James Glaser the executive director of the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission is siding with PG&E against South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts bid to reduce retail electric rates 15 percent across the board in Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon.

Less than two weeks after Glaser tried to work behind the scenes to block the Ripon City Council from filling the unexpired LAFCo term of the late Red Nutt in an apparent bid to have one less commissioner that would have enhanced PG&Es efforts to block SSJIDs bid to takeover retail power service in the three communities, he is posed on Wednesday to push for the five-member LAFCo panel to reject the SSJID plan.

Glaser tried to fill the LAFCo seat in advance of Wednesdays meeting following Nutts sudden passing with the alternate from Lodi. Under LAFCo bylaws the alternate member can serve until such time as a permanent replacement is made by the City Selection Committee consisting of the six mayors of the six cities in San Joaquin County.

However, the alternate from Lodi Phil Katzakian could not have served in any case since Dec. 3 was his last day in office. Had Glaser succeeded, there would have been just four voting members at Wednesdays meeting.

Ripon Mayor Chuck Winn, however, was able to contact Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal chairman of the mayors committee who was able to pull off an 11th hour gathering of all the mayors to beat a legal deadline for having a replacement in place by the Dec. 10 meeting.

The mayors agreed the seat on the LAFCo board still belonged to Ripon as the appointment of Nutt was through May of 2015.

Last week, the Ripon council appointed Jake Parks to serve on the LAFCo board. The other four LAFCo board members who will decide the fate of the SSJID application are public member and Chairman Steven Nilssen, Tracy Councilman Michael Maciel, and San Joaquin County Supervisors Ken Vogel and Larry Ruhstaller.

The LAFCo commission meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the sixth floor Board of Supervisors chambers, 44 North San Joaquin Street, Stockton.

Glaser wants LAFCo

panel to say no to SSJID

Continued here:
LAFCo bureaucrat sides with PG&E

(BPT) - Can the look and condition of your roof affect the resale value and curb appeal of your home? What about your window frames, entry door or shutters? The answer is absolutely.

This year building product companies are urging homeowners to focus on improving their home's exterior. Investing in key products now can make your home more marketable in the future.

Sixty-one percent of homeowners say that when house hunting or designing their home, the most attention-grabbing exterior feature was the style of the home, according to the 2011 DaVinci Roofscapes Homeowners Exterior Preferences Study conducted by Harris Interactive. This was followed by how the house looked on the property (43 percent).

And, when it comes to adding curb appeal to a home, color counts. Fifty-nine percent of homeowners place a lot of emphasis on the role that color plays when they think about replacing major exterior home features.

"To enhance curb appeal it's all about creating 'top down' color by working from the roof down through the different elements of the exterior such as siding, windows, trim and doors," says Kate Smith, president of Sensational Color. "For example, a colonial style home with a warm Autumn Blend polymer shake roof could be ideally matched with a home exterior in a neutral stone color.

"Then, add pops of color for curb appeal, such as chocolate brown vinyl window frames, like those available from Simonton Windows. Shutters and trim around the home could use the same deep brown color. A stand-out color like pine green or marine blue would then be added to the entry door to add personality to the exterior."

Smith, who has authored the free online FRESH Home Exterior Colors and FRESH Color Schemes for Your Home Exterior guides, spends a good deal of her time advising homeowners, remodelers and builders on selecting the perfect colors for the exterior of the home.

"It's important to remember that it all starts on the roof," says Smith. "When you're working top down with unlimited color options from a company like DaVinci Roofscapes, a homeowner has an open palette for designing the perfect home exterior."

Smith recommends that other key factors to enhance curb appeal can be found by selecting products for the home that are easily painted and maintained. "For me, it's all about adding color to easy-care products," says Smith. "That's one reason why I like Fypon decorative millwork pieces so much. These smooth polyurethane pieces come primed and ready to paint. We're talking about shutters, louvers, door and window trim, balustrade systems and even brackets and mouldings to increase the exterior appeal of a home.

