The green colonial house at 261 Hemlock Hills Road South in Fairfields Greenfield Hill neighborhood sits on a 3.44-acre level and lightly wooded parcel.

The green colonial house at 261 Hemlock Hills Road South in Fairfields Greenfield Hill neighborhood sits on a 3.44-acre level and lightly wooded parcel.

Photo: Contributed Photo /

The green colonial house at 261 Hemlock Hills Road South in Fairfields Greenfield Hill neighborhood sits on a 3.44-acre level and lightly wooded parcel.

The green colonial house at 261 Hemlock Hills Road South in Fairfields Greenfield Hill neighborhood sits on a 3.44-acre level and lightly wooded parcel.

On the Market: Fairfield home offers mix of privacy and community

FAIRFIELD The coronavirus pandemic has brought heartache, as well as a challenge for working and distance learning at home. But, as with all difficult situations, there is a silver lining.

The forced lock-down in the spring, and the continuing need to socially distance has brought many families and neighbors closer together and has given people an appreciation for a simpler way of life: shared meals, game nights, long walks together and bike riding on the quiet street.

The residents of the green colonial house at 261 Hemlock Hills Road South in Fairfields Greenfield Hill neighborhood never really lost sight of that simpler, congenial time. This part of town and this particular property offers privacy yet within a true neighborhood, according to the owners.

There is a real sense of community in this neighborhood. Its very family-oriented. There is an email chain that includes over 50 families to share information and happenings. Theres an annual chili cook-off, pizza parties, Hemlock Harvesters gardening club, book clubs, Christmas cookie swaps, wreath-making, occasional adult-only cocktail parties and family get-togethers. We have made many friends in this neighborhood as have our kids, according to one of the owners.

Those events may be on hold temporarily, but when the world is ready to safely get together again this house and its 3.44-acre property invite small, intimate gatherings as well as large-scale parties. This center hall colonial, which was built in 1979, boasts more than 4,700 square feet, of living space and entertaining space.

The grounds are much the same as the home itself. Privacy and beauty abound and surround the perimeter in a canopy of green. Stone walls outline the landscape and oaks meet pines in a breathtakingly beautiful park-like setting. The rear deck is a great location for entertaining or just enjoying the quiet nature that surrounds you, the co-listing agents said.

The owner added that the backyard is amazing. The children have spent many hours wandering and exploring the surrounding wooded areas. I love gardening so Ive enjoyed taking care of the many different plants and flowers, and recently my husband built me a vegetable garden.

Less than a mile from this house is the Connecticut Audubon Center and its Roy and Margot Larsen Wildlife Sanctuary, just about a five-minute walk away. The seven miles of trails provide opportunities for hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and birdwatching. There is even a wheelchair-accessible trail. Also close by is Burr Elementary School, just a mile and a half away.

We are not far from stores and supermarkets so it is a convenient location as well, one owner said. It is truly a beautiful peaceful place to live.

The current owners have renovated the house. They replaced the basement floors, pulled up the carpet in the family room and refinished those wood floors. We have refreshed and painted almost every room in the house. Because we love to work in the yard, we have done a ton of landscaping, the owner said.

Inside, the formal living room has a marble fireplace, while the family room features a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace as well as a wet bar and French doors to the deck. The formal dining room has a large bay window and wainscoting on the lower walls.

Release your inner chef in the spacious eat-in kitchen, according to the co-listing agents.

During the pandemic we have eaten so many different styles and genres of food, the owner said. It features granite counters, two pantries, a breakfast bar, and sliding doors to the deck. Also on the main level there is an office/bedroom and a second powder room. The first is off the kitchen.

TYPE: Colonial

ADDRESS: 261 Hemlock Hills Road South

PRICE: $989,000

NUMBER OF ROOMS: 9

FEATURES: 3.44-acre level and lightly wooded parcel, partially fenced property, located on a cul-de-sac, deck, fire pit, garden area, underground sprinkler, exterior painted in 2019, move in ready, wet bar, storm doors and windows, Anderson windows, cable - available, central vacuum, three fireplaces; close to Burr Elementary School, the Connecticut Audubon Center, and the Roy and Margot Larsen Wildlife Sanctuary; easy commute to the Merritt Parkway and Black Rock Turnpike shopping; about 10 minutes to downtown, Metro North Railroad station and I-95, storage shed, stone wall, attached under house two-car garage, new zoned central air conditioning (July 2020), oil heat, 50-gallon water heater tank, attic, full finished basement, work bench area, public water connection, septic system, generator-ready, massive amounts of storage throughout, four bedrooms, three full and two half baths

SCHOOLS: Burr Elementary, Tomlinson Middle, Fairfield Warde High

ASSESSMENT: $669,130

TAX RATE: 26.79 mills

TAXES: $17,926

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms. The large master bedroom suite has a walk-in closet and its bath has a double vanity and oversized shower.

The lower level is a wonderful surprise, the agents said. It offers an incredible bonus space with endless function and options including a second family room, billiard or media space, home gym or another office if necessary, a full bath, a work bench area and lots of storage.

We raised our family in this neighborhood and could not have been happier I cant think of a better place to have raised our family. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we have, the owner said.

For more information or to set up an appointment to see the house, contact Lori Auerbach and Julie Vanderblue of Higgins Group Real Estate; Auerbach at 646-734-3514 or lori@vanderblue.com, and Vanderblue at 203-257-6994 or julie@vanderblue.com.

