Auckland Council spends millions each year removing graffiti from across the region nearly four times what Wellington and Christchurch councils spend combined.

That war on graffiti has stifled creativity and left a bland, soulless city in its wake, a prominent street artist says.

Auckland Council pays contractors about $4 million a year to get rid of graffiti, according to figures supplied under the Official Information Act.

RYAN ANDERSON/STUFF

An Artifex piece on the Mercury Theatre building in central Auckland.

Wellington City Council spent $450,000 in 2018 and in Christchurch, where a vibrant street art culture is emerging, the council spent $800,000.

READ MORE:*Auckland street artist says he could face criminal charges over K' Rd mural*Auckland Council's $20m spend on graffiti removal comes under fire*In pictures: Auckland street artist AresArtifexbrightens up the city*Emerging Mangawhai artist Mark Graham transcends his tagging past*New Zealand street art gets a global platform

Until July 2019, Auckland Council employed controversial private investigators Thompson & Clark the private eye firm atthe centre of a State Services Commission inquiry into their work spying on anti-government protesters to catch graffiti vandals, but had no idea how many were prosecuted.

The totalcost of that contract to the ratepayerwas $600,000.

North Shore street artist Jesse Jensen, 34,known under theartist name ofAresArtifex, said the policy made it hard for street artists to find places to paint.

"Art is proven to be one of the most effective measures at improving mental health, our city and suburbs could be way more beautiful and full of street art improving the quality of lives of all Aucklanders," he said.

Auckland Council told Stuff it differentiates graffiti from street art through permission status; if permission has not been sought from the buildingowner, the council considers it to be graffiti.

"We mitigate the risk of this by ensuring our contractors have an updated 'do not remove' list. We work with our contractors to take a common-sense approach to removal," it said in a statement.

"If the item is a mural or a work that appears to havesome artistic merit but does not appear on the 'do not remove list', we will then check with the asset owner to see if permission has been granted to that artwork or not."

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF

Street art movement: In Palmerston North, ten international artists and 40 local youth are painting 20 large scale murals around the city this month. Auckland artist Charles Williams works on his mural on the FMG building on Jersey Lane.

But Jensen said that was not what happens in practice; contractors are paid per removal and he has seen plenty of examples where contractors deface or paint over perfectly fine art.

According to council figures, contractors remove at least 40 worksof illegal graffiti for every incident that is reported, a 100 per cent increase from the contracts awarded before 2019.

While the council does not have an anti-graffiti policy, it does use the2018 Quality of Life survey as a reference.

That found 41 per cent of Aucklandersperceived graffiti as a problem in their area and 35 per cent of Aucklanders highlighted vandalism as being a problem.

To address the street art movement, the council said it connectedartists with business associations and sponsors work across the city.

It has supported youth-led organisations with materials and expertise to bring their work to life, in places such asthe 312 Hub in Onehunga and The Corner.

But Jensen said what was happening at street level was much different.

SUPPLIED/JESSE JENSEN

A wall in New Lynn, Auckland painted by Jesse Jensen and fellow street artist.

It costs $570 to make an application to the counciland young artists can't afford that, particularly whenthe common response is "no", he said.

Jensen wants the council to open up alleyways, water tanks and the thousands of concrete areas around the city that could cultivate art and expression.

"In so many great cities around the world, Sydney, Brisbane, Berlin, London, the council encourages public space to be colourful and an expression of the community they get it," he said.

"Wellington, Christchurch, Whangarei, Tauranga, are doing it, but Auckland isn't there yet.

"We will get there, it will take a bit more time but I've got hope I don't think old ideas can stay around forever."

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Auckland Council spends $4m on graffiti removal, but is that how our streets should look? - Stuff.co.nz

Idris Khan is riding the crest of a wave. Still only 41, the British contemporary artist has been displayed in institutions including the British Museum in London and the Whitworth in Manchester. In November, he unveiled a significant public sculpture, 65,000 Photographs, on Londons South Bank.