"And, of course, nothing pops with color like the front door. I recommend homeowners consider stylish and paintable fiberglass entry doors from Therma-Tru. This company invented fiberglass doors and they offer many options for adding warmth, color and elegance to the home exterior."

Read more here:
The tools you need to increase your home's curb appeal this year

Since the exterior of your home is the first thing people see, the right siding choice speaks volumes about the pride you have in your home. In Portland, the decision to re-side your home is very likely one youll make once and live with for a long time. Most contractors just arent able to create the finish on your home that youve dreamed of.

The expert design team at 1st Oregon Exteriors will help you select the style of siding, trim and finish which will bring out the charm and character of your Portland home.

When your home was originally built, the exterior appearance was one of a thousand choices being made by the builder. An exterior remodel is your opportunity to have your personality expressed in the outward appearance of your home. Its a chance to make your home look its absolute best and unique.

We help our customers totally change the look of their home just by changing the style of their siding. For example, a staggered reveal (2 rows of siding spaced at 3-inches followed by 1 row of 6-inch siding) can give a large wall more character and charm. A single-story home will benefit from using narrower siding because wider siding can make a home seem smaller. We can make a small home seem quaint instead of simply small. Well help you make the right choice for your home!

We exclusively use Hardiplank, manufactured by James Hardie Siding Products for over 70 years. Hardiplank is a top-quality cement fiber siding that resists rotting or cracking and damage from rain and hail.

Best of all, Hardiplank siding is non-combustible, with a limited, transferable warranty for up to 50 years. No wonder its protecting over 3.5 million homes in North America alone.

Hardiplank products come in lap, shingle and panel styles with woodgrain or smooth finishes. Your siding will come pre-primed so we can easily paint it any color you want. We use Hardiplank because when we install it correctly, youll never have to worry about it again. Request a siding replacement proposal from First Oregon today.

There is no mistaking the beauty of natural wood siding. We offer only the best cedar from Portlands very own Lakeside Lumber.

We can install the style, stain, and cut of cedar siding you want. Great looks are only half the story; cedar siding is also durable, weather-resistant, and easy to maintain. Cedar siding will enhance your homes beauty and value while protecting it for years to come.

We guarantee youll be happy with our work. Just take a look at our detailed service procedures to find out how committed we are to doing the job right.

Read the rest here:
Siding Replacement

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) November 28, 2014

In line with its expansion into the Jacksonville market, Universal Roof has launched not only its new Jacksonville-based residential website, but has also revamped its other two sites for its Orlando-based residential contractor site Universal Roof & Contracting as well as its Orlando-based commercial contracting company's site, Universal Contracting. The new, fully responsive websites can now resize and reconfigure automatically according to the device of the user.

"We're excited about the website because it gives consumers a great way to get their home improvement questions answered easily from the comfort of their couch. Good information is hard to find, and this gives them another good resource for their home improvement needs." ________________________________________________ Universal Roof & Contracting - Jacksonville ________________________________________________

From the company founders to each of member of the growing team, personal integrity and high standards are paramount.With a mission to provide superior construction services to the communities they serve, Universal Roof & Contracting strives to add value for clients through innovation, foresight, integrity and aggressive performance and to serve with character and purpose that brings honor to God.

Founded in 1993, Universal Roof & Contracting has steadily grown in Florida and has now expanded to Jacksonville. In 2008, the torch was passed from father to son, and Jared Mellick assumed the primary leadership role as company President.

The new Jacksonville location of Universal Roof & Contracting serves the greater Jacksonville area with the same quality residential and commercial services as its Central Florida location and specializes in roofing and siding.

The Jacksonville office is fully staffed with administrative, estimating and production teams and is overseen by the company CEO's grandson, Brandan Molthan. Making a positive impact on Northeast Florida residents through continued commercial construction, expanded residential home improvement services and regular community involvement, the associates consider it an honor to serve with excellence.

