Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

READERS are concerned aftertraining and essential maintenance was forced to come to a standstill after caravans were pitched on a football ground.

Travellers arrived onWalneyIsland FCs mini football pitch on Tummer Hill onWednesday evening.

After being made aware of their arrival, committee member and football manager Stephen McCullough arrived on the site and approached the group, however he claims they refused to move.

L1A1 said: "Just carry on using it, don't let them win."If the pitch is damaged, call the Police, and have the owners of the cars and caravans prosecuted. Criminal Damage, the pitch is a valuable asset."

Barrow Cat said: "This is ridiculous now this is the fourth site in Barrow they have been on. The council have spent thousands to evict them but they're still here. They never left any rubbish behind at ormsgill but kids tipped the bins over. "

Julie Crompton said: "The reason they park where they like with impunity is because they don't care what the council, the law or anyone else thinks. They don't follow rules and have a total disregard for anyone or anything. If you don't want them there forget the law."

Chase Ballantyne said: "Give them some of the achers of derelict land to use that's just sitting there then they have no reason to keep going place to place everytime they are moved on its worked in other parts of the country."

Emma Fitzsimmons said: "Police move then its a playing field for the kids football, they seem to be able to do as they like."

There are also concerns over the state of the pitch once the caravans have goneand that there is not enough time to complete pitch maintenance before the start of the season, including grass cutting, top soiling, seeding and aerating the pitches.

READ MORE:Concern as travellers pitch on football ground

Read the rest here:
'Don't let them win' - Readers concerned after travellers pitch on football ground - The Mail

There is a low hill in Marlay Park near the childrens playground. It is a spoil mountain made of soil and rock, excavated when the M50 was built. This unromantic leftover is becoming a wild (and Wildean) place. A labyrinth has been mown through ribbon rows of close-planted native trees. At the top a sculpture of a face by Agnes Conway is set in the ground like a sleeping goddess under a green blanket. Her nose is regularly clambered on by the children who drift from the playground to the top of the mound.

The young trees sway happily in their river of tall grass. They are vigorous thrivers: hazel, spindle, crab apple, hawthorn and blackthorn, great at greening ground left by large earth movers. Millennia ago it was glaciers doing the moving rather than dump trucks.

Assistant foreman gardener Louise Connolly planted the labyrinth in the cold grip of winter. She does her best planting in winter. She hopes the canopy will tunnel in another few years to bring people up close and personal with a native hedgerow. In future summers the labyrinth should be heady with the honey smell of hawthorn blossom.

Gardener Louise Connolly says Marlay Park has 'great bones' and 'all were doing is dressing it up'. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times

Connolly is wearing her knee pads when I arrive at Marlay House to talk to her about wilding public places. Hip trouble means she walks with a light crutch. It doesnt stop her hopping in and out of her veteran John Deere Gator with more agility than me. After 36 years with the parks service she is in her element. There is a sense of flow, like she is harnessed to a natural system. Now Im gardening the way I gardened at home, she says. Its such a joy. How could you not enjoy it?

Practices changed in the 300-acre suburban park in south Dublin four years ago when Dn Laoghaire Rathdown County Council went chemical-free. Until then glyphosate was routinely used to kill off green areas for replanting. Summer bedding plants were brought in to replace spring bedding. These plants were very highly bred for their bling effect, says Connolly. They stayed for three months and were then removed before the soil was dug over again. It was a waste of money, time and effort.

The big rethink started with seeding a grassy area near the courtyard with wildflowers. It had plenty of poppies and colour in the first year, but then it grew less vibrant as docks and other plants came along to help the soil recover from being rotavated. We decided were not going to dig anymore, Connolly explains. Now she mulches new planting areas with tonnes of recycled Christmas tree chip. It smothers grass and creates space for gently curving rivers of perennial plants.

