A project intended to spice up downtown has instead stunk it up, say some who spend time near the city's pop-up park on Curtis Street and Santa Cruz Avenue.

The pop-up park is a temporary installation of a large astroturf carpet and some lawn furniture, including brightly colored Adirondack chairs. Over the last two years, it has been rolled out downtown perpendicular to Santa Cruz Avenue previously on Chestnut Street, and now on Curtis Street. The mini-park takes up roughly an entire block and eliminates vehicle access and parking there.

Loren Dakin, whose office at 1075 Curtis St. abuts the park, has a front-row seat to observe the park's frequent desecration by people's pets.

He called the park a health hazard and told the Almanac he's seen both dogs relieve themselves and toddlers eat Cheerios off the ground at the park.

In August, he paid for tests to be conducted at the mini-park by Patriot Environmental Laboratory Services Inc., which has an office in San Jose. The tests showed elevated coliform bacteria levels at three spots on the astroturf.

E. coli, a particularly dangerous coliform bacteria, was not found. Coliform bacteria are associated with sewage or fecal contamination.

On Aug. 22, he presented the council with the test findings of the investigation. "It's a cesspool," he said.

Bill Frimel, who also works in the building at 1075 Curtis St., said that human trash and waste can also be observed at the park. He noted that in addition to public health concerns, he is frequently disturbed from his work by frustrated drivers cutting through the parking lot, new noise from kids and street performers, and transient people who spend time at the park night and day.

A smattering of other people spoke at the Aug. 22 council meeting in favor of removing the park and restoring the street to its former use.

Bob McNamara, a former councilman and mayor, told the council: "Many residents, business owners and retailers have told me the park has had a negative impact on the adjacent area. ... These are the very people in the community that you're trying to help, so you should trust their perspective."

Mr. Frimel also said the park is maintained regularly by city staff and that the astroturf was seen being power-washed on Aug. 30.

The matter has not yet been scheduled for council discussion, City Manager Alex McIntyre said Aug. 31.

__

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Menlo Park: Tests show elevated bacteria levels at pop-up mini-park downtown - The Almanac Online

Kalia Flooring in Murray, Utah announces 9-inch engineered hardwood flooring. It is cheaper and more durable than the solid wood floor alternative.

Kalia Flooring and Design Center carries discount wood flooring, tile, countertops, carpets, and more. The Utah-based business also offers design and space planning with solutions that breathe new life into homes and offices. Kalia Flooring is proud to announce the addition of 9-inch engineered solid hardwood flooring to its inventory.

Engineered hardwood floors are similar to solid hardwood floors; both are a -inch thick solid material made of 100 percent real wood. They differ only in construction. Engineered hardwood is made of a composite base layer with a veneer of hardwood on the top. It is more resistant to heat and moisture compared to solid hardwood. It is also cheaper and easier to install than solid wood.

Engineered hardwood floors are more environmentally friendly than solid hardwood because fewer trees are used in their production. The composite layer of the engineered hardwood is designed for greater durability, moisture-resistance, and strength. In most cases, engineered hardwood outlasts its solid wood counterpart.

Engineered hardwood floors offer the benefits of solid wood floors at a much lower cost and with greater longevity, said Scott Heath, Founder of Kalia Flooring and Design Center. To the eye, the two products look just the same, but engineered hardwood is less susceptible to dings, scrapes, and moisture.

Engineered hardwood can be sanded and refinished like solid hardwood floors, though floor owners should be careful not to re-sand so often that they wear the flooring down below its solid wood veneer.

From Draper to Park City, Kalias hardwood flooring company can help customers know if engineered hardwood is the right choice for their home. They can also assist with ideas and planning for remodeling projects.

For hardwood floor and other home renovation products, contact Kalia Flooring. For more information about the companys products and installation services, visit http://www.KaliaFloors.com or stop by their hardwood floor showroom at 5645 South Commerce Drive in Murray, Utah. The center can also be reached at (801) 263-9600.

About Kalia Floors

Kalia Flooring and Design Center offer carpet installation and sales throughout Park City to Salt Lake City, and the greater Northern Utah metro.

Excerpt from:
Kalia Floors' New Engineered Hardwood is a Cheaper, Tougher Flooring Alternative - Digital Journal

(TNS) Robert Dennis has mined coal in West Virginia for 10 years but a recent evening found him in a classroom at his local community college. He came to learn about opportunities in fracking, a drilling technique used to produce natural gas the very fuel that is threatening coals future.

