says Bailey & Weiler can save homeowners money and avoid communication issues. Doing both design and construction we know how much things cost and can design to an individuals budget.

Don adds, Bloomington has many local designers and architects that we partner with on a regular basis. We love collaborating as part of a larger local team.

Bailey & Weiler also does commercial renovation and light commercial construction. Each of those markets has its unique needs and pace, so we have different people and processes dedicated to each segment, Don says.

Construction can start any time in the year. The design, selection and budgeting phase normally takes a minimum of eight weeks, Don says. We take the lead from our clients on the pace of design. The construction of a custom home normally takes seven to nine months with weather, home size and finish and timeliness of decisions being the most significant variables.

Bloomington continues to be a desirable place to live, which both Don and Craig say they understand. Its a small town blessed with the best the world has to offer, Don says. Our town is nestled in a beautiful natural environmentBut in the end, its the people that make Bloomington special.

Those people also are one of the greatest joys in his business, Craig adds. What I like most about our business is the people we meet and being able to help them create their dreams.

Read more from the original source:
Bailey & Weiler named Builder of the Year - Times-Mail

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58)--We love spending time in our kitchen these days whipping up the perfect meal. So why not make sure it's the best space it can be?Senior designer Paulette Sodemann with Callen Construction in Muskego says there are a lot of considerations for a kitchen remodel, including size, functionality, and budget. But as you're planning, know the popular trends and what can really boost the resale value as well. Islands in the kitchen and open areas are two big concepts in big demand these days.

Another favored room in your home is the bedroom. More specifically the closet. Brian Hering with Tailored Living in Waukesha says you want to have your closet divided withtwo-thirds hanging and the other-third shelving. He also recommends bi-fold doors and storing your shoes at the top of your closet for the best use of space.

Remember when you're hiring a contractor, you have to be so careful. Any expert will say do your homework and seek out references. Both the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) and Better Business Bureau (BBB) are two great resources.

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That tired kitchen or closet wearing on you? Try a redo! - WDJT

Jack Nicholson, Vivian Kubrick, Joe Turkel, Maxwell Craig, and George Holdcroft in The Shining (1980) // All rights reserved. Courtesy Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc.

The Shiningis one of the greatest horror films of all time. The 1980 film was based on the Stephen King book of the same name. The story detailed the descent into madness of a writer who takes on the job of caretaker of the vacant Overlook Hotel through a severe Colorado winter. The film today stands as one of the finest of the horror genre for its great performances and direction by Stanley Kubrick.

The film starred Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall as the couple who are responsible for looking after the hotel during a winter season. Jack Nicholson portrayed Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who is seeking solitude in which he can write in peace. With his faithful wife by his side and young son in tow, Jack looks forward to several months free of distraction so he can complete his upcoming masterpiece.

Kubrick had never produced a horror film prior to The Shining, but apparently had always wanted to. Kubricks trademark cinematic elements the use of brightly colored settings and close-ups of intensely emotional faces had enhanced several of his previous films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove. These films were in the science fiction and comedy genres, respectively. However, Kubricks signature stylings made an easy transition to the horror genre and The Shining has garnered a reputation as not only a horror classic, but also as one of the finest films ever made.

Much of the films content has become pop culture fodder and even those who have never seen the film are familiar with the classic lines All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and the meme staple, Heres Johnny. Here are some fascinating Shining tidbits that you may not know.

1. The author of The Shining book, Stephen King, disliked the choice of Jack Nicholson for the lead role, believing that Nicholsons generally crazed appearance from the opening scenes of the movie onward undermined the point that it was the Overlook Hotel that sent Jack Torrance over the edge. Torrance, in Kings novel, was a fairly well-adjusted guy at the beginning of the story and is gradually driven to insanity by the Overlook.

2. The child actor who played young Danny Torrance, Danny Lloyd, would never make another movie despite delivering such a gripping performance in the film. Apparently, Lloyd tried to win roles for the remainder of his childhood before finally retiring from the business at age 14, just as he was entering high school.