Jared and his father Ken's long-time running Central Florida home improvement radio show, "In the House with Ken and Jared" is now syndicated in Jacksonville on Saturdays, 9am-10am at NEWS 104.5FM WOKV. Jacksonville general manager, Brandan Molthan, often co-hosts with Ken and Jared as they use their expertise to offer home improvement advice to callers each week. _______________________________________________ Universal Contracting Community Works _______________________________________________

The Universal Roof & Contracting family has always contributed to the improvement of the lives and circumstances of those around them. From food donations to veteran benefit programs, family members and employees alike have partnered over the years with community projects to impact area residents in a positive way.

Now, as a growing company, Universal Roof & Contracting has established the Universal Contracting Community Works division with hopes to accelerate their efforts to see restoration, healing and progress come to the lives of greater Orlando area residents through prayer and the purposed works of their employees and associates.

Read more:
Universal Roof & Contracting Launches Websites for Orlando and New Jacksonville Location

Bristol TN |Siding replacement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zm3Pw1_PKE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VxWPM9oe1I Bristol TN |Siding replacement Whittington Construction Company specializes in...

By: Keith Whittington

Continued here:
Bristol TN |Siding replacement - Video

National Breaking News National

The federal government has suffered a surprise defeat on a temporary scheme to determine future wages for intellectually disabled Australians.

The federal government on Monday was confident it had the support of enough crossbench senators for its temporary scheme - known as a business services wage assessment tool - to pass the upper house.

But despite securing the support of the Palmer United Party the legislation was defeated, with three key crossbench senators siding instead with Labor and the Australian Greens.

Assistant social services minister Mitch Fifield, who argued the scheme would have given disabled Australians greater choice, was clearly unimpressed.

Advertisement

"There will now not be a business services wage assessment tool payment scheme because of the way you voted," he told the chamber.

In its original form it evaluated thousands of Australians with disability, determining their pay based on their competency and productivity.

Wages can be as low as 33 cents per hour.

The court in 2012 found two intellectually disabled employees were discriminated against by using the tool and the government moved to replace it.

Read the original here:
Disability wage tool defeated in Senate

Here is a shortcut to repair the damaged vinyl in your home's siding, and also tips on cutting siding. I have discovered a quick and easy shortcut to repair vinyl siding without removing any vinyl panels, without the "Zip" tool, and without pulling any nails. This low cost vinyl siding repair has survived hurricane Isabel's winds and an even worse wind storm that took down numerous trees and knocked out power for 6 hours here in our very exposed location. But the first tip is; this is best method by far to repair your siding in the winter! Vinyl siding is brittle when it is cold. I would not recommend doing a conventional repair or even touching the siding with a zip tool in the winter; you may do more harm than good. Only do a conventional repair of your siding on a warm, sunny, winter day when the vinyl itself is warm and supple!

If the vinyl siding to repair has minor damage, a color mismatch may be much less obvious using this simple method to fix your siding. The tools required may be as little as some sheet metal sheers or tin snips to cut the spare pieces of vinyl you hopefully have. Perhaps for a cleaner look you can use a circular saw or table saw to do the vinyl siding cuts. Some tips below.

Here is a photo of a relatively small hole that was punched into my clay ( taupe ? ) colored vinyl siding. I am uncertain how this hole got there, but it certainly is important to repair this vinyl siding damage.

Here is a photo of the siding after my quick and dirty vinyl siding fix. The repair to the vinyl siding is almost invisible, it just disappears if you are unaware if the location of the patch. Click on the thumbnail for a close up. Why replace an entire siding panel when you can do this vinyl siding repair in far less time and at lower cost with this simple technique.

And over the winter I put a three sheet, three foot wide, repair to my vinyl siding, over the damage a bullet did to my siding and rear door lamp fixture! First day of what season? The bullet came in almost parallel to the rear wall of the house skimming the siding then into, and through, the lamp fixture and junction box, then cracking the aluminum frame of a slider. I was making a sandwich in the kitchen. I guess the bullet had traveled at least 3/4 mile and probably had glanced off something on the ground. I did not want to do the repair till Spring so I put up the large patch, friction fit, stayed there just fine the rest of the winter through many very high winds. Still there and untouched! The small and now LARGE patches. Bob.

