Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

A Joshua tree is engulfed in flames near Yucca Valley, Calif. (Nick Ut / AP Photo)

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In Greener Than You Thinka 1947 novel by left-wing science fiction writer Ward Moorea mad woman scientist in Los Angeles, one Josephine Francis, recruits a down-and-out salesman named Albert Weemer, described as having all the instincts of a roach, to help promote her discovery: a compound called Metamorphizer that enhances the growth of grasses and allows them to thrive on barren and rocky soils. She dreams of permanently ending world hunger through a massive expansion of the range of wheat and other grains. Weemer, a scientific ignoramus, thinks only of making a quick buck peddling the stuff door to door as a lawn treatment. Desperately needing cash to continue her research, Francis reluctantly agrees, and Weemer heads out to the yellowed lawns of tired bungalow neighborhoods.Ad Policy

To his surprise the treatment, which alters grass genes, worksonly too well. In the yard of the Dinkman family, crabgrass is converted into a nightmare Devil Grass, resistant to mowing and weedkillers, that begins to spread across the city. It writhed and twisted in nightmarish uneaseinexorably enveloping everything in its path. A crack in the roadway disappeared under it, a shrub was swallowed up, a patch of wall vanished. It continues to eat pavements and houses and finally consumes the city: a monstrous new nature creeping toward Bethlehem.

Greener Than You Think is both hilarious and slightly unnerving. But its absurd premises are being turned into current events by climate change: In reality, Devil Grass is actually Bromus, a tribe of invasive and almost ineradicable grasses bearing appropriately unsavory names such as ripgut brome, cheat grass, and false brome. Originating in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, some species have been around California since the Gold Rush, when overgrazing allowed the bromes and European oat grass to aggressively replace native species. But now fire and exurban sprawl have become their metamorphizers as they colonize and degrade ecosystems throughout the state.

The Eastern Mojave Desert is a grim example. En route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, 20 minutes away from the state line, theres an exit from I-15 to a two-lane blacktop called Cima Road. Its the unassuming portal to one of North Americas most magical forests: countless miles of old-growth Joshua trees mantling a field of small Pleistocene volcanoes known as Cima Dome. The monarchs of this forest are 45 feet high and hundreds of years old. In mid-August an estimated 1.3 million of these astonishing giant yuccas perished in the lightning-ignited Dome Fire.

This is not the first time that the Eastern Mojave has burned. A megafire in 2005 scorched a million acres of desert, but it spared the Dome, the heart of the forest. Over the last generation, an invasion of red brome has created a flammable understory to the Joshuas and transformed the Mojave into a fire ecology. (Invasive cheatgrass has played this role in the Great Basin for decades.)

Desert plants, unlike California oaks and chaparral, are not fire-adapted, so their recovery may be impossible. Debra Hughson, the chief scientist at the Mojave National Preserve, described the fire as an extinction event. The Joshua trees are very flammable. Theyll die, and they wont come back.

Our burning deserts are regional expressions of a global trend. Mediterranean vegetation has coevolved with fire; indeed, oaks and most chaparral plants require episodic fire to reproduce. But routine extreme fire in Greece, Spain, Australia, and California is now overriding Holocene adaptations and producing irreversible changes in the biota.Current Issue

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Although Australia is a close contender, it is California that best illustrates the vicious circle in which extreme heat leads to frequent extreme fires that prevent natural regenerationand with the help of tree diseases accelerate the conversion of iconic landscapes into sparse grasslands and treeless mountain slopes. And with the native plants, of course, go the native fauna.

At the beginning of this century, water planners and fire authorities here were primarily focused on the threat of multiyear droughts caused by intensified La Nia episodes and stubbornly persistent high-pressure domesboth of which could be attributed to anthropogenic warming. Their worst fears were realized in the great drought of the last decade, perhaps the biggest in 500 years, leading to the death of an estimated 150 million bark-beetle-infested treeswhich subsequently provided fuel mass for the firestorms of 2017 and 2018.

The great die-off of pines and conifers has been accompanied by an exponentially expanding fungal pandemic known as sudden oak death that has killed millions of live oaks and tanoaks in the California and Oregon Coast Ranges. Since the tanoaks, especially, grow in mixed forests with Douglas firs, redwoods, and ponderosa pines, their dead hulks should probably be accounted as million-barrel fuel-oil equivalents in the current firestorms raging in coastal mountains and Sierra foothills.

In addition to ordinary drought, scientists now talk about a new phenomenon, the hot drought. Even in years with average 20th century rainfall, extreme summer heat, our new normal, is producing massive water deficits through evaporation in reservoirs, streams, and rivers. In the case of Southern Californias lifeline, the lower Colorado River, a staggering 20 percent decrease in the current flow has been predicted within a few decades, independent of whether precipitation declines.

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But the most devastating impact of Death Valleylike temperatures (it was 121 degrees in the San Fernando Valley a few weeks ago) is the loss of plant and soil moisture. A wet winter and early spring may mesmerize us with extravagant displays of flowering plantsbut they also produce bumper crops of grasses and herblike plants (forbs) that are then baked in our furnace summers to become fire starter when the devil winds return.

