AUGUSTA As city officials are considering whether to relax zoning standards for the Riggs Brook Village district, the Augusta Planning Board has approved a couples proposal to put a mobile home there.

George and Rachel Jones had long planned to put a retirement home on a 3 1/2-acre lot in the district that will be deeded to them by family.

George Jones told the Planning Board on Tuesday his family had been preparing the lot for about two decades, including building a road.

When George Jones found it would cost $200,000 to have a home constructed on the site, he and Rachel Jones instead opted to have a mobile home placed on a concrete slab there. In addition to the construction cost, George Jones said there is extensive ledge on the property that would make it difficult to build a foundation for a traditional home.

But the couples plans hit a roadblock when they learned zoning standards for the Riggs Brook Village district were more restrictive than in other parts of Augusta. One of those standards prohibits mobile homes from being installed in that zoning district.

This is a home, a beautiful home, all certified by the state of Maine. Its made for us. Its what we want, George Jones said during the Planning Boards Zoom meeting. This is something that me, my wife and our family have been working on for years.

Jones and city officials said mobile homes are now built to set standards. Jones also noted his mobile home will be built in Maine and be able to withstand Maine winters.

I think this piece of property looks fairly unique, and thats one reason I feel fairly comfortable approving this, said Cathy Cobb, a member of the Planning Board. I cant see any other use for this property.

(George Jones) said there was ledge there, which is a contributing factor to the type of house hed like to have up there. If this is the only way to develop the property because of the ledge, I think he should have the opportunity to use it.

Board members voted unanimously to approve a contract zone with the Joneses, allowing them to put their mobile home at their planned site. They also waived another requirement of the zoning district, that all electric lines to properties there be placed underground.

The couples property will be about 1,400 feet from the road, officials noted, so no one other than the couple and visitors to their home will even see the mobile home. Nor will anyone see any electrical equipment, other than one pole where their private road will meet the public Church Hill Road.

Some officials said the city ought to reconsider treating mobile homes differently than those built on site. The citys zoning ordinance currently allows single-family residences in multiple zones where mobile homes are not OKd.

City Planner Betsy Poulin said a workshop could be held to discuss the issue and whether mobile and modular homes need be listed as distinct land uses.

Planning Board member Delaine Nye said the city regulates mobile homes differently than stick-built houses for a reason.

Typically, they dont hold up over time as well as a stick-built home, in my opinion, Nye said, adding city officials took the time to review areas of the city where a mobile home is more properly placed.

They were restricted to those areas for good reason, Nye said.

Among the reasons she cited were mobile homes tend to decline in value as they age and they can have a negative impact on property values for neighboring traditional homes.

Nye expressed concern the city could be setting precedent by allowing a mobile home in the Riggs Brook Village district, but voted in favor of the proposal, saying she was doing so with reservations.

The contract zoning agreement will still need City Council approval. The pact could go to the City Council for discussion at its Jan. 28 meeting, Poulin said.

The Riggs Brook Village zoning district was created in 2001 in anticipation of a wave of development following the installation of the Cushnoc Crossing Bridge across the Kennebec River. At that time, officials established stricter zoning standards there to encourage high-end, quality development and protect the rural vistas on the Route 3 gateway into Augusta.

But that development never came, officials believe, because of a lack of public sewer and water lines in the area. So in 2014, the city lightened the restrictions, hoping to spur development.

This year, city councilors have asked whether additional changes could be considered.

Poulin said Tuesday potential developers have expressed concern about required building setbacks of 80 feet from the road, that electrical connections be underground and limits on parking between buildings and the road.

David Smith, chairman of the Planning Board when the Riggs Brook Village project came to Augusta, said it could use some minor improvement, but urged the board not to abandon the citys hopes for the district.

He said those who created the standards wanted to avoid sprawl, protect the rural vistas, prevent excessive development and commercial signs and encourage the concept of a village being developed within the city.

Smith said the district worked as planned, noting a few businesses have been built there and complied with the standards. He said the area is not blighting and arriving from the east on Route 3 is visually pleasant.

