This week, an experimental motion-activated sound exhibit opened to the public again.

In 2016, the museum commissioned a German-born artist who has received a MacArthur Genius award, an honorary doctorate in musical arts from the California Institute of the Arts and a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship to create a custom piece for the building, still being designed at the time, curator Ryan Hardesty said.

The artist, who goes by only his last name, Trimpin, worked alongside the museums architect.

When you have a visual image, a visual image is silent. Trimpin said. It hangs on the wall. It only has to be dusted.

He wanted to create something innovative that wouldnt be blaring or intrusive for people in the museum. Instead, he wanted it to be healing.

He designed an exhibit with 12 strategically placed, motion-responsive horns suspended from the ceiling, which project sounds at exactly 432 hertz, a frequency associated with mysterious healing properties. Ambiente432 was born.

Its expansive in terms of the idea of what art can be, Hardesty said.

Trimpin usually combines ancient principles with cutting edge technology, Debby Stinson, the museums public relations manager, said. One of Trimpins inspirations to use the note came from Tibetan singing bowls which were traditionally tuned to the 432 hertz pitch.

His piece works based on an understanding of sound waves. Pitches, which are understood as different musical notes, are made up of wavelength frequencies, according to an article on frequency and pitch from Columbia University. In other words, each note has a corresponding frequency.

Western music recognizes groups of eight notes called octaves, which include the notes A, B, C, D, E, F and G. There are 10 octaves, octave zero being the lowest pitch set of notes and octave nine being the highest pitch.

A standard low pitch or low frequency A note is A0 at 27.50 hertz while the note A four octaves higher in pitch is A4 at 440 hertz.

But musical notes have only been tuned according to these standards since the 1930s, Trimpin said.

Different cultures would tune their instruments in a range which was comfortable to the body. Trimpin said.

The non-standard musical note A4 at 432 hertz, naturally relaxes people, he said. In Western music, musicians began tuning A4 to 440 hertz in the 1900s to create an international system that was simple to divide, Trimpin said, but theres evidence that the ever-so-slightly lower 432 hertz pitch has a healing effect.

Trimpin said ancient societies used this tuning because of its mysterious effects.

The body would respond in a very sympathetic way, Trimpin said.

Brain oscillations, which are the rhythmic pulses of electrical activity in the brain, naturally have a frequency of 8 hertz, as does the earth itself, Trimpin said.

Eight hertz, at about five octaves lower than 432 hertz A, is the lowest A frequency that exists, making it the notes fundamental frequency. Eight hertz is lower than humans can perceive as pitch.

Color, like pitch, is a human perception of wavelengths. The horns are colored a deep orange that Stinson said corresponds to the sound frequency of 432 hertz. Light waves have a much higher frequency than sound waves, so they are measured in terahertz, each terahertz being equal to one trillion hertz.

The horns themselves also serve a purpose. Trimpin said organic sounds from horns have different effects than sounds from speakers, as he learned with a contraption he made that featured pitched duck calls pushed through organ pipes.

When he started the contraption near a pond, ducks came flocking. When he played a recording of the contraption on speakers, it had no effect on the animals. He summed their response up to their different range of hearing than humans, explaining that the recorded sound didnt offer the full range of pitches.

Trimpins works play in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and have traveled through museums internationally, but he said the difference in making a contraption for college students is that theyre open to strangeness. He said hes seen people lie down to take it in.

The museum serves people of every major, Stinson said, and in Japan, architects and engineers alike take art classes as a prerequisite.

When you stand in front of a great piece of art, you never forget it, Stinson said. And it usually inspires you to do the best you can in whatever discipline youre in.

The work is a permanent feature in the museums collection, but will only be open to the public intermittently, Hardesty said.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The University of New South Wales website features a tool, theFrequency to Musical Note Calculator, to explore musical notes and frequencies.

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Sound installation Ambiente432 returns to WSU art museum - The Daily Evergreen

By Pearl Yan January 17, 2020

From whimsical lantern displays to installations paying tribute to traditional Chinese craftsmanship, these Chinese New Year decorations are bound to add festive flair to your Instagram feed

Pacific Places Garden Court is turned into a lantern festival this year, featuring 12 lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a towering lantern installation inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns and hot air balloonsa masterpiece crafted by local home decor brand, Lala Curio.

Stepping inside, youll find yourself surrounded by 88 (a lucky number that represents prosperity in Chinese culture) colourful lanterns, which resembles a Middle Eastern bazaar with an oriental twist, making it the perfect backdrop for an auspicious selfie.

See also: 5Chinese New Year2020 Staycation Packages In Hong Kong

Celebrating the lively character of Cuju, an ancient Chinese football game, the ifc mall is transformed into The Courtyard of Harmony, featuring lanterns, flying birds and fresh florals in the spirit of unity and festive blessings.

A figurative version of the traditional fortune walk, guests can stroll along the mini bridge and behold the surrounding blossoming red and pink kalanchoe and begonia roses to welcome good luck and health in the new year.

Don't leave without stopping by the Snap-then-Chat photo zone, where you can have fun taking selfies and add festive icons and messages to create your own WhatsApp stickers to send well wishes to your loved ones this Chinese New Year.

See also: Chinese New Year2020: A Hong Kong Itinerary

Originally posted here:
Chinese New Year 2020 Decorations To Catch In Hong Kong Shopping Malls - Hong Kong Tatler

San Francisco's Carpenters Workshop Gallery is staging an exhibition of works by Studio Drift that aim to showcase the "intersection of nature and technology".

DRIFT: About Nature, Technology and Humankind features site-specific installations and video presentations of projects by the Dutch artistic collective.

Suspended from the ceiling in Carpenters Workshop Gallery is the interactive piece Flylight, an installation made up of 300 cylindrical glass tubes, each intended to represent a flying bird.

The piece incorporates software that responds to stimuli in its immediate environment to simulate the behaviour of a flock of starlings flying through the sky as a collective unit.

It comprises glass tubes filled with a sensor and lights that sense visitors as they approach and triggers the light will follow them around them similar to movement pattern used by swarms of starling birds.

"It consists of delicate glass tubes that light up in an unpredictable way, partially responsive to external stimuli," Studio Drift said. "The patterns, in which the installation lights up, is not pre-programmed but has an interactive compound: just like a real flock of birds."

Also on display is the Dutch studio's Fragile Future III a thin copper frame structure decorated with 1,200 dried dandelions seeds handpicked from fields. Each dandelion is placed over an LED light to act like a diffuser.

"It is based on the fact that the dandelion is seen as a weed and it spreads very easily," the studio added.

Franchise Freedom, a video of a performative sculpture premiered at the 2017 Art Basel in Miami, is also on exhibit. It shows video footage of flying drones that mimic the flight patterns of birds.

"This performative sculpture translates the majestic flight patterns of birds, both as singular animals and as a flock, into sweeping movements of a fleet of autonomous drones, inviting viewers to experience the natural phenomena of birds in motion through a 21st-century lens," Carpenter's Workshop Gallery said.

DRIFT: About Nature, Technology and Humankind is on view from 17 January to 30 April 2020 at the Carpenter's Workshop Gallery in San Francisco. The exhibition also features works by Maarten Baas, Aldo Bakker, Sebastian Brajkovic, Johanna Grawunder, Joris Laarman, Mathieu Lehanneur, Robert Stadler and the Verhoeven Twins.

"DRIFT: About Nature, Technology and Humankind seeks to identify and learn from the underlying mechanisms of the natural world in an effort to reconnect humanity to the environment it inhabits," Carpenters Workshop Gallery said.

"In an era when environmental concerns are top of mind, this exhibition brings together artists who, in the words of historian William Meyers, 'make an effort to understand and materialise the nature of nature.' "

Studio Drift was founded by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta in 2007 and is located in Amsterdam.

It has completed a number of works that explore the link between nature and technology including an installation of 3,000 blue blocks that represent the plastic used to make a single grocery bag and an artificial tree that responds to the movements, heartbeats and brain activity of visitors.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery was founded in London in 2006 by Le Gaillard and Julien Lombrail in a former carpenter's workshop.

The San Francisco space, which opened inside a former church in 2018, forms its fourth outpost, following other locations in New York and Paris.

Recent exhibits at the international gallery have included a presentation of furniture by French-Swedish artist Ingrid Donat in San Francisco and a modular sofa that references Brutalist architecture by fashion designer Rick Owens displayed in Paris.

Photography is courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

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Studio Drift exhibits interactive works based on birds and dandelions in San Francisco - Dezeen

Dont necessarily take a locations pricing at face value. Sometimes the venue rental fee may get you in the door, but there are additional fees on top of that that you need to be aware of...to make an educated decision, Walter says. These can include anything from administrative fees to taxes to gratuity.

If your venue offers food and drink, also request a sample menu as part of the proposaldont assume that wine service is included with dinner. If you want that raw bar youve seen in marketing photos, check to see whether its part of the standard catering fee.

If the venue is outdoors, what is the Plan B for rain? And the Plan C for a major storm?

You want to have an option for every conceivable situation that [you] might be in, says Walter. And hurricanes are definitely a thing.

One time, Walter was planning a Cape Cod wedding that involved an outdoor cocktail hour and tented reception. Plan B was to move the cocktail party under the tent. Plan C was a no-tent, indoors-only option. She started creating a floor plan for the last-ditch option the week before the event when she found out that a hurricane was potentially en route. The hurricane did not come up the coast, she says, but it was a great reminder of how important it is to have a backup plan if youre getting married in New England, but then a backup for your backup plan if youre getting married on a coast when its hurricane season.

Couples should also form a contingency plan for inclement weather at other times of the year, including snowstorms.

Are there cut-off times we should be aware of?