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On the Market: Fairfield home offers mix of privacy and community - Fairfield Citizen

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PUBLISHED: 20:40 12 November 2020 | UPDATED: 20:40 12 November 2020

The Wild Ken Hill estate, on the west Norfolk coast near Snettisham, has added a herd of red poll cattle and Exmoor ponies to boost biodiversity on its site. Picture: Les Bunyan

Les Bunyan

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More than 1,000 acres of farmland are being given back to nature at Wild Ken Hill, between Snettisham and Heacham.

And the rare-breed beasts now roaming the rewilding project have been introduced for their mixture of grazing, browsing and soil disturbance aiming to replicate the natural land-management behaviour of the wild herbivores that wandered through this landscape many thousands of years ago.

The hardy Exmoors will be well suited to a life in the wild. The estate says Exmoor ponies that have not been handled are usually difficult to get close to, and will typically run off when walkers or dogs get close, rather than confronting them.

Similarly the Red Polls, derived from the original cattle of Norfolk and Suffolk, can thrive on coarse vegetation and were also selected for their small stature and calm nature. The 30-strong herd is made up of cows, calves and heifers, and there are currently no bulls.

The cattle and ponies, along with the estates wild deer population, will graze and browse off vegetation in the hope it will help to create the healthy woodland pasture environment that is associated with high biodiversity. Their dung also helps to cycle nutrients, and they carry seeds around in their fur which helps vegetation to spread.

READ MORE: Beavers set to breed in Norfolk for the first time in centuriesAnd the new arrivals will join the two Tamworth pigs released into the rewilding area last month, aiming to replicate the behaviour of wild boar that lived here centuries ago. The Tamworths have a different role to the Red Poll and Exmoors they disturb the soil, almost ploughing the top layer as they rootle in search of food. It is estimated that a mature Tamworth sow can disturb around 50 acres of topsoil in a year.

This behaviour helps vegetation to regenerate, and could help to restore overgrown acid heathland.

Project manager Dominic Buscall said: We are delighted to now have Red Poll cattle, Exmoor ponies, and Tamworth pigs all on site at Wild Ken Hill. Each of these species will enhance the variety of habitats here as part of our conservation, rewilding and sustainable farming work where we seek to be a national leader.

The herds will not only help graze down vegetation, but also assist with seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, soil disturbance, and a variety of important natural processes.

If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Eastern Daily Press. Click the link in the orange box above for details.

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Election officials are cautiously declaring victory after no reports of major cyber incidents on Election Day.

After millions of Americans voted, we have no evidence any foreign adversary was capable of preventing Americans from voting or changing vote tallies, Christopher Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said in a statement Wednesday.

But the long shadow of 2016, when the U.S. fell victim to extensive Russian interference, has those same officials on guard for potential attacks as key battleground states tally up remaining ballots.

Agencies that have worked to bolster election security over the past years are still on high alert during the vote-counting process, noting that the election is not over even if ballots have already been cast.

I think while its fantastic that yesterday was quiet, that tells you that the work is paying off. But we know the nature of the threats in the cybersecurity landscape dont go away, and you dont get to say, Oh, were good. You see the commitment and the effort and that has to continue, Election Assistance Commission Chairman Benjamin Hovland, who was nominated by President TrumpDonald John TrumpAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report Officials warn delayed vote count could lead to flood of disinformation New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots MORE, told The Hill on Wednesday.

Election officials at all levels of government have been hyper-focused on the security of the voting process since 2016, when the nation was caught off-guard by a sweeping and sophisticated Russian interference effort that included targeting election infrastructure in all 50 states, with Russian hackers gaining access to voter registration systems in Florida and Illinois.

While there was no evidence that any votes were changed or voters prevented from casting a ballot, the targeted efforts created renewed focus on the cybersecurity of voting infrastructure, along with the improving ties between the federal government and state and local election officials.

In the intervening years, former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson designated elections as critical infrastructure, and Trump signed into law legislation in 2018 creating CISA, now the main agency coordinating with state and local election officials on security issues.

Its like night and day, Edgardo Corts, who served as the Virginia commissioner of elections four years ago, told The Hill on Wednesday. In 2016 the level of coordination was almost nonexistent except in the immediate run-up to the election.

The election yesterday went very well, the lead-up to yesterday and yesterday itself went very well, and I think its a reflection of the ongoing effort that state and local election officials have put into election security, and the coordination that has developed at all levels of government, said Corts, who now works as an adviser to the election security team at New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice.

In advance of Election Day, CISA established a 24/7 operations center to help coordinate with state and local officials, along with social media companies, election machine vendors and other stakeholders.

Hovland, who was in the operations center Tuesday, cited enhanced coordination as a key factor for securing this years election, along with cybersecurity enhancements including sensors on infrastructure in all 50 states to sense intrusions.

On Election Day, we were able to in a time where we are so conscious about misinformation and disinformation being one of the biggest threats be able to drill down and see what is happening in a place, get factual information very quickly, and be able to report that out before something snowballs, Hovland said.

Top officials were cautiously optimistic Wednesday about how things went.

Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerOfficials warn delayed vote count could lead to flood of disinformation Warner wins reelection in Virginia Live updates: Democrats fight to take control of the Senate MORE (D-Va.), the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was clear agencies including Homeland Security, the FBI and the intelligence community had learned a ton of lessons from 2016.

That has included lots of coordination and sharing, including with private industry and social media companies, helping states and localities harden their systems, and focused intel collection to detect threats so they could be countered, Warner, who was elected to a third term Tuesday, said in an emailed statement.

He cautioned that were almost certain to discover something we missed in the coming weeks, but at the moment it looks like these preparations were fairly effective in defending our infrastructure.

A major election security issue on Capitol Hill over the past four years has focused on how to address election security threats, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when election officials were presented with new challenges and funding woes.