3. The famous line uttered by Jack Nicholson after he chopped down the bathroom door with an axe, Heres Johnny, was entirely ad-libbed by Nicholson. Kubrick considered scrapping it but reconsidered and it now stands as one of AFIs top 100 movie lines of all time, despite its extemporaneous origins.

4. Stephen King claims that the title of the novel, The Shining, was inspired by John Lennons song, Instant Karma, in which the singer repeatedly sings the line and we all shine onlike the moon, the stars, and the sun.

5. The Shining made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the movie with the most takes of a single scene. Kubrick was a stubborn perfectionist and he wasnt about to wrap any scene that wasnt up to his standards. He had Duvall repeat one scene a record 127 times.

6.Lloyd had no idea that the film he was making was a horror film. As far as the actor knew at the time, he was making a drama. Because Lloyd was so young at the time, Kubrick was determined to protect Lloyd and leave him in the dark about the nefarious nature of the film.

7. There is a real haunted hotel in Colorado called the Stanley Hotel. It was the inspiration for the Overlook, and it is considered one of the most haunted places in America. King stayed in the Stanley Hotel with his wife in 1973, later writing it into the novel 1977.

8. In one of the films most famous scenes, elevator doors open and blood comes gushing out and spilling into the hallway. This unforgettable scene actually took a year to set up and the only three takes to get it right. It seems that Kubrick got along better with machines than people.

9. Some observers have claimed that through The Shining,Kubrick confesses that he helped NASA fake the moon landing in 1969. It had been rumored for years by conspiracy buffs that Kubrick was in cahoots with NASA on the the supposed moon-landing prank. In one scene in the film, Lloyd wears a very prominent Apollo 11 sweater. Furthermore, the hotel room which Danny is told to never enter was changed from room 217 in the book to room 237 in the movie. The moon is 237,000 miles away from the Earth, and some of those conspiracy folks believe that this was Kubricks way of fessing up.

10.The scene in which Wendy Torrance finally realizes that Jack has completely lost it is the scene in which shediscovers the manuscript that Jack has been toiling over for weeks 500 pages of all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy typed over and over in multiple formats and languages. Some have suggested that Kubrick himself typed all these pages while other sources claim that he had his secretary, Margaret Warrington, do it. Regardless, it was a gargantuan feat the sort that would drive the most well-adjusted among us to the point of remodeling our bathrooms with an axe.

For more, explore the Entertainment section at FanSided.com.

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10 things you didnt know about The Shining - FanSided

As Mary Wesson lay dying, heavily sedated on morphine, her family couldn't hold her hand at her bedside or whisper their last goodbyes. They could only shout through a window from outside Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.

She never responded the last time her children saw her alive.

The 79-year-old mother of four died May 9, becoming one of at least 23 residents who have died from Covid-19 at Newfane Rehab, where more people have died from the new coronavirus than all but two other nursing homes in Western New York.

We saw body bags getting wheeled out while we were standing there by the building," said Jeanne Blenker, one of Wesson's children.

The number of deaths at the 165-bed nursing home has drawn the scrutiny of the state Health Department, which sent an associate commissioner, among others, to inspect the facility a week ago. The acting administrator of the nursing home also talked by phone with state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker on Wednesday.

The number of dead also exposed the peril of the state making nursing homes accept Covid-19 patients from hospitals.

"There's no doubt that the state dropped the ball on nursing homes," Niagara County Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton said at a County Legislature meeting last week.

[Related: Covid-19 outbreak at Tonawanda nursing home has led to 26 deaths]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo reversed that policy last Sunday a day after Wesson's death so hospitalized nursing home patients can no longer be sent back to a nursing home unless they test negative for Covid-19 twice, 24 hours apart.

State legislators have called for hearings or an independent investigation into the impact of the state's original policy. Some families blame the now-discarded policy for many of the nearly 5,500 Covid-19 deaths in New York nursing homes as of Friday.

Wesson's four children said in an interview with The Buffalo News that Newfane Rehab staff members told them the facility's Covid-19 outbreak can be traced to a single patient who was admitted upon being released from a hospital April 10. A nursing home official declined to explain how the new coronavirus entered the facility.