As well as being supported by two top dealers, Victoria Miro in London and Sean Kelly in New York, he received an OBE in 2017 a year after he unveiled a vast public war memorial in Abu Dhabi.

His personal life also looks rosy. Khan is married to the sculptor Annie Morris, with whom he has two young children, as well as sharing a gracious, white-walled studio in Newington Green, north-east London. Its there that we meet; Khan tall, lean and bearded in dark jeans and zip-up jumper walks me through Morriss studio, which is dotted with frail, vibrant towers of spheres, into his own space.

A surprise awaits. Khans one-dimensional works have traditionally been starkly monochrome, often shimmering with lines of tiny text. But these paintings are done in deep, glowing blues, sometimes alive with whirling gestural strokes. Here and there, black musical notes erupt on to the white space, as if determined to be heard over the abstract roar.

To my eyes, these works, entitled Large Rhythm Paintings, are as powerful as any Khan has made. Yet when I exclaim my appreciation, Khan responds with modesty. Im always learning, he says. I dont want to seem overconfident in what I do. He goes on: All these things are a progression.

A clutch of Khans blue paintings have already been seen at Sean Kellys New York space last May. Now they are to take centre stage in a solo booth with Victoria Miro at Frieze Los Angeles. The shift in style began when Khan started working on gesso panels, which he sanded back to create what he describes as a beautiful smooth surface.

Khan points to two paintings on the other side of the room, featuring black-blue panels plain at a distance but laden with illegible text when you draw near. Their intensity casts a spell over the space, as if Mark Rothko had found inspiration in a Renaissance Madonna.

The Large Rhythm Paintings emerged from Khans long-held fascination with musical scores. First, he colours scans of the scores with washes of watercolour paint, before photographing the results. Then he paints over each C-type print with an ultramarine oil stick, using fluid, gestural strokes a process he describes as writing over writing. Its as if Khan is speaking more freely from his unconscious than ever before.

As for the blue, Khan says at first that it was prompted by being married to a sculptor who used it all the time. But theres more to it than that. Having worked for so long in monochrome, Khan was finding himself increasingly frustrated, because we dont see in black and white. What he wanted to find, he says, was a colour that could give me that same feeling, that spiritual quality as his work in black and white.

Khans spiritual heritage is a significant strand in his work. Brought up a Muslim hes no longer observant he grew up in Walsall. His Pakistan-born father was an orthopaedic surgeon, his Welsh mother a nurse and amateur pianist. His Islamic roots manifest themselves in various ways.

Early on, Khan developed the idea of photographing the pages of texts he loved, such as Beethovens piano sonatas and Roland Barthes Camera Lucida, then compressing them into abstract images, layer upon layer. Then his father suggested he do the same with the Koran.

The work, made in 2004, won critical acclaim. When Khan took it to Karachi to show his family, he also showed it to religious leaders, who were taken by its beauty.

Khan says he enjoys being able to dip in and out of his heritage. Aware that he possesses the empathy to work with Islam, hes also conscious that his identity acts as a licence to make certain kinds of work.

He doubts that someone with a western name could have made the Koran piece, for example, or been commissioned, as Khan was, to build a memorial to the war dead of the United Arab Emirates. That sculpture, unveiled in 2016, is constructed from seven aluminium-encased steel tablets; 23m high, they are cast with poems by emirs of the UAE.

The country is known for its problematic record on human rights and treatment of migrant labourers, and also participated in the Saudi-led coalition that has led attacks against the Houthi population in Yemen, causing brutal civilian suffering since 2015. Did Khan have qualms about any of this?

He tells me that when he accepted the project, he was very aware of the countrys issues with human rights. But he was also intrigued by the challenge of creating a big sculpture the memorial comes in at a whopping 42,000 sq m and made every attempt to verify that the contractors working on his project received decent treatment. Ultimately, the artist hopes the work will be understood as a monument not just to the regions soldiers, but to anyone who has ever lost anyone.