Congress has appropriated more than $800 million for states to enhance election security since 2018, along with an additional $400 million in March to address pandemic-related obstacles.

But Democrats and election experts have argued the $800 million was just a fraction of whats required to fully address security threats, such as funding permanent cybersecurity professionals in every voting jurisdiction, and updating vulnerable and outdated election equipment.

Election officials get a tremendous amount of credit on what they did with the limited amount of resources they had, said David Levine, a former Idaho election official whos now an elections integrity fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

Having regular, consistent funding that election officials can rely on could be really critical to helping ensure the integrity and security of our elections going forward, he added.

Threats from foreign interference have not disappeared, and threats to elections will almost certainly continue as votes are tallied, and into future elections.

A senior CISA official told reporters late Tuesday night that the agency was watching for threats including disinformation, the defacement of election websites, distributed denial of service attacks on election systems and increased demand on vote reporting sites taking systems offline.

The attack surface for disinformation and other foreign interference efforts extends well into the next month or two, the official said. There is no spiking the football here. We are acutely focused on the mission at hand. We are aggressively looking for any activity that could interfere with the election, and that is going to be our mission for the foreseeable future.

With Election Day coming only weeks after Director of National Intelligence John RatcliffeJohn Lee RatcliffeFederal official says voting security remains strong as polls begin to close Hillicon Valley: Officials express confidence in voting security amid early technical glitches | Unidentified robocall told millions to 'stay home' ahead of Election Day: report | QAnon's danger rises with divisive election Unidentified robocall told millions to 'stay home' ahead of Election Day: report MORE and other federal officials announced that Russia and Iran had obtained U.S. voter data and were attempting to interfere in the election process, the threats were only underlined.

When you look at what weve seen, I dont anticipate any of those threats going away any time soon, but weve seen what were doing is working, and we need to keep doing that and keep improving, Hovland said.

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Officials on alert for potential cyber threats after a quiet Election Day | TheHill - The Hill

The climate crisis is growing. The pandemic is causing dramatic and sustained changes in electricity transmission. And communities everywhere are learning the hard way about their vulnerabilities to disasters. Nonetheless, the past does not tell us everything we need to know to ensure grid resilience in the face of climate change.

We already know a lot about vulnerabilities. The months-long power outages in the wake of Hurricane Maria almost certainly contributed to unnecessary deaths due to delayed or interrupted healthcare, illustrating the complex intersection of disasters, social vulnerability, medical fragility and infrastructure collapse. The fatal wildfires in California requiring public safety power shutoffs illustrate all too well the problem of aging infrastructure, which contributes to the threat and the underlying vulnerability to disasters. These events are harbingers of the future. They provide clues as to what we may face and the role of our electric infrastructure in meeting these challenges, but we cannot build the grid of the future exclusively based on the needs and vulnerabilities of the past.

Assessing the durability of the electric grid, as well as other elements of essential infrastructure against disasters, requires an understanding of historical risk, as well as simulations for a range of uncertainties that the future holds. Compelling examples include climate change projections that show excess deaths in the tens of thousands in some urban areas over the next several decades due to increasing heat and humidity, creating additional strain on electrical systems and exacerbating the consequences of outages.

Threats from increasingly extreme weather events such as severe flooding, prolonged heat and drought, and coastal storms are coinciding with increasing reliance on electricity for daily life and for managing the growth of chronic diseases across the population. The shifting landscape of cybersecurity and the potential for attacks by state and non-state actors continue to evolve as well.

In addition to the changing threat and vulnerability landscape, we are learning more about how physical infrastructure and social vulnerabilities can exacerbate the uneven impact of a natural disaster at the community level, including the speed and degree of recovery. We also see this unevenness deepened by disaster recovery assistance programs, some of which have been shown to have less favorable outcomes for the socioeconomically disadvantaged and communities of color. Building the grid of the future requires attention to high impact, low probability events that may not actually be mere aberrations but may foretell greater catastrophes looming.

As with any infrastructure that is built to last for decades or longer, we have the choice of viewing an uncertain future as a threat or as a key contingency in our design of the grid of the future.

A good portion of the current U.S. energy infrastructure was built in the 1950s and 1960s. While there may have been some attempts at future-proofing the infrastructure at that time, the complexity of the threats we face today could not have been wholly understood nearly three-quarters of a century ago. Inevitably, the further out we try to predict, the more uncertain our predictions become, so how do we challenge ourselves to consider a fuller spectrum of scenarios in which threats may evolve over the coming decades?

The development of simulations playing out numerous scenarios at the outer boundaries of our uncertainty is necessary to ensure that our grid development is adaptable to the fullest possible range of potential disasters. Additionally, engaging all stakeholders is essential to ensure that the cascading social impacts of preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery efforts have the intended effects across the whole community. The need for input from community partners and advisory boards in the design and conduct of exercises and simulations cannot be overstated.

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), the utility that serves Chicago and northern Illinois, has partnered with the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia Universitys Earth Institute, to conduct just such a simulation within the utilitys Bronzeville Community Microgrid to better understand the benefits of investments in grid resiliency for social vulnerability during disaster recovery. This upcoming exercise will provide important insights into what the grid of the future might look like.

Nationally, FEMA has already identified the power grid as a lifeline for communities that is essential for health, safety and economic security. The critical role of electricity in recent major disasters reaffirms its importance in sustaining civil society, as well as illuminates the consequences that loom when the sustainment of this lifeline falls short. We cannot afford to wait for future disasters to reveal themselves to begin preparing for them. Coupling a thorough understanding of the past with a rigorous exploration of potential future scenarios will ensure we build a more adaptable and sustainable grid of the future.

