Barry Morphew was working for a company owned by a longtime friend and arrived to do the work a full day before the job was scheduled to begin. What was Barry doing in Broomfield on Mothers Day?

A Colorado-based reporter has shared new information about Barry Morphews supposed alibi the day his wife Suzanne Morphew was reported missing.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Suzanne disappeared sometime on Mothers Day weekend; initial reports indicated that she had gone for a bike ride on the morning of May 10 and never returned. But while investigators reportedly found Suzannes abandoned bike not far from her Maysville, Colorado, home the same day she was reported missing, there has never been any concrete evidence that Suzanne actually went for a bike ride that day. She was last seen alive in the neighboring town of Salida the day before, when witnesses reportedly saw her and Barry out getting sandwiches.

While authorities in Colorado have said very little about the investigation since Morphew disappeared, Barry Morphew has said he was in Broomfield, Colorado, that weekend to work on a landscaping job; specifically, to build retaining walls next to the northwest parkway in Broomfield, about a three hour drive from Maysville. According to all available information, Morphew is believed to have left home for Broomfield in the early hours of Sunday, May 10, and returned to Maysville later the same day after he was contacted about his wifes disappearance.

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Lauren Scharf, a F0x 21 News reporter who has shared some of her reporting independently on her YouTube channel, revealed in a new video report on Thursday that Barry Morphew was contracted for the Broomfield job by a company based in Indiana, where he and Suzanne lived until 2018. Scharf said in her report that a general contracting company, Garrett Construction LLC, outsourced the job to E. A. Outdoor Services, LCC. That company then hired Morphew, who appears to have been working as an independent contractor since moving to Colorado, where he also works as a volunteer firefighter.

The president of E.A. Outdoor Services, LLC is Tony Miller, who Scharf revealed in the video is a longtime friend of Barry Morphews. Scharf said that Miller himself hired Barry for the job, and the report suggests a lack of transparency about the work assignment.

None of the public documents I dug up for this job ever mention Barry Morphew, Scharf said.

A worker for E.A. Outdoor Services who reportedly spoke to Scharf on the condition of anonymity expressed doubts about Morphews alibi and also said they knew nothing about Barry Morphew until after Suzanne Morphew disappeared.

According to the report, the Indiana-based source said the original retaining wall job took place in October 2019, but the work was considered poorly done. Morphew and his subcontractors were reportedly scheduled to return to fix and complete the job on Monday, May 11 raising the question of why Barry Morphew arrived to Broomfield a full day ahead of the planned work.

The source also said that the work was not considered particularly urgent, according to the new report.

Further, Scharf said she found that the city of Broomfield did not issue a special permit for work on the site to be completed on a weekend, which city ordinances reportedly require.

A Colorado-based contractor who worked for Barry Morphew told Scharf that when they arrived to the site on Monday, May 11, it looked as though Barry had done about half an hour of work. But the Indiana-based source who works for E.A. Outdoor Services told Scharf they did not believe Barry did any work on the wall that Sunday.

Him having to be there on Sunday, Mothers Day, to do that job was a lie because we wouldnt have allowed that if we had known, the worker said.

Interviews and documents Scharf collected reportedly show that necessary equipment for the work in May was never ordered. One of Barrys contractors told Scharf that they tried to do what work they could on that May Monday with the tools available to them, but acknowledged it was inadequate.

As Scharf notes in her report, the E. A. Outdoor Services LLCs website states that all landscaping jobs are monitored daily.

So my question is: Who from E.A. Outdoor Services was monitoring Barry on Sunday, when he started the project on the wall?, Scharf asked in the video.

Scharf called Tony Miller, the president of E.A. Outdoor Services, to ask him that question. Miller said only, No comment, according to Scharf.

The E.A. Outdoor Services worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity spoke more candidly.

None of it made any sense at the time, and it does not today, they said.

Watch the full report here:

Read more of CrimeOnlines extensive coverage of the Suzanne Morphew case here.

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BREAKING: Missing Suzanne Morphew husband Barry Morphew's 'alibi' questioned as new details surface about landscaping job Mother's Day weekend [VIDEO]...

AMHERST Renovations to historic municipal buildings and long-anticipated improvements to the North Common and Main Street parking lot in front of Town Hall are among $2.43 million in proposals seeking Community Preservation Act money.