In Massachusetts, many venues limit how many consecutive hours they can serve alcohol at the bar, Walter says. Or the venues neighborhood may have a noise ordinance. On Cape Cod, for example, most venues with combined indoor/outdoor spaces shut down by 10 p.m.

How much time will we have to set up beforehand?

A lot of times, a venue will have a certain number of hours included in the rental fee prior to guest arrival [when] the vendors can get into the space and set up, Walter says. If its not enough, you may be able to pay a fee for some extra time, but learn your options before you sign.

Does the venue have a preferred vendor list, or an exclusive vendor list?

Many historical venues only work with specific companies because those vendors on those lists work well in the space and preserve and protect the space, Walter says. So ask about this before you fall in love with a cake baker you cant useor you realize all three exclusive caterers are out of your budget.

Walter also likes to ask if theres any leeway, though thats typically not the case for exclusive lists. With preferred vendor lists, theres usually wiggle room to be able to speak with the venue and say, Hey, Im interested in bringing in this vendor instead of one of your preferred. Is this OK? Are there any things that I need to know about before I do so? she says.

Will ours be the only wedding on the property that day?

If the idea of another event encroaching on your space is a concern, let the venue know upfront. And if [you] arent the only wedding on property, how do they manage that? asks Rene Sabo, founder of the Boston-based event planning company Urban Soire. Will your guests seeor hearthe other weddings guests? Is there enough parking for everyone?

Are there decor restrictions?

Rules and restrictions are prevalent, especially in historical venues. Find out if you can display real candles, or if youll be able to hang your dream floral installation from the ceiling. There are of course workaroundsLED candles and freestanding flower arrangements, for examplebut know beforehand so you dont end up disappointed months down the line that you cant have your Pinterest-perfect aisle.

Wheres the guest parking?

Do your due diligence to determine where guests can park, and if all of their cars will be able to fit. And if theres not enough parking, Walter gets creative with her clients. I like to see what our shuttle situation will be: Can a large vehicle, like a 55-passenger motor coach, get into the venue parking lot, drop people off, turn around, and leave?

Can you show me the handicap-accessible entrances and bathrooms?

If older or disabled people are attending, youll want to make sure they can get around the venue without trouble. If there are stairs at a venue, I always ask, Walter says.

What is the cancellation policy?

We know: Thinking about calling the whole thing off is a bummer. Its a horrible thing to talk about, but no one ever

looks at the cancellation policy, says Sabo. But its best to prepare for the unexpected. For winter weddings, for instance, you never know when a bad blizzard might hit and youd have to cancel.

_______________

Alison Goldman is a writer and editor based in Chicago. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.

Link:
10 questions to ask a wedding venue before you commit - The Boston Globe

(TNS) U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell is asking a Congress that has refused to extend tax credits for electric vehicles to approve a bill that would spend $2 billion annually to encourage development and adoption of plug-in cars.

Advocates of electric cars have pleaded with Congress to do more to support adoption of EVs, but with gas prices low and consumers opting for SUVs and pickups in large numbers, lawmakers have largely sat on their hands.

Last year, Congress failed to include approve legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, that would have tripled the 200,000 cap on the number of EVs per manufacturer that qualify for $7,500 tax credits.

Dingells bill is an another attempt to jumpstart the conversation in Washington, D.C., about EVs, but President Donald Trump is a noted skeptic-in-chief of the technology and has floated the possibility of eliminating all tax credits for electric cars.

The Democrat from Dearborn, Mich., said she hopes Trump will not be a roadblock for her new legislation.

"The president wants the companies to do well," she said. "The companies' product plans all have electric vehicles in them. He should be encouraging incentives that support how the companies will be competitive globally."

Dingell's legislation, known as the USA Electrify Forward Act, directs U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to "accelerate domestic manufacturing efforts directed toward the improvement of batteries, power electronics and other technologies for use in plug-in electric vehicles."

It also directs the transportation department to update residential and commercial building codes to encourage installation of electric-vehicle charging stations and orders states to consider measures to encourage charging stations.

The bill would appropriate $2 billion each year for the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program from 2021 to 2035.

It's the first major electric-vehicle legislation since Stabenow's unsuccessful bill, which would have allowed automakers to offer a slightly lower tax credit of $7,000 for another 400,000 plug-in cars on top of the pre-existing cap.

In 2018, General Motors Co. and Tesla hit the lifetime ceiling of 200,000 electric vehicles, triggering a phase-out process cut the tax credit in half every six months until they hit zero at the beginning of this year.

Tesla, GM and Nissan accounted for 62% of the 1.18 million electric vehicles that were on the road as of last March, according to the Edison Electric Institute, which represents U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Carmakers sold 236,067 electric cars from January to September 2019; that was significantly down from 361,307 sold in the same period of 2018, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association, which lobbies for policies that promote electric-drive technologies.

Dingell said other manufacturers will have to catch up to GM and Tesla on electric-car production, especially if they hope to compete internationally.

"All the companies need to move to electric vehicles," she said. "They know it and they want to do it. It's a very significant part of all their product plans."

The Dearborn Democrat acknowledged "there continues to be consumer acceptance problems," which she hopes her legislation will help to address.

"We definitely need to develop infrastructure around the country," Dingell said. "People are going to have think differently, we're going to need charging stations that do it different. People are used to pulling into a gas station and filling up in five to ten minutes."

Genevieve Cullen, president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, is optimistic that Dingell's bill will fare better than previous attempts to increase subsidies for electric cars.

"What we know for sure is that electric transportation has broad, bipartisan support in Congress," she said, citing efforts by the Democratically controlled U.S. House to address climate change. "Congress has already demonstrated they are interested in action in this area."

Cullen said she attributed the failure of Stabenow's legislation to the fact that supporters were trying to include it in a broader spending bill that Congress was attempting to pass quickly before the end of the year.

"We've made a lot of strides, we just need to keep accelerating," she said. "Most folks (on Capitol Hill) understand that public investment is the key to us taking the lead on electric mobility."

Mike Palicz, federal affairs manager for Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington-based conservative group founded by Grover Norquist that opposes all tax increases, strongly disagreed.

"We just saw Congress reject further subsidization of electric vehicles," he said. "Fresh off the heels of that, from a taxpayer perspective, here's another bill that's trying to subsidize electric vehicles."

Palicz said most measures that aimed at subsidizing electric vehicles beyond the existing tax credits would require taking money designated for roads and transit from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by an 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gas tax.

Noting that drivers of fully electric cars do not pay into the Highway Trust Fund, Palicz said "What they're doing is taking gas tax dollars that are supposed to go to roads and bridges and using it to pay for electric vehicles and EV infrastructure.

"We're talking about subsidizing what are essentially luxury vehicles," he said.

Electric vehicles have been eligible for federal tax credits under a program first established by the George W. Bush administration. The program was later expanded by the Obama administration in a bid to encourage EV development by sweetening the deal on vehicles that are typically more expensive.

Michelle Krebs, senior director of automotive relations for Cox Automotive and executive analyst for Autotrader, said there have been "mixed results" on incentives for electric vehicles thus far

"Certainly, when we look at places like Atlanta some years ago and Norway, where incentives of all sorts are hefty, EV sales certainly go up," she said. "In our EV study from last summer, people considering EVs werent particularly familiar with incentives. I suspect Tesla buyers and maybe some of the other buyers of luxury EVs would buy regardless of the incentives well see if that continues when Tesla incentives are totally gone."

Krebs added: "On the other hand, EVs are perceived, and in some cases, truly are, more expensive than comparable gas-powered vehicles, so as EVs move toward more mainstream audiences, affordability is an obstacle one that might be helped by incentives."

2020 The Detroit News.Distributed byTribune Content Agency, LLC.

Continue reading here:
New Bill Hopes to Electrify the EV Debate in D.C. - Governing

LAS VEGAS - Another CES, another promise of truly wireless power coming into our lives in the very near future. Year after year we've seen demo after demo but no real shipping products.

But Guru, a startup based in Pasadena, California, says that its solution is different, and better than anything else thats out there. Wait, haven't we heard that before, too?

"The basic science is proven, but there are structural market problems to overcome and companies have run into implementation issues, said Avi Greengart, lead analyst at Techsponential.

At CES 2020, I got a demo of Gurus over-the-air wireless charging tech and spoke to company CEO Florian Bohn to learn how it all works. I also checked out a couple of Guru's direct competitors Ossia and Wi-Charge to see how the true wireless charging war is shaping up.

Guru is a "zero-contact" energy system that uses radio waves to carry energy through the air, from a Guru generator to a device with a recovery unit (basically the receiver). This unit has a thin array of circuits that announces it presence to the generator, and also determines how much energy the gadget needs.

The generator converts electricity into high-frequency millimeter wave radio energy, similar to whats being used to deploy 5G networks. The use of mmWaves is a critical component of Guru, because this allows the radio waves beams to be highly focused. This is what Guru calls Smart RF Lensing.

"Smart RF Lensing allows us to achieve long range, efficient power deliver with small product form factors," said Bohn.

The recovery unit could be placed on the back of a device, or embedded directly into it. This unit could also potentially be used in things like phone cases or smart home devices, such as robot vacuums or security cameras.

At CES, Guru was showing off a couple of examples of how its wireless charging might work. One was Rovee, a robot vacuum with a Guru generator inside. The idea was that that it could charge other IoT gadgets around your home as it roamed around.

Another example was a lamp-sized desktop devicethat could be deployed in a conference room, which would charge multiple smartphones at the same time.

I got an up-close look at the third prototype from Guru: a ceiling-mounted generator that can send power to a receiver pad attached to a phone. I could see that the generator was delivering power, because a Guru rep also waved a tiny light bulb with a receiver attached to it around the base of the device. The light bulb lit up when the rep brought it near the generator.