[Want to be a rewilder? Heres how]

There are drifts of forget-me-nots, the tiny starry woodruff flowers, a line of comfrey along by the old buildings. There are wild plants in the mix, like dead nettle and burdock in a flow of gorgeous colour under a cedar that is more than a century old. There was nothing here because nothing grew here before, she says.

Im visiting in May; the spring bulbs are dying back and summer flowers are beginning. One thing finishes and something else will come in. Eventually itll take care of itself.

In the walled garden her gardener colleague Paul Burke has created a series of no-dig beds where he is growing perennial flowering plants for the park, along with vegetable crops. His plan is to create a meadow-like food garden, loosening rigid ideas of walled kitchen gardens.

Connollys planting under the trees isnt wild. Its naturalistic. Theyre not wild plants but this is a park, she says.

And people love it. Its a haven for birds and insects. Ground ivy provides cover for small mammals. Not mowing under certain trees has meant that they can seed themselves. The wild-seeded trees will be moved in dormant season to the labyrinth. Connollys colleague who opens the park early in the morning has noticed an increase in bird life. We have so many more finches than we used to.

A bumblebee sips nectar from an Aquilegia flower in Marlay Park.Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times

Elsewhere in the park a full meadow is thronged with plantains waving their brown soldier heads in a haze of dandelion fluff. The meadow is bordered with veteran trees. Marlay has great bones, Connolly says. All were doing is dressing it up.

A mown path allows people to walk through it. Nettles and cow parsley throng the tree line, a wild meadow in suburbia, no-mow at scale. It is cut once a year. A farmer from Tallaght will take a hay crop in the early autumn.

Our idea of a park, like our idea of Christmas, has been heavily influenced by the Victorians. Manicured lawns, bling bedding plants and exotic specimens were ostentatious shows of wealth and colonial domination. They kept it all spick and span with loads of staff and money, says Connolly. The long-gone armies of weeders, clippers and scythers were replaced with fossil fuel-driven machines and chemical bioweapons to maintain rigid straight lines. Bourgeois big house gardens came to the burbs. In a biodiversity and climate crisis where we understand the cost of that shortcut, new practices are needed. The Victorians have had their day, Connolly says.

Credit for the shift in how public land is being managed has to go to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, first published in 2015 by Trinity professor Jane Stout and Dr Una Fitzpatrick, senior ecologist with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, with detailed recommendations for councils, transport authorities, businesses, schools, sports clubs, farmers and individuals. Each section contains a range of suggestions for pollinator-friendly actions, from leaving grass verges along roads and motorways unmown, to creating wildflower meadows, protecting nesting habitats and reducing the use of pesticides.

[Rewilding Irish landscape would bring big benefits for nature and humans]

More than half of all local authorities have endorsed the plan and agreed to take specific actions. But it remains a series of recommendations rather than regulations. Until recently full-time staff dedicated to the plan in the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture have been promised rather than delivered. It is dependent on partners signing up.

New recommendations are expected to come from the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, and the Government has promised those recommendations will inform a policy on biodiversity which will hopefully make nature-friendly land management the way in which things are done.

The term rewilding is believed to have first been used by a Newsweek journalist writing about radical environmentalism in 1990. The idea was described as letting nature take the lead by wilderness advocate Zoltan Kun in a recent webinar with the Irish Wildlife Trust. Rewilding can be big or small: from naturally regenerating thousands of hectares by fencing or introducing wolves, to putting the mower away so suburban soil can find its mojo.

It can be as small as a window box with local soil and a nettle and a thistle planted in it to allow us to watch the spidery creatures, caterpillars and tiny hovering insects that need unloved plants for a home.

The last idea is from garden designer Mary Reynolds. She designs arks, or Acts of Regenerative Kindness, rather than gardens now. She is convinced that the future will be ark-shaped with nature at the prow.