Listen to the film-maker discuss love, divorce and how Netflix is changing movies in the new episode of our Culture Call podcast. Plus: the FTs film critic on everything you need to know about this years Academy Awards

The subject has a personal resonance. In 2010, Khan lost his mother when she was just 59 years old. A little afterwards, he and Morris suffered a miscarriage. It was like a loss and new life, and that was taken away from us as well, he reflects, sucking in his breath at the memory.

His work, which had expressed notions of erasure and impermenance, now took on a new, private intensity. I would come into the studio and write down all the feelings I was going through, he recalls. I started making rubber stamps of that text and stamping and stamping...he pauses. It was a cathartic process, like chanting.

Like any good abstract expressionism, the new paintings succeed in conveying profound human feeling while also refusing reductive explanations. Khan gestures at the pristine white paper sandwiched between the bands of colour: For me, the most present thing in the paintings became the spaces between the painting.

Follow @FTLifeArts on Twitter to find out about our latest stories first. Listen to our culture podcast, Culture Call, where editors Gris and Lilah dig into the trends shaping life in the 2020s, interview the people breaking new ground and bring you behind the scenes of FT Life & Arts journalism. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

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Idris Khan on his spiritual heritage and the power of colour - Financial Times

PEORIA, Ill. The former Double As Pizza Sports Bar & Grill building on Radnor Road is finally getting a new owner.

Weavers Fresh Food & Drink is expected to fill the spot thats been empty for nearly two years. The future establishment is currently in the renovations process, with contractors still painting and setting up furniture in the building.

The restaurants owner, Matt Weaver, was the previous co-owner of Sheltons Bar on West Farmington Road. Weaver said the when it came to opening the new establishment, it was a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

I had my eye on the building for a while and feel the timing is right, Weaver said.

He said the restaurants food will be a variety including pizza made from scratch, as well as salads, sandwiches, Cincinnati chili, lemon shakeups, and more.

Weaver said the restaurant will also include some unique additions such as game rooms for kids, carry-outs and private rooms for business meetings, sports teams, and family get-togethers.

He also made it clear there would be no gambling machines.

I decided to keep it more focused on fun for the whole family and maximize seating rather than putting in gambling machines, Weaver said.

He said the restaurant is expected to open in early March.

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New family-friendly restaurant to take over former Double As building - CIProud.com

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDSDare County Animal Shelter

Sealed bids for completion of the Dare County Animal Shelter will be received on February 11, 2020, in the Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC, for 01-Fencing, 03- Concrete, 04-Masonry, 05-Metals/ Steel, 06-Casework, 07-Roofing, 07-Caulking, 08-Glass and Glazing, 08-Doors, Frames and Hardware, 08-Overhead Doors, 09-Drywall, 09-Flooring, 09-Painting, 10- Specialties, 12-Furnishings, 21-Fire Protection, 23-Mechanical & Plumbing, 26-Electrical, 31-Sitework and 32-Landscaping.

This project will be bid and awarded in accordance with North Carolina law. Sealed proposals from Contractors will be received until 1:00 p.m. All bidders must submit for prequalification by 2:00pm on 2/3/2020. Bids submitted by non-prequalified bidders will not be considered. All bids will be opened and read aloud starting at 2:00 p.m. of the bid day. Bids must be delivered in person and on the supplied Bid Form and include a bid deposit worth 5% of the total bid value. Electronic and faxed bids will NOT be accepted or reviewed. All times are local prevailing times.

Information requests concerning the project shall be submitted in writing to: Alex Palagyi of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company via email (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com)

Bidding material, prequalification material, and complete plans and specifications may be obtained from the Whiting-Turner Building Connected site and will be available until the bid due date. All subcontractors are responsible for emailing Alex Palagyi (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com) for access to the Building Connected site.

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Dare County reserve the right to reject any and all bids, waive informalities and irregularities in bidding, and to accept bids which are considered to be in the best interest of the County. The Whiting Turner Contracting Company and Dare County also reserve the right to require any bidder to submit information needed to determine if said bidder is responsible within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-129.