Bromes and other annual exotic grasses are the chief byproducts and facilitators of this new fire regime. Years of research at experimental plots, where the scientists burn different types of vegetation and study their fire behavior, has confirmed their Darwinian edge. They burn at twice the temperature of herbaceous ground cover, vaporizing soil nutrients and thus inhibiting the return of native species. Bromes also thrive on air pollution and are more efficient than most plants in utilizing higher levels of carbon dioxidebig evolutionary advantages in the current struggle between ecosystems. MORE FROM Mike Davis

A research group at Oregon States College of Forestry that is studying grass invasions in West Coast forests, a hitherto neglected subject, warned earlier this year that once the feedback loop with fire is firmly established, it becomes a perfect storm. Like Weemers Devil Grass, the invaders defy human will. Management actions such as thinning and prescribed fire, often designed to alleviate threats to wildfires, may also exacerbate grass invasion and increase fine fuels, with potential landscape scale consequences that are largely under-recognized. Only a constant sustained effort to remove grass biomasssomething that would require a large army of full-time forest workers and the full cooperation of landownerscould theoretically postpone the weed apocalypse.

It would also require a moratorium on new construction, as well as post-fire rebuilding in endangered woodlands. A majority of new housing in California over the last 20 years has been built, profitably but insanely, in high-fire-risk areas. Exurbanization, much of it white flight from Californias human diversity, everywhere promotes the botanical counter-revolution. But residents usually dont see the grass for the forest.

How should we think about what is happening? In the late 1940s the ruins of Berlin became a laboratory where natural scientists studied plant succession in the wake of three years of firebombing. Their expectation was that the original vegetation of the regionoak woodlands and their shrubswould soon reestablish itself. To their horror this was not the case. Instead escaped exotics, some of them rare garden plants, established themselves as the new dominants.

The botanists continued their studies until the last bomb sites were cleared in the 1980s. The persistence of this dead-zone vegetation and the failure of the plants of the Pomeranian woodlands to reestablish themselves prompted a debate about Nature II. The contention was that the extreme heat of incendiaries and the pulverization of brick structures had created a new soil type that invited colonization by rugged plants such as tree of heaven (Ailanthus) that had evolved on the moraines of Pleistocene ice sheets. An all-out nuclear war, they warned, might reproduce these conditions on a vast scale. (For more about this, see my book Dead Cities.)

Fire in the Anthropocene has become the physical equivalent of nuclear war. In the aftermath of Victorias Black Saturday fires in early 2009, Australian scientists calculated that their released energy equaled the explosion of 1,500 Hiroshima-sized bombs. Even greater energy has produced the pyrocumulus plumes that for weeks have towered over Northern California. The toxic orange fog that has shrouded the Bay Area for weeks is our regional version of nuclear winter.

A new, profoundly sinister nature is rapidly emerging from our fire rubble at the expense of landscapes we once considered sacred. Our imaginations can barely encompass the speed or scale of the catastrophe.

A previous version of this article stated that the Joshua trees lost in the Dome Fire in California are 1,000 years old. That may be the case, but researchers say that hundreds of years would be more accurate.

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Californias Desert Fauna Will Never Recover - The Nation

Home Run:Hedge fund manager Steven Cohenclincheda $2.5 billion deal to buy the New York Mets, pending a vote of Major League Baseball owners.

Buyout:French billionaire Patrick Drahihas offered2.5 billion to take full control of the Altice Europe telecoms company.

Counter Offer:Disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) isnow the CEOof Brooklyn-based countertop company IceStone.

Speaking Out:Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the retired National Security Council aide fired for testifying in the House impeachment hearings,discussedhis views on the current state of U.S.-Russia relations in an interview withThe Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg.

Jewish Vote:Anew online pollshows Trump gaining support among Jewish voters over his 2016 showing, receiving a slight boost from the Israel-UAE accord. The Republican Jewish Coalitiontook outa full-page ad in todaysNew York Timespraising Trump as a peacemaker.

Viral Hate:A number of WhatsApp groups targeting Latino voters in Floridaare spreadingantisemitic statements about Biden and promoting QAnon conpiracy theories.

Media Watch:The Miami Heraldcut tieswith a Spanish-language weekly ad supplement, LIBRE, after discovering multiple instances of antisemitic and racist commentary.

Early Departure:U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstadannouncedhe is stepping down from his post after three years and will return to Iowa.

Friendly Reminder:Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez ObradorwarnedIsrael not to protect former Mexican official Tomas Zeron, who is suspected of hiding out there to avoid arrest on charges of torture.

Justice Served:An Israeli courtsentencedAmiram Ben-Uliel to three life sentences for firebombing the Dawabsheh family home in the West Bank in 2015, killing three.

No Entry:Hundreds of Hasidic Jewsblockedtraffic and a border crossing between Belarus and Ukraine last night after being denied entry to Ukraine to visit Uman for Rosh Hashanah.

