The 155-room Hyatt Place hotel, being constructed by Pittsburgh-based FFC Capital through its Meadows Hotel Associates subsidiary, is on track to open in March, the developer said recently. Christopher Dixon, FFC vice president of asset management, said a topping-off ceremony was held recently. The hotel will be connected from its fourth floor to the second floor of The Meadows (casino) through a skywalk expected to be installed after Thanksgiving, said Fred Branovan, president. Other features include 1,800 square feet of flexible meeting and conference space, a full-service bar, a Parlay bar which serves Sushi with an outdoor patio and fire pit, indoor swimming pool, 24-hour exercise room, plus the 24-hour Gallery restaurant in the lobby. A 100-space parking lot is in front of the building and a 150-car facility, under cover, on the second floor behind.

Some of Downtown's office buildings are filling up following the completion of 68,000 square feet of new, expanded and extended leases. The #4 Smithfield Street and 100 Ross St. buildings are more than 95 percent occupied, while the Law & Finance Building has increased its occupancy by 10 percent this year. The activity has been accomplished by JD&D Enterprises who owns and manages more than 300,000 square feet of Downtown buildings, along with Tim McCarthy, associate and Jeremy Kronman, executive vice president, both with CBRE. McCarthy said more than 25 leases and renewals have been negotiated so far in 2014.

Sota Construction Services Inc. will seek the approval Thursday from the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a three-story 23-unit residential building, owned by Pointe Vista Lofts LLC at 2139 Wharton St., South Side Flats. Synergy Capital Inc. will seek approval to build 25 three-story single-family attached dwellings, each with integral two-car garages, including a 5,035-square-foot parking area with four spaces and outdoor recreation area, at center of the Villas at Winter Park development on property owned by Timothy J. Sakmar on Pius and Gregory streets, South Side Slopes. Lot reconfigurations will be sought by Chan Real Estate LP at two sites. It wants to build two two-story single-family attached dwellings at 5409 Keystone St., Upper Lawrenceville, and at 4412 Plummer St., two three-story single-family attached dwellings while continuing use of an existing single-family dwelling at 152 45th St., all in Lawrenceville. Baum Blvd. Investors LP seeks to expand an office within an existing three-four-five story building at 5607 Baum Blvd., Friendship.

Joseph Sherick, representing Gaudenzia Foundation Inc., will seek the approval Monday of the Wilkinsburg Borough Zoning Hearing Board on operating a Group Care facility at 501-03 and 505-07 South Ave. The public hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m., second-floor Council Chambers, borough building, 605 Ross Ave.

Daniel Robb of DSR Management LLC wants to consolidate three lots at 603 Rodi Road to allow expansion of an existing Moore Self Storage facility. The Planning Commission of Penn Hills will view the request starting at 7 p.m. Thursday in council chambers, municipal building, 12245 Frankstown Road, Penn Hills.

Mall manager Lisa Earl reports new additions at Ross Park Mall include Eddie Bauer set to open in late November on the upper level; Hallmark an original retailer in the mall returned in October; House of Hoops is in its newly remodeled location on the lower level; Champs Sports is in its newly remodeled location on the upper level; Primadonna Italy's high-fashioned shoes, handbags and accessories will open in mid-November on the upper level; and Pittsburgh Popcorn also will open in mid-November.

On the move: St. Brendan's Crossing relocated from Station Square to Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown. LongHorn Steakhouse is at 377 Washington Road, near the Old Mill Shopping Center in Washington County. The 6,196-square-foot restaurant will seat 240 guests and is employing 80 to 100 with Heather Graytok as managing director. Dollar General has opened at 5800 Buttermilk Hollow Road in the Lincoln Place area of Pittsburgh. Gateway Rehab opened at Robinson Plaza Three, Suite 430, 6600 Steubenville Pike, Robinson, with an adult-only program. C. Harper Auto Group's new Honda Showroom has opened on Route 51, north of Interstate 70, Belle Vernon, adjacent to the Ford and Kia showrooms. Daniel C. Baker Associates Inc., a Larson Design Group Co., has a new home at 300 S. Walnut Lane, Suite 202, Beaver, and with its second office in Cranberry, has 27 employees locally.

