Jordan Anderson wants to work with his hands after he graduates from Holmen High School. Hes just not sure how he wants to put them to use.

Maybe as an electrician. Maybe a general contractor.

The 17-year-old tried his hand at something new Wednesday using an electronic simulator to mimic welding. La Crosse and Holmen high school students dabbled in carpentry, plumbing and welding in a series of workshops sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin.

So far, its been a very helpful experience, Anderson said. I have never thought about the different options.

Students visited the business park headquarters of Carpenters Local 1143, near Kwik Trip, for a series of hands-on demonstrations in construction careers. The goal of AGCs Construction Trades Workshops event is to expose high school students to new post-graduation opportunities, said Laura Cataldo, director of workforce and industry outreach for AGC.

Retiring boomers and projected industry growth have sparked concerns about future worker shortages, Cataldo said. Wisconsin is projected to add more than 26,000 construction jobs between 2010 and 2020, according to the Department of Workforce Development, a 28 percent growth in employment. More than half of those positions are expected to open up as a result of retirements.

Programs such as the La Crosse School Districts Construction Academy show there is an educational swing, in classrooms toward more workplace readiness training, Cataldo said. La Crosse educators introduced the Construction Academy in 2012 as an option for students interested in the skilled trades. The academy gives teens on-site training and job shadowing opportunities.

Those opportunities arise as a result of collaboration between local schools, local businesses and Cataldos group. Its not about putting students on a narrow track to a specific career, she said.

Really, its taking a look at what are the different industries youre interested in, Cataldo said.

Holmen teacher Dan Lilla brought his building construction students to the event because he wanted them to explore the various fields.

Continued here:
Workshops give high schoolers a preview of construction jobs

7th May 2014

Tory MP Richard Bacon explains how self and custom-build will increase the choice for housing customers, potentially creating a new normal for the housing market.

What do people spend most of their money on? For nearly all of us, whether renting or buying, the answer is where we live. And yet there is more choice in the market for apples or for beer or even for toothpaste than there is for housing. It is an extraordinary paradox that where people spend the most money, they also have the least choice.

This happens because of the collision of three facts. Fact One is land, which is not just scarce they have stopped making it. In order to deal with the land problem, we have invented Fact Two, planning, with a plethora of rules and regulations, thankfully slimmed down by the government but still having to cope with the intrinsic tension between competing potential land uses. Fact Three is our stock market. The large national housebuilders having relatively easy access to large amounts of capital buy up nearly all the potential building land and then sit on it, landbanking until they need it or trading it among themselves. They build houses to a small number of standard designs that are repeated again and again in different parts of the country.

Then there is the Conversation Problem. It is much easier for the local council to talk to a small number of these large national housebuilders and to prise out of them a new primary school or a community hall than to ask for the opinions of large numbers of individuals, who elsewhere would be known as customers.

The result? As Kevin McCloud of Channel 4s Grand Designs has put it: The consumer has been on the receiving end of a pretty poor deal. We build some of the poorest performing, most expensive and smallest homes in Europe. Thats not something to celebrate.

It could be quite different. 53 per cent of the adult population would like to build a house at some stage in their lives. 30 per cent would like to do it in the next five years. 14 per cent are currently researching how and what to do and if they can finance it. More than one million people want to buy a site and start in the next 12 months. (IPSOS MORI poll).

There are exciting possibilities here for the whole skills agenda, but this is not about everyone learning how to become a plumber or an electrician. Most people would use a builder as a general contractor, if only they could get a piece of land. In the German Baugruppe model, like-minded individuals club together and build a community, including homes for rent and for those on modest incomes.

We have to make it easier for customers to express their choices. The government has started to recognise the potential, with a 150 million reusable fund to help develop serviced plots, where all the most difficult parts getting in the roads, sewers, electricity, gas, and water are already dealt with. This could be the new normal, if we started treating the building of houses as if customers mattered.

Richard Bacon is Conservative MP for South Norfolk and Chairman of the All Party Group on Self-Build, Custom-Build and Independent Housebuilding

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Richard Bacon MP: Providing the tools to build a stronger housing market

JEFFERSON CITY The fate of a $620 million Republican tax cut proposal appears to hinge on Rep. Keith English, a freshman Democrat and union electrician from Florissant.

English said Monday that he will vote to override the bills veto by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a fellow Democrat.

In a written statement, English said he was elected to exercise an independent judgment on every bill. ... Missouri small businesses and every worker in the state will benefit from the first broad-based tax relief in nearly 100 years.

As long as all 108 House Republicans remain on board, English would provide the key vote needed for a two-thirds majority, the threshold for an override to succeed. The Senate voted for the override Monday on a straight party-line vote of 23-8. The House could vote today.

The bill would cut the states top personal income tax rate to 5.5 percent from 6 percent and provide a new 25 percent deduction for business income reported on individual returns.