Sent Home:The JCC of Greater Rochester islaying off296 of its staffers due to New Yorks coronavirus-imposed restrictions on its fitness center.

Across the Pond:The Liberal DemocratssuspendedLondon mayoral candidate Geeta Sidhu-Robb after a 1997 clip of her antisemitic comments reemerged.

VIP Club:Prince Charleshas been nameda patron of Jewish youth group the Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade (JLGB) as it celebrates its 125th anniversary.

Under Threat:Polands former presidential candidatecomparedhis countrys treatment of the LGBTQ community to the way Jews were dehumanized before the Holocaust.

Record Deal:A 12-year-old viral rapper from Gazalandedan offer from record label EMPIRE.

Sneak Peek:Israels Yes Studiosunveileda preview yesterday of the third season of Shtisel.

Silver Screen:An upcoming animated documentary, The Klarsfelds,tellsthe story of real-life Nazi hunters Beate and Serge Klarsfeld.

Remembering:Italian physician Amos Luzzatto, who also served as a leader of the Jewish community in Italy,diedat 92. Oscar-winning songwriter Al Kashadiedat 85. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gantsdiedat age 66.

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Daily Kickoff: Big day & crowd on the South Lawn + How the satirist Andy Borowitz is prepping for November - Jewish Insider

A suspected drunken driver shot and killed last month after causing a crash on Viking Way then trying to force his way into a nearby house had been warned minutes before in a separate confrontation that his aggressive behavior was going to get him shot.

Witnesses said Eric William Rose, 28, climbed out of the window of his totaled 2008 Jeep Patriot on Aug.2 and ran away from the multi-vehicle crash he had just caused near the 18100 block of the roadway. He apparently wanted to hide in ahouse, wherea woman and a nearly 2-year-old girl were hiding from him, according to statements gathered by Kitsap County Sheriffs Office detectives.

While in the yard, Rose charged toward the womans husband, Joshua Ray Johnson, 27, after Johnson repeatedly warned Rose, according to Johnson and another witness at the scene.

Eric Rose(Photo: contributed)

Johnson shot Rose three times with a .45-caliber pistol from a distance of 3 or 4feet, according to Johnson.

I pretty much on repeat just kept saying, I dont want to shoot you, over and over and over and over, Johnson told detectives in a voluntary recorded statement. I dont know how many times I said it. I felt like I said it about a million times just over and over to him.

Johnson added: It was not something that I wanted to do at all.

In a statement issued Thursday through his attorney, Johnson said he could not express his sadness from the shooting and could not imagine the pain felt by Roses loved ones.

Details of the crash and shooting and the 45 minutes or so that led up to the final confrontation were pieced together from the investigation by the sheriff's office obtained by the Kitsap Sun through the state Public Records Act.

Roses parents believe their son had relapsed after about three months of sobriety. Following the high-speed crash no serious injuries were reported they believe he panicked knowing he would be sent to jail, something he feared.

They told the Kitsap Sun they had never seen Rose highly intoxicated or act aggressively.

Rose was part Native American and his parents needed special permission to adopt him as a newborn. They described him as a loving son and brother, a talented musician and chef who had struggled with alcoholism and feelings of alienation. Plus, he had trouble finding work after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered restaurants.

During the confrontation, Johnson described Roses behavior as bizarre and frightening, with him laughing at one moment, cursing at Johnson the next and then growing increasingly aggressive once he learned Johnson had a pistol.

A witness, who happened upon the shooting scene after the wreck and did not know Johnson, said he heard Johnson say I dont want to shoot you three times before Rose charged him.

The witness said Rose wasnt running at Johnson, But he was coming at him fast, flailing his arms, in a threatening manner with his chest puffed up, according to reports.

No arrests have been made. Kitsap County Prosecutor Chad Enright is reviewing the case for possible charges.

"It may take me several weeks to review the case in its entirety," Enright said.

Rose had been living with his parents since being arrested in April near Issaquah for drunken driving when he drove into a ditch. Court documents say he had a blood-alcohol content of .23, nearly three times the legal limit, and a deputy called to the scene described Roses demeanor as extremely belligerent.

Following the arrest, Rose entered treatment and was fitted with an alcohol-monitoring bracelet to ensure he did not drink. A King County District Court judge agreed to remove the bracelet on July 29, four days before his death on Aug.2.

On Aug.1, Roses parents left him alone at their house to attend a family camping trip to the Olympic Peninsula. The family had been staying together during the COVID-19 quarantine and said Rose had shown improvement with his treatment and was in good spirits when they left.

An estimated 30 to 45 minutes before the shooting, a witness driving by reported seeing Roses Jeep speed out of a driveway near the 16300 block of Scandia Way his parents house seemingly without looking for other cars. Rose lived about a mile-and-a-half from the Johnsons.

The Jeep then drove away so recklessly the witness wondered if the driver had just burglarized the house.