The key to this shortcut is a simple modification of a small piece of your spare vinyl siding used for the repair. The best way to cut vinyl siding to size is with a table saw with a fine toothed blade installed reversed! The teeth of the blade are backward this makes a very clean cut. This tip can be found at the Vinyl Siding institute: The Institute, they have an excellent vinyl siding manual (PDF document) providing many details about vinyl siding installation: The Manual. This tip would work with any vinyl building products.

Now here is the trick, cut off the nailing strip at the top of the vinyl siding, it is that simple. Be careful of table saw kick back if you work with small pieces. Certainly do not use the "rip fence" for small pieces. In the photo above you can see my table saw with a fine toothed blade reversed. You can also see the need to saw through three layers of vinyl siding to make the cut. In my case I cut the nailing strip off on a very large piece of siding, now I have patches for the future. My table saw's guard was useful here keeping the siding near the table surface. Once you've cut off the nailing strip cut your patch to size, probably at least a width that is three times the size of the hole that must be repaired. Now that you have your homemade vinyl siding patch you will be able to snap this piece right in place over the hole you need repaired and it will stay in place quite well! Because the vinyl siding patch is so small a color mismatch will be far less obvious. Here is a shot of my repair patch ready to install.

To start find the seams between the existing panels surrounding the hole to repair. Vinyl siding usually has two false clapboards per strip. No tools are required, just slip your patch in place sliding it up and clipping the bottom channel of the patch to the siding already in place. Make sure that you get the top of your patch slid up into the gap between the panels above. You have basically added another layer of siding making this slip fit quite snug. Now the vinyl siding is repaired without removing anything!

I have had this problem and managed to build an effective solution that prevents wasps from nesting in your siding without killing wasps! Please see: Don't kill wasps, prevent wasps nesting in your vinyl siding: Wasps in siding, prevention.

I have not tried a very large "patch" using this technique (I have after the bullet!). If you were to try this, you might want to consider drilling, or re-drilling, the small vent holes you will find in the bottom channel of your vinyl siding. Install your vinyl siding repair and then drill new vent holes through both layers of vinyl siding, the vinyl siding patch, and the original vinyl siding you are repairing. These vent holes must provide a path which allows moisture that accumulates behind your siding to evaporate. For example, in certain weather conditions a very small amount of condensation might form on the inside of your vinyl siding. These small holes allow the moisture to dissipate. It is so fortunate that the vinyl in the siding has homogenous color unlike aluminum siding that is just painted.

Link:
My vinyl siding repair shortcut BBSHTCM - Do It Yourself ...

Research in solar photovoltaics is alive and well, as many government and university labs around the country are investing resources and pushing the envelope. A sampling of labs shows theyre working on both thin-film and crystalline, with nanotechnology playing a big part, as expected. But some labs are exploring angles you wouldnt normally think about.

NREL post-doc scientist, Rene Rivero, operates a Solar/Wafer Screening Tool for PV Industry. This tool tests a pre-selection of wafers of high fracture strength, improving the yield of Si solar cells by preventing their breakage during cell fabrication. Courtesy NREL.

NREL

Greg Wilson, director of the National Center for Photovoltaicsat the National Renewable Energy Laboratoryin Golden, CO, reports that his facility has is conducting research in three major areas. For starters, researchers are working in the III-Vs, which refers to semiconductors made from atoms in columns III and V of the periodic table, the most common one being gallium arsenide.

Another part of its research is in conventional single-crystal silicon. Nearly all of our work at NREL right now is focused on silicon tandems. This involves taking the best cell made and adding a top cell that will harvest another portion of the light spectrum in a two-junction cell, Wilson says. Many groups around the world are working on this concept, which poses a challenge in getting the cell joined cost effectively, whether you use epitaxy or bonding. NREL is exploring both routes and says the top cell will likely be a III-V.