Because the mmWave beams are directed and focused, Guru says that the signals go only where you want them to, and nowhere else. Wi-Fi, by contrast, spits out energy in all directions. Guru also claims that its energy beams have shallow penetration depth and cannot reach internal organs.

But Guru also doesnt take any chances. As an additional safety measure, theres sensing technology that pauses the energy beams within milliseconds if a pet or person gets in the beams path. I saw this in person during my demo.

"We are taking consumer safety concerns seriously," said Bohn. "We are employing redundant mechanisms and techniques to abide by and surpass all the applicable regulations."

Bohn couldnt give any specifics about when Guru-enabled products will be shipping to consumers, but it's not soon. Thats because the company is initially targeting commercial applications, such as retail environments and warehouses.

"I expect GuRu enabled products will be launched on a larger scale within the next 24 months (or sooner)," said Bohn. "Industrial applications and lower power, shorter range consumer products are somewhat more likely to be the first on the market, but we are working on developing products for a plethora of applications."

Bohn shared that consumer products in the mobile business with OEM integration are likely further down the road. But other consumer applications should be available sooner for Guru, such as computer peripheral charging, game controller charging, and smart home applications such as powering cameras and surround sound speakers.

Guru is still awaiting FCC approval, which should allow the company to bring its first product to market later this year.

There are a lot of competitors in the wireless charging-over-distance space, including Ossia. That company just debuted its Cota Home, which delivers power over the 5.8-GHz band to devices in a 30-foot range.

The transmitter isnt too large: 30 centimeters by 30 centimeters. However, its important to note that Ossia has not yet received FCC clearance for its 5.8-GHz technology; only for its gadgets in the 2.4-GHz band.

Ossia is also working with phone case maker Spigen to debut the Cota Forever Sleeve, an accessory that could receive wireless power over the air. Ossia didnt give a specific timetable, but the sleeve could launch before the end of the year.

In the meantime, Ossia has a partnership with Walmart to use display Cota wireless power products in stores. This will give the retailer the opportunity to change prices in real time on any number of products.

Ossia has also struck a deal with Galanz, which will be integrating Cota transmitters into refrigerators, air conditioning units and other appliances.

"Most consumer technologies were developed in enterprise niche markets, or were too expensive to bring to the consumer," said Hatem Zeine, Ossia CTO. "We see a straight development path between our work in the enterprise and the consumer."

I also met with another company called Wi-Charge, which uses infrared light instead of radio waves to deliver wireless power over distance. The benefits of using light instead of radio waves include delivering up to several watts, compared to just milliwatts, of power; pinpoint accuracy; and potentially less safety risk to users.

"Wi-Charge worked long and hard to obtain consumer safety certification from UL, the US Government and relevant international safety organizations," said Yuval Boger, chief marketing officer for Wi-Charge. "With Wi-Charge, power does not decrease with increased distance. We can deliver much more power over much greater distances."

You do need a clear line of sight from a transmitter to a receiver: a photovoltaic cell that converts the light into power. But Boger points out that when an RF wave hits a wall, part of it is absorbed (reducing energy) and part of it scatters. Line of sight provides precise control over where the energy goes.

The company announced six new partners at CES 2020, including Alfred smart locks, Gojo (the maker of Purell hand sanitizers), Sloan (a maker of electronic faucets) and more.

During one demo, I saw a sink made by German company Hansgrohe that automatically turned on with a motion sensor, and also had an embedded display that counted down, encouraging users to wash their hands long enough to get completely clean.

Wi-Charge says that the first products with its technology (both in residential and industrial environments) will hit the market this year. The company has pilot installations in public spaces.

This is not an easy question to answer, partially because different technologies use different methods for delivering wireless power over distance. But for the companies involved, safety is top of mind and all of them are seeking the necessary approvals if they don't already have it.

"Consumers may be initially cautious around new technologies, but since any Cota applications will be FCC certified and positively impact their lives, we believe consumer adoption will occur just as it did with cell phones," said Ossia's Zeine." Our technology complies with the exact same safety exposure standards as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Wi-Charge, on the other hand, uses light instead of radio waves, which consumers may trust more. "We use IR light - abundant in nature and very similar to what's emitted from your TV remote control," said Boger. "We point to the UL and other consumer safety certifications that we have. The regulators have placed much more stringent power limits on RF and microwave."

Getting device makers to adopt these technologies is only one hurdle for manufacturers. The largest obstacle is inertia. Most people are fine with just plugging cords into the wall, and Qi chargers are fairly convenient, even though they still need to be plugged in. And consumers may be wary of bringing wireless transmitters into homes that are already filled with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth waves.

"Desktop contactless charging isn't a huge step change from today's wireless charging pads," said Greengart. "And all that assumes that consumers will accept the notion that this is safe, which may be a hard psychological conditioning barrier to overcome."

For this to really take off with consumers, it will need to be embedded in devices from major manufacturers, not as an add-on kit. Even then there will be a lot of friction on the chargingside - ceiling installation and roving robots are not ideal, and desktop contactless charging isn't a huge step change from today's wireless charging pads. And all that assumes that consumers will accept the notion that this is safe, which may be a hard psychological conditioning barrier to overcome.

The main appeal of charging over the air is that you can be anywhere in your house or office, and your phone, smart home device or other gadget could be receiving power all the time. You simply wouldnt need to charge it consciously.

But in order for true wireless charging to take off with consumers, Greengart says that it will need to be embedded in devices form major manufacturers and now sold as an add-on kit.

From the looks of things here at CES, 2020 will be yet another proving ground year for wireless charging over the air. Well likely see commercial deployments in places like restaurant bathrooms and retail shelves before consumers get their hands on this technology, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Now 2021, that could be a different story...

Excerpt from:
The state of wireless power: When will charging happen over the air? - Tom's Guide

USA:

Located in Brooklyn, New York, the Basilica of Regina Pacis is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese that is a spiritual hub for members of the parish of St Rosalia-Regina Pacis. It once again turned to Monte Bros to upgrade its sound system recently, leading to the installation of three Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204 amplifier platforms.

Acoustically, it's extremely difficult to design a sound system for a church like the Basilica of Regina Pacis, said Monte Bros Steve Minozzi, who designed the sound system. It's a long, rectangular space with a lot of hard surfaces, a concave ceiling and a concave sanctuary. That breaks every acoustic rule in the book but we have to make the sound system work for the space and it has to work automatically. So, when it comes to amplification in these kinds of basilicas, we need a heavy lifter and the Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204 is a heavy lifter.

Monte Bros was chosen to install the system due its partnership with the Basilica of Regina Pacis. It installed a sound system in 1989, which was upgraded in 2002. Heat dispersion is another problem in big installs like this because they need a lot of amplifiers, Minozzi continued. That was a main reason we upgraded the system using the Quattrocanali 1204. Inside the church, it's a beautiful space. When you put in a new sound system, you obviously don't want to desecrate the appearance in any way. One of the important features of the Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204 is that it senses changes in ohmage, because the amplifiers have to deal with changes due to capacitance and other anomalies. Since each bank of speakers is on its own Quattrocanali channel, if one speaker goes bad, the amp will automatically sense the change and reajust. That's why we chose Powersoft.

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The Basilica of Regina Pacis amplifies its sound - Worship AVL

Charlotte artist John W. Love, Jr has received a major $100,000 award from Creative Capital for the production of a new piece.

John's project The Cathedral of Messes is part installation and part performance. Stylistically, it's the scene of a crime: a mystic has assassinated his inner saboteur. Crystalline enshrined shoes and body parts of sculpted black salt float in a sea of video, literature, and performance in an installation dedicated to obliterating a virus known as shame.

The 2020 Creative Capital Awards were awarded to 35 projects representing 41 individual artists, each receiving a total of $100,000, split between direct project funding and career development services. Awardees, selected by a nine-member interdisciplinary panel, span a range of genres, including literature, performance, the visual arts, moving image, technology, and socially engaged art. The full value of this years awards is $3.5 million.

Creative Capital has a long history of supporting innovative, incisive workone that goes back 20 years, to the organizations founding in the wake of the National Endowment for the Arts cancellation of most of its individual artistic grants during the culture wars of the '90s. In that time, Creative Capital has committed over $48 million in project funding and advisory support to 596 projects representing 741 artists and has worked with more than 20,000 artists in over 800 creative communities across the country.

FULL PRESS RELEASE

ANNOUNCING THE 2020 CREATIVE CAPITAL AWARDS

35 Innovative Projects Receive $3.5 Million in Total Support

These 35 projects, by 41 individual artists, were drawn from a pool of more than 4,000 applications and selected by a nine-member, multidisciplinary panel composed of awardees from previous years, expert curators, producers, and other arts professionals. In a departure from traditional awards panels, Creative Capitals multi-step review process is not delineated by genrethe nine panelists deliberated together to select the awardees regardless of field.

Though these artists come to us from very different backgrounds, work in different fields, and explore a wide range of subjects, they share a dedication to pushing boundaries, both ours and their own, saidSuzy Delvalle, Creative Capitals President & Executive Director. We are thrilled to be supporting them and their work, and cannot wait to see these projects grow and mature to fruition.

The projects that earned 2020 Creative Capital Awards are based in 15 different states and territories, from Louisiana to Alaska, Puerto Rico to Pennsylvania. Of the 41 artists, over 76 percent identify as people of color, 54 percent identify as women, and 12 percent as trans or gender nonbinary; two identify as being disabled. They range in age from 27 to 67.

This years projects mark the first of a new decade, and the 20th anniversary of Creative Capital. In planning for the decade to come, Creative Capital recently announced its move to a new fundraising model and the launch of a 20th Anniversary Fund, evidence of the organizations continued growth and evolution in the service of artists, their work, and their communities. The organization is fortunate to receive dedicated project funding for the visual arts from the Andy Warhol Foundation, performing arts from the Doris Duke Foundation, and racial justice from the Surdna Foundation.