I know mining inside and out, said Dennis, a 41-year-old shift foreman from Wetzel County. But now, I just want more doors to be open.

He has earned a certificate in chemical and industrial operations, diligently searched job boards and filled out applications. So far, no luck.

Dennis is learning a hard lesson of fracking: While it has created a bonanza of jobs, displaced coal miners and their communities are sometimes left out of the boom. Thats because many of the jobs require highly technical skills and are often going to experienced workers brought in from out of state who then move on to the next job without sinking roots.

There are positive employment and wage effects, said Timothy M. Komarek, a professor of economics at Old Dominion University in Virginia. But, he said, they are not as big as first thought when the boom first started.

Komarek concluded in a 2016 study that total employment in a county rises by 7 percent and wages by 11 percent in the three years after fracking comes but the gains then taper off.

When the shale gale hits, hotels, trailer parks and restaurants get a boost. And some landowners make money for letting drillers extract oil and gas from their property.

In that way, fracking has created a lot of millionaires in West Virginia, said Jeff Kessler, a former state senator from the states northern area that has both coal and natural gas. But it has not created the employment opportunities area residents had hoped for, he said. The ongoing benefits are relatively minute compared to the amount of land under lease.

Thats bad news for towns like Wetzel Countys New Martinsville where Dennis attended the community college session. While coal mines provide decades of steady work and sustain communities, a crew can frack a well in a month and leave behind automated machinery to recover the oil and gas.

The process, also known as hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting water and chemicals deep underground to break up rock and free trapped oil and gas.

Its unlocked vast stores of previously unobtainable fossil fuel and spurred a renaissance in energy production in states that had once been coal bastions. Coal, oil and natural gas are formed from the same plant matter and other forms of prehistoric life and can be found in the same places.

But fracking has eroded the status of coal, which used to generate more than half the electricity in the U.S. but had slipped to just 30 percent last year. If there was a War on Coal, it was really declared by natural gas, said Robert Godby, an economist at the University of Wyoming.

While some miners are hoping President Donald Trump will rescue their industry West Virginia gave Trump 69 percent of the vote in 2016, the greatest share of the total in at least a century and a half others are eyeing gas as an alternative employment opportunity.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics doesnt specifically count fracking jobs, but says there were more than 422,000 jobs directly associated with oil and gas extraction in the U.S. at the end of 2016. That has far eclipsed the number of jobs in underground coal mining: about 50,000 nationwide, down from 200,000 in the 1970s.

In West Virginia, there were 11,404 coal miners last year, about half the 23,000 who were working in 2011. There are about 6,000 working in oil and gas extraction.

The fracking boom provided a much-needed economic boost in the years following the 2007-2009 recession. Fracking supported more than half a million jobs across the Marcellus Shale, an energy-rich geological formation that stretches from New York state to Virginia, according to a report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association. The groups numbers exceed the Labor Department estimates because they include workers at natural gas distribution facilities, petroleum refineries, petroleum product wholesalers and gas stations.

And much as coal and the Ohio River once lured steel plants and manufacturers to the area, cheap natural gas may bring chemical and other manufacturers to areas near shale drilling. Residents of New Martinsville, for example, are rooting for an ethane processing facility that may be built on the site of an old coal plant nearby.

In North Dakota, the fracking boom allowed it to become the fastest-growing economy in the nation by 2014. Even now, it has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at 2.3 percent. But a downturn in the oil market brought drilling to a crawl and slowed investment in training and education programs.

The boom was so quick and dropped off so quickly afterwards and the bust came so quickly that they really didnt get it done, said William Caraher, an associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota, of the states education push.

Don Riggenbach is the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Wetzel County, where New Martinsville is located, and the owner of a tile and carpet installation company. He measures the economic effect of fracking in square feet of new flooring installed. So far, he says, something has been missing.

In my business I need houses being built, he said. Youd think that because of the gas and oil business theyd be hiring people. They do, but theyre out-of-state workers ... Theyre not putting down roots.

Still, former miners who have made the transition to fracking, often with the assistance of government or industry-funded programs, say they are happy.