Jeff Schlegelmilch is director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia Universitys Earth Institute, and the author of the book Rethinking Readiness: A Brief Guide to Twenty-First-Century Megadisasters from Columbia University Press.

Aleksi Paaso is director of distribution planning, smart grid, and innovation at Commonwealth Edison Co.

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Looking back won't tell us everything we need to know about grid vulnerability | TheHill - The Hill

B. June Hutchinson has been honored with the second annual Rose Standish Nichols Award by Beacon Hills Nichols House Museum for for her dedicationto landscape design, her research and writings about 55 Mt Vernon Street and the Nichols family, and her service to the Museum and community at large.

The RSN award was created to recognize individuals of outstanding achievement who embody the spirit of Rose Nichols. A noted landscape designer and author, Nichols lived in the four-story Bulfinch Federal Period brick townhouse at 55 Mount Vernon Street from 1885 until her death in 1960. As specified in her will, her home has been open to the public as a museum since 1961.

Like Nichols, Hutchinson was a writer and landscape designer before her recent retirement. Every morning when I woke up, I had a bevy of things to do to move forward a project that would better an institution or advance my writing, said Hutchinson recently. And those projects were many, all executed with thorough research into the past and a clear vision of the future.

Unlike Rose Nichols, who was only 23 years old when she became a landscape designer, Hutchinson began at midlife. She enrolled in Radcliffs program in landscape architecture and, with Ann Steinberg, founded Private Gardens in Weston, a landscape design firm that specialized in creating period gardens, most often of the early Federal and Queen Anne Victorian styles.

Hutchinson designed these gardens only after thoughtful research into the historical and cultural periods they represent. It is the same approach she executed during her many years on the Museums Board of Governors, including her stint as president from 2004-2007.

As she began her tenure, she recognized that the Museums future success depended on the use of professional management tools. Therefore, she set out to learn as much as she could about the field of museum management in part by attending workshops sponsored by the New England Museum Association and other groups.

Consequently she was able to initiate many significant projects such as laying groundwork for the successful pursuit of grants for furniture treatment, collection cataloguing and interpretation. Under her guidance, the Museum received its first major preservation grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

It was Hutchinson who from the very beginning recognized the importance of the museum being accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. She took the lead with executive director Flavia Cigliano to accomplish this and officially received the accreditation in February 2017.

Early on she also saw the importance of transcribing the Nichols family letters, which she did herself by spending hours over a period of several years. Her work enabled the Museums staff to bring many aspects of the Nichols lives into their exhibitions and interpretations.

For example Hutchinson learned that Rose and her sisters Marian and Margaret Nichols were suffragettes. Each had her own unique way of furthering the movement and subsequently the three devoted their lives to three distinct causes: pacifism, anti-corruption, and the defense of civil liberties.

So Hutchinson decided to stage a dinner party with a suffragette theme. The dining table was set with linens and the meal began with champagne and oysters, just as the family would have done. But this time Vote for Women signs appeared throughout the Museum, even on the Christmas tree in the courtyard.

In the family letters Hutchinson also discovered detailed descriptions of the familys holiday traditions, prompting her to bring them back to the Nichols House. Each year she, Jim Borden and Anne Conner would spend months in preparation to assure the festive decorations and stories they told were authentic. It is a festive time still enjoyed by the Museums many patrons and friends.

Roses father, Dr. Arthur H. Nichols, was known for his dining enjoyment. In his day ladies would leave for the living room when the meal was complete while the gentlemen remained at the table enjoying their cigars and brandy. Following their lead, Hutchinson would stage similar dinner parties at the museum.

The information Hutchinson discovered through her years of research ultimately led her to author At Home on Beacon Hill: Rose Standish Nichols and her family, which was published by the Museum in 2011.

Last years award went to Elizabeth Biddy Owens at a formal celebratory event. This year due to the pandemic, the Museum has elected not to hold such an event to present Hutchinson the Rose Standish Nichols Award.

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Hutchinson Honored With Rose Standish Nichols Award - Beacon Hill Times

Politicians across the United States nowadays have consistently failed to demonstrate that they are normal people. While this is due in part to the polarity of the current political landscape, politicians have neglected to deviate from their personas on Capitol Hill.

Their political rhetoric and beliefs have taken precedence over creating a human connection to voters.

The success of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs and Ilhan Omars livestream of themselves playing Among Us in late October, however, goes beyond two congresswomen playing a popular mobile game with well-known streamers to appeal to young voters. The congresswomen showed they were human.

Ocasio-Cortez and Omar broke the internet playing the hit mobile game on Twitch. The congresswomen played with several other popular streamers and encouraged viewers to vote early for the presidential election.

Ocasio-Cortez instantly shattered records as her stream drew in 439,000 viewers, the third-highest number of viewers for an individual stream in Twitch history. This all started the day before the stream, with an innocuous tweet in which Ocasio-Cortez asked if anyone wanted to see her play Among Us live on Twitch.

The tweet quickly gained massive support and some fans even began to prepare graphics for Ocasio-Cortez to use on her stream. Twenty-four hours later, the congresswoman from New York was playing in front of almost half a million viewers.

Ocasio-Cortezs and Omars Twitch event is part of a larger trend in which politicians have turned to the world of e-sports and video games to attract voters.

The Joseph Biden campaign opened an island named Biden HQ in the popular Nintendo game Animal Crossing: New Horizons in which players can roam and even take photos with an avatar of Joe Biden.

With the incredibly polarized landscape of politics, its no surprise Ocasio-Cortezs and Omars choice to livestream has drawn criticism from right-wing opponents.

Although their stream was associated with the upcoming election, both representatives found a way to accomplish something ordinary politicians have failed to do for decades appeal to young voters.