In addition to requests to support affordable housing initiatives, $1 million for the build-outof a new special collections room at the Jones Library will again be reviewed by the CPA Committee. The special collections room is part of a $35.6 million renovation and expansion project.

The committee anticipates having recommendations brought to the Town Council in January.

Requests for major building repairs are coming from Jeremiah LaPlante, the towns facilities and maintenance manager. One of these is $408,500 for fixing the slate roofs at Town Hall, Munson Memorial Library, and the North Amherst School.

Repairing and replacing the slate roofs ensure the historic integrity and appearance of the three town buildings, LaPlante wrote in the application.

Another $265,000 is needed for restoring the historic stone steps at the main entrance to Town Hall and the emergency entrance on the south side of the building.

A long-delayed project to rehabilitate the North Common, the greenspace in front of Town Hall originally to have commenced in 2018, will depend on adding $500,000. The town would have close to $2 million on hand, if the money is approved.

The project will preserve a revered part of the historic Town Common, onto which the historic Town Hall, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Church Parish House and the 19th century buildings along South Pleasant Street front, states the application, submitted by Senior Planner Christine Brestrup. The project will also preserve a number of the historic trees on the North Common along with the historic Womans Christian Temperance Union fountain.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman said it is time to bring back the plans, which were last presented as part of a Destination Amherst initiative to bring more visitors to downtown prior to the pandemic.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring is asking for $40,000 that would shore up the south wall of the North Amherst Library, weakened during previous alterations to the building.

Removing and replacing the aging pavilion at Groff Park next to the Fort River would cost $45,000, while $65,000 would go to repair the main swimming pool at Mill River Recreation Area.

For affordable housing, the Amherst Municipal Housing Affordable Housing Trust is asking for $800,000 for development projects, such as to assist in the possible reuse of the East Street School for affordable apartments, and extension and expansion of an emergency rental assistance program.

We anticipate that the major share of funds would be spent to support a developer, following a detailed application and careful review by the Housing Trust, the trust wrote in its application.

Amherst Community Connections is seeking funding for four to six housing vouchers for chronically homeless individuals, at a cost of $151,140 to $226,710, and the District One Neighborhood Association is asking for $51,500 for an archeological heritage study of woodlands along trails from Mill River Recreation Area to the Cushman Common. There, cellar holesand retaining walls from long-gone mills, most of which had closed by the 1920s, and the Cushman Clam Club, a place where local parties and weddings were held, would be catalogued.

Finally, officials at Goodwin Church are seeking $12,000 to supplement $12,500 already raised as part of Restoring Goodwin. The money would be used to maintain the historic building by reshingling the roof, rebuilding the chimney and adding insulation to the attic and walls.

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Latest round of CPA requests total $2.43 million in Amherst - GazetteNET

In the 1999 film, For Love of the Game, Billy Chapel (played by Kevin Coster) is pitching for the Detroit Tigers and in the midst of a perfect game.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, with his arm weary and aching, he looks up to see Ken Strout ready to bat for the New York Yankees. Ken Strout is the son of Joe Strout, who Chapel played with 20 years prior.

Ken Strout is the last chance for the Yankees to break up the perfect game. As Chapel sees him walking up to the plate, he looks up and says, simply, Why not?

Thats how Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), might be feeling after this past week at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Harvick started on the pole and led early, but he brushed the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall early on as the track may or may not have been a little wet during a constant mist. Then the rains came and, after more than 72 hours, the race finally got restarted late Wednesday afternoon.

Or, better than Why not? perhaps an overriding thought in Harvicks mind is, Its a journey.

Thats because 2020 has been a journey for everyone. NASCAR conducted four races, took a nine-week break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then contested 30 races in six months before getting delayed by rain for more than 72 hours this week at Texas.

Never fear, though, because we (might) be almost done.

Harvick finished 16th at Texas and is still first in points, 42 markers above the cutoff to advance to the Championship 4.

He now moves on to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the final race in the Round of 8.

Harvick has one win, five top-fives, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 628 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville. His average start there is 14.1, his average finish is 14.9, and he has a lap completion rate of 98.2 percent 18,695 of the 19,039 laps available.