Drawing from the principles of venture capital to develop innovative work in the cultural sphere, Creative Capital seeks out bold, groundbreaking projects and provides the artists behind them with the tools they need to realize their visions and build sustainable careers. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has supported 741 artists with nearly $50 million in funding; professional development opportunities; expert consulting; artist retreats and gatherings; and more, with the aim of fostering and developing artistic exchange and a thriving cultural commons across the United States.

Applications for the next cycle of Creative Capital Awards will open February 1, 2020. As part of Creative Capitals move to annual award cycles, beginning in 2020, artists will submit one full application in February with a complete budget and six work samples. This is a shift from previous years, in order to make the application process more efficient. The next group of Creative Capital Awards will be announced in late 2020, and annually at that time thereafter.

2020 PanelistsCassils | Creative Capital Awardee; ArtistKen Chen | Executive Director, Asian American Writers WorkshopGina Duncan | Vice President, Film and Strategic Programming, Brooklyn Academy of MusicCarlos Gutirrez | Executive Director, Cinema TropicalAngela Mattox | Performing Arts Curator; Former Artistic Director, PICALaleh Mehran | Creative Capital Awardee; Professor of Emergent Digital Practices at University of DenverRoderick Schrock | Executive Director, EyebeamStacy Switzer | Curator and Executive Director, FathomersTara Aisha Willis | Associate Curator of Performance, MCA Chicago

About Creative CapitalCreative Capital supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Its pioneering venture philanthropy approach helps artists working in all creative disciplines realize their visions and build more sustainable careers. Since 1999, Creative Capital has committed over $48 million in project funding and advisory support to 596 projects representing 741 artists and has worked with more than 20,000 artists in over 800 creative communities across the country.

Creative Capital receives major support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Toby Devan Lewis, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Acton Family Giving, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Facebook Art Department, New York Community Trust, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Scherman Foundation, William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, Stephen Reily and Emily Bingham, Margaret Silva, Paige West, and over 100 other institutional and individual donors.

For more, visit creative-capital.org.

Press ContactsEd WinsteadDirector, Cultural Counsel(919) 770-6963ed@culturalcounsel.comMichael GibbonsDirector of Marketing & Communications, Creative Capital(212) 598-9900 ext. 238michael@creative-capital.org

2020 Creative Capital Awards

Becca BlackwellBrooklyn, NY The Body Never LiesPerformance Art, Theater

The Body Never Lies is a solo, performance-based theatrical search for a vocabulary beyond language that expresses who we are. Through movement, martial arts, science (a heart monitor), and some fragmented texts in various languages, Becca Blackwell uncovers a new landscape for themselves and the audience to discover identity.

Jibz Cameron & Sue SlagleLos Angeles, CA & Frederick, MDTitanic DepressionMultimedia Performance, Performance Art

Titanic Depression is a multimedia performance with live animation starring Dynasty Handbag, alter ego of artist Jibz Cameron. Using the 1997 film Titanic as a departure point, the work addresses issues of class, gender roles, gratuitous wealth, and the environmental impact of climate change.

Eisa DavisBrooklyn, NYThe EssentialisntPerformance Art, Multimedia Performance

The Essentialisn't troubles expected narratives of the diasporic black feminine and questions the artists relationships to performance and captivity. The work utilizes an innovative combination of song, electronic sound, movement, everyday objects, and reanimated modernist figures from the Harlem Renaissance to cultivate a practice of presence and sovereignty.

Mercedes DorameTijuana, MexicoEclipsing ShadowsWeaashar MoyookmokInstallation, Photography

Mercedes Dorame creates an immersive installation addressing contemporary interpretation of Native Tongva ceremony and our relationship to celestial movements, eclipses, and solstices. The installation includes the creation of a semi-enclosed, domed immersive space, recordings of Tongva music, photograms, and cast concrete sculptures.

Marcia DouglasBoulder, COGenuine Herstory: DocumythographiesLiterary Fiction, Literary Nonfiction

Genuine Herstory: Documythographies is a three-volume, hybrid, and cross-genre writing project culminating with a performance installation. Exploring themes of African diasporic fugitivity and migration, this project layers fiction, poem essays, memoir, visual and material documents, and voicescapesaltering and inscribing, in an effort to excavate and rechart history.

Beka Economopoulos, Jason Jones & Judith LeBlancVashon, WA; Vashon, WA & New York, NYThe Natural History Museum Presents: The Supreme Court of Red Natural HistoryArtistic Activism, Cultural Organizing

The Natural History Museum is an ongoing art intervention that unleashes the power of museums, motivating them to act not as shrines to a civilization in decline, but as agents of change. This new exhibition assembles a collective of accusers within an authoritative architecture to put natural history on trial.

Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi & J Mase IIISeattle, WA & Washington, DCThe Black Trans Prayer Book: A Performative Documentary Performance Art, Experimental Film

The Black Trans Prayer Book: A Performative Documentary explores the lives, reflections, performances, and spiritual journey of the contributors to the Black Trans Prayer Booka collaborative text, co-edited by J Mase III & Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, that explores the healing needs of Black trans people.

Tonya FosterSan Francisco, CAMonkey TalkPoetry, Multimedia

Combining poetry, dialogues, fictive FBI records, and non-fiction prose, Monkey Talk follows a 20th Century artist-philanthropist relationship that is being tracked by government surveillance and a young scholar's curiosity. Focused on the ways that artistic creations act as monitors and are also monitored, the multi-volume project tracks parallel, contesting conversations around race.

Ebony Noelle GoldenNew York, NYJubilee 11213Performance Art, Cultural Organizing

Jubilee 11213 is a multi-generational cultural organizing and community theatre collaboration that advances civic action and creativity practiced at the founding of the Weeksville community.

Randa JarrarLos Angeles, CALunch At GuantanamoLiterary Fiction

Randa Jarrars newest book is a semi-satirical, fantastical novel set in 2045 Guantanamo Bay, inspired by and updating "The Penal Colony," the short story by Franz Kafka. The book envisions a utopic queer futureone that offers its inhabitants peace, liberation, and justice.

Steffani JemisonBrooklyn, NYIn SuccessionVideo Art, Installation

In 1900, The New York Times reported that six tramps formed an acrobatic pyramid, cut a hole in the ceiling, and escaped from the Middlesex County Jail in New Jersey. Working with trained and untrained actors, this body of work considers the precarious and resistant figure of the acrobat.

Tyehimba Jess, Yahdon Israel & Janice A. LoweBrooklyn, NYOlioPoetry, Musical Theater

Olio is a live musical production of the Pulitzer-prize winning book of poems of the same title, presenting the lives of African-American creatives from the Civil War to World War I.

Nikyatu Jusu Gaithersburg, MDNANNYNarrative Film, Experimental Film

In this narrative feature film, Aisha is an undocumented nanny in New York City caring for the privileged child of an Upper East Side family. As she prepares for the arrival of the child she left behind in her native country, a violent presence invades her reality, jeopardizing the American Dream she has so carefully constructed.

Jesse KrimesPhiladelphia, PAMass Incarceration QuiltMultimedia, Artistic Activism

The Mass Incarceration Quilt series focuses on rendering visible people and perspectives hidden by the criminal justice system. Using a variety of participatory art practices, the project aims to reframe public narratives that perpetuate mass incarceration, humanizing those whose lives are bound up in the criminal justice system.

Jasmin Mara Lpez New Orleans, LASilent BeautyDocumentary Film, Installation

Silent Beauty is a personal documentary about Jasmin Lpezs familys history with child sexual abuse and a culture of silence. The work extends as an audio visual installation that features the voices of dozens of survivorsadults and older children with parentsthat have reached out to the artist to share their stories.

John W. Love, Jr.Charlotte, NCThe Cathedral of MessesInstallation, Performance Art

The Cathedral of Messes is the scene of a crime: a mystic has assassinated his inner saboteur. Crystalline enshrined shoes and body parts of sculpted black salt float in a sea of video, literature, and performance in an installation dedicated to obliterating a virus known as shame.

Cannupa Hanska Luger Glorieta, NMFuture Ancestral TechnologiesMultimedia Performance, Experimental Film

Future Ancestral Technologies is an Indigenous-centered approach to making art objects, video, and performance with the intent to influence global consciousness using creative storytelling to radically reimagine the future. Moving science-fiction theory into practice, this methodology conjures innovative life-based solutions that promote a thriving Indigeneity.

Jarrett MellenbruchRoeland Park, KSRedwood PreserveEcological Art, Social Practice

The Redwood Preserve is a land art and social enterprise project to restore the ancient Californian redwood forest obliterated by logging in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The nature preserve would revive biodiversity in the region, while its trees combat climate change by pulling large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere.

Amitis MotevalliLos Angeles, CAGolestan RevisitedArtistic Activism, Data Visualization

Golestan Revisited is a multimedia, internationally-accessible online database created to research, reclaim, and rename roses transplanted to Europe during the Crusades from the South and West Asian and North African region (known as SWANA), to symbolize and commemorate women, girls and femmes killedoften while captive in the wars against terror and/or by reactive Islamist occupations.

Mark NowakCanaan, NYWorker Writers School: Mobile UnitPoetry, Social Practice

Worker Writers School: Mobile Unit (WWSMU) expands Mark Nowaks ongoing, twenty-year project of bringing poetry workshops directly to the working class. Like bookmobiles or food trucks, WWSMU visits laundromats, street corners, restaurants near construction sites, bus stops, and other locations that workers frequent to offer brief, intensive poetry writing classes.

Papel MacheteSan Juan, PROn the Eve of AbolitionPuppetry, Theater

Papel Machete proposes a bilingual play in Spanish and English that tells the speculative fiction story of the last prison in the U.S. Using letters from incarcerated people, prison radio shows, puppets, masks, music, and picture storytelling, they present events preceding the final day of the last prison, and the movement which made abolition a reality.