Since 1980, citizens 65 years and older and 45 to 64-years old have had much greater voter turnouts than citizens in the 18 to 29-year-old age range. Voters 65 years and older specifically have almost consistently had a turnout 20% greater than that of the 18 to 29-year old demographic, according to Census data.

While Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered substantial support from young citizens in both of his attempts for the Democratic National Partys nomination, there was a lower turnout for him at the polls during primaries.

It is evident there is a disconnect between politicians and the young voters they are trying to gain the support of.

This is incredibly problematic because several of the most pressing issues America faces climate change, racial injustice, the growing wealth gap are ones that will have the greatest impact on the future of young voters.

The hundreds of thousands of viewers that watched Ocasio-Cortez and Omars stream were undoubtedly composed of a considerable number of voters in the 18 to 29-year-old demographic. Over 73% of Twitch users fall in the 16 to 34-year-old age range, according to GlobalWebIndex stats from the second quarter of 2019.

Ocasio-Cortezs and Omars wholesome livestream was a breath of fresh air in a considerably vitriolic election season.

Political advertisements have resorted to unprecedented levels of mudslinging, with many constantly tagging each other and their views as radical. Watching two congresswomen peacefully coexist and have fun for a few hours is exactly what the public needed.

Going forward, politicians should engage in similar activities that appeal to young voters and prioritize the human aspect of politics.

Ocasio-Cortez and Omar are a few of the politicians that have done this effectively through social media, and it is part of the reason they are heavily favored in their respective congressional races.

If more politicians follow in their footsteps, the U.S. system of democracy will become much more inclusive for voters of all ages and have more dignity than it currently retains.

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AOC playing Among Us is not sus The Ticker - The Ticker

Global Sickbed Market Research report 2020 provides detailed analysis of industry status and outlook of major regions based on of key players, countries, product types, and end industries. This research report offers the overall analysis of the segments such as market opportunities, import/export details, market dynamics, key manufacturers, growth rate, and key regions. Global Sickbed market research report consist information according to the manufacturers, regions, type, and application.

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Chapter 1: Market Overview, Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities, Segmentation overviewChapter 2: Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 3: Production by RegionsChapter 4: Consumption by RegionsChapter 5: Production, By Types, Revenue and Market share by TypesChapter 6: Consumption, By Applications, Market share (%) and Growth Rate by ApplicationsChapter 7: Complete profiling and analysis of ManufacturersChapter 8: Manufacturing cost analysis, Raw materials analysis, Region-wise manufacturing expensesChapter 9: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12: Market ForecastChapter 13: Sickbed Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source.

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Global Sickbed Market 2020 Impact of COVID-19, Future Growth Analysis and Challenges | Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Invacare Corporation, Drive Medical,...

Strategy and communications consultancies Gonring, Lin, Spahn (GLS) and Walnut Hill Advisors have entered a strategic partnership.

The partnership will allow the firms to pursue new business opportunities and provide existing and potential clients with additional relationships, reach, and expertise, stated a release from the companies.

GLS has offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC and provides consulting services in government relations, issue advocacy, public relations and crisis management, strategic philanthropy, and creative development. The company works with corporations, non-profits, and high-net-worth individuals to lobby the three levels of government, shape and raise visibility for non-profit and other campaigns, tell client stories via every channel, manage charitable giving efforts, and shape creative communications.

GLS was founded by Andy Spahn, who has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, political, and non-profit arenas. He was previously the head of corporate affairs and communications at Dreamworks, overseeing all work related to government and community relations, media, new business development, internal affairs, real estate, and all charitable and political matters. Before that, he was an EVP at the David Geffen Company and president of the David Geffen Foundation.

Walnut Hill Advisors is based in New York, and provides a similar range of services as GLS. The firm delivers consulting on political and civic engagement, executive and personal branding, talent assessment and executive search, crisis communications and management, public affairs, fundraising, and strategic grant making, among other areas.

Founder Jeffrey Stewart has more than 25 years of experience working at the intersection of business, politics, media, and civic engagement working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and non-profits. Stewart spent the bulk of his career at Loews Hotels & Co, holding numerous senior roles, including director of development, SVP for communications and public affairs, and chief of staff to the chairman & CEO. He started his career as an attorney, serving as an assistant attorney general in the State of New York and as a finance director for Chuck Schumers 1998 senatorial campaign.

The two allied firms now have a presence across the power centers of Washington, New York, and Los Angeles, and a wider base of experience and relationships.

The pandemic has affected society in so many ways and has made clear the importance of leadership. Weve seen the critical role that individuals and the private sector can and must play in confronting the complex challenges before us, said Stewart. We are excited to partner with best-in-class GLS as we assist and guide high net-worth individuals and organizations through the ever-shifting business, political, and philanthropic landscape.

Spahn added, We welcome the opportunity to lock arms with Walnut Hill during these challenging, but exciting, times.

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Strategic comms firms Gonring, Lin, Spahn and Walnut Hill Advisors team up - Consulting.us

Id like to tell you about Taras Ochota, an Australian winemaker who died in October. But first I need to tell you about Nicolas Joly. And before that, I need to tell you about my two-day honeymoon.

It was a quick trip to Charleston, S.C., after my husband and I were married in coastal North Carolina, a few months before our sons second birthday. Because Felix was so young and our babysitting options limited, we made the most of one night, eating and drinking wine at more than a few restaurants. The evening ended at the Peninsula Grill with a bottle of wine that was well out of our price range: a Nicolas Joly Savennires.

It was one of those watershed moments in the life of any wine drinker, transforming ones understanding of what wine can be and do and conjure. These moments are rare and wonderful, and years later it happened to me again with Mr. Ochota.