Thankfully, Harvick will have the help of Mobil 1 as a sponsor and partner at the tight, half-mile Martinsville paperclip.

Mobil 1 isnt just the worlds leading synthetic motor oil brand, it also provides the entire SHR team with leading lubricant technology, ensuring that all SHR Mustangs have a competitive edge over the competition on the track. In its 18th consecutive season as the Official Motor Oil of NASCAR, Mobil 1 is used by more than 50 percent of teams throughout NASCARs top three series.

During the playoffs, Mobil 1 is giving fans the chance to win exclusive prizes, including signed exclusive SHR gear, race gloves, race used parts and die casts, one-of-a-kind stickers and a once in a lifetime opportunity to receive a zoom call from SHR co-owner Tony Stewart or Harvicks SHR teammate Cole Custer.

To find out more or to enter, fans can head to http://officialmotoroilofnascar.com/.

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Kevin Harvick Its a Journey - Speedway Digest

I go and read Frosts Mending Wall, since there is time for poetry again. But his spirit of bemused doubt now strikes the wrong note; the poets polite acquiescence to his patrician, wall-loving neighbor has lost its New England gentility. Its not hunters making the holes in walls anymore, as he has it in the poem. Its the hunted. And mostly they fail to make it through, and instead get crushed up against the walls, as happens in a stampede. There are 26 million refugees in the world and nearly 46 million internally displaced people. There is no patience left for this beautiful poem anymore, is what I think, shutting the book and replacing it on the shelf. Not in this burning, ravaged world.

I think of all the ancient walls in the Mediterranean, in the Levant, built to terrace the land, so that it could grow grapes and olives, and which the millenniums have worn down and crumbled, have kicked in like teeth. Not long ago, Reuters reported that the chief rabbi of the Western Wall said that Jews should refrain from kissing its stones, so as not to spread the virus. That there is a chief rabbi suggests that this broken old section of retaining wall, whose holiness is born only of proximity, has more than one rabbi assigned to it. In any case, no one listens to the rabbi or rabbis of the holy wall: Everyone is still putting their lips to it.

The house is quiet. My children are busy trading emeralds for pigs. In a magazine, I encounter the phrase moral injury. The article, written by a war correspondent who has reported from conflict zones for 30 years, describes a condition that has come to light in her line of work. A moral injury, as defined by the expert psychologist quoted in the article, is a wound on the soul, an affront to your moral compass based on your own behavior and the things you have failed to do. There is a pandemic of moral injury, I think: It is impossible to read about the state of the world anymore without feeling a wound on the soul, an affront to our moral compasses based on our own behavior and the things we have failed to do.

I do a search of the journalist who wrote the article and discover her TED Talk. This is how war starts, she says. One day, you are living your ordinary life, youre planning to go to a party, youre taking your children to school, youre making a dentist appointment. The next thing, the telephones go out, the TVs go out, theres armed men on the street, theres road blocks, your life as you know it goes into suspended animation. She tells the story of a friend who was walking down a street in Sarajevo, in Bosnia, in April 1992, wearing a miniskirt and high heels, on her way to her job at a bank, when suddenly she saw a tank coming down the main road, knocking down everything in its path. She hid behind a trash can, feeling ridiculous. A few weeks later she was in a crowd of people, holding up her infant son and pushing to give him to a stranger on one of the last buses leaving Sarajevo to take children to safety. She struggled to get to the front. Everyone was yelling, Take my child, take mine! At last she managed to pass her son through a window of the bus. She didnt see him again for years.

My own children are now asleep upstairs, along with the dog. Not the one they feed in Minecraft, but the one I feed here, in our shared reality. They are too big for me to be able to pass them through the window of a bus, or to carry them at all. If a civil war breaks out, they will need to be able to walk or run themselves.

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Were Living in a World of Walls. Here Is a Window to Escape. - The New York Times

Oct. 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin

An effort to revitalize the neglected Hallets Cove peninsula along the Astoria waterfront will begin this winter, local Council Member Costa Constantinides announced Monday.

Construction crews will remove a nearly-70-year-old decaying pier at the site and plant new wetland vegetation in its place to restore its natural ecology.