If done correctly, Wilson says, this has the potential to add about ten points of efficiency to an already high-efficiency silicon part itself. This approach could produce silicon tandems and have an efficiency of greater than 30 percent.

The third area is thin-film, which NREL has been exploring for 35 years. Researchers are investigating different materials, including cadmium telluride (the semiconductor that First Solar technology is based on), CIGS (copper indium gallium selenium), and a GIGS substitute known as CZTS, an earth-abundant potential replacement.

Thin-film offers advantages over conventional cells made with crystalline semiconductor material, mainly lower manufacturing costs because it uses a low-temperature process similar to printing instead of the high-temperature vacuum deposition process. It also has the advantage of lighter weight and the ability to be integrated into building materials such as siding, roofing, and tent fabrics.

But as Wilson says, Silicon isnt going anywhere. There are a lot of reasons silicon dominates the market today. Thin-film hasnt achieved the efficiency silicon has. Theres another problem with thin-films thats always out there, and thats long-term reliability. Silicon has the best, most well-understood degradation behavior over 30 years in the field. Polycrystalline thin-films degrade faster than silicon, but Wilson thinks that can be solved with more research.

Here is the original post:
A Look Inside Four Solar Labs Offers a Glimpse of What's New in PV R&D

Vinyl Siding Contractor in Lyndhurst NJ 201 345 7628 Affordable Bergen County NJ siding contractor n
http://NJDiscountVinylSiding.com Affordable costs, prices pricing are kept on budget for home exterior remodeling projects. We specialize in all types of h...

By: NJ Discount Vinyl Siding

Read this article:
Vinyl Siding Contractor in Lyndhurst NJ 201 345 7628 Affordable Bergen County NJ siding contractor n - Video

Dodgers teammate Adrian Gonzalez -- MLB's RBI champ, with Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards as well -- said, "If somebody even tries to mention someone else, they're an idiot."

Kershaw, who won his third NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, is considered by many the favorite to not only overcome the candidacies of fellow NL MVP Award finalists Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins, but also the bias of some voters who believe that a pitcher shouldn't win the trophy no matter what he's accomplished.

Even Dodgers Hall-of-Fame former manager Tom Lasorda, a pitcher in his playing days, chimed in this week, siding with those that believe if a position player can't win the Cy Young Award, a pitcher shouldn't win the MVP Award.

"Tommy's an opinionated guy and that's OK," said Kershaw, who jokingly referred to Lasorda's view as a "ringing endorsement."

Kershaw's manager, Don Mattingly, was in that camp. But Mattingly, who won the American League MVP Award in 1985, changed his mind while watching Kershaw go 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and enough record-setting achievements to validate comparisons to Sandy Koufax.

"I flip-flopped from when I played, but as a manager you just see the value of what a guy like Clayton's been able to do," Mattingly said. "I do think it needs to be one of those years where it seems like it's almost extraordinary, and it seems to be one of those years. I see the value in that guy, as opposed to when I was playing -- not that you didn't see value in pitching, but it's a different thing."

The most recent time a National League pitcher won the Most Valuable Player Award, the Rules Committee lowered the mound soon after. It was 1968, "The Year of the Pitcher," and Bob Gibson was the NL MVP Award winner with a 1.12 ERA. Seriously, 1.12. The AL has had seven pitchers win MVP Awards since Cy Young Awards were given in both leagues, most recently Justin Verlander in 2011.

MLB.com Dodgers reporter Ken Gurnick makes a case for Clayton Kershaw as the National League MVP

The closest an NL pitcher has come to winning an MVP since 1968 was runner-up Tom Seaver in '69. Greg Maddux finished third in '95 behind Barry Larkin and Dante Bichette.

Read more:
Kershaw is a rare pitcher worthy of MVP Award