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Feb. 1: St. Andrew's By The Sea Annual Acolytes Chili/Chowder Cook-Off - The Outer Banks Voice

NCDOT is warning drivers today to use caution on NC 12. Crews are working to remove wind-blown sand from the travel lanes of NC 12 in spots between Rodanthe and the Basnight Bridge. The road is currently open, but motorists should drive with extreme caution and expect delays while crews work. Strong Northeast winds are expected to continue today.

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDSDare County Animal Shelter

Sealed bids for completion of the Dare County Animal Shelter will be received on February 11, 2020, in the Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC, for 01-Fencing, 03- Concrete, 04-Masonry, 05-Metals/ Steel, 06-Casework, 07-Roofing, 07-Caulking, 08-Glass and Glazing, 08-Doors, Frames and Hardware, 08-Overhead Doors, 09-Drywall, 09-Flooring, 09-Painting, 10- Specialties, 12-Furnishings, 21-Fire Protection, 23-Mechanical & Plumbing, 26-Electrical, 31-Sitework and 32-Landscaping.

This project will be bid and awarded in accordance with North Carolina law. Sealed proposals from Contractors will be received until 1:00 p.m. All bidders must submit for prequalification by 2:00pm on 2/3/2020. Bids submitted by non-prequalified bidders will not be considered. All bids will be opened and read aloud starting at 2:00 p.m. of the bid day. Bids must be delivered in person and on the supplied Bid Form and include a bid deposit worth 5% of the total bid value. Electronic and faxed bids will NOT be accepted or reviewed. All times are local prevailing times.

Information requests concerning the project shall be submitted in writing to: Alex Palagyi of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company via email (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com)

Bidding material, prequalification material, and complete plans and specifications may be obtained from the Whiting-Turner Building Connected site and will be available until the bid due date. All subcontractors are responsible for emailing Alex Palagyi (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com) for access to the Building Connected site.

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Dare County reserve the right to reject any and all bids, waive informalities and irregularities in bidding, and to accept bids which are considered to be in the best interest of the County. The Whiting Turner Contracting Company and Dare County also reserve the right to require any bidder to submit information needed to determine if said bidder is responsible within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-129.

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Wind, sand complicating NC 12 travel - The Outer Banks Voice

Freire and Boone went on to collaborate on an additional projecta exhibition that stretched from Team to both of Boones New York locationsand they maintained a social relationship.

I love to go to the movies, and Mary Boone, it seems, also loves to go to the movies, Freire said. It was like, why bother going to an art dinner in a boring art restaurant where youve got to whisper because everyone at the other tables works at some other art gallery? We would go to movies on the Upper West Side, on Sunday afternoons, Sunday mornings.

Freire couldnt recall any special, shared cinematic taste between the two of them, but he does have a visceral memory of bringing her to see Michael Hanekes slow-burn thriller Cach (2005) at the New York Film Festival. Theres a point in that movie where someone, seemingly out of nowhere, slits their own throat. And Mary grabbed my armshe has kind of, you know, couture-y nailsand they went right into my arm. I thought to myself, Make a note: Never take Mary Boone to see a scary movie again!

I asked Freire if he thought Boone would make a return to the New York art world once her prison term is up. Somewhat surprisingly, he said nobut not due to any failing on Boones part, nor because of any backlash from the community regarding her financial crimes.

It might just be that Boonewho cut her chops in the high-flying 1980s and became a dashing personality to be reckoned withsimply cant compete in an age where international mega-galleries gobble up artists and estates.

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Artists Reflect on Mary Boones Legacy a Year after Her Prison Sentencing - Artsy

UPDATED: THE collapse of Ri-Con Contractors this week a financial hole at least $540,000 deep in the region, a liquidator's report revealed.

Thirty businesses and individuals around the region were owed money when the Sunshine Coast-based builders moved into liquidation on Monday.

Brisbane Electrical Contractors and Engineering was the hardest hit, with the liquidator estimating the business was owed $236,000.

O'Brien Plumbing Gympie was also due $116,000, and owner Tim Bothams said this week the actual figure is actually $41,000 higher.