Diane ParagasNew York, NY & Brooklyn, NYThe Three Lives of David WongDocumentary Film, Puppetry

Through a mixture of recreation puppetry, archival interviews, and verit, The Three Lives of David Wong documentary film tells the story of an undocumented Chinese immigrant wrongfully convicted of murder, and the group of activists who came to together to rally for his freedom.

Kamau PattonChicago, ILTelInstallation, Poetry

Tel is a platform for performance, study, and contemplation that will question how the nature of memory has changed in relation to the encroachment of cyberspace, telematics, and transmission technologies. The project name refers to the archeological term for a mound formed by the accumulated remains left by communities occupying a site over time. Tel is experienced through a myriad of disciplines: past iterations have been presented as transmissions, walks, conversations, engagement with archives, and a publication series.

Kumatatu M. Poe Philadelphia, PAterrestrialDance, Multimedia Performance

Terrestrial is a multimedia performance installation with choreography by jumatatu poe that stems from majorette lines that became popular at historically Black universities. Inspired by the hot brown granules in both desert dirt and beach sand, terrestrial is a rigorous imagination of Black humans as earth, epic, and finite.

Randy ReyesOakland, CAEncuentro 33: LINE/AGE | Queer Neuro-Cognitive Architectures Hidden in Plain Site(s)Dance, Social Practice

Encuentro 33 is a multiphase project created in partnership with a core group of Black, Indigenous, First-Generation, Queer, Trans Artists of Color in the Bay Area, nationally, and abroad to develop a series of performances centering ecology, lineage, and ritual through a choreographic lens. These works provide infrastructure for bringing reyes vision of opening La Escuela de Corporealidad y Artes Sutiles to fruition.

Rodrigo ReyesOakland, CAUntitled Rodrigo Reyes DocumentaryDocumentary Film

Set in rural California, director Rodrigo Reyess documentary is moving portrait of the unlikely friendship of two Mexican migrants, told within the frame of the dramatic the clash between systemic forces and personal choices that envelop young, incarcerated men of color in America.This film combines a vibrant exploration of the cinematic form with a strikingly intimate portrait of the fault-lines in our society.

Nathan ShaferAnchorage, AKWintermootMultimedia, Social Practice

Wintermoot incorporates social practice, augmented reality, graphic novels, and digital humanities to form a series of interconnected epic tales of supernatural people from all over Alaska, spanning several generations. As both a mobile app and augmented graphic novel set in an alternate history Alaska, the work tells the stories of characters created in collaboration with other Alaskans, bringing together over 30 languages and cultures.

Tamara Shogaolu Amsterdam, NetherlandsQueer in a Time of Forced MigrationMultimedia, Animation

Queer in a Time of Forced Migration is an animated transmedia series that follows the stories of LGBTQ refugees from Egypt, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia across continents and cultures from the 2011 revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa region to the world today.

Jackie SumellNew Orleans, LAThe Prisoner's ApothecaryArtistic Activism, Social Practice

The Prisoner's Apothecary is a travelling project and community-driven strategy dedicated to education, harm-reduction, and healing. An extension of the Solitary Gardens, this project grows plant medicine in collaboration with incarcerated individuals and distributes it to affected communities nationally. The Prisoners Apothecary facilitates the healing potentiality of people we are systematically taught to condemn.

Jawwaad TaylorHouston, TXStart With SelfSculpture, Musical Performance

Start With Self is a sonic stimulation and visual art piece based on scientific research on how certain frequencies stimulate endorphins in the body that lessen pain and relaxes the mind. Jawwaad Taylors project is based on his research and experience with sonic healing as a sickle-cell anemia survivor.

Wendy S. WaltersNew York, NYA Dead White: An Argument Against White PaintLiterary Nonfiction

A Dead Whiteis a book-length polemic against the use of white paint in both interior and exterior spaces. The argument will wind through a wide selection of works in architecture, manufacturing, art history, and consumer culture, engaging narratives related to its effect in the lived environment.

Stephanie Wang-BrealBrooklyn, NYFlorence from OhioDocumentary Film, Video Art

Florence from Ohio is a real-life, genre twisting film about an immigrant Chinese woman, Florence Wang, and her first-generation daughter, Stephanie Wang-Breal. Told through the lens of Florence's St. John Knitwear suits, mother and daughter collectively reimagine and embrace their generational ideas of motherhood, feminism, racism, and assimilation.

Angela WashkoPittsburgh, PAThe Uncasted Queen and Her ProgenyGames, Digital Media

The Uncasted Queen and Her Progeny is an experimental, narrative video game about a legendary drag queen in a post-industrial American city and her many years spent auditioning for competition-based reality television show RuPauls Drag Race. The game presents an underrepresented perspective on reality TVs impact on the queer performance community and explores the question: what happens to the people who get left behind when subversive subcultures go mainstream?

Nia WitherspoonBrooklyn, NYPriestess of TwerkTheater, Multimedia Performance

Inspired by the bad bitches of hip hop, the reproductive justice movement, and the sacred sex workers that graced Egyptian temples, Priestess of Twerk is a black feminist temple of pleasure that presents women, queer, and trans-folks of color with opportunities to re-encounter their sexualities through the lens of the sacred, increasing bodily autonomy, and dispelling toxic masculinity.

Dorian WoodLos Angeles, CALa HillMusical Performance, Performance Art

For over 30 years, Dorian Woods Costa Rican-Nicaraguan grandparents owned a two-story house in South L.A., where they raised three daughtersamong them, Woods mother. La Hill is a cantata that spans the family's history from room to room.

Continue reading here:
Local artist awarded $100,000 from Creative Capital for production of new piece - CL Charlotte

The musical sound landscape powered by Microsoft AI from Bjrk is now in New York.

Microsoft

Upon entering the lobby of a hotel in Bowery, a few meters from the New Museum in Manhattan, you can find yourself in a small space where Bjrk's music is played. Fragments of it, environmental, seemingly continuous, random. I am in the hotel lobby, listening. There is a pattern in music. It is connected to a camera on the roof, watching the clouds and birds moving. The composition is driven by AI. The best part is that it is invisible and it works. I stay and listen for an hour.

Bjrk created a new experimental environmental musical piece generated by AI in collaboration with Microsoft, called Korsafn, for the Sister City hotel (a boutique branch of the Ace hotel group). It's the second piece of ambient music here: Julianna Barwick created the hotel's previous environmental sound landscape, also a collaboration of Microsoft, last year. Bjrk's new music installation should remain until the end of this year.

Bjrk's Korsafn is a choral piece generated by algorithms that study cloud and bird patterns from a rooftop camera, but that will also evolve over time, becoming an AI data collection experiment for Microsoft. Since the installation reflects information from the sky, it is almost like an audio skylight or a data driven wind chime. The ongoing computer vision project will also enable Microsoft AI to better recognize dense and fluffy clouds, snow, rain, clear sky and birds in different lighting conditions and seasons.

I'm still resting spiritually from a week of noise CES in Las Vegas, and this little moment with Bjrk digital was something I could have used in the desert. Ryan Bukstein, brand vice president of Atelier Ace Hotel, says sound landscapes driven by artificial intelligence like this could be a future model for hotels and other spaces, rather than repetitive playlists of familiar songs.

I love Bjrk. I love the idea of being immersed in a Bjrk sound landscape.

Bukstein says the project began when Bjrk performed at The Shed in New York last year, and when 50 rooms at the Sister City hotel were home to the Bjrk Icelandic choir for a month while performing the acclaimed Cornucopia concert. "They rehearsed in the restaurant. You would come here, and the choir would be singing in the restaurant, they would be here all day, they would leave their mark on this space." While the Bjrk project was not recorded in Sister City, it says: "I would like to feel that they took part in the vibe."

Korsafn is charming and discreet, and honestly, it simply merges with the background. It's nothing wild, but it fits the hotel. It is fascinating in that regard. Unlike Microsoft's AR installations, such as a 2018 Experience connected with Mel Chin HoloLens In Times Square, this does not require much configuration (or failures). It simply is.

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After an hour, he did not become annoying or too repetitive.

Amy Sorokas, director of Strategic Alliances at Microsoft, helps produce musical art projects using Microsoft technology, with artists ranging from Brian Eno to Muse. He explains that AI updated live, using computer vision to analyze the hotel's rooftop camera, "can find different types of clouds: clusters, nimbus, birds, flocks of birds, a single bird, a plane. And what what we did is to say, now we are continually training our vision service. So we can make him learn over time from the ceiling chamber and the feeding. We can train continuously, so he will learn more about the clouds, learn more about Las seasons change, so next year, when winter comes back, it will be like, & # 39; Oh, yes, winter is back again & # 39 ;, and now the clouds have this kind of shapes and varieties, and the sun it comes to these times. The composition is going to be learned and generated differently based on that change in the level of knowledge of AI. "

The composition is coral, extracted from a variety of recordings and applied to what the camera sees, such as an audio map. I am sitting in the lobby, which has no skylight, and I wonder what will happen to provoke that sudden and growing voice? A bird, maybe?

Strangely, I would love something like that in my living room while I am reading. Or an ever-changing AI-driven soundtrack for my headphones, while I move, work and travel. If you're curious to listen, Sister City is broadcasting the soundtrack live along with the power of the rooftop camera to which the music is connected.

Or you can visit yourself. I want to one day generate music based on my life, in my ears, on my daily trip to New Jersey.

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I had a great time in the sound landscape of the lobby of a Bjrk hotel generated by IA - NewsDio

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture keeps records of food safety inspections at restaurants and food vendors.