"We weren't able to go see her," Blenker said of her mother. "The place was locked down. She wasn't going anywhere. She was bedridden. Somehow it got into her room."

Mary Wesson (Courtesy Jeanne Blenker)The day before Wesson died, a nursing home administrator, in an automated call, assured families "that our expert medical and clinic team are working to proactively maintain the health and safety of our residents and one another. Each day brings a new level of challenges for which they are willingly and intelligently identifying and adapting to."

The acting administrator of the nursing home, Mike Toole, told The News the nursing home has followed all practices and guidelines set by the federal government. He also noted that a state inspection last week found no deficiencies.

Some family members told The News they appreciated the efforts made by the nursing home's employees on behalf of their loved ones, and they sympathize with how overwhelming the workers' days must be.

"The staff at Newfane seemed kind, helpful, responsive and apologetic for the most part," said Bonnie Crogan-Mazur, whose 85-year-old uncle died there May 4 beside his wife, another Newfane Rehab resident who also has Covid-19. "They set up FaceTime, which allowed my granddaughters to give (the couple) a mini-concert on harp and violin the night before (he) died."

But Bruce Blenker, another of Wesson's children, offered a harsh assessment of the nursing home and the governor.

"Why did Cuomo mandate Covid patients to go to a nursing home that is not qualified?" he asked. "I do not blame anybody except for Gov. Cuomo. It's directly on his shoulders, and I blame the executive staff at Newfane nursing home.

"This nursing home was not qualified to handle this.

The state Health Department inspection team, led by regional Associate Commissioner Dr. Gregory Young, visited Newfane Rehab on May 8 and 9.

"The purpose of that meeting was to go there to talk about infectious control practices, evaluate what they were doing and also give them, tell them what they should be doing and what changes they should make," Stapleton, the Niagara County public health director, told the County Legislature.

"For example, they shouldn't have a Covid-negative person and a Covid-positive person in the same room, using the same bathroom. That's a problem," Stapleton told the legislators. "Moving residents around so that you have the positives in the same room, not sharing with somebody who isn't positive, that was one of the changes they were going in to do on Friday (May 8)."

Toole, who recently became acting administrator of the nursing home, said no Covid-19-positive and Covid-19-negative patients were in the same rooms.

Its actually incomprehensible to give the idea that we would jeopardize residents by cohorting them, positive and negative people," Toole told The News.

Stapleton said he is "confident that the information we initially received and shared with the Legislature is accurate, but I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth debate."

"The key is moving forward to protect residents and staff," he added.

State Department of Health surveyors came back for another visit at Newfane Rehab on Wednesday and stayed until almost midnight.

"They examined the facilities and the practices we are doing, and they found no deficiencies again," Toole said.

State Health Department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond confirmed Friday that no deficiencies were found in Wednesday's unannounced inspection. He also said that the facility's management rejected the state's offers of further aid.

"The department also proactively reached out to the facilitys administrator, offered to transfer residents if needed, assessed staffing levels, offered additional staffing resources and ensured an appropriate supply of personal protective equipment. The administrator assured the department he was able to adequately care for his residents and will immediately contact us if the situation changes," Hammond said.

Toole declined to say what he and the state's health commissioner discussed on their phone call.

"So the idea that the Legislature, the politicians, want to capitalize on this as a media sensation, that is their right to do so," Toole said. "But I can assure you that all the practices and the guidelines and the (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) guidance have been followed to the letter here at our building.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines say that when possible, nursing homes should give each Covid-19 patient their own room with a dedicated bathroom, and keep the room door closed.

So how did Newfane Rehab become a tragic hot spot for Covid-19 deaths?

Were not immune to the same phenomenon that has gone on nationwide and worldwide, and that is the best answer I can give you," Toole said.

An April 27 letter to families from Nancy Babis, regional director of operations for the owner of the facility, Maximus Healthcare Group, said at that time that there were "several cases in our facility."

Toole declined to explain how the new coronavirus entered the facility, citing patient privacy laws.

Newfane has provided the utmost care for all of our residents," Toole said.