Robert Walker says he was shocked when he was laid off from his job at a Murray Energy Corp. coal mine in Marshall County in April 2015.

Walker is now working for the Williams Companies Inc., which has extensive operations in the oil and gas field. He is making less money, down to $24 an hour from $30 when he was working in the mines. But he likes the work, and prefers his new co-workers. He says he is a lot happier now.

Curt Hippensteel, the director of the West Virginia Community College petroleum technology program, said miners have skills that transfer well to other trades, including safety training, welding and electrical work. Plus, miners are used to working long hours in austere conditions, which fits the profile of roustabout work quite nicely, he said.

But fracking, which requires the application of precise measurements of chemicals, sand and water applied under extreme pressure at specific times, requires its own set of unique skills.

And its job outlook is far from certain.

Technological improvements to fracking processes and practices have made the industry more efficient. In late 2016 and early 2017, more gas was produced using fewer workers in West Virginia than ever before.

Since 2014, gas production in the state has grown 50 percent while oil and gas employment has fall from 9,000 to less than 6,000, according to West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Forecasting.

The recent recovery in prices has spurred companies to begin exploring for gas again, which may mean more hiring soon, according to Brian Lego, a West Virginia University assistant professor of economic forecasting. But the overall level wont be a substantial amount, he said.

Dennis, the coal miner looking for fracking work, hopes to gain a few years experience in the oil and gas fields near New Martinsville until his children finish school.

After that, hes ready to give up on energy altogether and seek employment in North Carolina, where he feels there is more opportunity.

What I want is a chance to move out of the area, he said. Theres more industry down there.

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Fracking jobs are elusive for coal miners looking to switch - Herald and News

They say God never gives you more than you can handle, but its been getting close lately, said Thysen Scott with a laugh, referring to the amount of catering jobs that he and his wife, Debi, have been booking for their business, God Bless Food Catering.

Faith is important to the Scotts, self-described committed Christians who donate 10 percent of their earnings to their parish, the Oak Bay Baptist Church in Port Hadlock. Just as important to them is carrying on a family tradition, and treating their customers as though they are members of their extended family.

Thysen is well steeped in the food service industry, with a father who has owned seven restaurants on the east side of Seattle, an aunt who owns three catering companies in the same city, and family roots in the Taco Time chain. Yet, in spite of spending two years working as a manager for his dad, Thysens primary business is carpet installation.

I did the floors at the Port Townsend paper mill, but I would always bring Rita Hubbard some soup or a sandwich, Thysen said.

She liked his food so much that, four years ago, she decided to upgrade her catering by hiring him instead, for their Christmas party, Debi Scott said.

With six weeks to prepare and no actual catering company at that time, Thysen and Debi nonetheless managed to serve more than 200 partygoers, paving the way for their return to the paper mill every Christmas since then.

Our first year, we had just a handful of gigs, but word of mouth spread fast, Debi said. Our second year, we catered 40 events, which went up to 70 in our third year. This year, weve already catered more than 100 events, and its not even over yet.

In addition to serving meals at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge every Tuesday, God Bless Food is also a fixture at annual community events ranging from Hadlock Building Supplys customer appreciation day to the upcoming Port Ludlow outdoor movie night Aug. 27.

Weve catered fundraisers for the North Olympic Salmon Coalition and Chimacum High School, Thysen said. We go to peoples homes and teach clinics on how to make pizza dough or lasagna. Ive done events at cost, and then given away auction prizes like free dinners to boot.

We dont have as much time as wed like to volunteer for organizations, Debi said, so this is our way of giving back.

Regardless of where they show up, the Scotts have developed a fan following, to the point that Thysen cant even shop at the QFC in Port Hadlock without folks checking out what he has in his shopping cart.

I just use the best fresh ingredients, preferably by local companies, Thysen said. I slow-cook the meat, and I cut the salad 20 minutes before I serve it. A lot of my stuff is from scratch. Its a matter of timing and attention to detail, so you know how long to cook each item, and when it should come out.

He just has a natural talent for flavoring, seasoning and layering that you cant train, Debi said. He can throw together amazing dishes, like baked potatoes infused with butter, garlic and cheese; smoked salmon thats like candy; and chowder thats white gold.

Thysen was humbled when a readers poll conducted by The Leader named him the best chef in the area, especially since his catering companys motto is He makes it, I put it together, with He referring to God.