Berks County is divided into three jurisdictions: Reading, Muhlenberg Township and the rest of the county. The results will be posted every other week. All food vendors are inspected at least once a year. View any vendor's last inspection report online.

If a food provider is labeled "out of compliance," that means it has one or more violations that require a return visit by an inspector. The establishment is given time to fix the problem(s) and remains open for business.

Complaints can be filed online with the PDA.

Below are the results of inspections conducted between Jan. 1 and Jan. 14, 2020, and include the inspector's comments on violations.

Burger King #0282 , 4890 Perkiomen Ave., Reading , Jan. 14, four violations. Observed dirt, old food debris, and trash on the floor under equipment throughout the kitchen and storage areas. There is an accumulation of debris in the hood over the burger grilling unit. Cleaning company is scheduled to come within the next couple of weeks. Plumbing system not maintained in good repair - observed water leaking at the right-hand drain for the 3-compartment sink. Observed food dispenser for mix-in's at the specialty drink area stored where it is subject to splash from the 3-compartment sink. Corrected by using a plastic lid for a splash guard.

Shelbourne Beer Distributor , 5484 Perkiomen Ave., Reading , Jan. 14, no violations.

Subway #39219 , 5506 Perkiomen Ave., Reading , Jan. 14, one violation. Some surfaces of the ice chute at the soda unit have residue and are not clean to sight and touch.

Acker S Beverage , 2902 Saint Lawrence Ave., Reading , Jan. 13, no violations.

Aldi #106 , 20 Wilderness Trail, Hamburg , Jan. 13, three violations. Raw shell eggs stored above bags of oranges on the donation rack in walk in cooler. Corrected. Several cans of soup on shelf with peeling/missing/torn labels must be removed from sale. Corrected. Walk in freezer area of the food facility has excessive trash, broken wood pallet pieces under racks and is in need of cleaning.

Burger King #12924 , 12 Jetson Drive, Hamburg , Jan. 13, six violations. Food facility food prep and warewashing sink has a direct connection to the floor drain, creating possible backflow of sewage hazard. Scotsman Ice machine in rear has a foam strip around the lid that is flaking and not an acceptable material for food equipment and must be removed. Observed wet wiping cloths in several buckets on counter area, not being stored in proper strength sanitizer solution. Corrected by changing out buckets. Time in lieu of temperature being used as a control for potentially hazardous foods, but some foods observed not being properly marked with time stickers. Corrected. Walk-in Freezer has observable ice damming at the condensate lines on the fan box above food storage shelves that could potentially contaminate boxes of food. Food to be moved from under lines until repairs are made. Temperature measuring device for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in several under counter reach in refrigerator equipment. Also oven thermometer found in 1 cooler must be changed out.

Deluxe Restaurant , 2295 Lancaster Pike , Shillington , Jan. 13, four violations. Wash water was in wrong sink at 3 bay warewashing sink next to clean dish drainboard. Corrected. Reach in freezer in bakery area has ready to eat desserts stored under raw seafood items and must be moved due to possible cross contamination hazard. French fry table in basement is under a sewer line and must be moved. Corrected. Pans of reheated foods were left on shelf of steam table for an extended time (2 hours) and not placed in hot hold. Foods were reheated to be placed in hot hold immediately. Corrected. Ice machine in bakery area has a foam rubber gasket on lid that is flaking/deteriorated and must be repaired.

Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill #7552 , 2723 N. Meridian Blvd , Wyomissing , Jan. 13, six violations. Paper towel dispenser empty at the handwash sink at one end of the cooking line. Corrected. Ceiling tiles that are not properly in place above one end of the cooking line need to be replaced. Some outside surfaces of the fryers have a build-up of grease. Observed an accumulation of dust/dirt on some ceiling tiles in the back food preparation area. There is dried dirt/debris in one drain cover in the side dry storage area. Another drain area has standing, dirty water. Corrected. Thermometers for ensuring proper temperature of equipment are not available or readily accessible in the cold drawers at the cooking line. Grout in the dishwash area and the end of the cooking line near the dish area is deteriorated, allowing food debris and standing water to accumulate between the tiles. One set of lights at the cooking line has plastic tubing in place, but the bulbs are missing end caps.

Taco Bell/Long John Silver's , 65 Industrial Drive, Hamburg , Jan. 13, three violations. Temperature measuring device for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in reach in counter top refrigerator equipment. The food facility does not have the original certificate for the certified food employee posted in public view. Corrected. Observed clean food equipment and/or utensils in clean dish rack area, stored wet in a manner that does not allow for draining and/or air drying (wet nesting). Corrected. This is a repeat violation.

Wilson School District Spring Ridge Elementary , 1211 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing , Jan. 13, no violations.

Bad Farm , 86 Wieder Road, Kempton , Jan. 9, no violations.

Horning's Market Of Bethel , 8316 Lancaster Ave., Bethel , Jan. 9, seven violations. Various Produce food was held at 48F, in the produce aisle cooler area, rather than 41F or below as required. Check for service placed thermostat lowered, items to be removed if temperature is not lower. Outdated milk being offered for sale. Corrected. Observed pallets of freezer foods stored in walk in freezer area, under condensate ice damning. Food to be moved until repairs are made. Observed various boxes of food stored directly on the floor in freezer areas, rather than 6 inches off of the floor as required. Some bulk prepackaged containers found without proper ingredient labels or ingredient listings posted. items removed from shelf. Severely dented, swollen, distressed canned items observed in customer shelf are and intended for use or sale in the food facility. Some cans removed and remaining cans will be checked. Observed rodent droppings in the warehouse area. Pest control is provided by Countryside Pest Control Services. No observable activity at this time however droppings must be cleaned up. All walk in cooler fan box and ceiling areas of the food facility are extremely dirty, dusty, and in need of cleaning. Also extremely large areas of cobwebbing above food storage corners of the dry storage warehouse area.

Mangia! Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria , 322 E. Wyomissing Ave., Mohnton , Jan. 9, no violations.

Shartlesville Fire Company #1 , 5637 Old Route 22 PO Box 7, Shartlesville , Jan. 9, five violations. Shelfstock tags are not maintained for 90 days from the date the container is emptied. Facility has 30 days at this time. Food facility has an employee who held a Certified Food Manager certificate; however, the certificate has expired and is no longer valid. Class is scheduled. Temperature measuring device for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in refrigerator equipment in Bingo hall kitchen. Hand sink hot water faucet in bar kitchen does not work properly and must be repaired. Wall in the kitchen 3 bay sink area is / roughened/peeling and is not a smooth, easily cleanable surface and must be repaired.

Andre Farms , 2638 W. Philadelphia Ave., Oley , Jan. 8, two violations. Some prepackaged food items are not labeled with a full ingredient statement. Roof is leaking water in back area, and is in need of repair. Owner has repairs planned.

Boyer's Market & Catering Inc , 1104 Old Airport Road, Douglassville , Jan. 8, three violations. Chicken was held at 125F behind the deli counter, rather than 135F or above as required. Corrected immediately. Observed some food items stored directly on the floor in the walk-in cooler, rather than 6 inches off of the floor as required. Corrected. Customer self-service single-use tableware (forks) not displayed in a manner so that only the handles are touched by customers. Corrected.

China Moon Restaurant , 4888 Penn Ave., Sinking Spring , Jan. 8, two violations. Again the handwash sink in the kitchen area was blocked by containers and not accessible at all times for employee use. Reiterated to owner that sink must be unblocked at all times for use. Corrected. Flooring tiles in the sink areas are cracked/roughened/and not a smooth easily cleanable surface. Tiles that are worn away must be repaired/replaced. Also mop sink has 2 holes in bottom that must be repaired.

Michael's Restaurant , 1211 W. Benjamin Franklin Hwy , Douglassville , Jan. 8, five violations. Some surfaces of the milkshake machine at the front counter have dried food residue. Lights are not shielded or shatter proof in the large walk-in cooler. One of the light shields in the back prep area is damaged and is no longer providing proper protection. Thermometer for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in the True refrigerator in the corner of the kitchen. The food facility does not have the original certificate for the certified food employee posted in public view. Corrected. Observed numerous areas of peeling paint on the ceiling in the back food preparation room.

Oley Valley Organics Organic And Natural Foods , 3071 W. Philadelphia Ave., Oley , Jan. 8, no violations.

Redner's Warehouse Market #42 , 4870 Penn Ave., Sinking Spring , Jan. 8, nine violations. Dairy cooler ceiling and produce prep room wall area of the food facility has a static dust build up and in need of cleaning. Light bulb in hot chicken case near deli has a bulb that has the protective coating that is peeling off bulb. Coating removed and bulb to be replaced. Produce cooler has severe ice damning and split seams along bakery freezer wall side where produce is stored. Also ice cream freezer has ice damning along ceiling area and on exterior condensate pipes above food storage areas. Corrected by moving all food items away from affected areas until repaired. Produce room has ceiling tile rails that have peeling paint above the prep table area that must be repaired. Clean dish racks in produce room are metal shelving that is rusted and must be resealed/replaced. Knife with observable food debris on blade placed in clean wall mounted knife block in deli area, knife and block to be cleaned and sanitized. Corrected. Food facility person in charge does not have records to demonstrate routine inspection and service of backflow prevention devices and other water treatment devices. Produce fogger filters are not dated with last date of service. Observed laminate countertops being used as a food prep direct cutting surface in the food facility that is not durable under this usage condition. Deli work tables are laminate and have peeled/scratched and chipped surfaces that must be repaired/replaced. Non-food contact surfaces not cleaned at a frequency to preclude accumulation of dirt and soil.Open lettuce produce case area has a build up of mold along bottom of shelving areas. Also produce walk in cooler has a water slime build up in corner from frozen condensate build up on walls. Food facility does not have records or knowledge of the last time for disassembling, draining, cleaning and sanitizing the water reservoir, including tubing and nozzles, for the produce fogger. Walls of the walk in produce area are split open at the seams and also caulk along the ceiling is gapped and damaged from ice build up and is no longer a smooth, easily cleanable surface. Also Ice cream door frame is split open at the side.