Theyll also clean the litter dumped along the riverbank, cut down trees that have grown within the sites retaining wall and replace a chain link fence with a new railing.

Constantinides has sought to clean up the cove since he took office in 2014. He has allocated $1 million to the revitalization project since 2015 and former Borough President Melinda Katz invested another $3 million.

The days of Hallets Cove as a crumbling dumping ground are over, Constantinides said.

His office partnered with the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the Queens Borough President and the Mayors Office to make the project a reality.

Thanks to our partnership with the EDC, the Queens Borough President, the Mayors Office, and the surrounding community, we will make good on a promise to reimagine this waterfront by restoring its ecology, Constantinides said. Im so excited we can get back to work and realize this vision for western Queens.

The council member hopes the upgrades will improve the quality of life for nearby residents of the Astoria Houses.

The residents at the Astoria Houses and the entire north western Queens neighborhood are excited to see this project get off the ground, said Claudia Coger, President of the Astoria Houses Residents Association.

As a lifelong Astoria Houses resident and a lover of the outdoors, Im especially grateful to see these beginning stages of our waterfronts revival and restoration.

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Revitalization of Astoria's Hallets Cove Waterfront to Begin This Winter - Astoria Post

It is Government 101: Protect the citizenry and allow them to flush their toilets.

From left, EPA Region 4 administrator Mary Walker, EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler, DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, DeKalb Watershed Management Director Reggie Wells and DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson pose for a photo following a Monday morning press conference to discuss a $265 million loan that will pay for sewer repairs in DeKalb County. SPECIAL PHOTO PROVIDED BY EPA

Thurmond said that 59 miles of new sewer trunk line (the big uns) will be installed in the county, including 41 miles in southwest DeKalb, where the most and the worst sewer spills occur. So much of the work must be done there partly because it has some of the oldest and most deteriorating lines.

The other part of it is race, Thurmond said. You dont make significant investments in lower-income minority communities. They were complaining but their voices were not being heard.

I get why people are frustrated, he added. You dont have any easy answer. (The fixes) are expensive and time consuming.

Its good news that DeKalb is finally getting on with it. Thurmond likes to say the work has accelerated since 2017. By the way, that is when he came to office. He says $800 million in repairs have happened since then, compared to just $300 million before. Part of that is a new leader recognizing this had to be done. And part of it is a government that has slowly pulled itself out of a morass of its own making.

In 2013, the courts released a grand jury investigation into corruption in DeKalb. It found evidence of endemic incompetence, patronage, fraud and cronyism in the government. The digging started when a DeKalb grease-trap inspector got caught taking bribes from restaurants.

Then-District Attorney Robert James initially focused his investigation on work connected to the $1.35 billion in capital improvement projects with the sewers. When you have that kind of money around, he figured, funny stuff happens.

Water and sewer upgrades are planned across DeKalb County, including at the Snapfinger Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Decatur. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

After the grand jury report came out, I was assigned to look into the findings. I decided to start by examining the first major contract awarded in this enterprise. It was $7.7 million to an engineering firm for work at the new Snapfinger Creek Wastewater Plant in south DeKalb. But the hiring of the small, obscure firm raised several questions. When AJC reporter April Hunt and I raised some of those questions to county officials, they let the firm go. And then the county had to rebuild a retaining wall because of shoddy work.

It went on like that. Stuff was screwed up from the start. Literally.

The investigation ended with the prosecution, conviction and imprisonment of then-CEO Burrell Ellis on tangential charges. The higher courts later overturned his case.

But over the years, three more of the seven county commissioners were indicted on various corruption charges, and DeKalb couldnt get out of its own way. The sewer revitalization project languished. During this time, the county burned through $80 million in interest on the money borrowed for the projects.

In 2015, DeKalbs interim CEO Lee May hired Scott Towler to oversee the sewer project. In interviews with those who worked with Towler, I was told he was a hard-charging, square manager who started getting the county focused on the job.

However, Towler ran into trouble with higher-ups when he started complaining that businesses were hooked up to DeKalbs system, even though there wasnt the sewer capacity for it. This was a touchy subject because no government entity wants to have its hands tied when bringing in development.

A year later, Towler was gone, leaving behind a letter blasting the county for, he said, making him bend the rules. Thurmonds office called him a disgruntled ex-employee who was double-dipping with his car allowance.