Tim Bothams says Ri-Cons debt to his business was almost $160,000.

Cooroy Engineering was due $36,000, Evans Painting Contractors was owed $33,000, CPM Engineering was owed $25,000 and Cardale Concrete Pumping was owed more than $25,000, the report revealed.

RELATED

* Gympie council says it was told subbies paid

* Gympie subbies in lurch as another builder goes bust

Campbells Truck and Bobcat and Landscaping, Nicks Readymix and Quarry Boys Gympie were owed between $5000-$17,000 each.

All Areas Rendering, CavSheds, CBD Corporation, Cooroy Sheet Metal and Tank Work, Evan's Painting, Fishy's Earthmoving, Gympie Blinds, Gympie Garage Doors, Gympie Landscape Supplies, Suncoast Roadmarking, Superior Skip Bins, The Water Man and Tim Spring Transport were also owed money.

Ri-Con worked on the Kilkivan Equestrian Centre.

The amount owed to 10 of the 30 businesses and individuals was still to be confirmed.

Liquidator Paul Nogueira said Ri-Con's director "has advised the company and its business began to experience financial difficulty about December 2019, following a failure to secure new projects for an extensive period of time".

"The reduction in projects severely affected the company's cash flow, resulting in its current insolvent position.

Inadequate working capital, continued trading losses and a downturn in the industry and economy were the given reasons for Ri-Con's insolvency, Mr Noguiera said.

Along with its Sunshine Coast office, Ri-Con had offices in Darwin and Broome.

More than 400 creditors were owed money by Ri-Con when it shut.

* The story has been updated to reflect an additional Gympie business on the list.

See the article here:
Hundreds of thousands, 30 businesses hit by company collapse - Noosa News

By Michelle Wagner | Outer Banks Voice on January 26, 2020

As Southern Shores continues to grapple with whether to move forward with a town-wide beach nourishment effort in 2022, Town Council has agreed to begin investigating how it might fund such a project which could carry a price tag of between $14 to $16 million.

While Southern Shores piggybacked on the north end of Kitty Hawks nourishment project in 2017 in order to pump sand onto about 1,500 feet of eroded beach to the east of Pelican Watch, such a town-wide project would be a first for the municipality.

During a Jan. 21 work session, the council directed town staff to coordinate with the Charlotte-based financial consultants DEC Associates to begin exploring options for creating Municipal Service Districts (MSDs) that would ultimately help the municipality foot the bill for widening town beaches.

Properties in the MSDs, likely those on and near the oceanfront, would be assessed a separate levy to help pay for the cost of the project. Town funds would not have to be raised until the 2021-22 fiscal year.

If we are contemplating [beach nourishment] options or no options, that funding source is as important as anything elsewhat we are going to ask people in the audience here to potentially pay, said Council Member Matthew Neal during the Jan. 21 session on beach nourishment options. I am a newly elected individual and raising taxes is not my key thing.

Newly elected Council Member Elizabeth Morey echoed Neals comment. In order for us to make an informed decision, we need to have the people who pay the property taxes know what amount of payment they are looking at, she said.

The town, if it moves forward with sand pumping efforts, is banking on Dare County to kick in at least $7.6 million from its Beach Nourishment Fund. That would leave Southern Shores needing to come up with $1,073,928 annually over the five years of the Special Obligation Bonds. That translates to 7.82 cents of the property tax equivalent, DECs Andrew Carter told the council.

This is your skin in the game, he said, adding that neighboring towns have made the same contribution. Carter also noted that all the towns have raised the funds for their projects differently. Some have multiple MSDs, some have taxed town wide or theyve had a hybrid of those two methods.

While Dare County Manager Bobby Outten acknowledged that the county does have between $7.5 and $8 million to contribute to a beach nourishment project somewhere in the county, he told the Voice that county commissioners havent yet to determine where that money will be earmarked.

Through its Beach Nourishment Fund, Dare County has helped to fund Southern Shores beach nourishment study. It also recently embarked on a similar study in Avon. The board [of commissioners] hasnt chosen where to spend the money yet, Outten said, adding that once the study is completed in Avon, the board would have to prioritize. We havent gotten that far yet.

