Conceptual artist Lars Jan has spent the last several years creating a project inspired by scenes of floodwaters, from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Theres no question in his mind that climate change is to blame, which makes the installation of Holoscenes, a 14,000-gallon aquarium on the bayfront adjacent to C d Zan, all the more pointed.

If sea levels rise as scientists predict, the first floor of John Ringlings mansion will be under water by the end of the century.

Florida is absolutely on the very front lines of this issue, whether anyone who lives, votes, or leads there wants it to be or not, said Jan, a New York City-based artist.

"Bed" performed by Geoff Sobelle of New York, as Valerie Jenvey, an art teacher on her spring break from Carmel, California looks on. / HERALD-TRIBUNE PHOTO BY THOMAS BENDER

Jan knows firsthand about rising waters.

When Hurricane Sandy swamped the eastern seaboard in 2012, Jan and his wife, new parents, left their home in Brooklyn for a few days. When they returned, our part of Brooklyn was in disarray, which is fortunate in comparison to the many other areas that were devastated, said Jan.

"Persimmons" performed by Lua Shayenne of Toronto, Canada as part of "Holoscenes" at The Ringling. / HERALD-TRIBUNE PHOTO BY THOMAS BENDER

There were multi-hour gas lines for the entirety of the next month, which made shopping, going to the doctor and traveling out of the city very difficult. There were all sorts of shortages that lasted for months. I visited various parts of Manhattan in the days following Sandy, experienced the total black out and the piles of ruined furniture, drywall, destroyed books and more. As an artist, he was compelled to address the flooding and the larger issue of how climate change will impact human behavior through his artwork. The resulting public art and performance project is on display through Saturday on the Ringling Museum campus.

Holoscenes is a Plexiglas water tank in which a performer acts out an everyday behavior as the waters rise and fall around him or her, from taking a nap to washing windows to reading the newspaper. Four performers take 45-minute turns in the tank, acting out eight scenarios.

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Performance art on front lines of climate change

Mohawk College Stoney Creek students help build strong future with Indwell project

By Mike Pearson, news staff

When it comes to renovating, Ethan Manley knows his work in the classroom can only take him so far.

On a real-world job site, there are challenges behind every corner.

From unforeseen wood rot, to calculation errors and budget overruns, renovations can be stressful and unforgiving.

Luckily, none of those issues have posed concerns for the 115 Mohawk College students working on a new accessible fitness room for Hamilton social housing charity Indwell.

Second-year students from the construction engineering technician, building renovations diploma program at Mohawks Stoney Creek campus are turning an existing two-car garage into a fitness facility for 38 residents who live at Indwells Stinson neighbourhood residence on Wentworth Street in central Hamilton.

The project is slated for completion by this Friday, March 27.

Weve learned so much this week, said Manley, who was busy at the job site last Wednesday.

As part of the renovation, students are installing two accessible doors and carefully executing the concrete pad slope for a wheelchair ramp. The room will be winterized and serviced with electricity.

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Mohawk College Stoney Creek students help build strong future with Indwell project

Updated: Tuesday, March 24 2015, 12:31 PM CDT

The city of Springfield's sewer division is getting ready to make some changes that are aimed at preventingsewage overflow.

There are almost 500 miles of pipeline tangled beneath the city of Springfield and as these systems begin to age, their reliability decreases; making the likelihood ofsomething going wrong a lot higher.

The city's Department of Public Works' Sewer Division is working with the Environmental Protection Agency on a report that will address the combined sewer overflows. The city is required to complete the report as a condition of their permit from the Agency.

As for the reason of the deterioratingsewage pipes, John Higginbotham, a sewer engineer for the city's sewer division, says they believe it is happening simply because of the ageing infrastructure.

"It really has to do with the age of the system and the materials and installation methods that were used at the time of original construction. That is what we are seeing a lot of right now," said Higginbotham.

In a report initiated by the EPA, the majority of the sewageoverflows has been anongoing occurance in the city's northeast quadrant.

"Many residents in that part of town are very familiar with what I am talking about with sanitary sewer issues," said Higginbotham. He continued to say, "With issues in their basements and other areas of the collection system also."

Bob Krell is the branch manager of ServicMASTER Restore and he says they deal with this issue a lot during the spring seasons.

"The sewage problem, the backups in the people's basements, is a major issue. Not only because of the bacteria that is in the sewage, it is the damage it can cause," said Krell.

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Springfield Sewer System Study

How To Install Drywall (SHEETROCK) - CGC Inc.
In this How To Install Drywall (SHEETROCK) video CGC Inc. provides the steps needed for proper drywall installation.

By: CGCincVideos

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How To Install Drywall (SHEETROCK) - CGC Inc. - Video

Drywall is a large part of nearly every home and business today, and yet it is something that most people know very little about. This article will review the both basics of drywall and its many uses in today's world including drywall texture and drywall finish and the most common questions relating to drywall repair. While drywall is often easily overlooked, one hole in need of drywall repair can completely ruin a room's appearance by drawing attention to the problem area. The same thing goes for a drywall finish that was not done correctly, creating a real eyesore. And reversely, a well done drywall texture can add both depth and balance to a room.