Rose ended up at the Red Apple grocery store on Viking Way in Poulsbo, and while trying to buy a bottle of liquor, got into an argument with clerks when they refused to sell to him, generating a 911 call.

While at the store, a man there said Rose put his hands on the shoulders of a woman in line she was standing with a child and whispered something in her ear. The man said it appeared this frightened the woman so he told Rose to keep his hands to himself.

The two men then got into a heated argument in the parking lot, which the man said Rose initiated.

The man said Rose kept coming at him like he had no fear whatsoever. The man described himself as 6 feet tall, 225 pounds and has never had anyone come up on him like that.

As Rose approached, the man told Rose to stay back four to five times before the two bumped bellies, according to documents.

He told (Rose) he was going to get shot, noting he was carrying a concealed pistol, a detective wrote. Rose just stood there and the man went back inside the Red Apple he said an employee asked him to stick around until Rose was gone.

Based on 911 call logs, about 24 minutes after the confrontation in the Red Apple parking lot where he was warned he was going to get shot because of his aggressive behavior Rose was shot dead by Johnson.

Eric Rose(Photo: contributed)

Before driving south on Viking Way toward his parents house, Roses Jeep was seen by an off-duty Bainbridge police officer speeding into a nearby cul-de-sac where the officer lived and doing donuts. The driver appeared to be trying to grab a flag from a child at play figure on the street, meant to warn drivers that children could be in the roadway.

The officer memorized the license plate and went to his patrol car to find out the owners name. While running the plate number through the computer system he heard the rest of the event play out over the radio, ending with a shots fired call.

The officer, Corporal Bill Shields, wrote that he then ran into his house to get his duty belt and vest and hurried to the scene, hoping to render aid, but arrived after deputies.

After leaving the cul-de-sac and speeding back onto Viking Way, Rose then drove to the nearby McDonalds where he was seen hitting a fence and driving over a sidewalk before speeding away, generating another 911 call.

Moments later, while driving south at extreme speeds on Viking Way, Rose struck one vehicle from behind, swerved into the oncoming lane and struck another vehicle almost head-on, according to a statement from the sheriffs office.

A preliminary analysis of computer data recovered from Roses Jeep showed he was traveling at 103 mph five seconds before the airbags deployed. He was traveling at 65 mph when the airbags deployed. The speed limit on the road is 40 mph.

A witness who called 911 was astonished at the speed the Jeep was traveling. Incredible speed, he told a dispatcher.

After the wreck reported at 4:33 p.m. witnesses said Rose climbed out of the window of the Jeep and ran away.

Inside the Jeep which had a Dont tread on me sticker on the back investigators would find empty alcohol containers, a crossbow and ammunition to two different types of handguns, but no guns were found. No witnesses reported seeing Rose with a firearm.

Johnson, a former Marine sergeant, told detectives he always carries a gun and just before the shooting had been intending to take a trip to the hardware store. Johnson kept the gun concealed in a holster in his waistband.

After realizing there had been a crash on the road in front of his house he said he went outside to help while his wife called 911 to report the crash. He then encountered Rose in his yard and asked if he was OK.

It appeared Rose was trying to hide behind a tree he told Johnson to be quiet and said Shhhhh.

Johnson heard people from the crash yelling that Rose was involved and to not let him get away. Rose then asked Johnson to let him inside his house, even offering to pay him up to $1,000.

He was uncomfortable cause he knew people were telling me not to let him get away, Johnson said, according to a transcript of the interview. He started asking me if he could get inside my house and ... I said no, you cant.

Johnson said Rose ran past him through the yard but he didnt chase after him.

I didnt want to pursue him, it wasnt like I was trying to be a hero, said Johnson, who said he hoped Rose would continue running, but instead Rose started trying to get inside his house.

At this point, Johnson said he went back inside and told his wife to lock the doors. He then went back outside. He said he never pursued Rose, but as Rosetried to enter his house and then his garage, Johnson told him to stop, to calm down and that Johnsons wife and child were inside.

Rose moved through the yard and threw a pallet and then, finding a long wooden stick used to measure heating oil, threw it at Johnson like a spear but missed.

It appeared to Johnson that Rose was becoming increasingly agitated, and again, Rose turned his attention back toward breaking into the house.

I feel like enough is enough, I might as well escalate to the next level here cause I dont know what hes gonna do, Johnson said. He removed his pistol to chamber a round preparing it to fire but reholstered it.

Johnson said Rose did not see him prepare the gun to fire. Further, Johnson said he had not indicated to Rose that he was armed.

However, as Rose seemed to become more agitated and focused on Johnson, and then the house, Johnson said he put his hand on the pistol and told Rose to stop and stay where he was.

It appeared to Johnson that once Rose realized he had a gunRose became more agitated.

When he noticed that I had something on me, he immediately got aggressive, Johnson told detectives. Rose began cursing at him and telling me I wouldnt shoot him and then he started walking towards me.

Johnson said he assumed Rose was scared that he may have killed somebody in the wreck.

He was scared and that scared transformed into anger and then he got he was just frustrated and angry and aggressive, Johnson told detectives.