The tax cuts would begin in 2017, so long as state general revenue was rising by at least $150 million a year compared to the high-water mark of the previous three years.

Supporters said the tax cut would return surplus money to taxpayers and foster economic growth. They contend that delaying the first step of the cut until 2017 protects education because by then, the basic aid formula for public schools is slated to be fully funded.

I believe this is a well-balanced approach to move forward, said the sponsor, Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lees Summit.

Opponents said the bill would favor the wealthy, threaten the states AAA bond rating and make it harder to fund public schools and highway needs.

Critics noted the Legislature also is advancing a sales tax increase for transportation.

Continued here:
Florissant legislator may hold key to income tax cut override vote

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As the local general builder in Rhyl, we ensure we work closely with all our clients at every step of the way, which ensures a partnership approach dividends to all involved in the process. Having any kind of work done, be it commercial, industrial or domestic can disrupt your daily routine. We understand this and do our very best to minimise the effect your property transformation has on you and your family or workplace.

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J Elson Contractors Ltd

Michael John Renard, 64, of Cape Carteret, passed away Friday, April 25, 2014, at Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City.

His service is at 2 p.m. Thursday at Jones Funeral Home chapel in Swansboro.

Mr. Renard was born in Bethesda, Md., and was the son of the late Joseph and Rosemary Hoffman. He worked as a master electrician.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Pamella Sue Combs Renard; son, Jason D. Renard of Cape Carteret; two daughters, Tiffany R. Housel and Angelina M. Renard, both of Cape Carteret; three brothers, Joseph R. Renard of Greenville, Christopher P. Renard of Memphis, Tenn., and Andrew S. Renard of Oregon, Ohio; four sisters, Delores A. King of Eugene, Ore., Victoria S. King of Toledo, Ohio, Theresa Pearson of Oregon, Ohio, and Regina C. Berquist of Portland, Ore.; seven grandchildren; and his extended family.

Flowers are welcome or donations may be made to the family.

Arrangements are by Jones Funeral Home of Swansboro. Electronic condolences may be left for the family at http://www.jonesfh.org.

Originally posted here:
Michael Renard, 64; service Thursday

ETHEL Wharton has always placed a bet on Melbourne Cup Day. Now, at 82 years of age, there is only one year she has ever missed.

The year was 1964 and Ethel was taking a different gamble aboard a ferry from Townsville to Palm Island, about to start what would become 20 years of service to the island community.

Her husband, Tom, had just received a three month contract as the electrician there and with three children aged between eight and four, Ethel thought their island stay would only be brief.

As a trained nurse, she took work as a Welfare Officer at the aged care centre and hostel for patients transitioning from hospital to home care and also gave nutritional and hygiene advice to both mothers and women in general.

For three years I did that. I think I wore out four pairs of shoes in the first year as you walked everywhere then; there was no transport, Ethel said.

When a new manager took over and decided Ethels home visits were unnecessary, she decided to find a new job. Palm Island Hospital was under the auspices of Townsville Hospital, so she phoned the latter and asked for a job.

They said, the Matron is leaving next year, do you want the job? I said, hold on now. This was November 1967. She said, she is going in January but I could start tomorrow, she said.

It was a 45-bed hospital in those days and I said I would see how I went with the three months. I took the job as Nursing Superintendent and stayed there for another 17 years.

When I first took over the Matrons job I thought, what have I done? I thought, well I will do this bit today and this bit tomorrow. Well, that got shot to pieces after the first day.

There were a couple of shootings before lunch and we had to send people to Townsville and it threw all my plans. And, I thought the only way I will get through this is to take it one day at a time.

See the rest here:
Whartons made best of island time

A government agency set up to punish career criminals in British Columbia has backed down from trying to seize a mans home in a case that has shed light on what critics call a pattern of overreach the powerful office enjoys.

B.C.s Civil Forfeiture Office ended its most high-profile case Monday after a stinging defeat at the provinces top court this year, choosing to abandon the proceedings rather than continue down a path that appeared likely to raise constitutional questions about the legislation under which it operates.

The office, which was created in 2006 to fight organized crime but has come to have a far broader reach, filed its notice of discontinuance in the case of David Lloydsmith on Monday, ending its years-long pursuit of his home. The office has faced questions about the cases it takes on and the fairness of the process after a recent Globe and Mail investigation.

Im trying to wrap my head around all this, Mr. Lloydsmith, whose story was told in the Globe series on civil forfeiture, said in an interview. In my heart of hearts, I was hoping and praying for it. I didnt know.

Mr. Lloydsmith, a former electrician on partial disability in the Fraser Valley community of Mission, opened the front door of his residence on Oct. 15, 2007, after a knock from an RCMP officer. The Mountie told Mr. Lloydsmith he was investigating a 911 call and asked to search the home. Mr. Lloydsmith refused and was arrested.