He later settled a whistleblower lawsuit for $40,000.

Commissioner Nancy Jester, who jumped headlong into the sewer issue after coming on the board in 2015, said: Scott Towler was crucial in changing the course in making DeKalb compliant. He was the necessary manager. Anyone who says otherwise is not clear on what happened. He ran up against politics.

Now, DeKalb is barreling forward, again, with a plan to fix its sewers even though critics like Jacqueline Echols, head of the South River Watershed Alliance, said the county has dragged its feet in trying to forthrightly face the issue. Her organization last year filed suit in federal court, saying the county was not doing enough to prevent spills. Her org said DeKalb was not being held responsible when it spills.

Between 2012 and 2019, the county reported 1,297 spills and paid $859,000 in fines an average of $662 per spill. Thats like a bad speeding ticket.

They could fine you $10 million, but thats $10 million you cant use to fix it, Thurmond said.

He added that no rate increase is in the offing for the near future. The county had several increases a decade ago. But commissioners say a hike is inevitable.

Zack Buersmeyer, a Tucker resident, has complained for years about sewer spills on his property and has used urinal cakes outside to help quell the smell. His property, next to South Fork Peachtree Creek, was on a 2017 list for sewer repairs. He said the county has three times in the past decade brought bulldozers to his property and taken down trees to allow work to be done on a sewer line behind his home. Theyve also been there many other times for minor repairs. Crews were out there again Tuesday.

Theres been so many changes with personnel; it seems like they start from scratch every three years, he said. But its just been a Band-Aid. Id like to see it future-proofed so they dont have to come back.

Not to worry, CEO Thurmond swears its a new day in DeKalb.

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OPINION: Flushed with pride that fix is in, finally, for DeKalb sewers - Atlanta Journal Constitution

A section of 1st Avenue (in light orange on the map at top) will undergo major reconstruction later this month. Detours will be marked

COLLEGEVILLE PA A portion of Route 29 from the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel, at the intersection of Main Street and 1st Avenue, north to Transfleet Concrete at 101 1st Ave. will be closed between Oct. 30 (2020; Friday) and Nov. 14 (Saturday) so contractors can complete renovations related to the realignment of the state-owned highway, the Collegeville Economic Development Corp. reported.

Improvements to the short stretch of highway coincide with the construction of a new Royal Farms convenience store (below) and fuel station near the intersection, and its accompanying changes to the roadway to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents an Main and 1st and 2nd avenues. The road will be closed to ensure the safety of residents and businesses located there, and the safety of those who will be working below-grade within feet of traffic, a CEDC blog post stated Friday (Oct. 23).

It said construction crews will install a more solid base under the road. They also need to complete a water main extension, do storm water work, build a retaining wall, curbing, sidewalks and full depth paving. Theres a rush to complete those projects before weather turns colder in mid-November, the blog added.

Detour routes are set and will be signed, CEDC said, but also advised we recommend you use a GPS tool like Google Maps to find efficient ways to get around.

Photo by The Post; map from Google Maps

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Reconstruction Ahead on Collegeville 1st Avenue - The Post - The Sanatoga Post

Staff reports| Herald Democrat

This week, The Texas Department of Transportation will begin its annual crack sealing operations in Grayson County. Throughout the process, there will be daytime lane closures.

In a news release issued by TxDOT, officials said delays along certain roadways can be expected.

"The following roadways in Grayson County will be crack sealed this year; Business US 377D in Tioga, Business US 377C in Collinsville, SH 289 from the Collin County line to US 82, FM 996 from FM 120 to FM 1417, SH 91 from US 75 to FM 1310, the US 82 frontage road in Sherman, FM 120 from FM 1753 to the Oklahoma State line, FM 1897 from SU 69 to the end of State maintenance, FM 898 from SH 11 to the Fannin County line, FM 121 from FM 3356 to SH 289, FM 120 in Pottsboro from Chrissa Drive to Vine St. and the US 75 frontage roads from FM 902 to the Collin County line," the release said.

Along with this special project, Texoma roadways will receive their regular maintenance as part of long term TxDOT projects.