Johnson said Rose who was physically larger than Johnson frightened him. Rose was 5-feet-11-inches tall and 160 pounds, according to court documents; Johnson was described by his wife as 5-feet-9-inches tall.

I was really scared, Johnson said, fearful that Rose would overpower him and enter his house. I didnt know what the next step was there and what he would do if he got in ... with my daughter and my wife so I wasnt gonna let him do it.

Johnson said despite repeated warnings Rose kept advancing. Johnson pulled out the pistol and shot Rose three times. He told detectives he did not draw the gun until he fired.

I never drew it until it was I actually was firing, Johnson said.

He then unloaded the gun and kneeled on the lawn to wait for police.

Another bystander with medic training tried to administer first aid. Rose was declared dead at the scene.

Investigators established a timeline of the crash and shooting from a neighboring business's security camera, which showed Rose was in Johnsons yard for about five minutes before Johnson shot him.

One-and-a-half minutes after the shooting, a sheriff's deputy sergeant arrived.

Johnson released to the Kitsap Sun the following statement through his attorney, Tim Kelly:

There are no words to express my sadness following the events of August 2, 2020. Loss of life, however it occurs, is always tragic. While my life has changed forever, I cannot imagine the pain felt by Mr. Roses family and friends. This is a heartbreaking situation for everyone involved.

Read or Share this story: https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2020/09/18/shooter-poulsbo-crash-it-not-something-wanted-do-all/3487325001/

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Shooter at Poulsbo crash: 'It was not something that I wanted to do at all' - Kitsap Sun

LAKEWOOD RANCH Nearly 100 end-user home and builder lots have sold in 2020 inThe Lake Club, within themaster-planned community of Lakewood Ranch.

A statement says the homes and large lots in the village includefeatures that appealto homebuyers during the pandemic, such as spacious outdoor living areas, bonus rooms that can be converted into home officesand open floor plans with high ceilings.

The newest enclave in the community, Genoa, has had 54 sales so far this year. It expanded to include four neighborhoods withthree-, four-, and five-bedroom residences and over 20 floor plans rangingfrom 2,400 to over 4,000 square feet under air, the release states.

Lake View Estates is 90% sold out. The enclave began with 68 lakefront estate homes, withseven remaining.

Thecommunity'samenities include six tennis courts, four pickleball courtsand a tennis pro shop that opened this year as part of the tennis center. The village also has aprivate 20,000-square-foot clubhouse, ayoga lawn, childrens playground, fitness trail, dog park and sports courts, according to the statement.

The Lake Club is a Tuscan-inspired, private club community of custom luxury homes. The Lake Club is one of 16 actively selling villages in Lakewood Ranch, a 31,000-acre,master-planned community straddling Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Originally posted here:
Nearly 100 home, builder lots sell in community in 2020 - Business Observer

Tim Hicks addiction started early in life around the time he was 13 years old.

By the time I was 19, I was pretty much a full-blown alcoholic, he said. By the time I was 22 years old, I had been in and out of several treatment facilities.

Hicks said he ultimately managed to leave that life behind 18 years ago, successfully bucking his addiction to drugs and alcohol through a combination of treatment, lifestyle changes, work experience and faith-based counseling.

Hicks said he needed a life-changing experience, one that involved changing multiple aspects of his routine, including his friends.

If you want to be a banker, hang around bankers, he said. If you want to be a baseball player, hang around baseball players. If you want to be a good person, hang around good people, and I think thats a key point in recovery.

After unseating incumbent state House Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, during the Republican primary in August, Hicks will now face Democrat Brad Batt in the general election for the District 6 seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

The two candidates recently sat down with the Johnson City Press to discuss their views on addiction treatment in Northeast Tennessee, a region that has been a flashpoint in the fight against opioid abuse.

Batt said treatment is important, but there also needs to be a focus on the underlying factors that lead to addiction.

I think a lot of these issues are an outcome of economic insecurity, Batt said, noting that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has only strengthened the financial headwinds that households are fighting against.

Batt pointed out that about 45% of households in Washington County fall below the federal poverty line or are part of the ALICE population, an acronym that stands for asset-limited, income constrained, employed. ALICE families live above the poverty line, but dont make enough to afford the cost of living.

Now with COVID, you have even more strain on working families, Batt said, and those sorts of pressures and stresses combined with a lack of access to healthcare contribute to these addiction issues.

Opioid addiction, Batt said, in some cases starts when an injury is treated with painkillers because the patient cant get needed rehabilitative health care.

Weve got to make sure we focus on not just treating the symptoms, which is the addiction, but the disease, which is economic insecurity, lack of health care, lack of options, he said. Weve got to look at it from a big-picture standpoint. Not just the addiction treatment part.

A builder who owns a custom home construction company in Gray, Hicks said experience in a trade helped him during recovery and can play an integral role in treatment, giving recovering addicts a way to occupy their minds.

