1. North Dakota bill aims to make performing an abortion a felony

A team of ultra-conservative North Dakota lawmakers has thrown its weight behind a bill that would make getting an abortion in the state legally akin to murdering an unborn child. Anti-abortion advocates are withholding judgment on the new proposal, but Democratic lawmakers reject it, saying the state would end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars defending an unconstitutional abortion bill.

Under House Bill 1313, someone found to have performed an abortion, unless the procedure is done to save the life of the mother, would be guilty of a Class AA felony, punishable by up to life in prison without parole.

Read more from Forum News Service's Jeremy Turley

Nearly a week after a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, Gov. Tim Walz on Jan. 12, 2021 stands in front of the Minnesota History Center in Saint Paul, saying that Americans are witnessing history in the making. Sarah Mearhoff / Forum News Service

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and members of the Executive Council on Wednesday, Jan. 13, voted to extend the state's peacetime emergency for another 30 days, allowing the governor to continue his expanded emergency powers and the state to swiftly set in place protections against the coronavirus without legislative approval.

The five-person Executive Council on Wednesday morning agreed unanimously to allow the peacetime emergency, citing concerns about a new, more easily transmissible strain of COVID-19 in the state and noting that while vaccines are rolling out, their distribution is not yet widespread enough to allay concerns about disease spread.

Read more from Forum News Service's Dana Ferguson

Screenshot of Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota's K-12 superintendent. She testified Wednesday, Jan. 13, in Bismarck at a hearing of the House Appropriations Education and Environment Division.

In preliminary discussions, North Dakota lawmakers showed support for increasing the length of the K-12 school year due to the coronavirus pandemic hindering test performance and overall learning for many students.

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler testified at a committee hearing of the House Appropriations Education and Environment Division on Wednesday, Jan. 13, and told legislators that K-12 student test scores have dropped in North Dakota.

About 27% to 28% of students who tested on par with their grade level in fall 2019 tested below their grade level in fall 2020 in reading, writing and math, Baesler said. She said a summer learning gap is normal and expected, but the pandemic and distance learning exacerbated the current setbacks the state is seeing.

Read more from The Forum's Michelle Griffith

Fargo Cass Public Health said Wednesday, Jan. 13, that it will soon begin vaccinating older individuals and those with underlying health conditions. Jeenah Moon/Pool via REUTERS

Fargo Cass Public Health said on Wednesday, Jan. 13, that it expects to start vaccinating older individuals and those with underlying health conditions, known as the Phase 1B priority groups, starting the week of Jan. 18.

The agency said it is nearing completion of vaccine distribution for what are known as Phase 1A priority groups, which include health care workers, first responders and long-term care residents.

Health care providers who are distributing COVID-19 vaccines will soon reach out to their patients with information about when individuals can schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine.

Read more From The Forum's Dave Olson

Property at 717 3rd Avenue North in Fargo. David Samson / The Forum

Fargo city commissioners appeared poised to allow demolition proceedings to go ahead on Monday night, Jan. 11, on a downtown historic home that was an office to one of city's early pioneer architects.

However, owner Ron Ramsay, who has been working with volunteer help from Kilbourne Group project manager Heather McCord, was given two weeks to provide more documentation to city officials on the progress they've made restoring the house, which is nestled in a residential block west of downtown's Sanctuary Events Center.

Read more from The Forum's Barry Amundson

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5 things to know today: Anti-abortion law, Expanded authority, Learning gap, Next phase, Demolition delayed - INFORUM

By: Trends Desk | New Delhi | Updated: December 10, 2020 10:50:53 amThe demolition was done so using stable non-primary explosives, which were placed in 18,000 drill holes in the building,

The demolition of a 541.44-foot-tall building in Abu Dhabi has entered the Guinness Book of Records as tallest building to be demolished with explosives. It took only 10 seconds to demolish the 144-floor-high Meena Plaza.

In a video, shared on the book of records official Facebook page, the swift demolition of the building can be seen.

This controlled demolition in Abu Dhabi, UAE just set a new record for the tallest building demolished using explosives, said the caption.

Watch the video here:

The demolition was carried out by Modon Properties and used stable non-primary explosives, which were placed in 18,000 drill holes in the building, The Khaleej Times reported.

According to official Guinness World Record adjudicator Danny Hickson, high-level expertise was required for the demolition.