Thysen eventually hopes to operate out of a food truck, but in the meantime, he and Debi are inviting people to taste their chowder at the Port Ludlow outdoor movie night for the second year in a row.

We start serving at 6 p.m., and the movie starts at dusk, Thysen said. I make my chowder on site with only 10 or 11 ingredients, in a huge cauldron that I stir with an oar, he said, laughing. We want to feed the world, but well start with Jefferson County.

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God Bless Food enters 4th year of serving community - Port Townsend Leader

GREENCASTLE, Pa. Unlike the solar eclipse that delayed the start of the 2017-18 school year by a day, Greencastle-Antrim students reported to classes Tuesday with nothing unusual to report from the district's new superintendent.

Probably not unlike many of the students, Kendra Trail said she was feeling anticipation and excitement to begin her first year overseeing the district.

Overall, the day went extraordinarily well, said Trail, who attended the elementary and middle school "welcome-back" assemblies.

We expected transportation to run later in getting students home; however, that routinely happens on the first day and even first week, she said.

Trail had moved the planned opening day of school back a day because of a concern for childrens' safety during the solar eclipse.

A lot of rehabilitation work had been performed in the primary and elementary schools during the summer, including new heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems.

All classrooms in the two schools also have had new carpeting installed, but Trail said carpet work still needed to be completed in the schools' hallways.

The hallway-carpet installation is being done during nights and weekends.

Earlier this month, Trail announced a change in the school district's traditional open campus, closing the campus for public use during school hours.

My first priority is to strengthen the safety of students and staff," she said. "The first step was taken to have a 'closed campus' during the hours of 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which took effect (Tuesday). ... I am continuing to assess the safety issue.

Trail estimated last week that enrollment was up by 30 students from last year, but she wasn't ready Tuesday to tally the total number of students.

We still have students enrolling," she said. "On the third day of school, we will assess that information.

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Greencastle students back in class after first day eclipsed - Herald-Mail Media

It is sculpture thats largely invisible, announcing itself subtly, almost stealthily. Walk an unpaved path through a eucalyptus grove at UC San Diego, and suspended tones with no apparent source weave their way into the already densely layered soundscape. Traffic on the adjacent road, jets rumbling overhead, clicking spokes of passing bicycles, the frictive thrum of a skateboard, the crunch of your own footsteps all shift from background noise to counterpoint for the tones emanating from above.

"The Wind Garden" is the new work of Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams. Its his first permanent outdoor art installation and the latest addition to the Stuart Collection of commissioned, site-determined sculpture on campus.

The works tones are generated by 32 small, tubular devices that Adams has positioned on tree branches. A speaker assigned to each is mounted nearby, and four subwoofers in steel boxes are inconspicuously arrayed on the ground, atop the carpet of dried leaves. The wind's activity, time of day and season all determine what tones will charge the space.

Lighter, higher sounds in major tonalities dominate the day. At night, the register lowers, minor keys are invoked, and (thanks to the subwoofers) the sounds drop down from the canopy to the level of the body.

"You have to move through the piece, or sit for a long time and let it move through you," said Adams, 64, who was in La Jolla to make adjustments to the piece before its opening this month. Long and lanky, in a working uniform of jeans and baseball cap, Adams paced the path before settling onto a bench of reclaimed eucalyptus in what he considers the apse of his "arboreal chapel."

"In recent years, space has become a fundamental compositional element for me, in the way that it would be for a sculptor," he said, referring to the present work as well as music he has written to be performed outdoors, by ensembles dispersed across a landscape.

"Yes, I mean poetic space, a sort of metaphorical space, and temporal space, but I also mean physical, volumetric space. Everything about this piece is meticulously composed, but the thing that gives it its life, its breath, is the way we're working with the space the placement of this particular tone in that particular tree, in relation to that tone at the other end of the grove."

Erik Jepsen / UC San Diego Publications

John Luther Adams' composition notebook.

John Luther Adams' composition notebook. (Erik Jepsen / UC San Diego Publications)

Adams called himself a Luddite by disposition.

I love that the conduit in the ground, the computer in the closet [in the nearby Mandell Weiss Theatre], all the sensors, all the data that's feeding this it all disappears, he said. When you walk through here, it's just you and the trees and the wind and the sound. It's certainly not about technology. It's about listening."