The officer found marijuana plants growing in the basement but charges were never laid and the officer would write in a report that the offence was minor. A judge would later deem the police search unreasonable and rule it violated Mr. Lloydsmiths Charter rights.

But the Civil Forfeiture Office which does not need a conviction or even charges to pursue a file, and has been far more aggressive in seizing property than its counterparts in other provinces continued to pursue the house. In February, it took one aspect of Mr. Lloydsmiths case to the provinces highest court, where it lost.

The Court of Appeals decision meant the Charter violations in Mr. Lloydsmiths case would have to be dealt with before a full trial. The Court of Appeal also said the system has an imbalance of power that can put ordinary citizens at the offices mercy. The offices director last year told The Globe that 99 per cent of the people the office targets settle on terms in its favour.

The office could have continued fighting the case in the lower-level B.C. Supreme Court, but instead chose to discontinue the proceedings. An exact reason was not provided.

Bibhas Vaze, Mr. Lloydsmiths lawyer, said both he and his client are relieved the case is over.

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B.C. forfeiture office abandons bid to seize Fraser Valley home

AFP Afghan presidential election: Live Report

Kabul (AFP) - 16:04 GMT - Tough job ahead - AFP is closing this Live Report on the preliminary result of the Afghan presidential election. To recap, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani look set to face each other in a second round run-off after coming first and second respectively.

The vote will choose a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power.

Whoever wins will face a daunting task of overseeing the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency as 51,000 US-led troops depart this year, as well as strengthening an economy that relies on declining aid money. LIVE REPORT ENDS

15:36 GMT - View from Kabul - One of our Kabul based reporters has been testing reaction on the street following the results.

Zaki, an electrician from Kabul, said: "It would have been very good if there was winner in the first round, there will be extra costs for the second round elections."

Tamim, a taxi driver, added: "People will participate in second round voting as they did in first round, people are not afraid of security threats or any other issue."

15:36 GMT - Power brokers - Nuristani is clearly happy with the way the election has gone so far. "The election went pretty good, we are satisfied with it and I think we are prepared if it goes to the second round," he said.

Candidates who came behind Abdullah and Ghani could play ket roles in deciding whether second round run off is necessary. Zalmai Rassoul, who took just 11 percent of the vote and is widely believed to be Karzai's favoured candidate, could still play a key role in power-brokering before the next president is chosen, as could former Islamist warlord Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, who collected a seven percent.

15:35 GMT - Run-off - Given the expense and security issues Afghanistan faces election officials are keen to avoid a second round run-off if possible.

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Afghan presidential election: Live Report

Kenneth D. O'Brien. (April 25, 2014)

12:10 p.m. EDT, April 25, 2014

Emcee TV-radio personality Steve Parker will interview former Electrician's Mate, Third Class (EM 3/C) Harry Rosenfeld who was on the battleship Nevada as its heavy guns ran hot in support of the troops wading ashore from the landing craft.

Also to be interviewed will be former Police Detective and Command Sgt. Major Kenneth D. O'Brien, USAR (ret) of the Newington Memorial Day Parade Committee. O'Brien served 30 years mainly in Military Intelligence and is presently a Police Inspector in the State Division of Criminal Justice in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney.

Admission is free. No RSVP is required.

A social hour will start at 6 p.m., where guests may order food or beverages from the restaurant's regular cash menu.

More information is available at 860-667-2864.

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hide captionWashington, Ill., is full of both optimistic signs and lots of construction crews as the town rebuilds after a half-mile-wide tornado devastated the area in November.

Washington, Ill., is full of both optimistic signs and lots of construction crews as the town rebuilds after a half-mile-wide tornado devastated the area in November.

Washington is just starting to rebuild.

Much of the central Illinois town was wiped away by a half-mile-wide tornado in November. In all, 1,108 homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable a huge share of the housing stock in a city of 15,000.

"Early on, people were asking me how long it was going to take to rebuild the city, and I said we'll do it in a year," says Mayor Gary Manier. "That was wishful thinking."

Tornadoes typically strike the Midwest during the spring. This one touched down not long before Thanksgiving, meaning Washington lost its chance to rebuild quickly due to an unusually bitter and persistent winter.

Now, multiple home sites on some blocks are busy with workers putting up frames or nailing in walls. But building permits have yet to be pulled for more than half the affected properties.

The city last week sent homeowners a notice that they need to decide whether to rebuild, or tear down.

hide captionDebris still litters the yards in neighborhood subdivisions. City officials plan to clear this gully ahead of any spring floods.

Debris still litters the yards in neighborhood subdivisions. City officials plan to clear this gully ahead of any spring floods.

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In Illinois, A Town That's Half-Destroyed But Filled With Hope