Heres how people reacted to the clip:

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Watch: Controlled demolition of UAE building in 10 seconds that set a world record - The Indian Express

The landmark stone cottage on Harbor Ave SW has stood since the 1930's and is now facing the wrecking ball. SAVE THE STONE COTTAGE, an organization formed to preserve the structure is hoping to raise $110,000 to move it, then find a permanent home in the West Seattle area.

West Seattles last 1930s era Stone Cottage is around a month and just over$70,000 away from demolition. They are attempting raise $110,000 to save it, with an eventual plan to place it in the Alki area on public property.

Eva's Stone Cottage which has stood at 1123 Harbor Ave SW since the 1930's is facing the wrecking ball in January, but the landowner has given permission to move it. That's what The Save the Stone Cottage LLC organization is aiming to do.

They are holding two press conferences, the firsta live press conference on site (following health protocols) at 10:30am followed by a virtual press conference - on Friday, December 11, 2020. It's a chance to hear about theirefforts to relocate Evas Stone Cottage, learn about its construction, and meet some Save the Stone Cottage supporters.

The project website offers more information:

History

"The Stone Cottage was built by Eva Falk during the Great Depression. Eva and her mother came up with its unique faade of more than 15,000 beach stones, carried from the beach near the Alki Lighthouse, and each stone was thoughtfully placed by hand on the exterior of the building. As the decades passed, Eva welcomed all manner of strangers to her rock house, turning them into friends. Eva died in 1997 at the age of 92."

Future of the building

Save The Stone Cottage LLC has developed a three-phased plan and has until January 2021 to move the house off the site. We are actively scouting locations and have planned the logistics of physically moving the 90-year-old stone house.Our mission is to secure a new location, possibly in a park or on school grounds (due to COVID19, talks with the City of Seattle are on hold), preserving this piece of history for generations to come.

About the rescue effort

The stone-studded cottage has been a beloved and legendary landmark for 90 years and our goal is to move it to a new site, preserving the history of our city for generations to come.The Stone Cottage is now crammed between condos and townhouses, standing in the way of development. The owner of the property has agreed to allow the house to be moved before construction begins.

Through generous donations from the property developer, Chainqui, as well as from the handful of faithful volunteers, theyare on our way to raising $110,000 to move and store the Stone Cottage.

An extensive 3 phase plan is underway. Phase I will include the structural reinforcement required to safely move and relocate the Stone Cottage to a safe storage facility where it will be secured and stored for 2-3 years while the group works on the final placement and restoration efforts.

The rescue effort features some well known West Seattle figures including, John Bennett, of Bennett Properties, Kathy Blackwell, President of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, Deb Barker, President, Morgan Community Association, Jeff McCord, Owner at Up Media, Mike Shaugnessy, Ken Workman, B.J. Bullert, Shari Sewell, and Lisa McNelis.

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Historic stone cottage in West Seattle facing demolition; Group hopes to preserve and move it to new home - Westside Seattle

Love it or hate it, Boston City Hall has been saved from the wrecking ball. Now, its younger concrete cousin, the Charles F. Hurley Building, is poised for a similar rescue. As state officials move to redevelop the Hurley site at the edge of the West End and Government Center, they are making it clear that total demolition is unlikely.

The states formal proposal, made public last week, represents a subtle but important shift in thinking since the Baker administration started this process in 2019.

Is it a beauty, or a beast? Depends on whom you ask. Like with City Hall around the corner, preservationists say the Hurley represents a distinct style of architecture that hearkens back to an era when government buildings were meant to be fortresses to endure the vagaries of time. For the haters, a flip side: These edifices recall an era when bureaucrats buried entire city blocks under concrete, all in the name of progress.

A year ago, fans of the Hurley were worried that this six-story fortress would not endure. The Baker administration had just announced it would divest the 327,000-square-foot building off Staniford Street and the 3.25 acres on which it sits, in a long-term lease arrangement for a massive redevelopment. The administration saw dollar signs: a potential windfall that could total in the tens of millions, or maybe in the hundreds of millions.

Developers would line up for this rare opportunity, a prime downtown location. The Hurley needs $200 million-plus in deferred repairs. Let the private sector take care of that by crafting a new, more modern home for the 675 office workers who used to go there every weekday before the COVID-19 pandemic, in return for maximizing the propertys development potential with a high-rise. Enlivening a walled-off, windswept stretch of Cambridge Street would be a bonus.