At the Peninsula Grill, I offered tastes of the Joly wine to those around us, exclaiming, You have to try this! Thus began a longstanding, sentimental obsession with Savennires a small town in the Loire Valley surrounded by chenin blanc vineyards and particularly the winemaker Nicolas Joly, a pioneer of biodynamic viniculture in France. Mr. Jolys wines vary by year, but always retain the elements that hooked me in the first place: a touch of honey, the intense minerality of the slatey soil, an edge of nuttiness (in both senses of the word).

Nine years after our wedding, our family took a trip to France, one that wed been saving for since well before our son was born. Most of it was spent in Paris, but we carved out two days to visit Savennires.

Before our trip, I got an email from a friend of a friend in the wine business. He wondered if we might be interested in spending the day with Mr. Joly and his family.

As we drove up to the Coule de Serrant vineyard, originally planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks, we were giddily nervous. We knew we were in over our heads, being wine lovers but not experts. What would we talk about with Mr. Joly all day? Would our ignorance show?

We need not have worried. In the soaring library of his chateau, the 70-year-old Mr. Joly questioned us about our lives and told us about his. We talked about politics and religion and winemaking and love. On the grounds, he pointed to cows in a field and declared that he always thought cows were closer to God, because their horns pointed to the heavens.

Lunch with Mr. Jolys wife and adult son and daughter was slightly more strained. I could tell that the rest of his family had the same question I did: What were we doing there?

In his office, where he chose from a collection of antique pipes, we resumed our flowing conversation as Mr. Joly smoked.

France is dead, he declared, gesturing to the ancient building around us. Look at this. Beautiful, but crumbling. And America is dying. (He often spoke like an oracle.)

You should go to Australia, he said. There is new life there.

Three years later, we did.

Our meeting with Mr. Joly taught me something thrilling about wine: Sometimes you can taste the soul of the maker in the bottle. This is not always the case. So much wine is made purely as a product, or as a result of longstanding tradition, or as an act of hubris. But there was a reason wed connected with that particular wine on the night of our honeymoon, a reason it stirred something deeper than pure enjoyment. It was as mystical and weird and complex as the man who made it.

Which brings me to Taras Ochota.

I moved back to Australia in 2017 not knowing nearly enough about my home countrys wines. There is a deficit of great Australian bottles that make it to the United States, and a glut of terrible ones. Traditional Australian winemaking has long favored hot sun, big reds and fruity, oaky whites all things I struggle to love.

But a new breed of winemaker is emerging here. Many of them have been seduced by the natural wine movement. This produces some truly exciting and delicious things, but also many wines that taste like sweaty must.

It wasnt until I came across Mr. Ochota that I felt the same kind of connection that had drawn me to Mr. Joly, his philosophy and the personality of his wines.

I met Mr. Ochota on a trip to the Adelaide Hills, the mountainous region to the north of Adelaide, while working on an article about South Australia. We met at an old church that he and his friends had converted into a restaurant, Lost in a Forest, with a huge stone pizza oven on what had been the altar. The name is a reference to an early song by the Cure.

We ate very good pizza and drank extremely strong mezcal Bloody Marys, and Mr. Ochota told me about his background as a surfer, musician and winemaker.

He grew up in South Australia drinking the wines made by his Ukranian-born grandfather, and he studied oenology at the University of Adelaide. He played in punk bands, and worked as a winemaker in California, Italy and Sweden, but he always returned to South Australia. Eventually, he and his wife, Amber, started their own label, Ochota Barrels.

He poured me a glass of his Slint chardonnay. Slint, as in the band? I asked, not knowing that Mr. Ochota named all his wines after bands or songs. The chardonnay was startling: textured but steely, full of tightly wound energy. It was unlike the Australian chardonnay Ive come to avoid, but it also wasnt trying to imitate France or Spain or anywhere else.

We drove up into the hills of the Basket Range to his house, which he shared with his wife, two young children and a gaggle of animals. The lush landscape reminded me of the hollers of West Virginia, the hills intimate and folded in on themselves. The winery is barely more than a shed. On the steep hill above his home, hed planted riesling vines, and inside he showed me where Mick Jagger played piano when hed visited late one night.

Mr. Ochota picked grapes much earlier than is traditional in this region. I felt as though the grapes had something to say, and the overripeness was taking that away from them, he said. He used grapes from his own vineyards, but also farmed odd stretches of organic and biodynamic vines around the hills and McLaren Vale. In his wines I tasted something thrilling and unique to this part of the world.

Mr. Ochota was a wild man and a gentle soul, and that combination attracted people to him. Eric Asimov, The Timess wine critic, wrote to me about him:

He was such a lovely, vital guy, full of life force. Its tempting to think of Taras as kind of a mad man, given his rock star background and general devil-may-care affect. But what really struck me about him is that, as a winemaker, he was professionally trained and pragmatic. He was most interested in expressing the purity of the vineyards, and would not countenance flaws that might dilute that expression. He also seemed to have his priorities in order. Were just making a drink, not solving world peace, he said.

Its spring here in Australia, and Ochota Barrels latest wines were released just a few weeks back. I drank the latest vintage of their ros, Surfer Rosa, on one of Melbournes first sunny, warm days. Ive worn out my love of ros, growing tired of its easy fruit and often predictable acid. But, like so much of what Mr. Ochota produced, this was different: complex, grassy, herbal. I could taste the thoughtfulness and wit and odd brilliance of the man who made it.

Two days later I woke to the news that Mr. Ochota had died at 49, of complications related to a long-term autoimmune condition.