The Planning Board expects to continue discussing potential changes at upcoming meetings.

Nye cautioned the board about making significant changes until the citys recently revised comprehensive plan is approved, to avoid adopting anything that would conflict with the goals in that document.

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Augusta approves mobile home in zoning district where they are banned - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel

Check out these three homes in Ripon listed between $300,000 and $800,000 | Real Estate | riponpress.com

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In this weeks real estate feature, were looking at three homes in Ripon listed between $300,000 and $800,000.

Take a look:

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 2

Size: 3,162 sqft

Lot: 0.39 acre

Listed by: Century 21 Properties Unlimited

Description:

Walk back in time with this restored Victorian beauty! Extensive updates and remodeling to this beautiful Victorian located on a large corner lot. Variety of living spaces and options in this home and ready for you to move right in! Walk up to the attic that is partially finished! Must see the interior to appreciate it!

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

Size: 1,579 sqft

Lot: 46.51 acre

Listed by: American Realtors

Description:

Welcome Home to the Farm! This property includes nearly 50 acres of highly desirable Plano soil and an updated farmhouse with new windows, updated bathrooms including a continental master bathroom, and a main level family room with a wet bar. The outbuildings include: a main barn with hayloft and concrete yard, machine shed, loafing and storage sheds. The Southern lot line is bordered by a municipal street with utilities. Located just 20 miles west of the Fox Valley, Ripon is a prime location for future development.

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 3

Size: 3,590 sqft

Lot: 42.12 acre

Listed by: YELLOW HOUSE REALTY

Description:

Frank Lloyd Wright inspired design. This Prairie Style home offers beautiful country views and spacious interior rooms. Quality can be found throughout the home with the solid wood doors and trim, leaded glass foyer, Granite countertops, radiant in-floor heat in the home and garage. The large and open kitchen is ideal for entertaining and truly very functional with its built-ins and walk-in pantry. Main level owner's suite with a large bedroom, oversized walk-in closet and a spa-like bathroom. There are two additional bedrooms and a full bath on the main level. The lower level has a FR, Rec area, wet bar, bedroom, full bath, storage and 2nd laundry area. LL patio, main level screen porch and expansive deck with great views.

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Check out these three homes in Ripon listed between $300000 and $800000 - Ripon Commonwealth Press

BATH While the construction of the new Morse High School in Bath is nearing completion, it wont be done as soon as initially planned.

The high school is scheduled to be handed over to Regional School Unit 1 next month with students resuming classes on Feb. 25, which is later than its initial December target date, according to Cuyler Feagles, RSU 1 clerk of the works.

Feagles credited the two-month delay to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which arrived in Maine last March.

Mostly the impact weve had is delayed deliveries from manufacturers, said Feagles. Getting supplies has been much slower as a result of COVID-19.

Feagles said builders arent able to hire more workers to speed up construction, in part because of COVID-19 limits how many people are allowed in certain parts of the building at a time.The state has also seen an absolutely unprecedented building boom during the pandemic, Feagles said, making it difficult to find workers available to hire.

This is also a largely state-funded project, and so because of that, workers must follow state COVID-19 guidelines, said Feagles. Work is somewhat slower because we have to take precautions like daily cleaning and having everyone check-in every day now.

Built by New Hampshire-based Harvey Construction, the school will house Morse High School and the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center. With a total of just over 600 students, Morse High School is the only high school in Regional School Unit 1, which serves Bath, Phippsburg, Arrowsic and Woolwich.

Patrick Manual, RSU 1 Superintendent, said work is ongoing seven days a week to have the school ready for teachers and administrators to move in in mid-February.

Harvey construction continues to make steady progress with the new Morse High School/Bath Tech, said Manuel. Students are scheduled to begin classes at the new school on February 25th. We are excited to open this impressive facility that will benefit our students, staff, and the community.

Once complete, the new school at the Wing Farm Business Park will stand three-stories tall and cover nearly 186,000 square feet, slightly larger than the current Morse High School building on High Street. The school will have two gyms, two athletic fields, and a theater.