Sounds simple on paper. But this is Boston. History matters. Even recent history.

The nearly 50-year-old Hurley building arose out of a grand plan, envisioned by famed Brutalist-era architect Paul Rudolph: a Government Service Center complex that would mirror the contemporary concrete City Hall a couple of blocks away, but for state agencies. The Hurley meant to house labor and workforce offices and its twin, the Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center, were linked by a landscaped courtyard. The third piece, a 23-story tower, was never built; that corner of the plaza was eventually claimed for the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse. (The Lindemann is not part of this divestiture.)

Rudolphs disciples have rushed to preserve the Hurley, considered a signature feature of an important phase of institutional architecture one that some advocates prefer to call Heroic or concrete modernist instead of Brutalist. Rudolph was not considered to be the Hurleys lead architect. But as the propertys master planner, his acolytes say, his fingerprints are all over it. Two dueling Rudolph foundations have issued calls to save the building. On this topic, at least, they can agree.

The Paul Rudolph Foundation calls the late architects 1963 plan for the Government Service Center the most ambitious urban project to be realized by Rudolph in the United States. All existing elements should be preserved, the foundation said, but it welcomes a new tower at the site, similar to what Rudolph originally wanted. And the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation told state officials that tearing down the Hurley would partially unravel the urban fabric that is now part of Bostons unique history.

Preservation presents challenges to would-be developers: a dearth of windows on the Hurleys top level, a floor plate that does not line up evenly with Cambridge Street, a mental-health hospital next door that needs to share the block.

But because of its architectural significance, the Massachusetts Historical Commission has told the Baker administration that the Hurley building should be retained as the site gets redeveloped.

Its not as if Governor Charlie Bakers Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance started out certain that the place should be bulldozed, even if it seemed that way to some. However, a full demolition was once viewed as a more tenable option by the administration than it is today. The commercial real estate market, currently in a bit of an upheaval due to the pandemic, will have much to say about what the site looks like. DCAMM officials now say they no longer believe full demolition is a likely option. In its draft proposal, DCAMM emphasizes pursuing an adaptive reuse approach that respects the significance of the site while allowing for much-needed improvements.

Next up: a virtual public hearing on the plan to divest the Hurley, to be held on Dec. 17. The agency expects to issue a request for proposals to developers early next year, after getting a signoff from the states Asset Management Board, a panel of gubernatorial appointees.

The Baker administration has already heard the full range of opinions, from people who love the Hurley structure, with its corrugated concrete and distinctive terraces and columns, to those who see it as downright ugly, a blight. Kenzie Bok, a city councilor who represents the area, said she is less focused on the preservation debate and more on making sure developers are told to submit concepts that knit together the neighborhood and break up this super block. Her goal: to make it livelier and pedestrian-friendly, perhaps compensating for some of what was lost to urban renewal decades ago.

Greg Galer, executive director of the Boston Preservation Alliance, said he is glad that the Baker administrations stance has evolved over the past year. DCAMM, he said, seems to be trying to strike the right balance.

Historic preservation, Galer said, should not only be about saving structures deemed to be aesthetically pleasant. Its also about the stories these buildings tell about the era in which they were built, and their place in the patchwork quilt of an ever-changing city.

From that perspective, the Hurley will have many more tales to tell by the time this redevelopment saga finally ends.

Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.

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State officials make it clear: Redevelopment shouldnt lead to total demolition of Hurley building - BetaBoston

EDIT: The permit in question is for 64 E. Concord Street and accessory structures outside of the main Orlando Sentinel. A permit has not been filed to remove the main building yet, at the time of this post.

An application for a permit has been filed with the City of Orlando to begin demolishing the former Orlando Sentinel campus.

Orlando Sentinel staff vacated the main building, located at 655 N. Orange Avenue[GMap], earlier in the year when its parent company made the announcement that it would abandon the building, along with the buildings that New York Daily News, Allentown Morning Call, and Capital Gazette also called home, forcing their staffs to work remotely in the interim.

The newspaper had been operated out of the building since 1951 but the property wassold to Miami-based developer Midtown Opportunitiesfor roughly $35.1 million. Midtown sued Tribune in June 2020 for three months of unpaid rent in the amount of $370,000, prior to them vacating the building.

An exact date for the demolition of the building has not been given at this time but the application was still open at the time of this posting and under review. Midtown intends to remove all buildings, foundations, dead trees, and shrubs, during the demolition. Parking lots will remain according to the application filed with the City.