It helps you to get up early in the morning, it helps you to sleep better at night, Hicks said. Theres just many different avenues that a job helps. ... But I think the most important thing that it does is it makes you feel better about yourself.

Faith-based counseling, Hicks said, can also act as a way to instill hope in those seeking treatment.

Hicks said the region has a strong slate of 28-day programs, but the area needs a sober living facility, which Hicks said can help recovering addicts relearn life skills and would ideally provide a path to workforce development.

The problem is after the 28 days, Hicks said. Thats where were really messing up.

Currently, Hicks said many people exiting a 28-day program in Tennessee have to travel elsewhere to seek treatment through a sober living facility.

You have a 28-day program, which basically gets you started in a direction, and then what were doing now is were dumping them back into the same situation that they came out of, he said. I think that we need a sober-living facility coupled with faith-based ministries.

Talking opioid treatment, Hicks has expressed opposition to Suboxone, a drug used in medication-assisted treatment designed to help wean people off opioids.

In a Facebook post, Hicks campaign linked the countys relatively high density of Suboxone clinics to a 200% increase in drug-related crime over the past seven years, according to the Addiction Center, which the post said occurred as other forms of crime were decreasing.

Washington County is the Suboxone capital of Tennessee, the post read. Replacing one addiction with another isnt working.

Dr. Wesley Geminn, the chief pharmacist with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said he hasnt seen evidence to support the idea that Suboxone clinics lead to increased crime in their surrounding area.

Its not the crime that Im worried about, Hicks said during a recent interview. What Im worried about is wrecking peoples lives, people not getting a fresh start ... at life and a different way of life.

Hicks said common sense tells him trading one drug for another isnt a long-term solution for recovery.

I just have a hard time with that, Hicks said. It holds people back to where they cannot get that life-changing experience.

Hicks also expressed concern about whether drugs used in medication-assisted treatment could play a role in spurring neonatal abstinence syndrome. Additionally, he questioned whether the predominant drugs of choice in the region are best treated with that methodology, which is used to manage heroin and opioid addictions.

Reiterating that its important to address the underlying causes of addiction, Batt said no treatment is off the table, but medication-assisted treatment isnt a panacea.

Its not going to get it done on its own, he said, adding that patients also need to receive mental health treatment to identify the root causes of their addiction.

Excerpt from:
Underlying causes and intervention: District 6 candidates talk treating addiction - Johnson City Press (subscription)

The custom-built colonial house at 52 Charcoal Hill Road sits on a private two-acre property in the Coleytown neighborhood .

The custom-built colonial house at 52 Charcoal Hill Road sits on a private two-acre property in the Coleytown neighborhood .

Photo: 360 Properties And Associated Photographer(s)

The custom-built colonial house at 52 Charcoal Hill Road sits on a private two-acre property in the Coleytown neighborhood .

The custom-built colonial house at 52 Charcoal Hill Road sits on a private two-acre property in the Coleytown neighborhood .

On the Market: Custom-built colonial in Westport for $2.8M

WESTPORT Charcoal, when compressed for thousands of years, transforms into a diamond. But it didnt require pressure or thousands of years to create the brilliant gem that sits at 52 Charcoal Hill Road in the Coleytown neighborhood.

As with all high-quality diamonds, this gray custom-built colonial house has increased in value since 1992 when it was constructed, not just monetarily but in function and appeal. It is likely to go quickly because of the number of people from neighboring New York who are seeking the open space and quietude of bucolic Fairfield County properties.

Once in a while the stars align and everything comes together as it should welcome to 52 Charcoal Hill Road, a custom-built home by renowned builder William Kokot, the listing agent said. Her use of the stars in her marketing material is certainly appropriate for this house. The late Kokot was an engineer and builder whose obituary indicates he worked on a few projects for NASA. Additionally, among the many amenities easily accessed from this house is the Rolnick Observatory, home of the Westport Astronomical Society less than a mile away.

Although the observatory is temporarily closed to the public, it will eventually reopen to once again bring the wonders of the night sky to the thousands who have visited, according to its website.

Until then, the owners of this house can enjoy the night sky and they day sky too, with the naked eye, right from their own backyard. This two-acre level property is in the Coleytown section of town, away from glaring lights, which allows for perfect viewing conditions on clear nights. They can also enjoy the in-ground swimming pool, relaxing and entertaining on the patio, and sitting around the fire pit.

A winding driveway leads an ample parking area and to the house, which boasts 10 rooms and 9,741 square feet of living space. Casual elegance meets high design in this exquisite home on a serene country road, the agent said. It has many unique features including attractive moldings, handcrafted banisters, tall windows and French doors to the bluestone patio, pool, and backyard.

The front door opens into the grand two-story foyer. In the formal living room there is a gas-fueled marble fireplace and French doors to the grounds. In the family room there is a coffered ceiling, built-ins and a wood-burning fireplace. From the large formal dining room the caf door opens into the chefs kitchen, where there is a center island with a breakfast bar and built-in wine racks, white ceramic subway tile backsplash, under cabinet lighting, pantry, high-end appliances, and an eat-in area with sliding doors to the yard.