At the Jan. 21 meeting, DECs Doug Carter explained that such a project involves a commitment to re-nourish every five years. Once you start it, it never ends, he added. You make your beach better, and in five years you replenish it again. Once you are in the business of beach nourishment, you are in the business of beach nourishment.

The Jan. 21 session also included a presentation by APTIM Coastal Planning and Engineerings Ken Wilson, whose firm has conducted the beach nourishment study for Southern Shores and assisted in the development of its Beach Management Plan.

In addition to two nourishment options it had previously presented that included pumping sand onto the beach from 3rd Street south to the town line, Wilson outlined two additional options that would include nourishing the entire stretch of towns shoreline.

If the town decides to proceed with one of those options, DECs Doug Carter encouraged council members to sell the county on the project, and that it provides the greatest benefit to the community from an economic perspective.

For his part, Outten noted that there are a few factors that could create urgency when it comes to a county commitment. One is how quickly do they need it and how quickly are beaches eroding.

Another possible factor involves consolidating projects. The towns of Duck and Kitty Hawk are also expected to do re-nourishment projects, possibly in 2022, and conducting neighboring projects at the same time can save millions of dollars on the mobilization process, he said.

Still, as the county manager noted, there wont be any decisions on where the countys nourishment money will go until the Avon study is complete, which will likely be sometime this spring. That means Southern Shores may have a little wiggle room before it decides whether it wants to move forward with beach nourishment and make its pitch to the county.

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDSDare County Animal Shelter

Sealed bids for completion of the Dare County Animal Shelter will be received on February 11, 2020, in the Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC, for 01-Fencing, 03- Concrete, 04-Masonry, 05-Metals/ Steel, 06-Casework, 07-Roofing, 07-Caulking, 08-Glass and Glazing, 08-Doors, Frames and Hardware, 08-Overhead Doors, 09-Drywall, 09-Flooring, 09-Painting, 10- Specialties, 12-Furnishings, 21-Fire Protection, 23-Mechanical & Plumbing, 26-Electrical, 31-Sitework and 32-Landscaping.

This project will be bid and awarded in accordance with North Carolina law. Sealed proposals from Contractors will be received until 1:00 p.m. All bidders must submit for prequalification by 2:00pm on 2/3/2020. Bids submitted by non-prequalified bidders will not be considered. All bids will be opened and read aloud starting at 2:00 p.m. of the bid day. Bids must be delivered in person and on the supplied Bid Form and include a bid deposit worth 5% of the total bid value. Electronic and faxed bids will NOT be accepted or reviewed. All times are local prevailing times.

Information requests concerning the project shall be submitted in writing to: Alex Palagyi of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company via email (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com)

Bidding material, prequalification material, and complete plans and specifications may be obtained from the Whiting-Turner Building Connected site and will be available until the bid due date. All subcontractors are responsible for emailing Alex Palagyi (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com) for access to the Building Connected site.

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Dare County reserve the right to reject any and all bids, waive informalities and irregularities in bidding, and to accept bids which are considered to be in the best interest of the County. The Whiting Turner Contracting Company and Dare County also reserve the right to require any bidder to submit information needed to determine if said bidder is responsible within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-129.

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Southern Shores ponders town-wide beach project - The Outer Banks Voice

Thank you all for the overwhelming show of love and support for this event! The 35th Annual Stumpy Point Oyster Feast will be held from noon until 5 on Saturday, February 8 at the Stumpy Point Community Center. The menu includes all-you-can-eat oysters both in the shell to be shucked and fried. Fried fish,coleslaw, baked beans, potatoes, and hush puppies round out the menu.

Stumpy Point Civic Club met Friday and voted to continue the annual Oyster Feast which had been announced earlier as being cancelled. Money from the event will benefit the Civic Club and the Stumpy Point Volunteer Fire Department which is this years major sponsor.