The Adult Literacy League (Website) which had moved into the Orlando Sentinel building just months before the announcement was made that they were leaving the property, has since been forced to move to a new home at 2221 Lee Road [GMap] in Winter Park.

Editors Note: The Adult Literacy League is currently looking to onboard more students and has a waiting list of volunteer tutors looking to be matched with adult learners looking to learn how to read, write, and speak English. If youd like to learn or would like some help for yourself or someone you know, click HERE for more information.

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Application filed to begin demolition of former Orlando Sentinel buildings - Bungalower

GREENWICH Demolition of the Greenwich High School Cardinal Stadium bleachers has officially begun.

The tear down of the bleachers is the first step in a project to revamp the stadium that began with the formation of a feasibility committee in 2017. The scope of the project has been the subject of much debate and change during the time since, but construction is finally underway.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones posted a picture of the work and joked that she was doing a happy dance over the news.

Greenwich Public Schools is on our way to an updated Cardinal Stadium, Jones tweeted.

The Board of Estimate and Taxation released $4.6 million, in $1.9 million and $2.7 million blocks, to handle what is known as Phase 1A of what is to be a multi-phase project.

Phase 1A is to include construction of new bleachers on the home field side, a new press box, an elevator, new bathrooms, a new team room that will go underneath the new bleachers and other improvements.

Work on the team room and press box is slated to take place in the spring and summer, according to recent statements made to the BET.

Following this phase, Phase 1B is to include the creation of additional handicap parking spaces, a new entry kiosk and new lights on the existing poles. That work is still awaiting town approval before it can move forward.

Under Phase 2, which also needs town approval, a new access road from East Putnam Avenue has been proposed.

Russell Davidson, managing principal and president of Mount Kisco-based KG&D Architects, which is overseeing the project, told the Board of Education in November the current phase could be mostly complete by the end of the school year.

We should start to see the buildings under construction and foundations in January and February. The bleachers themselves will be erected in March and April, Davidson told the board at its Nov. 18 meeting.

Substantial completion is in the contract for graduation 2021. Were all excited about that, he said.

WGCH Radio Sports Director Rob Adams has logged more than 20 years broadcasting GHS football, Greenwich Youth Football League, lacrosse and soccer games from the press box that came down Tuesday.

It was a bittersweet day for him and other veterans of Greenwich sports coverage.

Im certainly excited for the future at Cardinal Stadium, Adams said on Tuesday. I cant wait to see what the finished new facilities look like and how WGCH and myself fit into that. But as I watched the video of the booth being pulled down this morning I felt a touch of sadness. That booth produced over 20 years of games and memories for me. I came of age as a play by play announcer in the booth at Cardinal Stadium.

But Greenwich deserves a better facility and I look forward to whats next.

Staff reporter Justin Papp contributed to this story.

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Demolition begins on long-awaited Cardinal Stadium project - CT Insider

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The new Demolition market research report from SpendEdge indicates an incremental growth during the forecast period as the business impact of COVID-19 spreads.

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Demolition Market Procurement Report | Roadmap to Recovery for Businesses From the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic | SpendEdge - Business Wire

When we last checked in on demolition at EPCOT, it was clear the old Innoventions West building was almost completely gutted. Meanwhile, refurbishment continues inside the Innoventions East and Electric Umbrella building, which is the future location of Starbucks and a new restaurant.

The interior of Innoventions East has been stripped down to the bare supports.

We can see straight through the Mouse Gear building, which is currently also being refurbished to give the store more windows for an open-air feel.

A contractor on a lift was working on the interior ceiling of the building.

Portions of the roof overhang will need to be fixed before construction is complete.

The walls have been removed from this section of Innoventions West.

We can now see all the way through the gutted building.

This temporary, T-shaped metal structure has been outfitted with lights, to shine on the adjacent Spaceship Earth now that the lights on the Innoventions building are out of commission.

Portions of the roof overhang have also been removed.

Several black tarps, which previously blocked demolition from view, have been removed from this end of Innoventions West.

From this angle, its clear just how many walls have been removed from the building, leaving only support pillars.

Refurbishment of Mouse Gear is largely blocked from view by the construction workers break room tents.

Eventually, thissection of the park will be the World Celebration neighborhood. A Festival Center may no longer be in the works, butEPCOT promises a new festival area.