Should the country ever experience another lockdown, or if students are forced to distance learn again, this house is well-equipped to accommodate work-from-home and home-as-classroom for all its residents. In addition to the large office with built-ins on the main level, there is another office or study or homework station on the third floor including a long double desk area.

Four of the homes five en suite bedrooms are on the second floor. The master suite has a gas log fireplace, two closets and a spacious bath. The third floor offers the potential fifth bedroom, which is currently a media room.

The lower level features another 2,800 square feet of possibilities.

While the house is in a private setting it is conveniently located within walking distance of Coleytown elementary and middle schools, and only about one mile from the Merritt Parkway. It is not much further to the Post Road (Route 1) and downtown Westport shops, restaurants, town offices, the public library, Levitt Pavilion, and other features.

For more information or to set up an appointment to see the house contact Karen Amaru of William Raveis Real Estate at 203-858-6329 or karen.amaru@raveis.com.

STYLE: Custom-built Colonial

ADDRESS: 52 Charcoal Hill Road

PRICE: $2,890,000

ROOMS: 10

FEATURES: Two-acre level and lightly wooded lot, heated in-ground swimming pool with automatic pool cover, bluestone patio, outdoor BBQ and kitchen, professionally installed gas fire pit, professional landscaping, exterior lighting, underground sprinkler system, underground utilities, programmable thermostat, audio system, pre-wired for cable, central vacuum, theater/media room, three fireplaces, cedar closet, attached three-car garage, central air conditioning, oil heat, short distance to the Merritt Parkway, walking distance to Coleytown elementary and middle schools, wood shingle roof, attic, full unfinished basement, public water connection, septic system, five bedrooms, five full and two half baths

SCHOOLS: Coleytown Elementary, Coleytown Middle, Staples High School

ASSESSMENT: $1,795,000

MILL RATE: 16.71 mills

TAXES: $29,994

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On the Market: Custom-built colonial in Westport for $2.8M - Westport News

This summer, Steve Rendine watched boards of pressure-treated decking in his Smithfield, Rhode Island, lumber yard disappear like the most recognizable symbol of COVID-19 scarcity.

Its similar to what happened with toilet paper, except the process to make toilet paper is much easier than lumber, Rendine, the general manager at Douglas Lumber, said. Theres panic buying. Stuff gets snapped up at prices that, realistically, three months from now will be astronomically expensive.

Like the toilet paper shortage that perplexed Americans in the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the more recent lumber shortage caught many by surprise and has been difficult to remedy.

On Friday, lumber futures hit yet another record high, more than double the price at the start of the year, but locally many people would be willing to pay more if they could find product to buy.

What we are seeing is historic in a number of ways, from pricing to availability, Rendine said.

Builders like Tim Stasiunas, of Stasiunas Construction in Charlestown, are sending trucks out of state in search of building materials, understanding that hell be paying more than usual for what they find.

For me, it is causing a lot of headaches, Stasiunas said. We have an exposure of thousands of dollars of loss per house we are building, because we are locked into contracts signed six and seven months ago.

So what happened to all the wood?

Rendine calls it a perfect storm of problems that started with President Donald Trumps 20% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, which raised prices on a source New England relied on.

Then when COVID-19 landed on American shores, mills and building materials producers like counterparts in many industries ratcheted operations down as the economy went into hibernation.

But unlike in other markets, Americans never pulled back on real estate or home improvement spending. In fact, being stuck at home encouraged many people to redirect resources they used to spend on restaurant meals and travel into improving their living space.

Ramping up production at sawmills and factories was much harder than slowing it down. Some workers got COVID. Others were forced to quarantine, and measures to prevent the spread of the virus slowed output.

As with toilet paper, once shortages began, hoarders gobbled up whatever was left. And because wood is a commodity, speculators swooped in, sensing a market opportunity.

The first thing to start drying up was pressure-treated lumber, used on outdoor structures like decks, and other wood products that involve manufacturing, Rendine said. The price of pressure-treated lumber went up 250% at one point, he said, and plywood went up by 130%.

Once boards and wood became scarce, it had a knock-on effect on other building materials, such as engineered panels, windows and doors. And contractors unable to find pressure-treated boards snapped up composite decking.

What should contractors or homeowners with a big DIY project on tap do?

If you can wait, wait, Rendine said. At some point this year, there is going to be a market correction, and it will go down faster than it went up. That may not happen until theres a vaccine. I would advise anyone, unless they have to build now, not to build right now.

Although having inventory fly off the shelves as soon as it comes in, even at higher prices, is generally a good thing for business, Rendine said he fears the long-term impact if the shortage continues and projects are canceled.

John Marcantonio, executive director of the Rhode Island Builders Association, said the strong residential real estate market is helping the economy bounce back, and he worries the lumber shortage could slow the recovery.

Demand for residential construction is higher than it has been in years, he said. With the concern about nursing homes, people are keeping grandma home and doing the multi-generational thing, so they build [accessory dwelling units.] And people are working from home instead of the office, and I think some part of that is going to be permanent.