A dozen students arrived and fanned out across the grove, the sonic architecture of the piece choreographing their movement and their stillness.

"I find it to be very zen," says Mary Beebe, founding director of the 19-piece Stuart Collection. "It takes you out of the university, into another part of the world, and maybe another part of your head."

Beebe invited Adams to roam the 1,200-acre campus and conceive a project nearly 10 years ago. Long evolutions are not unusual for works in the collection, in part because artists are encouraged to stretch into new territory, and also because the logistics of site and engineering usually deliver surprises. Not long after "The Wind Garden" was first installed last fall, a fierce storm felled one of the largest trees in the grove, requiring months of recalibration.

Erik Jepsen / UC San Diego Publications

Looking up into the eucalyptus trees, where Adams' tones drift down and blend with ambient sounds on the ground.

Looking up into the eucalyptus trees, where Adams' tones drift down and blend with ambient sounds on the ground. (Erik Jepsen / UC San Diego Publications)

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For Adams, the origin of the piece was his "spur-of-the-moment" wedding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 29 years ago.

"No one was there, just a couple of friends, Adams said. Our orchestra was an aeolian harp, a wind harp that I'd brought with me to record up on the arctic coastal plain. I spent much of that trip standing on the tundra with this harp on my head, like a weathervane, playing with different tunings, trying to catch the wind. Hours upon hours, day after day, with this music coming out of the sky and down into my body and into the earth. It was a profound experience, and I think it has influenced a great deal of my music ever since. You might say that this piece is a big wind harp, and that the strings of the harp are the trees."

Adams lived for 30 years in Alaska, working for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, the Wilderness Society and the Alaska Coalition. He keeps a one-room cabin studio there, as well as an apartment in New York, and he spends a good deal of time on the road.

A current of activism continues to run through his work.

"Music," Adams said, "has a particular power not just to illustrate or instruct but to allow us to be more fully present in the world. I actually do believe that music can serve as a sounding model for the renewal of human consciousness and culture."

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Composer John Luther Adams' new campus 'Wind Garden' art ... - Los Angeles Times

Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) and Interface (NASDAQ:IFSIA) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Mohawk Industries and Interface, as provided by MarketBeat.

Mohawk Industries presently has a consensus target price of $266.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.43%. Given Mohawk Industries higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mohawk Industries is more favorable than Interface.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mohawk Industries and Interfaces top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Mohawk Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Interface.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

76.5% of Mohawk Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 17.1% of Mohawk Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mohawk Industries and Interfaces net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Summary

Mohawk Industries beats Interface on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

Mohawk Industries Company Profile

Mohawk Industries, Inc. is a flooring manufacturer that creates products for residential and commercial spaces around the world. The Company segments include Global Ceramic, Flooring North America (Flooring NA) and Flooring Rest of the World (Flooring ROW). Its manufacturing and distribution processes provide carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone, luxury vinyl tile and vinyl flooring. The Global Ceramic segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets a line of ceramic tile, porcelain tile and natural stone products used in the residential and commercial markets for both remodeling and new construction. The Flooring NA segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets carpet, laminate, carpet pad, rugs, hardwood and vinyl. The Flooring ROW segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets laminate, hardwood flooring, roofing elements, insulation boards, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), chipboards, and vinyl flooring products.

Interface Company Profile

Interface Inc. is engaged in design, production and sale of modular carpet, also known as carpet tile. As of January 1, 2017, the Company marketed its modular carpets in over 110 countries under the brand names Interface and FLOR. The Company operates through three segments: Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Company distributes its products through two primary channels, including direct sales to end users and indirect sales through independent contractors or distributors. The Company sells an antimicrobial chemical compound under the trademark Intersept that the Company incorporates in all of its modular carpet products. It also sells its TacTiles carpet tile installation system, along with a range of traditional adhesives and products for carpet installation and maintenance that are manufactured by a third party. It also provides turnkey project management services for national accounts and other customers through its InterfaceSERVICES business.

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Financial Survey: Mohawk Industries (MHK) vs. Interface (IFSIA) - TrueBlueTribune

Beth McCracken started skipping across the floor during a recent tour of the renovated Hastings Public Library.

Is that your happy dance? library director Amy Hafer asked her.