"These schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure or other unforeseen issues," the same release said. "Motoristsare advised toremain alert and pay special attention to all signs, barricades and traffic controls, and reduce their speed as they approach and travel through work zones. They should also avoid distractions such as cell phones, eating, drinking, or car audio or navigation systems."

The following roads will be under construction this week:

"US 75, Grayson County: from FM 1417 to SH 91 (Texoma Parkway). Watch for shoulder closures and lane shifts on northbound and southbound US 75 between Center Street and FM 1417 as crews work on building new main lanes and the new South Travis Street Bridge. Watch for lane closures on the frontage roads between FM 1417 and Washington Street as crews work on building detours and installing drainage structures. The northbound exit ramp for Houston and Lamar (SH 56) is currently closed, and exiting traffic is requested to use the Park Avenue exit ramp. The southbound exit ramp for Park Avenue is currently closed and exiting traffic is requested to use the Houston/Lamar Street (SH 56) exit. The northbound frontage road from South Travis Street to near Park Avenue is closed in order for crews to work on building the remaining portion of the retaining wall along US 75 at the South Travis Street intersection. Traffic is requested to use the US 75 mainlanes during this closure. The southbound Washington Street exit ramp will be closed beginning October 25th as crews work on the frontage road between Preston Drive and Pecan St. Exiting traffic wishing to access Washington Street should use the North Travis Street exit. A reduced speed limit of 60 mph has been set for this construction project.

The US 75 pedestrian bridge near Pecan Street in Sherman is closed to pedestrian traffic. The east side over the frontage road has been removed. The remaining pedestrian bridge will be removed at a later time. Pedestrians wishing to cross US 75 are advised to cross at the Houston Street signalized intersection.

US 75 Full Depth concrete repair, Grayson County: Crews will be working on US 75, weather permitting, each week from Sunday night through Thursday night. Lane closures will be present during the nighttime only in order for crews to replace failed concrete slabs. Lane closures begin at 7:30 p.m. and should be reopened to traffic by 6 a.m.

FM 1417, Grayson County: from US 82 to SH 56. Watch for lane shifts and shoulder closures between US 82 and SH 56 while crews are working to construct a portion of the new Sand Creek bridge. Watch for occasional daytime lane closures as crews perform utility work. A reduced speed limit of 45 mph has been set for this construction project.

FM 121, Grayson County: from Jim Jones Road to FM 3356. Watch for occasional daytime lane closures as crews work to build portions of the new bridges and roadway. Watch for lane shifts and narrow lanes throughout the project as crews have moved traffic to the temporary detour section. The ultimate roadway will be a five-lane section consisting of concrete pavement when the project is completed.

US 377, Grayson County: Willis Bridge at the Oklahoma State line. Watch for occasional lane closures on the existing bridge as workers pour concrete for the new bridge structure.

US 75 Ramp Reversal in Denison, Grayson County: on the southbound US 75 main lanes and frontage road between Spur 503 and FM 691. Watch for a lane closure on the southbound US 75 frontage road while construction crews work on building the new southbound US 75 entrance ramp. A new traffic pattern has been implemented where westbound Spur 503 will be shifted to the southbound US 75 frontage road and will travel through the FM 691 intersection and then enter southbound US 75 using the on-ramp after FM 691. The new FM 691 exit ramp is open to access FM 691.

Spur 503, Grayson County: from US 75 to SH 91. Watch for daytime and nighttime lane closures for both eastbound and westbound lanes as crews perform concrete pavement repairs.

US 377, Grayson County: from US 82 to FM 901. Watch for temporary daytime lane closures and shoulder closures as workers install safety treatments on fixed objects.

US 75 debris pickup, Grayson County: from Collin County line to Oklahoma State line. Watch for mobile lane closures as workers pick up debris from the roadway every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the daytime.

US 82 & US 69, Grayson County: from FM 131 to FM 1897 on US 82, and from SH 56 to US 75 on US 69. Watch for temporary daytime lane closures and shoulder closures as workers install safety treatments on fixed objects.

SH 289, Grayson County: between SH 56 and FM 121. Watch for daytime lane closures as maintenance crews blade level the roadway.

FM 121, Grayson County: from SH 289 to FM 3356. Watch for daytime lanes closures as maintenance crews blade level the roadway.