The state Department of Health's unannounced inspection on Wednesday focused on Covid-19 and included DOH employees testing staff and residents "to help protect this vulnerable population," said Hammond, the state Health Department spokesman.

"There's no doubt that the state dropped the ball on nursing homes," said Niagara County Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton at a County Legislature meeting last week. (Thomas J. Prohaska/Buffalo News file photo)

County Legislator John Syracuse, a Newfane chiropractor, recommended moving patients out of Newfane Rehab and sending National Guard doctors and nurses, if needed, to staff a new facility, perhaps the mothballed former Inter-Community Memorial Hospital in Newfane.

The County Legislature on Wednesday sent Cuomo a letter calling for him to take those steps.

"Perhaps there will be some type of intervention," Syracuse said.

Sean Dugan said his mother, Sherry Dugan, survived Covid-19 at Newfane Rehab. But the chief of police at a community college in Colorado said her sickness scared him.

A police officer for 38 years, Sean Dugan was on the SWAT team that responded to the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Ive seen the worst of the worst," he said.

But when it comes to his mother's situation, he said he feels "very helpless."

"Thats not something a cop likes to feel," Dugan said.

He said his mother had no roommate until she was assigned one on April 10. Within days, she became sick.

"Mom got a fever sometime between April 12 and April 15 and they tested her, and she tested positive per the doctor on April 15 for Covid-19," he said. "And then they did separate her."

He said the family found out on Easter, April 12, that a person in the facility tested positive for Covid-19.

"When we found out, we said, Did her roommate have Covid-19, that you just gave her? Well, we didnt test her, she was exhibiting no symptoms. Well, coronavirus is asymptomatic. I know that and I'm not in the medical profession," Dugan said.

You dont put people together unless you test them, and if you cant test them, then you dont put people together," he added.

Crogan-Mazur, the niece of Edward and Lorna Crogan, said her first look at Newfane Rehab in February, before the virus outbreak, did not inspire confidence.

Edward Crogan (Courtesy Rhoney Funeral Home)

My uncles bed had a vent over the top, like an air vent, and it was black. We pointed that out to the nurse and we said, Is that mold? And she said, No, its not mold, its just dirt. They said, We cant put them together in a different room. The painter will come in and take care of that. You could tell they were trying to do remodeling while people were still in the room, because it looked like they had pulled out a sink and the wall was just nasty," Crogan-Mazur said.

She took a photo of the ceiling's condition to document what she saw.

The ceiling of Edward and Lorna Crogan's room in Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in February. (Bonnie Crogan-Mazur)

She wasn't able to go back and check if they fixed it because visitors were banned a few days later in the state-mandated lockdown.

Edward Crogan, of Amherst, a member of the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame for his scoring exploits, died on May 4.

At last report, Lorna Crogan was still alive and receiving "comfort care," her niece said.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave Newfane Rehab an overall 2-star rating, a below-average rating in its 5-star rating scale. The facility earned 2-star ratings for health inspections and staffing and an above-average 4-star rating for quality of resident care.

Toole declined to discuss the condition of the facility.

"Im done with the conversation," he said. "Making accusations about the condition of the building is not something I want to address."

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Families angered, frightened as Covid-19 swept through Newfane Rehab - Buffalo News

As Montana enters the next phase of re-opening from "Stay At Home" restrictions, Hamilton's Pharaohplex Theater on the northeast edge of town will being showing movies again Friday, May 22. Owner Joe McLean said the social distancing guidelines will be followed, with a 50 percent capacity in the theaters and $3 admission prices for the "legacy" movies on tap this weekend - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Despicable Me, Aquaman, The Hunger Games and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Check their website for showtimes. During the shutdown, the theater has been undergoing some remodeling and refurbishing, along with final planning for a brand new theater - outdoors.

Construction has begun on a new drive-in movie theater at the Pharaohplex, which will be located on the northeast corner of the theater complex (see photo). Joe said the 50-foot screen will be installed on the side of the existing building and the viewing area will include room for about 200 cars, along with a grassy area for lawn chairs. Concessions and rest rooms will be easily accessed in the main building. Sound will be broadcast to the cars on a low-power FM signal. He expected construction to be mostly complete by the end of June. It will be the first drive-in theater in the Bitterroot Valley since the Starlite Drive-in closed in the 1980s.