Sam Spatter is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7843 or sspatter@tribweb.com.

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Real estate notes: New Meadows hotel to open in March, links to casino

Conservative news outlets News Corp and Fairfax Media tend to control the message

Australia is entering what meteorologists are predicting will be another sweltering summer, with October already experiencing its hottest day on record.

But coverage of the record temperatures, which scientists agree can be traced to global warming, isnt always covered as such here. Australias concentrated media landscape, dominated by two owners that skew toward climate-change skepticism, has led to coverage that denies or minimizes the warming weather. Some media watchers hope that a host of new digital additions to the media scene will diversify rhetoric.

According to the United Nations, there is strong scientific consensus that the global climate is changing and that human activity contributes significantly to this trend. But last year, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism found that a third of Australian newspapers rejected or cast doubt on climate change over a three-month period in both 2011 and 2012. In its analysis of 602 articles on climate change across 10 mastheads, the ACIJ found that 32 percent of the articles did not accept the scientific consensus. The report also found that most of the skepticism came from Rupert Murdochs News Corp.

All of which Adelaide Universitys Simon Divecha, who writes on climate change and Australian media for academic and research site The Conversation, sees as a failing of the Australian media industry.

At the time of the high heatwaves, it just wasnt getting reported, he said. The articles talking about the heat didnt connect it to climate change.

Part of the homogeneity lies with how concentrated print media is in Australia. According to The Conversation, among most influential metropolitan and national dailies, News Corp accounted for 65 percent of the circulation in 2011, while Fairfax Media, the second biggest publisher, which owns The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbournes The Age, controlled only 25 percent.

Murdochs Australian arm of News Corp controls 59 percent of all daily newspapers, with sales of 17.3 million papers a week, making it easily Australias most influential publisher.

Murdoch himself has often been critical of climate change, and earlier this year told Sky News Australia, which he partially owns, that we should approach climate change with great skepticism. News Corp likewise showed a similar tendency to cast doubt on whether humans are actually affecting the climate and whether climate change is happening.

Investigative journalist Wendy Bacon was the author behind the ACIJ report, titled, Sceptical Climate: Climate Science in Australian Newspapers. Bacon explored how climate change is covered through the amount of words dedicated to the topic and whether those pieces were news features or commentary.

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Climate change coverage at a crossroads in Australia

Could become parking lot, more housing

By George C. Ford, The Gazette

November 13, 2014 | 8:00 pm

CEDAR RAPIDS Two portions of a building that formerly housed The Gazette offices in downtown Cedar Rapids are being prepared for demolition.

Architect and developer Steve Emerson bought the building at 500 Third Ave. SE from The Gazette Company in 2012, Emerson said additions constructed in 1954 and 1969 likely will be demolished in late winter or early spring.

We need to see how it fits into a demolition schedule, Emerson said. It will come down at some point, but theres no rigid schedule.

Emerson said redevelopment options include additional parking or possibly downtown housing.

Initially it will likely be surface parking, but I have a housing development planned for that which is a fairly significant project, said Emerson, owner of Aspect Architecture. Im going to wait on that because theres a lot of other housing projects seeking grants from the state that are in the core downtown.

Im going to let those get open and absorbed before I would do anything on that just because I dont want to saturate the market and hurt everyones projects as well as my own.

Emerson previously demolished a three-story addition to the building that was constructed in 1985. The two older additions housed offices and The Gazettes printing press.

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Downtown building demolition planned

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (PRWEB) November 13, 2014

Brady (NYSE:BRC), a global leader in industrial and safety printing systems and solutions, today announced 120 new label parts for the BBP33 label printer. The expansion of label size and material options enhances the capabilities of the printer and brings the total number of available parts to over 550 parts in 44 materials.

The BBP33 label printer is incredibly simple to use, powerful and brilliantly fast exactly what label making should be. With its unique drop-in ribbons and label rolls, 20-second material changeovers and ability to print on the first label, users are free from difficult, time-consuming setups and wasted materials from calibration, says Matt Luger, product marketing specialist for Brady. With the addition of a variety of new label parts, users will continue to benefit from quick and easy label creation for even more applications.