SH 160, Grayson County: between SH 11 and the Collin County line. Watch for daytime lane closures as maintenance crews blade level the roadway.

FM 1753, Grayson and Fannin County: from FM 1897 to SH 78. Watch for temporary one-lane closures as workers rehab and widen the roadway.

The annual contract to perform crack sealing operations in Fannin County is beginning. Daytime lane closures will be present during the crack sealing operations and drivers should expect delays. The following roadways in Fannin County will be crack sealed this year; FM 1396 from SH 78 to FM 2029, FM 1752 from US 82 to FM 1753, US 82 from SH 121 to the Grayson County line, SH 11 from SH 121 to SH 78, SH 78 from SH 11 to US 69, and FM 68 from SH 78 to SH 34.

FM 898, Fannin County: from the Grayson County line to SH 121. Watch for temporary one-lane closures as workers rehab and widen the roadway.

FM 2815, Fannin County: from FM 1629 to SH 11. Watch for temporary one-lane closures as workers rehab and widen the roadway.

FM 1743, Fannin County: from SH 56 to FM 1550. Watch for temporary one-lane closures as workers rehab and widen the roadway.

FM 824, Fannin County: from SH 56 in Honey Grove to the Lamar County line. Watch for temporary one-lane closures as workers rehab and widen the roadway.

SH 121, Fannin County: from the Collin County line to SH 56. Watch for temporary daytime lane closures and shoulder closures as workers install safety treatments on fixed objects.

US 82, Fannin County: from SH 121 to the Lamar County Line. Watch for slow moving construction equipment as crews work on widening US 82 from a two-lane roadway to a four-lane divided section. Westbound US 82 traffic has been shifted to the new pavement on the eastern end of the project between the Fannin and Lamar County line and County Road 2975. Eastbound traffic will remain in its current lane, while crews work on the inside lane to work on building the crossovers and turn lanes. Drivers who frequent this roadway are advised that all driveways, county roads and farm-to-market roads approaching the new westbound main lanes on US 82 will have a full stop before crossing over to the median. The SH 121 and US 82 frontage road intersections have been converted to signalized intersections. The on-ramp to westbound US 82 from SH 78 has been closed while crews work on building the new westbound main lanes. The westbound exit ramp for SH 121 is closed as crews work on building the new main lanes in this area. Exiting traffic for SH 121 is asked to use the SH 78 exit and continue along the frontage road to SH 121.

County Road 3530, Fannin County: at Wafer Creek. County Road 3530 is closed for crews to remove the existing bridge and build a new culvert. Traffic on CR 3530 will need to use an alternate route during construction.

County Road 4250, Fannin County: at Freeman Creek. County Road 4250 is closed for crews to remove the existing bridge and build a new bridge. Traffic on CR 4250 will need to use an alternate route during construction.

FM 1550, Fannin County: from FM 271 to FM 2077: Watch for daytime lane closures as crews perform base repairs.

FM 897, Fannin County: in Lannius from US 82 to CR 2950. Watch for daytime lane closures as crews perform ditch cleaning work."

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Road crack sealing operations to begin in GC; other road reports - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat

U.S. Navy Adm. William H. McRaven speaks to special operations commanders during a commander's call at King Auditorium on Hurlburt Field in Florida in 2012.

Adm. William H. McRaven has had more than his fair share of heart-stopping moments.

As a member and leader of the Navy SEALs for 37 years, McRaven took part in hundreds and oversaw thousands of missions that put his own life and the lives of his fellow service members in peril, including the 2011 raid that ended in the killing of Osama bin Laden.

From the agony of basic training as a SEAL to jumping out of hundreds of planes into the darkness, all of McRavens time spent staring down danger have given him some clarity on the nature of fear.

If youre not afraid, thats not a good sign, McRaven told the audience on Wednesdays Walker Webcast, hosted by Willy Walker, chairman and CEO of Walker & Dunlop. Fear focuses you. It sharpens your perceptions of everything around you. As you do events over and over again, you learn to manage it and turn it to your advantage.

The first time he jumped out of an airplane, McRaven said, he was scared to death. After dozens of jumps, he still felt fear, but the fear focused him on making sure he did his best to lower the potential that anything could go wrong.