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Hamilton's Pharaohplex Theater Opens, Drive-in is Planned - klyq

Victory Brands, the group behind popular Atlanta restaurants like LLoyds and Victory Sandwich Bar, is gearing up to reopen its six establishments over the next month, starting with its freshly rebranded coffee shop in Inman Park.

Dekalb Athletic Club reopens today on Dekalb Avenue as Victory Coffee and Calamity. Victory Brands year-old coffee shop, located next door to the groups throwback restaurant LLoyds, now includes a retail pop-up selling Victory merch and local goods from companies such as motorcycle gear shop Brother Moto.

Owner Ian Jones tells Eater Atlanta the rebrand of the coffee shop was planned prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and better aligns with the groups bar-oriented restaurant, Victory Sandwich Bar in Inman Park and Decatur.

Doing coffee, but more in the Victory family, was a no-brainer. We should have done it a year ago, Jones says. This allows you to get all the great Victory feels, but in a more daytime-specific environment. Since its not open at night, we also have the ability (once we actually can) to use the space for events, markets, etc. in the evenings.

Like its short-lived predecessor, the menu at Victory Coffee features coffee and coffee drinks from Avondale Estates-based Radio Roasters, grab-and-go gas station biscuits, and beer and wine to-go. The latter is temporarily permitted under a COVID-19-related order, which Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms just extended for restaurants through June 30.

People enter the open garage doors out front and place orders inside, then grab their food and drinks at the pick-up window outside. Orders can also be placed in advanced online.

Victory Brands temporarily closed its five restaurants and Dekalb Athletic Club in March at the start of the city and statewide shutdowns, including Little Trouble at Westside Provisions District and S.O.S Tiki Bar in Decatur. The closures saw the group lay off more than 100 employees.

Jones and his team have spent the last few weeks planning for the reopening of Victorys restaurants, which he says takes time to do properly and safely.

Restaurants across Georgia are permitted to reopen for dine-in service, but must comply with 39 state-mandated guidelines. Among the COVID-19 safety requirements for restaurants to follow, the most notable limits dining capacity to ten patrons per 300 square feet.

We expect most of our stores to open some time in June. Obviously, we cant just open them all on the same day, so were going to phase them in over the month, Jones tells Eater. There is a considerable expense to reworking things in order to make the customer feel safe and sanitary.

The group is adding more outdoor seating, remodeling the restrooms to be as contactless as possible, and installing public hand-washing stations at each restaurant.

LLoyds covered patio will be completely reconfigured and include more outdoor seating in front of Victory Coffee. Jones says theyre also developing a drive-in component for LLoyds, in addition to reworking the dining room and bar inside to adhere with COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

He expects to begin serving a fast food-style lunch for takeout from LLoyds in the next week or two, leading up to the restaurants reopening in June. People place their orders in person at Victory Coffee or order food online prior to pickup.

As for Victory Sandwich Bar, the majority of the dining at the Inman Park location will now be done outdoors. In an effort to hire back the staff of S.O.S Tiki Bar until it can safely reopen, the bars cocktails and employees will pop up at Victorys parking lot container bar. Reconfiguring the less flexible seating arrangements at Victory-Decatur includes working around a busy sidewalk and a parking lot shared with neighboring businesses.

Unlike Victory and S.O.S. Tiki Bar in Decatur, the seating at Little Trouble is proving less challenging to reconfigure. A corridor divides Little Troubles bar from its lounge area at Westside Provisions District. Jones says hes working with Jamestown Properties, which manages the Howell Mill Road mixed-used complex, to provide more outdoor dining space for the bars patrons.

Like everyone else, were figuring out how to do all of this on the fly, Jones says of reopening the restaurants. It isnt remotely easy, but it does bring back a little excitement to a game weve been playing for the last 10 years. Feels like starting out all over again for better or worse.

Stay home if sick. Check the Georgia Department of Public Health website for guidance and updates on the latest number of reported COVID-19 cases. Numbers are now updated three times a day.