Drywall is a common manufactured building material used globally for the finish construction of interior walls and ceilings. A drywall panel is made of a paper liner wrapped around an inner core made primarily from gypsum plaster. The plaster is mixed with fiber (typically paper and/or fiberglass), foaming agent, various additives that increase mildew and fire resistance, and water and is then formed by sandwiching a core of wet gypsum between two sheets of heavy paper or fiberglass mats. When the core sets and is dried, the sandwich becomes rigid and strong enough for use as a building material.

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Drywall repair can be easy, depending on the type and size of the hole. There are three types of holes "doorknob," "fist," and "large." The equipment needed is easy and the job is easy, so hesitate no more!

Drywall has many areas that can be addressed including drywall finish, drywall texture, and drywall repair and while each is related they are all separate areas with their own issues. Both the full-time contractor and the weekend DIY'er are confronted with regularly in their attempts to create the surroundings they desire.

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Drywall Repair & Installation | We Can Handle ANY Size Job

BUILDINGS -- Shielding against energy loss ...

Air seeping from buildings is responsible for a large amount of wasted energy each year. To combat the problem, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory collaborated with the Dow Chemical Company to develop a sprayable liquid flashing that is more cost-effective than traditional sealing materials such as peel-and-stick tapes. The new technology can be used in residential and commercial construction, and its ease of use results in increased energy savings and decreased labor and installation costs. Additionally, the liquid sealing performs well on substrates that are difficult for tapes to adhere to such as masonry blocks and exterior grade drywall. Dow introduced the LIQUIDARMOR technology to the U.S. market in September. [Contact: Morgan McCorkle, (865) 574-7308; mccorkleml@ornl.gov]

TECH TRANSFER - Innovations showcase ...

Business leaders, entrepreneurs and community members will get a chance March 25 to see emerging technologies available for licensing from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee. The Fifth Annual Spark! Technology Forum will feature innovations in biotechnology, computational and cyber security, materials and materials processing, and sensor and detector systems. One innovation is a seed-coating treatment shown to increase soybean and snap bean yields while reducing seedling diseases in snap beans. On the cyber security front, researchers will demonstrate a technology that can recognize malicious software even if the specific program has not been previously identified as a threat. Other technologies to be showcased include a new process for separating and purifying rare earth elements needed for electronics and an off-axis iris recognition system with potential uses for identification and verification. Registration information is available at http://www.ornl.gov/connect-with-ornl/for-industry/partnerships/events-and-conferences/spark-2015. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]

MANUFACTURING - GE Appliances, ORNL sign agreement ...

GE Appliances will be working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to test the waters for innovative products before making multi-million dollar investments. GE's FirstBuild business model takes advantage of advanced technologies and manufacturing techniques to perform rapid prototyping and low-volume production and validation of concepts through low-volume sales. Success at these volumes -- 20 to 30 units -- will enable GE Appliances to justify the significant investment needed to move graduates of the FirstBuild process to full production. The arrangement, which will take advantage of ORNL's Building Technologies Research and Integration Center and the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, was finalized with the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]

CYBER - Security focus of conference ...

Hundreds of the nation's premier cyberspace researchers will gather at Oak Ridge National Laboratory April 7-9 to participate in the 10th Annual Cyber and Information Security Research Conference. The event will bring together cyber security researchers, program managers, decision makers, security vendors and practitioners to discuss challenges and novel solutions related to cyber security. "Cyberspace is fundamental to our national prosperity as it has become critical to commerce, research, education and government," said Joe Trien, co-general chair. Additional information is available at http://www.cisr.ornl.gov/cisrc15/. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]

MATERIALS - Better innovation through imaging ...

Researchers should not have to rely on mere trial and error to create materials for energy applications. To accelerate discoveries that underpin economically important innovations, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory institute takes a new approach by bringing together atomic-scale imaging and computation to find a needle of new knowledge in a haystack of data. "Microscopy gives us eyes to peer into matter more closely than ever before to gain unprecedented insight. Big data allows us to comprehend what we are seeing and use that new knowledge to predict the properties of materials we design," said Sergei Kalinin, director of ORNL's Institute for Functional Imaging of Materials. Since the institute's launch in June, its researchers have submitted several reports of accomplishments to journals, and its first publication is forthcoming in Nature Communications. [Contact: Dawn Levy, (865) 576-6448; levyd@ornl.gov]

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Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, March 2015

JUNEAU | Apparently overcome by recent warmer temperatures, the Juneau Police Department announced Tuesday the annual, winter moratorium that prohibits overnight street parking in Juneau has been lifted.

Addressing the Juneau City Council, Police Chief Dave Beal stated the citys winter moratorium, which usually prohibits overnight vehicle parking on city streets from Nov. 15 through April 15, to facilitate snow plowing, was lifted and would not be reinstated until next Novvember.

We usually wait until April 15, but judging from the warm weather and from the forecast, we lifted the parking moratorium today, Beal said.