Calls and emails flooded into the village after the earlier cancellation was announced. Callers said that they planned their trips to the Outer Banks based on the date of the feast. It had become a tradition with many families from both near and far.

Civic Club members decided the annual event not only served to bring people to the village tucked into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, but also was a way to bring the village together by offering a way that both newcomers and generational residents could work together providing a peek at a unique commercial fishing village.

The cost of the feast is $30 for adults; $12 for children 12 and under. Bring plenty of cash! In addition to a fantastic meal there will be a bake sale, raffle, and sweatshirts for sale. Join us on February 8 and help us continue the tradition!

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDSDare County Animal Shelter

Sealed bids for completion of the Dare County Animal Shelter will be received on February 11, 2020, in the Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC, for 01-Fencing, 03- Concrete, 04-Masonry, 05-Metals/ Steel, 06-Casework, 07-Roofing, 07-Caulking, 08-Glass and Glazing, 08-Doors, Frames and Hardware, 08-Overhead Doors, 09-Drywall, 09-Flooring, 09-Painting, 10- Specialties, 12-Furnishings, 21-Fire Protection, 23-Mechanical & Plumbing, 26-Electrical, 31-Sitework and 32-Landscaping.

This project will be bid and awarded in accordance with North Carolina law. Sealed proposals from Contractors will be received until 1:00 p.m. All bidders must submit for prequalification by 2:00pm on 2/3/2020. Bids submitted by non-prequalified bidders will not be considered. All bids will be opened and read aloud starting at 2:00 p.m. of the bid day. Bids must be delivered in person and on the supplied Bid Form and include a bid deposit worth 5% of the total bid value. Electronic and faxed bids will NOT be accepted or reviewed. All times are local prevailing times.

Information requests concerning the project shall be submitted in writing to: Alex Palagyi of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company via email (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com)

Bidding material, prequalification material, and complete plans and specifications may be obtained from the Whiting-Turner Building Connected site and will be available until the bid due date. All subcontractors are responsible for emailing Alex Palagyi (alex.palagyi@whiting-turner.com) for access to the Building Connected site.

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Dare County reserve the right to reject any and all bids, waive informalities and irregularities in bidding, and to accept bids which are considered to be in the best interest of the County. The Whiting Turner Contracting Company and Dare County also reserve the right to require any bidder to submit information needed to determine if said bidder is responsible within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-129.

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Feb. 8: The 35th Annual Stumpy Point Oyster Feast is back on! - The Outer Banks Voice

By Michelle Wagner | Outer Banks Voice on January 25, 2020

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, North Carolina ranked eighth in the nation in the number of human trafficking cases in 2019, with 92 of the 132 cases reported involving sex trafficking. This year, perhaps in response to growing concern over its prevalence, the N.C. General Assembly mandated that all employees in North Carolina schools be trained in reporting and preventing child sex trafficking.

And while local experts say they dont have definitive numbers when it comes to trafficking in Dare and Currituck counties, one thing is certain. It is happening. Tina Pennington has seen this firsthand since opening the doors of the Currituck-based anti-trafficking organization, Beloved Haven, five years ago.

The majority of the girls we have worked with in the last five years have been out of either Dare County, Currituck County, or Elizabeth City, so its really close to home, she said during a Jan. 18 Trafficking in my Backyard training session sponsored by her organization, Outer Banks Hotline and the Currituck County Sheriffs Office.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Pennington and other experts at the Jan. 18 training said predators often use social media as a tool for grooming individuals, often middle-school and high school-aged children, as victims.

The Jan. 18 training session came a few weeks after a 13-year-old Currituck County girl went missing, triggering extensive law enforcement efforts that located her several days later in Georgia. That proved not to be a trafficking case, but the local girl had been lured away from home by another teen girl she met online.

The age of the missing girl in that case should not come as a surprise, experts say. Pennington noted that when it comes to online exchanges between a child and predator, the average age for victims both girls and boys being lured into such a situation is 13.