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Atlantas Victory Brands Behind LLoyds Lounge and Victory Sandwich Bar Opens Victory Coffee and Hopes to Reo - Eater Atlanta

Anabella Smith, Louis Archambault, Scott Goldstein

At Zyscovich Architects headquarters in downtown Miami, returning to work will be a little different.

Guided by arrows, employees and guests will enter the office one way, and exit another. Packages will be rerouted to a room on a separate floor to be unpacked and disinfected. And workers will be encouraged to eat their lunches at their desks.

Like going to a restaurant or entering a residential building, going to work after two months of sheltering in place will include new health and safety guidelines. Employees will have to enter wearing masks, and forget about working out at the buildings gym, or hanging out in the conference center.

In South Florida, companies are slowly beginning their return to the office building. Unlike going to a store or a restaurant, where you may spend an hour or two, going to the office for the full day may cause more anxiety for employers and their employees.

Zyscovich, though considered an essential business, has had most of its employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, said Anabella Smith, partner and director of interior design. The architecture and design firm has been preparing for weeks to bring people back to the office, remodeling the restrooms and kitchen, marking where people can be seated in conference rooms and in the workspace, and making sure there are hand sanitizer stations near restrooms and elevators.

(Click to enlarge)

We want them to come back to work feeling safe, Smith said.

The company, led by Bernard Zyscovich, is getting calls from clients asking about redesigning their spaces and projects for a post-coronavirus world. Yet, Smith said that some developers are very positive this is temporary, and we have to keep living our lives.

Publicly, most developers are still moving forward with plans to build new office projects in South Florida. But brokers and lawyers agree that there will be opportunities for tenants to negotiate new lease terms, and for buyers to pick up distressed properties.

For now, office workers throughout South Florida will be required to wear masks upon entering buildings. Deliveries will be handled differently, with some buildings requiring employees to meet their deliveries in lobbies or at the entrances to properties.

Cervera Real Estate is back at work as of Wednesday, with the exception of one office housed inside a Coconut Grove hotel, according to a spokesperson. The brokerages new office policy requires masks at all times, six feet of social distancing, and provides hand sanitizer at all entrances. Cervera is also capping the number of sales associates and customers that can be inside its offices or sales centers at any given time.

Though tenants are starting to trickle back into some buildings, theres still a lot of concern, obviously, about going back to an office at this point, said Scott Goldstein, executive managing director at Colliers International South Florida, who focuses on tenant representation. The office is where most workers spent the majority of their wakeful time prior to coronavirus, he said.

Theres still a real fear, so employers are giving the opportunity for their employees to work from home until the end of the year in some cases, Goldstein said. Companies are creating shift schedules and modified in-office working hours, providing personal protective equipment and spacing out desks. Gone are the days of unassigned workspaces. Twitters announcement that it will allow some employees to work from home forever sparked intense debate about the future of the office market, he said.

Buildings are also keeping their amenities areas closed, such as gyms and shared conference centers, which have been increasingly prevalent for the last five years. Some will have temperature checks upon entering buildings.

Goldstein believes that the impact to the office market will affect tenants and landlords in the short term, until a vaccine exists.

Theres a lot of talk about how many people are going to be working virtually, he said. Ive been working virtually for two months now, and Im frothing at the mouth to go back to the office.

Coronavirus is forcing office users and providers to address the impact that another pandemic can have, so that the market is better prepared for the next one, Goldstein added. Property owners have been installing touchless technology in their buildings and improving disinfecting and cleaning protocols.

Colliers is offering a service in which someone shoots video of a tenants space, and then creates customized recommendations within 48 hours on how the space can be safer and cleaner, which some clients have started using.

Landlords and tenants will have to take precautions to avoid any liability moving forward, said Louis Archambault, a partner with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr. He advises his clients to follow state and local guidelines, in addition to those put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus is potentially weaponized in individuals coming into your property. What did those individuals do to protect themselves? Did they wear masks? Archambault said. We all have to be mindful of what were doing to protect each other.

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Theres a lot of concern about going back to an office: how companies are returning to work in South Florida - The Real Deal