A few notable additions to the new part offering:

The BBP33 printer is an industrial label printer for a range of applications, including GHS labels, wire and panel ID, safety and arc flash labels, rating plates and circuit board labels, production line facility labels, pipe markers, 5S labels and more.

Check out the BBP33 printer and its parts today at BradyID.com/BBP33

For more information: For Bradys complete product offering, visit BradyID.com.

About Brady Corporation: Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect people, products and places. Bradys products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels, signs, safety devices, printing systems and software. Founded in 1914, the company has a diverse customer base in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, education, medical, aerospace and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as of August 1, 2014, employed approximately 6,400 people in its worldwide businesses. Bradys fiscal 2014 sales were approximately $1.23 billion. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. More information is available on the Internet at http://www.bradycorp.com. # # #

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Brady Releases 120 New Parts for the BBP33 Label Printer

And a basketball season begins Friday night.

That sometimes joyous, sometimes frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking and always fun journey that is a basketball season will tip off Friday night when UTEP takes on Washington State in the Don Haskins Center. It is the first step in a long journey that will wind into March.

UTEP was 23-11 a year ago and Washington State was 10-21. The Miners defeated the Cougars 64-51 last December in Pullman. But the visitors have a new head coach, three returning starters and some talented additions. And, as every sports fan knows, this is not last year.

Ernie Kent, former head coach at St. Mary's and at Oregon, has taken over the Washington State program. He took Oregon to five NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the rarified air of the Elite Eight in 2002 and 2007.

"We'd like to think Ernie will run what he ran at Oregon," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "But who knows? It's been five years. But he is a terrific coach."

Floyd will begin his fifth season at UTEP and has an overall record of 409-232 in stops at Idaho, New Orleans, Iowa State and USC. He faced Kent a number of times when he was at USC and Kent was at Oregon. Floyd, the former Don Haskins assistant, is 81-52 after four seasons at UTEP. He has had 18 winning seasons in his 20 as a head coach.

Hopes are high this season for Floyd and these Miners. They received a trickling of votes in the Top 25 pre-season polls. The reality of it all begins Friday night.

"We know Washington State has a couple of all-league caliber guards and some strong inside play," Floyd said. "It's exciting for us to have a Pac-12 opponent here to open our season."

The Miners have a veteran team ... but a veteran team that will rely on an infusion of youth. A trio of seniors C.J. Cooper, Cedrick Lang and Julian Washburn are ready to begin their final season.

"My last first game," Cooper said, shaking his head and smiling. "It's gone by really fast. I remember my freshman year, getting ready to play my first game. I was a little nervous. But I was more excited than anything ... just excited to play my first college game."

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UTEP men's basketball: Hopeful Miners open Friday vs. Washington State

Terrace and balcony variances, 102 Jungle Road

Attorney David Klein: Applicant requesting variances to expand raised terrace with front yard setback of 22.9 feet in lieu of 35-foot minimum; install a 292.4-square-foot awning over proposed terrace with 24-foot front yard setback in lieu of 35-foot minimum; add a balcony to second story with front yard setback of 26.9 feet in lieu of 33-foot minimum; and to maintain existing non-conforming lot coverage.

Zoning Administrator Paul Castro: Landmarks Preservation Commission said changes would not negatively affect architecture of house. But they need to speak to hardship.

Klein: Hardship is the house is a landmark, which causes strict limitations. Terrace and balcony adjacent to part of house built in 1935 that is not conforming to todays codes. Neighbor is on board with changes.

Council grants all variances.

Declaration of Use Agreement, Chez LEpicier Restaurant, 288 South County Road

Castro: We recommend approval of agreement.

Capt. Ann-Marie Taylor: Valet parking, employee parking and number of events difficult to enforce. We ask that they be well-defined.

Castro: Theres a parking deficiency. If you dont have the parking, where are you going to put the cars? The only place they can park is on the street.

Ziska: This is a grandfathered restaurant.

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Town Hall Live: Restaurant and Church Declaration of Use Agreements

Voter fraud? Electronic equipment stolen in robbery at DC election polling site Voter fraud? Electronic equipment stolen in robbery at DC election polling site

Updated: Tuesday, November 4 2014 7:01 PM EST2014-11-05 00:01:27 GMT

Electronic equipment and keys were stolen from a Southeast D.C. polling location overnight, which made some voters concerned about the legitimacy of the election.