Feagles said a few nonessential portions of the building, including the theater and band room, wont be completely finished when classes resume, but workers will finish them while students are in school.

The kids have to be in, so those are the least necessary and the easiest to finish while kids are in school, said Feagles. Workers are able to finish work while kids are going about their daily activities. We dont want workers in the middle of their school day.

Despite being a bit behind schedule, the project remains on budget, according to Manuel.

The state is funding $67.4 million of the $75.3 million cost; $7.2 million is to be paid locally through borrowing, with $700,000 earmarked from fundraising.

Once complete, the existing Morse High School will be turned over to the city to be repurposed.The city has three main ideas for how to repurpose the school, all of which involve repurposing some of the building into housing, Assistant Bath City Manager Marc Meyers told The Times Record last November.

Meyers said the city doesnt plan on changing the brick faade. None of the possible renovations include plans for the theater or gymnasium, as those were sections of the school alumni said they wanted to be preserved.

While Bath residents and Morse alumni have offered suggestions, Meyers said the jurys still out on what the building will become and theres no firm deadline on remodeling.

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TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Masonite International Corporation (NYSE: DOOR) has appointed John H. Chuang, co-founder and CEO of Aquent, to the companys board of directors effectively immediately. Chuang was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board.

John has a wealth of experience and insights in change management, talent acquisition and employee development, said Robert J. Byrne, chairman of the board of directors. We are pleased to welcome John to the Masonite board of directors and look forward to his contributions.

Chuang co-founded Aquent in his dorm room as an undergraduate at Harvard University in 1986. Within five years, he grew the workforce solutions company to the 12th fastest-growing private company in America.

Over the course of his career, Chuang has been widely recognized for his entrepreneurial leadership and accomplishments, as Boston Business Journals, 40 Under 40, Mass High Techs High Tech All-Star, Ernst and Youngs Entrepreneur of the Year and Staffing Industry Analysts Staffing 100.

Chuangs thought leadership and expertise has been featured in a number of national media outlets and trade publications, including Fast Company, NPR, The Boston Globe, U.S. News & World Report, The Financial Times, Business Insider and Quartz. He is also a frequent guest on Bloomberg Television, Fox News, Yahoo Finance and CNBC.

Previously, Chuang served as president of the Massachusetts Staffing Association and as chairman of the board of directors of Angies List. He has also served as a board member for the American Staffing Association and AIGA.

Chuang earned a bachelors degree cum laude from Harvard University and an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School.

About Masonite

Masonite International Corporation is a leading global designer, manufacturer and distributor of interior and exterior doors for the new construction and repair, renovation and remodeling sectors of the residential and non-residential building construction markets. Since 1925, Masonite has provided its customers with innovative products and superior service at compelling values. Masonite currently serves approximately 8,500 customers in 60 countries. Additional information about Masonite can be found at http://www.masonite.com.

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Masonite International Corporation Appoints John H. Chuang to Board of Directors - Business Wire

When Ellen Connor needed a hip replacement in October, her doctor recommended that rather than being discharged to a rehab facility, because of COVID-19 it would be better to go home after surgery.

The only problem for the 83-year-old was the flight of 14 stairs to her second-floor apartment in Baldwin. Her adult children recommended a stair lift at a cost of $3,000.

"When my daughter suggested it, I said Im not doing that. I just didnt think I needed it," Connor said. "But then I thought about it. Even before my surgery it was already hard to get my packages up the stairs and I had to take the steps one at a time. I really do like it. It certainly makes it more comfortable and easier to deal with everyday things like shopping."

Another change she made to her apartment four years ago also turned out to be good planning: She had the tub she hardly used replaced with a walk-in shower, built-in corner bench and grab bars for safety, as well as a comfort-height toilet. "All these changes are very helpful now," she said.