One memorable jump over the Philippines, on the date of his first anniversary with his wife, Georgeann, McRaven added another coping mechanism. As he prepared to launch himself out of the plane, he started singing the Little River Bands Happy Anniversary to himself. He still sings the song, which he calls silly, to himself every time he jumps to stay calm.

Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, also a former University of Texas chancellor, on the Walker Webcast.

In the years after his military service, as chancellor of the University of Texas, McRaven came to be known for his belief in the power of small rituals. In a 2014 commencement speech to the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin, which has since racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube, he explained how having to make his bed to perfection every morning of SEAL training instilled in him diligent habits and pride in accomplishing tasks, no matter how small.

But McRavens career has been just as defined by a handful of big decisions. On the Walker Webcast,he described the last meeting that he had with then-President Barack Obama before the raid on the walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden was suspected to be living.

For weeks, United States National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter and the intelligence staff in the room had been tracking a man they dubbed the pacer make daily walks around the compound courtyard.

The president asked Leiter if he thought it was bin Laden, and Leiter said there was about a 40% to 60% chance it was him, McRaven said. Right then, I didnt think the president would pull the trigger on it. It was a gamble, and he knew that he was betting his own political future on this, not to mention risking the lives of the SEALs and Army aviators going in.

Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker on a webinar with Adm. William H. McRaven

When Obama did give the go-ahead order, it fell to McRaven to mitigate the risk to the lives of his fellow Navy SEALs. The process for that, he said, was to break down the raid into thousands of discrete steps, imagine all the ways things could possibly go wrong, and come up with thousands of contingency plans.

People think of Navy SEALs as cavalier about the risks that we take, McRaven said. Nothing could be further from the truth. You always have to think through the worst-case events and make backup plans. You never want to find yourself in the middle of a worst-case scenario not having thought through it. Its not enough to have plans B and C.

As part of the bin Laden raid, the SEALs stationed two backup helicopters just on the Afghan side of the Pakistani border. As the raid unfolded, one helicopter clipped the retaining wall of the compound with its tail, grounding it. Without those backups, service members could have been stranded in the compound.

There was not a single plan that didnt involve backup helicopters, McRaven said.

Hesaid the iconic image of Obama and members of his staff watching the raid was captured soon after it became clear that one of the helicopters had become unserviceable. Throughout the raid, McRaven himself was in communication with Air Force Lt. Gen. Marshall Bradley Webb, who sits at the center of the picture.

Members of the Obama administration watch the progress of the Osama bin Laden raid from the situation room in the White House. Lt. Gen. Marshall B. "Brad" Webb, in uniform, center, was in contact with Adm. William H. McRaven throughout the raid.

It was McRaven who was tasked with identifying bin Ladens body once the remains had been flown back to the staging ground for the raid, and reporting to Obama that the mission had been successful.

But as important and historic as the raid was, McRavensaid that it was only one of 11 special operations undertaken by the SEALs that night. On a typical night, McRaven oversaw 20 to 25 operations from Afghanistan. During his time in Iraq, the number was closer to 40.

We worked on a two-team rotation, McRaven said. Every other night, this group of guys would be getting on a helicopter and going into harms way. You want to talk about heroism? That was on full display every single day. You cant help but be inspired by this next generation.

On Nov. 4, Willy will host JPMorgan's Cayman Wills andPeter Cook of the American Bankers Association. Register here for the event.

This feature was produced in collaboration between the Bisnow Branded Content Studio and Walker & Dunlop. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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What Adm. William H. McRaven Learned About Fear And Risk During The Osama Bin Laden Raid - Bisnow

Highland Council says it will monitor the situation over the weekend.

A REMOTE Highland route affected by a fallen tree will be monitored over the weekend amid concerns about inclement weather.

The Salen and Kilchoan road on the Ardnamurchan peninsula remains open after yesterday's incident.

The single track B8007 links the two villages.

The upturned root of a fallen tree caused damage to a retaining wall.

Highland Council says it will monitor it over the weekend "along with the forecasted inclement weather".

Strong wind and heavy rain showers are forecast over the weekend.

Operatives are hoping to complete repair work on the wall on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Related: Fallen tree damages wall on remote Highland route

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Highland route affected by fallen tree to be monitored over weekend - RossShire Journal