Wine is just a drink. But for those of us who obsess over it and love it and attach part of our identities to it, it can be more. It can be a way to express the soul of a piece of land, a marriage, a person. Im not sure there was anyone in Australia who achieved that better than Taras Ochota.

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When Wine Is More Than Just a Drink - The New York Times

A concept that previously garnered attention with activists and select government agencies, environmental justice (EJ) is now regularly discussed in corporate boardrooms and among C-suite executives.[1]This is for good reasonEJ has risen to prominence in recent years and months, buoyed by current social justice efforts, the recognition of health disparities underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a presidential campaign in which EJ has taken center stage.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines EJ as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. In the United States, EJ is arguably seeing the most significant progress since its outgrowth from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. In addition to increased EJ advocacy in 2020, newly proposed federal legislation seeks to reframe the way in which the law addresses and incorporates EJ into existing systems for environmental protection. At the state level, new legislation and guidance set the tone for significant reform, with states like New Jersey and Connecticut passing historic measures to build EJ requirements into permitting and remediation procedurespotentially serving as models for other jurisdictions to follow.

These converging trends signal what will likely be a notable shift in the status quo, with potential for exponential amplification by the presidential and congressional election outcomes. The Democratic Party presidential nominee, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., has released dedicated climate and EJ policy proposals, promising sweeping changes to federal EJ policy and prioritization should he and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), win the White House. In addition, congressional election results could shift party dynamics such that the recent increase in EJ-related bills could have a strong chance of becoming law. Regardless of election outcomes, the Biden campaigns forceful prioritization of EJ has spurred those on both sides of the aisle to take a stand. As such, the federal discussion on advancing EJ is likely to continuealbeit in different wayseven under a second Trump term.

Although the most significant EJ activity has occurred at the state level, federal-level changes may be on the horizon, with much at stake in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Indeed, during the last presidential debate of this election cycle, the moderator asked a question about EJ and Biden responded by acknowledging the importance of protecting fenceline communities. Should he take office, all indicators suggest that EJ will be a government-wide priority. Not only has Biden released the most comprehensive EJ platform of any presidential candidate, but his selection of Senator Harris, a longstanding EJ advocate, as his running mate signals his commitment to follow-through on his campaign promises. In his July 2020Plan to Secure Environmental Justice and Equitable Economic Opportunity, Biden advocates for such far-reaching initiatives as: establishing an Environmental and Climate Justice Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; instructing the Attorney General to implement Senator Cory BookersEnvironmental Justice Act of 2019through executive action; and overhauling EPAs program responsible for enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (Title VI).

A second term of the Trump Administration may also usher in a new wave of EJ prioritization. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in arecent public addressdeclared that community-driven environmentalism will be a focus of a second Trump term and is the best opportunity in at least a generation to solve the environmental justice issues we face today. He retorted that community-driven environmentalism will do more for environmental justice than all the rhetoric in political campaigns.

Beyond the White House, shifts in Congresss composition may have similarly significant impacts on EJ policy given a recent spike in EJ-specific legislative proposals. After co-sponsoring the Green New Deal, Senator Harris introduced two EJ bills in August 2020: theEJ for All Act(S.4401; H.R.5986) and theClimate Equity Act(S.4513; H.R.8019). The former is a sweeping overhaul of federal EJ policy, calling for expanding National Environmental Policy Act requirements for community engagement; amending the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act to require consideration of cumulative impacts in permitting decisions; and expanding the private cause of action under Title VI by explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on disparate impacts. The latter requires Congress to consider the impacts of legislation, regulation, or investments on EJ communities in its decision-making, in addition to creating a Climate and Environmental Equity Office within the Congressional Budget Office. After introducing the Environmental Justice Act in 2019, Senator Booker released theEnvironmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act(S.4617; H.R.8271) in September 2020, which increases funding for cleanup of legacy pollution and amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit issuance of new major source air pollution permits in overburdened communities. Additional recent EJ-related bills include theClean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act(H.R.4447), which the House passed in September and features a section on EJ that incorporates the Environmental Justice for All Acts key provisions, and thePublic Health Air Quality Act of 2020(S.4369; H.R.7822), which would require facility-specific fenceline monitoring of air pollution in certain communities. These bills foreshadow EJ legislation that may be passed by the next Congress.

In recent years, several states have enacted or proposed legislation that strengthens existing civil rights laws and establishes new EJ-specific laws. As a result, the vast majority of states now address EJ in some fashionvia legislation, agency policy and guidance, or advisory groupswith fewer than five failing to mention the concept at all. While there has been recent EJ activity in states from coast to coast, the extent to which a particular state addresses EJ varies widely. Some states, like California, have robust EJ schemes, while others make only passing reference to the concept. Overall, since 2017, the Trump Administrations deregulatory environmental agenda has inspired greater state activity, including concerted efforts to promote EJ on behalf of their most vulnerable residents.

Notably, New Jerseyslandmark EJ law, signed into law in September, promises to have wide-reaching effects. Under the legislation, applicants seeking new or renewed permits for specific categories of facilities sited in overburdened communities must submit an Environmental Justice Impact Statement that evaluates the potential cumulative environmental and public health stressors associated with the permitted activity. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), in accordance with the law, has published a list of overburdened communities, defined as any census block group with significant low-income, minority or non-English speaking populations (approx. 310 municipalities). The legislation empowers NJDEP to impose conditions on or deny a permit in its entirety, based on the agencys review of the applicants Environmental Justice Impact Statement. The law also introduces significant public engagement and public notification mandates on applicants. These requirements apply to permits for a wide range of facilities, including but not limited to: anything defined as a major source of air pollution under the Clean Air Act; resource recovery facilities or incinerators; sludge processing facilities, combustors, or incinerators; sewage treatment plants with a capacity exceeding 50 million gallons per day; and certain kinds of landfills. The new legislation goes further than any other state EJ law and may serve as a model for other similarly inclined jurisdictions in the future.