Stasiunas says the jump in lumber prices is unlikely to damage the high end of the market, where a $20,000 to $30,000 increase in materials wont derail a $1-million custom home.

But the middle range of the market $400,000 to $600,000 houses built without a specific buyer might not be as desirable. And the subsidized affordable market could really slow down if this continues, Stasiunas said.

I think we are in this for a while, he said.

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Whered the wood go? Lumber is the latest COVID victim - SouthCoastToday.com

The Window Cleaning Robot Market is estimated at around US$ XX.XX billion in 2020 and CAGR of XX.XX% is predictable to be registered. The report provides a wide-ranging analysis market size in terms of value and volume, revenue details, and additional important data on the Window Cleaning Robot industry and the different target business trends, drivers, and risks by 2026. The study furthermore presents informative and complete information, apart from strategies, acquisitions & mergers, and market footprint, on the various key players operating on the Window Cleaning Robot market and their financials.

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Chapter 4:Downstream Characteristics, Market Share by Application of Window Cleaning Robot.

Chapter 5:Production Volume, Price, Gross Margin, and Revenue ($) of Window Cleaning Robot by Regions.

Chapter 6:Window Cleaning Robot Production, Export, and Import by Regions.

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Chapter 8: Key Company Profiles, Market Distribution Status by Players of Window Cleaning Robot.

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Global Window Cleaning Robot Market 2019 Market Key Players, Growth, Trends, Revenue and Demands Research Report and Forecast to 2026 - Verdant News

How often do we start and end our days in the same fashion? Our personal groundhog days see us rising at a particular time, checking on the weather either electronically or by peeking out the window, cleaning, dressing, and fueling our bodies, and then going about our business, whatever that might be. We wind down in a similar manner, with our nighttime rituals leading us to the moment when we ultimately drift off to sleep, ready to begin the next day, and again, and again.

How strange, then, is it, when we travel, which we all used to be able to do pre-COVID-19, and our routine is disrupted? Even the slightest alteration stepping onto a tile floor instead of a carpet, a little too much or too little light seeping in from behind the curtains or under the door, an unlikely choice for breakfast food or a different brand of coffee somehow these little inconsistencies register with us and color our outlook on the rest of the day.

So too is the situation now, with the coronavirus, where we have made small changes in our lives that have forced us to examine the necessity, the essentialness, of our daily habits. Those changes impact the way we work as well, the way we communicate with others, the color of the clothes we wear as we dress for video conferencing, the lighting in our workspaces, the tools we work with, the snacks we consume at our makeshift desks.

Do you find yourself longing for the old ways, or are you settling into a new process, a new location, even a new you? What would you bring with you if the COVID-19 clock stopped ticking and suddenly we were catapulted back to actual Groundhog's Day 2020, before we started down this pandemic path? What will you take with you when you ease out of pandemicland?

I'm just rambling, because I don't have answers, just the thoughts that strike me when I notice changes that have become my new reality. I tried to assemble some interesting solutions this month in my Apps We Love column on Page xx. How to manage the WFH lifestyle, how to create or improve a home office, how to cope with the requirement that the job must still get done.

Another topic we cover in depth in this issue is document management. Like it or not, paper is a hinderance to progress, now more than ever. Our reviews will introduce you to software tools to make the paperless office closer to becoming a reality, and columnist Randy Johnston discusses the reasons why you need software at the helm of solving the document management dilemma.

Meanwhile, stay safe, enjoy your new routines, pick the ones you like best and carry them with you as you continue on your life journey.

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Repetition and the Way of the World - CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

Actor Spencer Wilding, who playedDarth Vader in Star Wars spin-off Rogue One, has said he may return to his old job as a window cleaner in the Welsh seaside town of Rhyl because film work has dried up in the wake of Covid-19.

"The acting has been put on hold and if I need some work I can go back to cleaning windows," the 48-year-old told the Daily Star.

"I'm not above all that.

"I don't feel I would be lowering myself if I went back to cleaning windows.

"I used to have a massive window-cleaning round and I need to do something to bring the money in.

"I have two teenage sons, as well as a 27-year-old daughter, and it would be good to set up a company for them to take over one day."

Wilding, whose other screen credits include Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Guardians of the Galaxy, joked that he could use The Force from Star Wars so that all his customers' windows would be instantly cleaned.

"I love people, love being around people, and if someone needs their windows cleaning, I could do a good job.

"People in Rhyl and North Wales have always backed me and they might see 'Big Spen' going up and down ladders cleaning their windows again."

The former professional kickboxer also said he could return to work as a doorman.

"I was a good doorman," he added. "Parents would ring me up and say: 'If you're on the door I know my kids will be safe'."

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story receives its Irish network television premiere on RT2 this Saturday, September 19, at 9:20pm.

Watch our 2016 interview with Rogue One director Gareth Edwards:

Click here for more movie news.

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Darth Vader may return to window-cleaning job in Wales - RTE.ie