Vincenzos Ristorante Italiano & Pizzeria , 1333 Old Swede Road, Douglassville , Jan. 8, four violations. An insect control device is located in the back prep area with potential to contaminate food, equipment, and/or utensils. Corrected. Observed in-use knives and /or cleavers stored between table edges, an area not easily cleaned & sanitized. Ice scoops at the basement ice machine are stored directly on top of an adjacent piece of equipment. Paper towel dispenser empty at the handwash sink in the front pizza area. Corrected. Ceiling tiles missing in the basement food prep area need to be replaced. Corrected.

Bella Italia Pizza Restaurant , 1064 Memorial Highway , Oley , Jan. 7, three violations. Ceiling has a hole and loose drywall material in the back area above clean food equipment storage. Thermometer for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in the sandwich bain marie. Corrected. Plumbing system not maintained in good repair - observed water leaking at the faucet for the handwash sink in the front area.

Carini's Italian Restaurant La Terrazza , 1600 Elizabeth Ave., Reading , Jan. 7, five violations. Observed floor/wall under grill/fryer equipment with an accumulation of food debris and grease residue on non-food contact surfaces. Food prep table pushed against sink must be moved or have a shield to prevent cross contamination from splash of sink. Observed deeply scored bain marie cutting boards not resurfaced or discarded as required. Flipped over and cleaned to use other side. Corrected. The handwash sink in the kitchen area was blocked by racks of dishes and not accessible at all times for employee use. Also towel dispenser was empty. Corrected. Hood vent walls and top ansul system area of the food facility is extremely dirty, greasy and in need of cleaning. Fan cover of reach in cooler in kitchen area of the food facility is extremely dirty, dusty, and in need of cleaning.

Dori Martin Catering , 21 N. Franklin St., Fleetwood , Jan. 7, no violations.

Dunkin Donuts , 800 Crossing Blvd., Elverson , Jan. 7, two violations. Old, unused equipment stored in rear prep area, should be cleaned thoroughly and removed from food facility. Observed shelving equipment, and ceiling around condensor unit in walk in cooler area, with an accumulation of dust, dirt, debris on non-food contact surfaces. COS by cleaning during inspection.

Dunkin Donuts #357079 , 3124 Pricetown Road, Fleetwood , Jan. 7, one violation. Paper towel dispensers empty at two of the handwash sinks in the kitchen area. Corrected.

Echo Hill Country Store , 244 Dryville Road, Fleetwood , Jan. 7, no violations.

Esterly's Sandwich Shop , 479 Fleetwood Road PO Box 84, Bowers , Jan. 7, two violations. Side door located in the food storage area of the food facility has a gap and does not protect against the entry of insects, rodents, and other animals. Wood shelving in kitchen area has peeling/worn paint that must be resealed to be a smooth easy to clean surface.

High Point Baptist Academy , 200 Chapel Road, PO Box 188, Geigertown , Jan. 7, no violations.

Mark`S Sandwich Shop , 123 W Main St., Kutztown , Jan. 7, no violations.

Piero Pizzeria , 2722 Bernville Road, Reading , Jan. 7, four violations. Floor tiles in kitchen area are cracked/broken in various areas and is not a smooth, easily cleanable surface and must be repaired. Rear door located in the rear storage room area of the food facility has a gap and does not protect against the entry of insects, rodents, and other animals. Food Employee observed eating or tasting food in the Pizza area. Corrected. An open employee's beverage container was observed on sneeze guard above pizza display area, a food preparation area. At this time the hot water for just the restrooms of the facility is not working and must be repaired (service call placed).

Snuzzles , 145 Lyons Road, Mertztown , Jan. 7, no violations.

The Heritage Restaurant , 6016 Morgantown Road, Morgantown , Jan. 7, three violations. Plumbing system not maintained in good repair - observed waste pipe leaking at the electric box in basement. Observed wet wiping cloths in kitchen area,being stored in soap solution, in lieu of sanitizer- COS. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration in dishwasher- Chlorine test strips are needed in addition to Quat test strips.

Van Reed Inn, The , 2707 Bernville Road, Reading , Jan. 7, three violations. French fry cutter has old dried food residue and must be cleaned before use. Corrected. Working containers in waitress station area, used for storing *chemicals, cleaners* taken from bulk supplies, were not marked with the common name of the chemical. Corrected. Temperature measuring device for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in small bar reach in cooler equipment. Corrected.

Chick-fil-a #0421 , 1665 State Hill Road Suite 930, Wyomissing , Jan. 6, no violations.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites , 405 N. Park Road, Wyomissing , Jan. 6, no violations.

Redner's Warehouse Mkt #26 , 5473 Pottsville Pike , Leesport , Jan. 6, four violations. Spray bottle (of water) in the produce area was not labeled to identify the contents. Corrected. Observed food items (popcorn flavorings) stored directly on the floor in the beer cafe area, rather than 6 inches off of the floor as required. Corrected. The slicer cleaning chart in the deli area was already completed for the designated 2 pm cleaning. Paper towel dispenser empty at the handwash sink in the bakery area. Corrected.

Sheetz #256 , 554 Shoemaker Ave., Shoemakersville , Jan. 6, no violations.

Works At Wyomissing & Building 24 , 1109 Bern Road, Wyomissing , Jan. 6, seven violations. One container of soup was held at 122 F, in the server area, rather than 135F or above as required. Corrected. Foods (chicken, fish, beef) were held at 48-51 F, in the cold drawers at the cooking line in the main kitchen, rather than 41F or below as required. Corrected. Hot well used to hold the soup that was being held at 122 degrees is missing the proper dial to adjust the temperature. Paper towels not available at two of the handwash sinks in the main area. Corrected. Ceiling tiles missing in the Bldg 24 kitchen need to be replaced. Ceiling tiles above the corner refrigerator in the Bldg 24 kitchen have an accumulation of dust/dirt. Observed numerous stickers on the outside of food containers in the dry storage area. Food employee observed eating or tasting food at the cooking line in the main kitchen.

Brocmar Smokehouse , 10 S. Summit Ave., Reading , Jan. 3, two violations. Rear door located in the stand area of the food facility has a gap at the bottom and does not protect against the entry of insects, rodents, and other animals. Food Employee observed eating or tasting food off the cook line area. Corrected.

Cherry's Jamaican Delight , 711 Penn Ave., West Reading , Jan. 3, no violations.

Dietrich's Country Meats , 740 Noble St., Kutztown , Jan. 3, no violations.

Frank's Fine Swine & Beef , 740 Noble St., Kutztown , Jan. 3, no violations.

Funny Farm Apiaries , 740 Noble St., Kutztown , Jan. 3, no violations.

Hoffman's Meats , 740 Noble St., Kutztown , Jan. 3, no violations.

Mackey's , 7408 Boyertown Pike, Douglassville , Jan. 3, three violations. One of the light fixtures in the kitchen is missing two end caps. Observed a spill/debris on the floor under the shelves in the walk-in cooler. Some of the chilled glasses at the bar are stored with the lip surface on a shelf that is rusty/missing the protective plastic coating.

Nancy'z , 740 Noble St., Kutztown , Jan. 3, no violations.

Stone Farmhouse Cafe Of Kutztown , 740 Noble St., Kutztown , Jan. 3, no violations.

Chatty's , 3130 Pricetown Road, Fleetwood , Jan. 2, one violation. Observed in-use knives stored between table edges, an area not easily cleaned & sanitized.

Damn Yankee Catering , 509 W. Penn Ave Suite 8, Robesonia , Jan. 2, no violations.

Dunkin Donuts #352111 , 2458 Perkiomen Ave., Reading , Jan. 2, two violations. Some surfaces of the scoop holder at the front counter are not clean to sight and touch. Paper towel dispenser empty at the handwash sink in the front serving area. Corrected.

Heidelberg Family Restaurant , 910 W. Penn Ave., Robesonia , Jan. 2, "27 violations. The person in charge does not have adequate knowledge of food safety in this food facility as evidenced by this non-compliant inspection. Observed clean dish racks stored on the floor in warewashing area. Corrected. Observed clean food equipment (cups) and/or utensils in waitress area, stored wet in a manner that does not allow for draining and/or air drying (wet nesting). Corrected. The light intensity in the walk-in freezer storage area is not at least 10 foot-candles. Severely dented, swollen, distressed canned items observed in can rack area are and intended for use or sale in the food facility. Corrected. Assorted food, which was cooled, was not reheated to 165F within two hours, for hot holding. Food being reheated in plastic tubs in steam table. Corrected. Custard pies were held at held at 56F, in the dessert case area, rather than 41F or below as required. Also dairy creamers that must be refrigerated were sitting in an unrefridgerated counter in waitress area. Corrected. Preset tableware is not wrapped, covered or inverted, or being removed at a frequency to assure tableware remains clean and sanitized. The handwash sink in the bakery area being used as a food preparation sink as evidenced by observed old food debris in the sink. Plumbing system not maintained in good repair - observed all drains leaking at the warewashing sinks next to dish machine. New sink on premise to be installed. Walk in floors and metal shelving areas of the food facility is dirty, and in need of cleaning. Freezer floor has spilled food under and around racks. Fan box in walk in cooler has dirt/mold build up on fan box and covers. Observed employee peeling eggs sitting on crate with pot on floor in the warewashing area that has water and food debris build up. Corrected. Temperature measuring device for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in most reach in refrigerator equipment. Food facility does not have available chlorine sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration. Deli slicer has old food residue under blade at blade guard. Several pans on clean dish rack observed to have food residue and was not clean to sight and touch. Old lettuce residue in salad bowl under cook line shelf. Observed soiled linens store under and in equipment on the cook line area which may contaminate food, utensils, or equipment. Paper towel dispenser empty at the handwash sink in the bakery area. Working containers in counter area, used for storing *chemicals, cleaners* taken from bulk supplies, were not marked with the common name of the chemical.Corrected. Food facility is using chlorine sanitizer at an extremely high concentration of 200 ppm in waitress area, not approved in the Code of Federal Regulations for food contact sanitizing at this level. Corrected. Several trays of cooked and raw foods in the walk refrigerator/freezer area stored open with no covering. Observed trays of uncovered food stored directly on the floor in walk in freezer area, rather than 6 inches off of the floor as required. Also trays of whole meats stored on floor in freezer. Corrected. Wood legs supporting cook line and hand sink equipment, in the kitchen area, are not smooth, non-absorbent, corrosion resistant. Observed deeply scored cutting boards not resurfaced or discarded as required. Non-food contact surfaces not cleaned at a frequency to preclude accumulation of dirt and soil. Mold on splash guard area of the juice dispensing machine. Corrected. Food employee observed storing clean food equipment while wet, and not allowing time for draining and/or air-drying. Corrected. Handwash sink in main kitchen is not working at this time and has a wood piece holding it up in the front. Sink must be repaired and have soap and towels and wood prop removed. Walk-in cooler walls have the protective plastic coating on yet from installation that is peeling and falling off walls and must be removed. Observed cardboard being utilized as a floor covering in walk in and also shelf covering in reach in cooler. Corrected. Out of compliance.