Many seniors and their adult children would rather they remain at home, particularly as nursing homes have been hit hard by the pandemic, said Heather Brin, the principal architect of Aging in Place Architecture in Port Jefferson. Even before COVID, according to a 2017 AARP study, 90% of people age 65 and over would prefer to stay in their own homes as they get older and not go to a nursing home or assisted living facility.

The alternative is aging in place, a term the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as "the ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently and comfortably, regardless of age, income or ability level."

Often that means using a universal design, a concept for building, designing or remodeling your home to consider fixes that can prevent injuries, sickness, discomfort and avoidable fatalities. The problem on Long Island, said Brin, is that many homes were built in the 1960s with lots of levels, intended for young families. That can mean to age in place will require home renovations.

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This was the consideration two years ago for Lynn Spinnato when it became clear that her widowed mother and mother-in-law, both in their eighties, needed to move in. She and her husband decided on a one-story extension to the rear of their existing two-story historic house in East Setauket. The addition, which required getting town permits, included two new bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and a common living space. Its separated from the existing house with a barn door with a moon-shaped window.

"They liked having that space as a private area. Even though they're older and you want to be able to watch them, they liked that independence; it was very important to them," said Spinnato, whose mother has since passed away.

Dont wait to assess those future needs. "Preparing for the future is always better if you can do it during the calm. Smarter decisions are made when its not an urgent situation," said Kim Kuester, owner of 101 Mobility in Farmingdale, which sells and rents mobility equipment such as stair lifts, elevators and ramps.

"There are so many falls and complications that can be avoided by taking some very simple and inexpensive steps," said Lisa Stern, assistant vice president for senior and adult services at the Mineola-based nonprofit FCA, formerly known as Family & Childrens Association, which offers case management, financial counseling and other services for seniors.

In some cases, federal, state and local agencies can help low-income seniors modify their longtime homes. "You can also consider a reverse mortgage and Medicare will pay for medical equipment," Stern said. "People don't want to spend money on renovating their house, but the cost of putting some small things in place might be less expensive than if you were to go to an institutional facility."

Universal designs dont have to be extensive. Stern said its about assessing your situation and making modifications that work for your space. When evaluating your home for future needs consider these five factors.

Ideally your home has an existing first-floor bedroom and bath, but if not, this may be a renovation to look into. Jolanda Schreurs in Port Jefferson is in the process of reviewing plans with Brin to renovate a ground floor bedroom and adjacent bathroom for her 90-year-old mother who will be moving in this year. The plans include wider doorways for walker/wheelchair access and a first-floor laundry room. "We are creating a space for both the immediate needs of my mother as well as for my husband and myself as we consider our future," said Schreurs, 63.

Assess the entrances to the house. How many steps do you have and could you ramp it if needed? Are there handrails? Can you enter through the garage and if so, is there a threshold to get over? Brin said these are considerations to be aware of while youre still mobile.

Furthermore, if youre doing any renovations, consider widening the doorways to the ADA recommendation of a clear opening of 32 to 36 inches for wheelchair passage. "Doors to bathrooms and bedrooms are the priority," Brin said.

She also recommends replacing doorknobs with ADA lever door handles, which are easier to use if someone has grip issues. The cost to replace the doors can start at about $185 for materials and labor; lever handles are about $30 for materials and labor.

When getting in and out of your home becomes a problem or getting to another floor there are several solutions.

When Renee Romeros 86-year-old mother broke her leg in two places, she had to figure out how her mother was going to navigate the two sets of steps to the main floor of her West Babylon home. "The house has four steps, a landing and then 10 steps, so we had to connect them with two stair lifts," she said. She got two pre-owned stair lifts, which are about $2,350 each.

Other solutions for dealing with steps indoors and outdoors include threshold ramps, a wedge that gets you over the door jamb for as little as $60, and modular ramps that cover the steps to your front door.

Kuester said, "We have to watch the pitch and the slope so that it's not too steep for people. Sometimes we have to add a platform. Every house is different." The average cost to install a new ramp is $3,000 to $4,000. Pre-owned and rentals are available for less.