One of them, the HPL education librarian responded.

Neither woman could stop smiling while touring the downtown building that has been closed since Feb. 24, 2016. Since March 24, 2016, the library has operated out of the Hastings Museums east gallery.

I dont think you can prepare yourself for how excited you feel when you see the almost-finished product because I think youre caught up in the details of the planning and so you think youre just going to be bogged down in the details forever, Hafer said. When you see the almost-finished product it brings back to home all that youve been working toward. Its so gratifying and so exciting you cant put into words what it means that this is going to be in your community and what it means that this is going to be your library.

Even seeing new bookends with rubber clamps that are easier to move than the old bookends made her happy.

Darrion Freeman, lead installer from Midwest Storage Solutions, Inc. of Omaha, works on the shelving units in the children's area at Hastings Public Library Thursday.

It really is the little things, she said.

McCracken said seeing the almost-finished library brings to mind the transition of paper to reality.

Im very visual, so seeing something on paper and then seeing it in real life makes it more exciting, she said.

In addition to donations, the citys current half-cent sales tax helped fund the $5.7 million library renovation.

Each year, the sales tax generates about $1.7 million. Currently, 60 percent of that revenue goes to street repairs, 25 percent to Duncan Field renovations and 15 percent to Hastings Public Library renovations.

Shelving began arriving Aug. 7, the installation of which is scheduled to take two weeks of four 10-hour days.

The final furniture installation is scheduled for Sept. 6.

The museums east gallery will close Sept. 11. Library staff will work out of the Abbott Room, so the community will have access to DVDs, newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, wireless internet, holds, returns and other basic services.

The library will be closed all day Sept. 28 for staff training.

The library will close to the public Oct. 1 for the final move of all materials and staff items remaining at the museum.

The downtown building is anticipated to open toward the end of October.

Weve enjoyed our time at the museum but that time has come and gone, Hafer said. (Staff) are so excited about the new opportunities, the new technologies, the new carpet, the new shelves just having new things. Its like back to school shopping for them in a way, having new stuff to play with and to work with.

Hafer joked that library employees, having not been inside the building for six months, were holding their own Hunger Games to see who gets in first. It turns out the entire staff toured the library together on Aug. 13.

They were so anxious to load the books on carts and get out of here that they did it in less time than we planned, Hafer said. I think theyre going to be twice as fast to load the books to move back in here.

In addition to the boiler room and storage, the basement previously unavailable to the public will be home to the librarys maker space that will contain a laser cutter, 3-D printer, a green screen studio, sewing machine and serger, button maker and Cricut machine.

Hastings Public Library director Amy Hafer stands in the building's basement Thursday. Dubbed the "Maker Space," the basement will be home to a laser cutter, 3D printers, sewing machines, a green screen and room for DIY projects.

Money the library has received each of the last three years during Give Hastings Day more than $20,000 has totally funded maker space equipment.

Because staff oversight is needed, the maker space will be open to the public about four hours every day except Wednesdays, when it will be closed but could be used for classes and library events.

Education Librarian Beth McCracken stands among new shelves in the children's section at Hastings Public Library Thursday. The shelves are 48 inches tall.

As a librarian you can only dream about working in a library like this thats brand new, Hafer said. Not every librarian ever gets an opportunity to do this, so to look at it and think we get to work in this library is breathtaking. Thats whats so exciting.

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Library set to reopen in October - Hastings Tribune

ASHLAND Students returning to the Ashland University campus on the move-in weekend of Aug. 25-27 will notice numerous campus improvements accomplished over the summer. Classes are set to begin Monday, Aug. 28.

Ashland University President Carlos Campo praised the work of both contractors and AU personnel involved in the various projects.

The Student Dining area in the lower Convocation Center where the fishbowl area was removed and replaced with a modern, bar-like additional seating area with outlets and USB ports for phones and laptops.

These changes are designed to enhance the learning and living environment at AU, Campo said. It is always remarkable to me how so much is accomplished each summer. Our maintenance personnel, building services staff and grounds crew do a great job in preparing the campus for the return of our students.

The most visible improvement this summer occurred at the intersection of Claremont Avenue, King Road and College Avenue, where the overall design of the intersection was upgraded for aesthetic reasons as well as to benefit the safety of students. The city of Ashland also will replace the traffic and pedestrian signals later this fall in conjunction with the Universitys work at the intersection.