LJ's Fitness , 102 N. Third St., Womelsdorf , Jan. 2, no violations.

Longhorn Steakhouse #5467 , 1085 Woodland Road, Wyomissing , Jan. 2, "four violations. There is an accumulation of debris on the floor under the shelves in the back dry storage area. Floor tiles are damaged in front of the fryers, and grout is also deteriorating in this area. There is dirty water accumulating in the damaged areas. Thermometer for ensuring proper temperature of equipment is not available or readily accessible in the small dessert refrigerator. Corrected. One of the hood vents above the grill is missing. "

Paradise By The Slice , 69 E. Penn Ave., Wernersville , Jan. 2, six violations. Reach in refrigerator near warewashing area has a condensate leak dripping onto towels stored in reach in that must be repaired. Warewashing machine has a soil/residue buildup on exterior of machine and on underside of drainboard area and must be cleaned. Deli slicer has old food residue on underside of blade at the guard area and must be cleaned. Caulking at drainboard and wall of warewashing machine and sinks has mold and must be cleaned out and resealed. Observed metal racks in basement walkin cooler area, with an accumulation of food residue, debris on wire shelving surfaces that must be cleaned. Observed clean cups/glasses in waitress area, stored wet in a manner that does not allow for draining and/or air drying (wet nesting).

Perry Indoor Golf And More , 1223 Pottsville Pike , Shoemakersville , Jan. 2, "two violations. Hot water handle for the handwash sink is not working properly. New food facility in operation more than 90 days and has not employed a certified food employee as required. "

Sophia's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria , 3150 St. Lawrence Ave., Reading , Jan. 2, no violations.

Staples #0298 , 4711 Perkiomen Ave., Reading , Jan. 2, no violations.

Reports are from Dec. 18, 2019, to Jan. 14, 2020. No reports had been filed for the previously published time frame of Dec. 18 to Dec. 31 when the report was downloaded Jan. 2.

Cindy's Flowering Cupboard , 2934 North Fifth Street Highway , Jan. 11, no violations.

Mod Super Fast Pizza LLC , 4300 North Fifth Street Highway , Jan. 9, no violations.

8899 Chinese Restaurant , 2605 Kutztown Road , Jan. 4, two violations. Food dispensing utensil in sugar/salt observed stored in the food and not with handle above the top of the food and the container. Corrected immediately on inspection. Floor fan blades and cover dusty.

5th Street Diner , 5340 Allentown Pike , Dec. 29, seven violations. Lights are not shielded or shatter proof over the baker's area. Potentially hazardous ready-to-eat food prepared in the food facility and held for more than 48 hours, located in the walk-in refrigerator, is not being date marked. A food employee was observed touching toast - a ready to eat food - with bare hands. Multiple foods in the walk-in refrigerator stored open with no covering. Multiple refrigerator gaskets have food residue. Sheet pans not stored inverted. Corrected on inspection. Exhaust vent dusty, located in dish area and can potentially contaminate food and equipment. Out of compliance.

Redners Quick Shoppe , 1137 Tuckerton Road , Dec. 29, one violation. Multiple bottled beverage glides are soiled in beverage refrigerator.

Alebrije Mexican Restaurant , 3225 N. Fifth St. , Dec. 28, four violations. Exhaust screen surfaces not cleaned at a frequency to preclude accumulation of grease. Food employee observed storing clean food equipment while wet, and not allowing time for draining and/or air-drying. Corrected on inspection. Food dispensing utensil in bulk food bins observed stored in the food and not with handle above the top of the food and the container. Corrected on inspection. Food contact surface of wooden handled knives is not smooth, easily cleanable and/or resistant to pitting, cracking or scratching. Discarded on inspection.

New Happy Garden , 4447c N. Fifth St. , Dec. 28, five violations. Food dispensing utensil in bulk food bins observed stored in the food and not with handle above the top of the food and the container. Corrected on inspection. Light bulb is not shielded or shatter proof over the cook's area.Observed soiled refrigerator gaskets on bain marie. Spaces between bain marie and table are soiled. Equipment food contact surfaces and utensils are not being immersed for a minimum of 10 seconds in the chlorine sanitizing compartment of the manual warewashing sink. Cutting board outer edges adjacent to bain marie soiled with food particles. Corrected on inspection. Potential for contamination related to lids of food storage containers not fitting securely,

Reading Company Booster Club Inc. , 2100 Georgia Road , Dec. 28, no violations.

Thai Cuisine , 502 Eisenbrown St. , Dec. 28, three violations. Shellstock tags are not maintained for 90 days from the date the container is emptied. Observed spaces between/underneath cooking equipment, with an accumulation of food residue, grease, and debris on non-food contact surfaces. Observed table legs/oven doors/stove plates/cook's refrigerator door glide with food residue and grease on non-food contact surfaces. Saute pans observed stored uncovered or not inverted.

Berks County Intermediate Unit , 1111 Commons Blvd. , Dec. 23, two violations. Observed scratched and scored teflon coated pans on cook's shelf; discarded/corrected on inspection. Observed clean plastic utensils on catering shelf, stored uncovered or not inverted.

Kidspeace Berks Campus , 704 Hay Road-Wilson Sarig School , Dec. 23, one violation. Fan guards in reach-in refrigerator are dusty, with potential to contaminate food in refrigerator storage.

Route 61 Diner , 3455 Pottsville Pike , Dec. 23, three violations. Cooking utensils observed in drawer with handles not in the same direction. Corrected on inspection. Raw fish stored above whole meat/chops in the reach-in refrigerator. Corrected on inspection. Food employee observed storing clean food equipment while wet, and not allowing time for draining and/or air-drying. Corrected on inspection.

Rothenberger Meats , 2934 North Fifth Street Highway , Dec. 21, two violations. Fan guards in walk-in refrigerator are dusty, and can potentially contaminate food. Observed in-use knives and /or cleavers stored in slotted wooden knife holder, an area not easily cleanable & sanitized.

C.E. Cole Intermediate School , Kutztown Road , Dec. 20, no violations.

Holy Guardian Angels Regional School , 3125 Kutztown Road , Dec. 20, no violations.

Muhlenberg Elementary Center , Kutztown Road & Sharp Avenue , Dec. 20, no violations.

Muhlenberg High School , Sharp Ave. & Frances St. , Dec. 20, no violations.

Reading Muhlenberg Career & Technical Center , 2615 Warren Road , Dec. 20, two violations. Handles of utensils not stored in the same direction (in drawers) to prevent contamination from hands. Corrected on inspection. Handwashing signage not present at kitchen hand washing sink. Corrected on inspection.

Temple Fire Co #1 , 4963 Kutztown Road PO Box 217 , Dec. 19, three violations. Wall in the food prep area, has holes, or is broken and in need of repair. Commercially processed ready-to-eat food, located in the reach-in refrigerator, and held more than 48 hours, is not being marked with the date it was opened. Soup was not hot holding at 135 degrees F. or higher. Corrected on inspection.

No reports were filed for the previous time frame, Dec. 18 to Dec. 31, 2019.

Family Dollar , 231 Lancaster Ave., Jan. 9, no violations.

Romanos Pizza , 501 Lancaster Ave., Jan. 9, one violation. Torn rubber door gaskets observed on the bain marie unit.

Speedway 06713 , 200 Lancaster Ave., Jan. 9, one violation. Food facility inspection indicates evidence of rodent activity in areas. facility does have a pest control service.

Papa Johns Pizza , 2312 Fairmont Ave., Jan. 7, two violations. Ventilation hood is in need of a professional cleaning. Torn rubber door gaskets observed on the bain marie.

Franklyn Breakfast Burger , 1007 Penn St., Jan. 2, three violations. Light cover missing from the ceiling light in the kitchen prep area. No paper towel dispenser at the handwash in by the counter area. Switch cover missing in the men's restroom.

Save-a-lot Stores 367962 , 810 Oley St., Jan. 2, "two violations. Soap was not available at the handwash sink in the stockroom area of the facility. Floor under shelves in milk cooler were observed to have a build up of milk. Bakery display shelves are very dusty. "

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Berks food safety inspections for January 1 to January 14, 2020: 27 violations at one restaurant and rodent activity detected at a store - Reading...