Stair lifts can be used inside and outdoors and a base model is $2,895 and can be rented or bought. Kuester said that when a stairway isnt straight, or you need to connect it to another one like in a split-level house, there are curved stair lifts, which are customized. They start at around $12,000.

There are also motorized vertical platforms that start around $6,000 and usually are the height of four to six steps. Flex steps convert four to seven steps into a platform for a wheelchair that lifts. The cost starts around $20,000.

Or consider a home lift, or elevator, that can be installed, usually behind stairs or through closets. The cost starts in the mid-$20,000 range.

Michael Shapiro, 78, had an electric elevator installed in his Massapequa home in October for a cost of $30,000. "We have four stories and my wife has a bad leg so doesnt do stairs well and I have bad knees and we figured why wait until it gets so bad we cant do anything? The elevator was fitted into a coat closet with half in and half extending out, so no real room was lost. It goes from the second floor to the fourth floor where the bedroom is."

Brin said there are simple steps you can take during your next update to prepare for ease of use and safety in the future.

"When you do general maintenance or updating, that's the opportunity to think about future-proofing," Brin said. "That means, for instance, if you're opening up bathroom walls, you put a nailing block at a height of approximately 36 inches above the finished floor behind the Sheetrock. You can do that in the shower area and near the toilet. If sometime in the future you need to put in some grab bars, you can screw them right through the tiles or Sheetrock into the nailing block. Before you tile it over, take pictures to see exactly where it is."

You can do the same behind the bathroom vanity in case you need a wall-mounted sink in the future to slide a wheelchair under. Brin suggests tiling under a floor-mounted vanity so that if you do need to remove it, the floor wont need to be repaired.

If youre putting in a new toilet, rather than a standard height, which is 15 inches, Brin recommends installing a comfort-height toilet, which is 17 to 19 inches and starts at about $200 for labor and materials.

You can also replace a tub with a low threshold or no threshold shower as Connor did.

Brin said when renovating your kitchen, consider areas that can easily be changed in the future. For instance, many kitchens have desks. "That desk works well for a wheelchair so it has a dual function," she said.

Rather than putting the microwave above the stove, consider putting it at counter height. The counter area near the sink could have removable cabinets underneath.

"The biggest issue with future-proofing is to have the components there and you don't necessarily have to go all the way to install them, but you have the option to pull something out and put something else in," Brin said.

For resources for seniors who are considering modifying their homes, contact:

These three organizations can do safety assessments as well as construction:

By Liza N. Burby Special to Newsday

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How some LIers are aging in place in the pandemic - Newsday

By Brendan LaChance on January 14, 2021

CASPER, Wyo. The Bureau of Land Management Wyoming is partnering with the new Absaroka Fence Initiative which is working to ensure fences are safe for wildlife and also functional for livestock management.

BLM Wyoming says the initiative brings together landowners, the local community, non-governmental organizations and government agencies in Park County.

The Absorka Fence Initiative says that adding, modifying or removing fences can more effectively enhance wildlife movement and livestock functionality.

Article continues below...

The initiative has gathered information resources regarding fencing and ecology as well as stories of completed projects. They will also be organizing volunteer events where people can help with fencing projects in the area.

In addition to BLM Wyoming, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation have contributed to the initiative.

Were so pleased to be a part of this worthwhile effort and look forward to some fun projects in 2021, BLM Wyoming said on Thursday.

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PHOTOS: New initiative helping Wyoming landowners fix fences to protect wildlife - Oil City News

By CAROL ROIG

You might recall the old saying, Good fences make good neighbors, from studying the Robert Frost poem Mending Wall in school. First published in 1914, the iconic work explores the notion of walls and fences as protective barriers and instruments of division, as a rueful narrator describes his annual encounter with a crusty neighbor who fends off his musings about whether the stone wall that divides their farm fields serves any useful purpose. Before I built a wall, the narrator says, Id ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out, / And to whom I was like to give offense. But his neighbor puts up a metaphorical wall against deeper meanings and can only repeat the old clich, Good fences make good neighbors.