We installed a brick patio and opened up the intersection there to make it a safer intersection for students as they wait for the light to change in order to cross Claremont Avenue, said Rick Ewing, vice president of operations and planning.

On the other side of the intersection east of the Miller Chapel, students will notice more construction as work continues on the Prayer Garden that will be finished for its dedication as part of the Homecoming celebration in October. This grassy area is being converted into a quiet and serene oasis on campus.

One of the most visible interior changes this summer took place in the Student Dining area in the lower Convocation Center where the fishbowl area was removed and replaced with a modern, bar-like additional seating area with outlets and USB ports for phones and laptops.

The removal of the fishbowl allows all the natural light from the front of the dining hall to permeate through the whole facility, said Fred Geib, dining room manager. Now that I see the finished product I wish we would have done it years ago. The early arrival students are very complimentary of the area and the space will be better utilized than it was previously.

Upgrades were also completed at the COBE Caf in the Dauch College of Business and Economics as well as new furniture in the Colleges lobby area and renovations to the Ridenour Room. New carpeting also was installed in the music department in the Center for the Arts.

Across main campus, a total of 320 mattresses have been replaced with new ones, as well as 40 new mattresses on the College of Nursing and Health Sciences campus in Mansfield. The Kettering Science Center as well as AUs Columbus branch received multiple technology upgrades in their classrooms.

Students living on the fifth through eighth floors of Amstutz Hall as well as the sixth and seventh floor of Kem Hall will notice the installation of new lobby furniture, and both buildings received some new paint; while new study desks were installed in Kilhefner Hall. Also, a total of 16 new dining room chairs were replaced in the Senior Apartments.

Looking over to Olympic Circle, the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house has undergone a summer long upgrade with new hallway carpet as well as new hardwood floors in the kitchen and living room and new paint. Much of the work was completed and funded through the help of AU Phi Delta Theta alumnus Tony Magistro, a 1970 graduate, as well as several other alumni. Also, the deck along the back of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house was replaced this summer.

Other improvements were made to the Stadium Playground and work is continuing on the entry way to the Gill Welcome Center and installation of a new patio fire pit behind the Hawkins-Conard Student Center.

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Ashland University touts campus improvements - Richland Source

Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) and Interface (NASDAQ:IFSIA) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Mohawk Industries and Interface, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Mohawk Industries presently has a consensus price target of $266.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.93%. Given Mohawk Industries higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Mohawk Industries is more favorable than Interface.

Profitability

This table compares Mohawk Industries and Interfaces net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.5% of Mohawk Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.1% of Mohawk Industries shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mohawk Industries and Interfaces gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Mohawk Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Interface.

Summary

Mohawk Industries beats Interface on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

Mohawk Industries Company Profile

Mohawk Industries, Inc. is a flooring manufacturer that creates products for residential and commercial spaces around the world. The Company segments include Global Ceramic, Flooring North America (Flooring NA) and Flooring Rest of the World (Flooring ROW). Its manufacturing and distribution processes provide carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone, luxury vinyl tile and vinyl flooring. The Global Ceramic segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets a line of ceramic tile, porcelain tile and natural stone products used in the residential and commercial markets for both remodeling and new construction. The Flooring NA segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets carpet, laminate, carpet pad, rugs, hardwood and vinyl. The Flooring ROW segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets laminate, hardwood flooring, roofing elements, insulation boards, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), chipboards, and vinyl flooring products.

Interface Company Profile

Interface Inc. is engaged in design, production and sale of modular carpet, also known as carpet tile. As of January 1, 2017, the Company marketed its modular carpets in over 110 countries under the brand names Interface and FLOR. The Company operates through three segments: Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Company distributes its products through two primary channels, including direct sales to end users and indirect sales through independent contractors or distributors. The Company sells an antimicrobial chemical compound under the trademark Intersept that the Company incorporates in all of its modular carpet products. It also sells its TacTiles carpet tile installation system, along with a range of traditional adhesives and products for carpet installation and maintenance that are manufactured by a third party. It also provides turnkey project management services for national accounts and other customers through its InterfaceSERVICES business.

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Head to Head Contrast: Mohawk Industries (MHK) vs. Interface (IFSIA) - TrueBlueTribune