Beyond the Garden State, other states have developed a host of strategies in recent years to further their EJ objectives, including establishing EJ oversight and advisory committees, identifying EJ communities statewide, and expanding public engagement requirements. Recent examples include:

Since 2013, the California Environmental Protection Agency has had anEnvironmental Justice Compliance and Enforcement Working Groupnow known as theEnvironmental Justice Task Forceto ensure that EJ is incorporated into state compliance and enforcement programs.

Maryland passedlegislationin 2018 that created a commission tasked with studying and making recommendations to the state legislature on EJ issues in Marylands second most-populous county.

In 2019, New York created apermanent EJ advisory groupresponsible for overseeing state agencies implementation of EJ principles.

In 2020, Virginia established theVirginia Council on Environmental Justicedesigned to advise the governor on how to best to protect vulnerable communities from disproportionate impacts of pollution.

In October 2020, Connecticutpassed a bill (HB7008)amending the states 2008 EJ legislation to increase opportunities for community stakeholders to get involved and improve transparency and accountability. Under the new law, towns with more than five affecting facilities[2]are required to make an agreement with the owner or developer of additional sites where the owner agrees to fund ways to lessen environmental impact of the development. In addition, site owners are required to meet expanded community engagement requirements to advertise permit hearings. The bill goes into effect on November 1, 2020.

In 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) began updating and revising its2004 Environmental Justice Public Participation Policy. In October 2020, the PADEPissued a noticestating that it would withdraw the draft revised policy and continue working on it to develop a Policy that will focus on integrating EJ into other [PADEP] practices and policies to provide tangible benefits to communities. It did not provide a timeline for the revision process.

With few laws directly addressing EJ, activists have found little success attempting to vindicate EJ communities rights in the courts.[3]After the Fourth Circuits recent opinion in theFriends of Buckinghamcase, however, that tide may be changing.[4]In that case, the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board (Air Board) granted a permit to construct a compressor station that would have been part of the now-abandoned Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Union Hill, a predominantly African American community established during the Civil War.

Plaintiffs challenged the Air Boards decision arguing that it failed to perform its duties under Va. Code (Ann. 10.11307(E)) to consider the potential for disproportionate health impacts from the compressor station and made an incomplete and misinformed site suitability determination. The Fourth Circuit agreed, concluding that the Air Board (1) failed to make findings regarding Union Hills demographics, (2) failed to consider the potential air pollution impacts regardless of compliance with applicable air emissions standards, and (3) relied on an incomplete factual record in assessing site suitability. As such, it vacated the issuance of the permit and remanded the matter back to the Air Board.

TheFriends of Buckinghamcase is particularly significant because, although the proposed compressor station would have met applicable air quality standards, the Fourth Circuit determined that compliance with environmental thresholds alone was insufficient to account for EJ concerns. In fully embracing the importance of EJ, the Fourth Circuit explained that [t]he Boards reliance on air quality standards led it to dismiss EJ concerns. . . . But environmental justice is not merely a box to be checked, and the Boards failure to consider the disproportionate impact on those closest to the Compressor Station resulted in a flawed analysis.[5]

WhileFriends of Buckinghamis persuasive precedent, EJ litigants generally do not prevail in traditional litigation and often turn to administrative remedies, primarily Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as creatively using other civil rights laws. For example, in Illinois, a coalition of environmental groups filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in August alleging that the City of Chicago violated the Fair Housing Act and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The alleged violations stemmed, in part, from the citys decision to approve the relocation of a recycling facility with high toxic air pollution from a wealthy neighborhood to an EJ community.[6]Undoubtedly, EJ activists will continue to find creative ways to assert EJ claims.

The breathless pace with which EJ developments continue to emerge leaves many stakeholdersincluding the regulated communityanxiously wondering how they should mitigate risk, reform their practices, and proactively incorporate EJ best practices. This is particularly true given that despite its renewed momentum, EJ remains difficult to define. Notably distinct from other environment, health, and safety compliance areas, EJ lacks a dedicated, overarching federal statute mandating specific actions and remedies. That may not be the case for long. As these changes continue to emerge, industry actors, in particular, will do well to follow the current state of play in the EJ spacepaying particular attention to state activity and creative litigation by EJ advocatesto understand how such developments can affect continuity of operations and compliance in the coming months. Cases likeFriends of Buckinghamare reminders that it is integral for industry stakeholders to assess the EJ implications in areas in which they operate, understand the impacts of their operations on vulnerable communities, andultimatelyshow themselves to be good neighbors.

[1]For example, Duke Energy Corp.s CEOrecently discussedthe companys development of EJ principles to be sensitive to how a project might affect residents closest to a facility and be more proactive on stakeholder engagement.

[2]Affecting facilities include certain electric generating facilities, certain sewage plants, waste incinerators, certain processing or recycling facilities, medical waste, landfills, and any major source of air pollution.

[3]See e.g.,Town of Weymouth v. Mass. Dep't of Envtl. Prot.(1st Cir. 2020) (rejected plaintiffs claim that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection failed to comply with the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Policy in review of air permit for compressor station).

[4]Friends of Buckingham v. State Air Pollution Control Bd., 947 F.3d 68 (4th Cir. 2020).

[5]Id. at 91-92.

[6]https://aboutblaw.com/SzR

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The Evolving Landscape of Environmental Justice in 2020 and Beyond - The National Law Review