Frost was considering fences that divide peoplephysically, politically, intellectually, spiritually. However, another kind of fence has entered our vocabulary, a fence that symbolizes not division but proximity, contained in the expression fenceline community. Its a central concept of the environmental justice movement, describing a residential community immediately adjacent to a commercial or industrial site (or multiple sites) that produces noise, traffic, chemical emissions, toxic waste, light pollution and other environmental impacts that damage residents health and quality of life. Those effects also destroy property values, making it impossible for homeowners to relocate out of danger.

Historically, the residents of fenceline communities are disproportionately African-American, Latino and low-income, a fact confirmed by a strong body of research, starting with a 1983 study by the Government Accounting Office. The study found that three out of four hazardous waste landfills in the U.S. were located in communities of color with average incomes below the poverty line. In 1987, the United Church of Christ Committee on Racial Injustice found that 15 million Black Americans and 8 million Latinos lived in counties with at least one abandoned or uncontrolled toxic waste site. According to the 2018 research report Life at the Fenceline: Understanding Cumulative Health Hazards in Environmental Justice Communities, 39 percent or roughly 124 million Americans live within three miles of one of the nearly 12,500 high-risk chemical facilities in the U.S. Further, the vulnerability zones for these industrial and commercial siteswhere homes, schools, nursing homes, medical facilities and workplaces are locatedcan extend up to 25 miles in radius.

In the years since the groundbreaking GAO Report, numerous grassroots community groups, regional networks and legal clinics have sprung up to help affected communities oppose harmful projects and to lobby for legal protections at the state and federal level. Today, the movement also recognizes the pioneering role played by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in awakening our awareness of the ways that racial equity, economic and political justice, safe housing and working conditions, and access to health care are all related and encompassed within the concept of civil rights. The watershed event in this process of realization is the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968. There, Dr. Kings leadership helped connect issues of racial discrimination and unequal pay with recognition of sanitation workers extremely hazardous working conditions associated with waste disposal, lack of protective gear and the broader harms to their families and communities. Today, Dr. Kings larger and more visionary conception of civil rights is credited as a catalyst for the environmental justice movement.

Environmental justice is now intertwined with climate justice as we recognize that, just as communities of color and low-income communities have historically been subjected to a higher level of toxic pollution and an indifferent record of environmental enforcement, their status as fenceline communities makes them more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Economic barriers make them less likely to benefit from equal investment and assistance as we transition to renewable energy and a fossil-free economy. The expansive concept of civil rights, as propounded by Dr. King, is central to effective climate action, embodied in the concepts of climate protections for all communities, and a just transition to new technologies that preserves workers rights and strives to ensure that investment benefits, as well as climate burdens, are shared equitably.

http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-timeline

http://www.ej4all.org/life-at-the-fenceline

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Fences and neighbors - The River Reporter

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If eating an entire chocolate cake by yourself and being thrown over a fence by Emma Thompson sounds like a fun way to spend an evening, it sounds like Netflix has the perfect Matilda adaptation for you. According to Variety, the Cruella actress is strapping on her weightlifting belt to play the despotic principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, across from Darklands Alisha Weir as Matilda herself, in the streamers movie adaptation of the multi-Tony and Olivier-winning Broadway show.

Theyre joined in the film, directed by Matthew Warchus, by No Time to Die and Captain Marvel actress Lashana Lynch, who will reportedly portray the storys benevolent Miss Honey. Dennis Kelly is adapting the films screenplay from the Matilda stage show, which premiered on the West End in 2011 and Broadway in 2013, which is itself adapted from the 1988 childrens novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.

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Emma Thompson to Hurl You Over the Fence as Miss Trunchbull in Netflixs Musical Matilda - Vulture

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) The Mitten Fence in People's Park on Main Street in Buffalo typically gives out 400 items a year. This winter, things are flying off the fence faster than usual.

I come by about once a week, but I often come by and I see things I know I havent hung up. It really makes me feel like its a community effort, its a community park and its supposed to bring people together, said Mara Montante, People's Park Director.