Electronic equipment and keys were stolen from a Southeast D.C. polling location overnight, which made some voters concerned about the legitimacy of the election.

Updated: Monday, October 27 2014 6:59 PM EDT2014-10-27 22:59:42 GMT

April and Chris Caldwell tied the knot over the weekend in a place that seems appropriate considering Halloween is just a few days away. But the northern Virginia couple was fulfilling a promise and not getting a jump on the yearly celebration when organizing their wedding. They got married at a cemetery right next to the grave of April's great-grandmother.

April and Chris Caldwell tied the knot over the weekend in a place that seems appropriate considering Halloween is just a few days away. But the northern Virginia couple was fulfilling a promise and not getting a jump on the yearly celebration when organizing their wedding. They got married at a cemetery right next to the grave of April's great-grandmother.

Updated: Monday, October 27 2014 3:15 PM EDT2014-10-27 19:15:13 GMT

Concern over Ebola has forced a Minnesota restaurant owner who serves African food to cover up part of her sign and reconsider her Liberian-themed menu. Kellita Whisnant has owned Mama Tis African Kitchen in Brooklyn Park, Minn. for three years.

Concern over Ebola has forced a Minnesota restaurant owner who serves African food to cover up part of her sign and reconsider her Liberian-themed menu. Kellita Whisnant has owned Mama Tis African Kitchen in Brooklyn Park, Minn. for three years.

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Former NFL star Charles Grant fired after allegedly body slamming student-athlete at Bowie State University

November 11, 2014 - NBA Development League (D-League) Texas Legends FRISCO, TX, (Nov. 11, 2014) - The Texas Legends have announced three new additions to the coaching staff. Eduardo Najera will be returning for his third season as Head Coach and General Manager and bringing back assistant coaches Tyler Gatlin and Brandon Espinosa. Pending league approval, former Maverick Nick Van Exel will make his NBA Development League debut as associate head coach, while former Maverick DeSagana Diop and former Legend Fred House will join the staff as Player Development coaches.

Nick Van Exel spent 13 years in the NBA as a player. He was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Lakers where he spent five seasons and was named an NBA All-Star. Van Exel then played for the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks (alongside Legends head coach Najera), Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs. He retired from the NBA in 2006 and later spent two years in player development with the Atlanta Hawks before joining the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach last season.

DeSagana Diop retired from the NBA in 2013 after 12 years of service. Diop was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2001 where he spent four seasons before joining the Mavericks. Diop was known around the league for his shot-blocking ability and brings a unique perspective to the coaches' bench as a former post player. Diop will work with the post players to develop agility under the basket and provide guidance from a long NBA career.

Fred House retired from basketball after a 12 year career to join the Legends coaching staff. House was a fan-favorite on the team as a critical sixth man in 2012-13 under Najera and spent last season in Russia with KB Peja of the Balkan League. House's experience in the NBADL provides a unique perspective to the players and gives him the ability to connect on a peer level.

The Legends will open their season at Dr Pepper Arena hosting the Santa Cruz Warriors at 7pm Friday, November 21.

Legends Basketball Operations Staff

President of Basketball Operations: Spud Webb

Vice President: Del Harris

Head Coach/General Manager: Eduardo Najera

Assistant General Manager: Nancy Lieberman

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Legends Add Two Former Mavericks, Former Legend to Coaches' Bench

This rendering shows 90-percent design plans for the south Bellevue light rail station planned for construction along Bellevue Way by Sound Transit for its East Link extension.

image credit: Sound Transit

Sound Transit has released its 90-percent design for the south Bellevue light rail station, complete with artistic additions reflective of the neighboring Mercer Slough Nature Park and an updated traffic plan for Bellevue Way Southeast.

The proposed 5-year closure of the South Bellevue Park and Ride to construct the East Link light rail station continued to drum up questions from residents during the Nov. 6 open house at Enatai Elementary, particularly where King County Metro will divert its ridership and if more can be done to shore up road closures.

Puget Sound Energy will require up to 15 weekend closures of one northbound lane on Bellevue Way Southeast to underground utilities starting in mid-2015. The city will also take more than a year to manage its utility work there, but will not be limited to working only weekends.