The council unanimously approved remodeling the lobby of the Juneau Community Center. The council awarded a $7,450 contract to Fehrman & Sons Construction, Juneau, to make the improvements.

According to the proposal submitted by Fehrman, the project includes installation of vinyl stone and pillars near the community center entrance, drywall for all walls except those in the coat room, installation of a new ceiling grid and tiles and performance of electrical work.

Funding for the remodeling will come from a contingency fund held by the city. Juneau Clerk/Treasurer Gladys McKay said the contingency fund, which contains $10,115, was established and increased through donations and fund-raising.

According to Wegener, the community center was built in 1975 and although carpet has been replaced since then, other renovations have not been undertaken in the lobby.

The council also unanimously approved replacement of the floor and shelves in the Juneau Emergency Medical Services 2002-model ambulance. Cost of the work, which was included in the citys 2015 capital budget, is not to exceed $3,000, according to the replacement resolution.

In other EMS business, the council unanimously approved hiring Paige Montgomery as an emergency medical technician.

The council accepted the resignation of Juneau Utility Commissioner Dave Muenchow, effectively immediately. Upon recommendation by Wegener, former City Council member Robert Affeld unanimously was appointed to replace Muenchow.

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Winter parking restrictions lifted in Juneau

ByCHRISTOPHER BYRNS

The construction of Klarman Hall is now slated to be completed by Jan. 13 2016, falling behind its original goal, according to KyuJung Whang, vice president for facilities services.

The project has been tracking about a week behind schedule, Whang said. The current forecast is about nine days behind schedule, but the Cornell team and the contractor are looking for opportunities to make up time.

The 33,250-square-foot building, which will connect to Goldwin Smith Hall, will be Cornells first new building for the humanities since Goldwin Smith opened in 1905.

According to Whang, workers will install glass for the buildings atrium in mid-April, if the weather cooperates. East Avenue which has been closed to through traffic because of the construction since January 2014 will reopen for two way traffic next month, Whang said.

Mechanics, electricians and plumbers are working together with construction workers to complete the project, according to Whang. Currently, workers are preparing to put wall studs in the north block and finish the drywall in the south block.

Most recently, General Contractor Welliver McGuire finished installing the steel truss, which will support the buildings glass atrium.

In addition to the installation of the glass for the atrium, Whang said students can expect to see work on the interior of the building this semester.

Completion of steel and beginning of installation of glass for the atrium [is scheduled for this semester] as well as the continued interior work roughing in mechanical and electrical systems, piping, fire protection and drywall, Whang said. Curtain wall and other framing for glazing and glass will also be installed [this semester].

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Klarman Hall Construction Scheduled for 2016 Completion

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Drywall Installation Company San Jose Bay Area

LEAD | A century ago, philanthropist Phoebe Apperson Hearst, wife of legendary Homestake Mining Co. founder George Hearst, donated to the people of Leadthe Homestake Opera House and Recreation Building, complete with an expansive theater, bowling alley, swimming pool, library, social rooms and a billiard hall.

Now T. Denny Sanford, South Dakotas lone billionaire, is giving the city a modern-day equivalent: a $5 million visitor center that celebrates the colorful history of a town built on gold and seeking a return to glory.

Rising at the city's northern gateway, the center will perch on the edge of the Open Cut, which visitors will view through large windows. Interior displays will include the story of how the Homestake Mine, which ceased operations in 2002, became the Sanford Underground Research Facility, a renowned scientific center.

Project managers and city officials hope the contemporary structure, scheduled to open June 1, leads to the revitalization of what was once South Dakotas richest town.

The new Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center will be the link from our past to our future, Lead Mayor Jerry Apa said Tuesday. It will provide a dramatic gateway to Lead and hopefully result in the rebirth of our downtown. People will see that there is an energy here and a commitment to this community, that were welcoming and that they can move here and prosper.

Certainly, prospering was on the minds of the gold-seekers who showed up in the Black Hills in the last quarter-century of the 1800s. When they discovered gold just south of Deadwood in 1876, they created the city of Lead. By 1910, Lead was South Dakota's second-largest community.

Construction of the 9,000-square-foot visitors center began with groundbreaking last July 7, and nearly a dozen workers with Ainsworth-Benning Construction of Spearfish this week were finishing the assembly of the building's skeletal steel frame.

Soon, subcontractors installing heating and cooling systems, plumbing fixtures, electrical connections, windows, doors and drywall will arrive, according to Project Manager Josh Willhite, who also serves as engineering director at the nearby Sanford Underground Research Facility.

We are on track, Willhite said while surveying the site. I am fairly confident we are going to make the June 1opening, but there may be some overlap between exhibit installation and finishing up the building. Of course, that could change if we get 3 feet of snow in March, which has been known to happen.

Willhite said he is excited about the design, nearly $1 million in planned interpretive and educational exhibits, classrooms, office space and picture windows that will allow visitors to gaze at the Open Cut.

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$5M Lead visitor center on track for June 1 opening