Montante says it's often overlooked how many people in our area don't have the winter gear they need to stay warm. That's why People's Park started the Mitten Fence in 2018.

"And we thought this was a really nice way to help people in the community during winter," said Montante.

People's park is known for bringing people together in their garden, hosting reading groups and free libraries during the summer and now, putting up this Mitten Fence during the winter months.

"People can come and leave items. Some people knit things and leave them on the fence. Then people stop by and take what they need, its a give what you can and take what you need," said Montante.

Taylor Epps

She thinks the high need for winter items and the extra help from the community are both effects of the pandemic.

Im hoping this fills kind of a necessary thing people need during the winter," said Montante.

After this years positive response, theyre considering bringing a second peoples park and Mitten Fence to Niagara Falls in the future.

"Hopefully, more people can come and donate and if you need something you can stop by and get what you need," said Montante.

The fence will be up through March. If you want to donate, just bring your items in a plastic bag to keep them dry and hang them up.And if you need something to keep warm out here, just stop by and grab what you need.

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Mitten fence helping hundreds in Buffalo stay warm this winter - WKBW-TV

The new fence, 7-feet-tall and considered "non-scalable," should eventually find a home in the Smithsonian. Pieces of it would be an appropriate remembrance of just how dangerous and frightening the Trump years have been. Massive protests are nothing new in Washington, of course. In the 1970s, when I was working in the White House, protests against the Vietnam War reached a crescendo. I remember walking through a courtyard at the Old Executive Office Building and finding military tanks secretly stationed there, ready to move if trouble got out of hand. But those protests were wholly legitimate citizens rising up to demand changes in government policy. In this past week, by contrast, we were watching as the leader of the executive branch of government incited mob violence in an attempted takeover of the legislative branch. Through all of our history, although there have been attacks on our Capitol, we have never seen American citizens try to bring down our central government. Attempted overthrows by civilians have been rare as well among major Western democracies.The closest parallel to the Trump years for many has been the Hitler years in Germany. But even there, mobs weren't marching on the Reichstag. Instead the similarity to today is really more about clever deployment of disinformation by both men. As World War I ended, Hitler and his followers invented "The Big Lie": Germany did not lose the war on the battlefields, they argued; rather, its democratically elected leaders undermined the war effort back home. They convinced the electorate that opponents of the war, especially Jews, had delivered a "stab in the back" to German soldiers. That was a huge lie, but its proponents rode it to power. Just as Trump has with his cynical narrative about Biden's election victory. Trump's greatest strength is perhaps his ability to convince large swaths of people that what is true is false and what is false is true. He has become a master of "The Big Lie" namely, that he won the election and Joe Biden lost. A majority of Americans don't believe him, but opinion polls show that roughly a third are still on his side, even after the bloody assault on Congress. It will be extremely difficult for Biden to govern as long as large portions of our electorate believe his presidency is illegitimate. It is disturbing but true that Trump has become even more threatening to our democracy in the past few weeks. With the FBI warning that insurrectionists may stage new marches across 50 state capitols and are personally targeting Biden, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi, one would think that Trump would have the decency and good sense to tell his followers to back off, put down your guns, and stay home. How can he continue to be so blind to his own self-interest? Does he really want to leave office with more blood on his hands?Actually, the biggest test at the moment is not about Trump. It is whether the Republican Party will assume serious responsibility for keeping the peace in coming days. That third of the electorate still in Trump's corner won't listen to Biden or any other Democrat, but they might listen if a big chorus of conservative Republicans as well as business leaders now stand up and speak up just as Rep. Liz Cheney has done in the House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling in the Senate.

As a people, we are staring into an abyss; things could well get worse before they get better. It is hugely important to the country now that we de-escalate and search for higher ground. If we can just get through the first hundred days of a Biden presidency with our democracy intact, perhaps we can all catch our breath, welcome in a little sunshine, and send pieces of that fence to the Smithsonian.

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The perfect symbol of the Trump years - CNN