During East Link construction to follow, Sound Transit plans to keep two lanes of Bellevue Way open to peak traffic, which will be accomplished using a third, reversible lane to address changes in usage heading north or south. This construction is estimated to last 36-48 months. A southbound high-occupancy vehicle lane is also being added to Bellevue Way Southeast ahead of East Link going online in 2023.

Sound Transit engineer Paul Cornish said Metro is working on bus route revisions ahead of the park-and-ride's closure while Sound Transit looks at alternate parking options, such as leasing space from the private sector or possibly moving parking to Mercer Island.

Utilities work on 112th Avenue Southeast is also expected to reduce traffic to one lane in each direction for about 18 months.

Sound Transit's 5-year timeline to construct the south Bellevue light rail station and adjacent 1,500-stall parking garage was scaled back from the seven years originally projected for completion. Excavation work is planned to start in 2016. About 4,500 daily boardings are estimated to take place there by 2030.

The 5-story parking garage will consist of two levels below grade, the third story at street level and accessible through the park-and-ride's current entrance. A south entrance will access the garage at the second floor, said John Walser, a senior architect with Sound Transit.

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Sound Transit reveals 90-percent design for south Bellevue station

One of the inherent risks of a story-heavy IP is that if you bugger up one of the instalments, your audience skips it, falling out of touch with the series' story arc and disconnecting from its universe. Such was the fear for Dragon Age, a world which impressed in its opening act, but fell away sharply with what felt like a rushed and uncertain part 2. In acknowledging the shortcomings of the second game, Bioware went some way towards reassuring the faithful, but it was undeniable that nothing less than a resounding crescendo could re-establish the land of Tevinter as an RPG setting of the same calibre as the Tamriel of the Elder Scrolls or The Witcher's Temeria.

There aren't many teams you'd rather leave such a task in the hands of than Bioware's and, judging from review scores, that trust would be well-placed. With a metacritic ranging from 84 for Xbox One, 88 on PC and 89 for PS4, EA and Bioware seem to have established the Dragon Age series as the new gen's first top-class RPG - stealing a march on 2015's Witcher 3 and whatever Bethesda may be working on as a follow up to Skyrim.

One of the best-scoring reviews comes from Polygon's Philip Kollar, who focuses on the game's scope, characters and sheer wealth of content in his 9.5/10 review. Kollar argues that this is the game where the universe really finds its feet, finally fulfilling the promise it had teased in Origins and its sequel by immersing the player in a sequence of events which incorporates a story far bigger than the perspective you'll have of it. Nonetheless, says Kollar, it's still in the details that Bioware's talents shine brightest - weaving engaging and worthwhile characters as threads in a vast tapestry.

For all its narrative nuance and political intrigue, Dragon Age: Inquisition isn't afraid of a good old slimy monster, either.

"But in true BioWare fashion, that broader story often takes a back seat to smaller character conflicts," he writes. "The Inquisitor pulls together a huge group of followers, including nine playable party members, and each has reams of dialogue conveying a fully developed personality."

As well as offering chatter and the opportunity for romance, the player's extended party brings both questing opportunities and advice on dealing with obstacles, says Kollar, making them more than just talking weapons. In fact, he says, that guidance comes in extremely useful in coping with a game which offers gameplay hours well into triple figures.

"Dragon Age: Inquisition is made up of numerous zones that I could teleport in between at will. However, each of those zones is gigantic in and of itself. In the 80 hours I spent playing Inquisition, I only fully completed two zones, and each of them took me around 20 hours of exploration, questing and monster-bashing."

"In the 80 hours I spent playing Inquisition, I only fully completed two zones, and each of them took me around 20 hours of exploration, questing and monster-bashing"

Philip Kollar, Polygon

In addition, Bioware has added the simplest of tools as an aide to exploring this vast landscape: the jump button. By doing so, says Kollar, the team has made the world feel more whole and believeable, introducing vertical as well as horizontal scale and a much more convincing sense of exploration. Tie that into the sense of being part of such a huge chain of events that new additions such as the ambassador-lead 'war table' missions, says Kollar, and you have a classic perfect for the winter evenings.

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Critical Consensus: Inquisition scores high to revitalise Dragon Age