Pennington, whose organization recently opened a drop-in center for sex trafficking victims in Elizabeth City, said that the crime in Dare and Currituck counties looks different than in Elizabeth City, where street prostitution isnt uncommon.

Here, we find that it is all done online and runs under an escort on sites such as Skip the Games, she told the group of about 30 participants. Every day, you will go on and see about ten or fifteen listings and you will see where that girl is located, and you will be floored when you find out it is here.

Dont take my word for it, asserted Pennington. You can actually research it and find out it is happening here in our communities.

Pennington said that traffickers connect with young people online and pretend to be the one who understands them, who is going to make it alright during a volatile time of childhood. She said the men, or their recruiters who are sometimes other girls, often groom victims online to build a relationship and make them believe they care about them.

She added that Beloved Haven is often contacted by parents who have discovered concerning content on their daughters phones.

Weve had to go to the sheriffs department on several [occasions] on just textingyoung girls texting with guys they think are sixteen-years old and we find out its a forty-five-year-old man in Missouri whos just about go her to agree to meet him. Its just really important to know what your kids are doing on social media, and who theyre talking to. Its hard, I know, to monitor and to also allow that privacy.

She added: We dont want to scare kids to death or make them afraid to even go outside because a white van might drive by and throw them in the back. Please dont think thats what trafficking looks like, because it doesnt.

For his part, Currituck Sheriff Matthew Beickert asserted that there is always the possibility of a trafficking situation. A lot of times, these things are similarly going on and they dont turn out bad someone will meet someone who they believe is their own age and they turn out they are. But its just a matter of time before someone is fooled.

Beickert noted that his department has a task force assigned to internet crimes against children and officers are trained annually on trafficking, adding that his staff works closely with the SBI and FBI on potential trafficking cases. He also said that he hopes to incorporate education regarding healthy relationships into the high school freshman orientation.

Outer Banks Hotline Executive Director Michael Lewis said that while the N.C. General Assembly mandated training in schools, it didnt say how that training should look. Lewis said his group, along with Beloved Haven and Albemarle Hopeline, are going to partner to develop a program on what human trafficking looks like not only for staff, but also for students and parents.

Lewis said that while the General Assembly didnt indicate how much training the employees had to have, he hoped Outer Banks Hotline would be in the schools on a monthly or quarterly basis.

In response to a question about the vulnerability of foreign students coming to work on the Outer Banks, Lewis said: Weve had some information that some of your foreign students have been victims of trafficking. We havent had any come forward to say that theyre victims.

Pennington said that Beloved Havens drop-in center in Elizabeth City, which opened in July, provides victims with a safe place to go. Its mission is to make connections with trafficking victims to help them begin to take the next steps to leave that situation.

The drop-in center allows us to prepare them to be ready to leave, and hopefully have a plan, she said. We knew there was this huge gap between rescue and success.

Recalling a victim in Ocracoke who reached out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline for help, was transported to the Outer Banks Hospital and then to a medical center in Greenville only to leave again, Lewis said the task of helping these victims is complex and involves many agencies.

There are some successes and some failures, explained Lewis. You are going to have more failures, but if we can just save one, thats what we are here for.

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDSDare County Animal Shelter

Sealed bids for completion of the Dare County Animal Shelter will be received on February 11, 2020, in the Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC, for 01-Fencing, 03- Concrete, 04-Masonry, 05-Metals/ Steel, 06-Casework, 07-Roofing, 07-Caulking, 08-Glass and Glazing, 08-Doors, Frames and Hardware, 08-Overhead Doors, 09-Drywall, 09-Flooring, 09-Painting, 10- Specialties, 12-Furnishings, 21-Fire Protection, 23-Mechanical & Plumbing, 26-Electrical, 31-Sitework and 32-Landscaping.

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The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Dare County reserve the right to reject any and all bids, waive informalities and irregularities in bidding, and to accept bids which are considered to be in the best interest of the County. The Whiting Turner Contracting Company and Dare County also reserve the right to require any bidder to submit information needed to determine if said bidder is responsible within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-129.

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'It's really close to home' - The Outer Banks Voice