Though its hard to know how plans have changed due to COVID-19, above is the original concept art for World Celebration, in which the Innoventions West building has been completely removed and replaced with a garden area and the Journey of Water Moana walkthrough attraction.

Are you looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for the historic transformation of EPCOT? Let us know in the comments below.

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PHOTOS: Innoventions Demolition Fully Exposed at EPCOT with Even More Walls and Tarps Removed - wdwnt.com

National Review

As Democratic Senate Candidate Raphael Warnock tries to assure Jews that he is a friend, new video has surfaced of the Georgia Baptist preacher again linking Israel to apartheid.In the video, purportedly from a Palm Sunday sermon in 2015, Warnock also likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to former segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace.Warnock made the statements shortly after the 2015 Israeli elections, won by Netanyahus Likud Party. On the final day of the campaign, Netanyahu announced his opposition to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, walking back previous support.In his sermon, Warnock described the Israeli and Palestinian region as a land of violence and bloodshed and occupation, and said he heard a very clever politician running for re-election as prime minister suddenly announce No two-state solution, he said.Thats tantamount to saying, occupation today, occupation tomorrow, occupation forever, Warnock said, using phrasing mirroring Wallaces racist call in 1963 for segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.> During his 2015 Palm Sunday Sermon, Dem. Raphael Warnock explicitly called Israel an Apartheid State, describing it as a land of violence and bloodshed and occupation and he referred to Israeli leaders as clever politicians, and accusing them of being racist and vicious. pic.twitter.com/jfdkOUzung> > -- Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) December 10, 2020Warnock urges his parishioners to consider the Middle East demographics. There are more Arabs in the region that Jews, he said. Without a two-state solution, the Jews in the region would need undemocratic apartheid-like policies, or risk being overwhelmed at the polls.The state will either be Jewish, or it will be a democracy, he said. It cant be both if you dont have a Palestinian state. You would have to have apartheid in Israel that denies other citizens, sisters and brothers, citizenship.Warnock also took aim at a statement Netanyahu made in the lead-up to voting when he warned that his right-wing government was in danger, and urged his supporters to vote because Arab voters are heading to polling stations in droves. Warnock described Netanyahus statement as kind of racist and vicious language.Warnock is one of two Democrats in Georgia trying to defeat Republican incumbents in a January runoff election. If both win, Democrats will take over the Senate.This wasnt the first time Warnocks past statements about Israel have come back to haunt him. Last year, Warnock was part of a group of African American church leaders who toured the Middle East and released a statement accusing Israel of engaging in tactics similar to those previously used by apartheid South Africa and communist East Germany patterns that seem to have been borrowed and perfected from other previous repressive regimes.In a 2018 sermon, after a Hamas terrorists stormed the Israeli border, Warnock accused the Israeli government of shooting down unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey like they dont matter at all.As a Senate candidate, Warnock has attempted to walk back his apartheid allegations, and released a position paper asserting that he is a friend of Israel.I will stand with Israel and the Jewish people to protect their interests, advocate for the human dignity of the Palestinian people and their position in the world, promote peace, and ensure the U.S. remains economically strong, safe, and secure.

Originally posted here:
As efforts continue to find two missing workers, past incident involving demolition company back in focus - Yahoo News

Halifax officials have given notice to a local developer that they intend to revoke the company's demolition permit.

The move follows a stop-work order issued on Dec. 4 to Ardmore Hall Inc., operated by Stavros and George Giannoulis. The parent company is Mosaik Properties.

Crews began tearing down abuilding at the corner of North and Oxford streets, even though a tenant had not moved out of one of the units and was appealing his eviction.

The provincial minister responsible for the Residential Tenancy Board was surprised by the move.

"Honestly this is a very unusual situation," said Patricia Arab."But we have no control or authority over building demolition permits, that's up to HRM."

Coun. Shawn Clearysaid the situation shows more co-ordination is needed between the tenancy board and Halifax's planning and development department.

"We should have assurance from theResidential Tenancy Board that they've gone through an appropriate process before we grant a demolition permit because this kind of eviction by demolition should never, ever happen," said Cleary.

Neither the developers nor the legal aid lawyer for the tenant returned calls made by CBC News. Social media posts saidthe tenantlost all of their belongings due to the demolition.

"Given the housing crisis we are in, I hope this guy can find a new place by the holidays," said Cleary.

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Company's permit to tear down building to be revoked after 'eviction by demolition' - CBC.ca