Mary Reynolds with her dog Lucky. Photograph: Claire Leadbitter

Ideas of control are hard to relinquish. Ireland has a history of locking up wildness and throwing away the key. Weedy unkempt places have associations of poverty. Letting the land go was a visible sign of defeat or grief for many people, the loss of loved ones through bereavement or emigration. Prosperity has been drawn on the landscape with ripped-out hedgerows and a blank green carpet of heavily-fertilised rye grass. We need a new story about wild places.

Its 20 years since Reynolds won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, becoming the youngest woman ever to win. Her success sent a dart of hope through environmentalists hearts that the days of laurel hedges and scalped lawns were numbered. Woolly, wavey gardens full of native plants would be planted with pride.

Reynolds was taken aback by the emotion that greeted her garden, a stone archway opening to a path with four Druid thrones around a fire bowl over a pond with more than 500 native plants. People were moved to tears.

It was something they didnt know that they had lost until they saw it kind of honoured, she explains. One old lady she was one of the lost Irish had come to work as a cleaner aged 17 and was then in her 80s started crying her eyes out. She had never managed to get back to Ireland and she knew she was never going to get back but now she felt she had been back.

In 2018 Reynolds founded We Are The Ark, to guide people to return gardens to nature to combat biodiversity loss. Her website gives a simple how-to for anyone who wants to build a natural haven which will sustain itself. A key step is to put up a sign This is an ark to explain what some may see as a messy place.

Reynolds mission is to persuade people of our innate ability to connect with nature, with land and with creatures. We seem to think we are completely separate.

I know that Id be considered a complete lunatic in many ways but Im very sure that the future is what I do. If you want to save the planet you have to start with your own patch we have to stop imposing our view of what should be in the ground on top of the earth. We have to let her decide.

Creating an ark is dependent on how much damage the soil has undergone. It definitely can need a lot of help. Sometimes the damage is so profound that we have to restore it as much as we can.

Central to the idea is providing as many different layers of habitat as you can within the space you have. In arking, as Reynolds call it, humans step in to be the creatures like wolves and deer that balance a habitat. Larger spaces can accommodate multiple habitats: scrubby areas where brambles are allowed to spread into native thorny thickets. A pond can be a bowl of water with some oxygenating plants in it. Dead hedges, piles of logs can provide places of sanctuary. Holes in boundaries between gardens, fences replaced with hedgerows.

How amazing Ireland would be if we were covered in our own plants, if we didnt decide to import things that were pretty? Reynolds asks. How do we think we always need to be like someone else?

[How the baron of Dunsany carried out an ambitious rewilding project in Meath]

The gardening industry has made a grab for rewilding trends with wildflower seed mixes, packets showing a riot of colour, most of which are not native plants. If we keep doing what garden centres tell us to do, those big showy flowers, theyre like big fat signs for McDonalds, says Reynolds. The insects flock to them, so the more insignificant but far more vital native plants fail to find space or pollinators. We are prettifying ourselves to extinction.

We need our hearts open to include every little wild weed. Leave spaces to find their way, is her advice. Docks will come up, thistles will come up. Nature is very intelligent and knows how to heal itself.

If your soil seedbank is depleted and you have to sow, new seeds should be native grown and wild, or better still, gathered from your neighbourhood in late summer and autumn. A useful intervention can be to scrape some bare soil in a lawn and sow yellow rattle seeds, Reynolds says. Yellow rattle roots strangle grass roots and spread throughout a field or lawn, making space for wild seeds to germinate and grow.

Reynolds has a new book coming out in October called We Are the Ark. Over the next four years she will be working on a flagship ark in the grounds of Westport House in Co Mayo. Everything will be sourced from within 16km. We will be holding nature in a new light. Its the god of everything we are. Were screwed without our home, she says. I dont want to go and live with Elon Musk on Mars.

Twenty years on she cant bear the Chelsea Flower Show now. Its part of an industry that has become a juggernaut, paving gardens with Chinese granite and stone from India. Invasive plants and non-native plants are taking away the food supply of our fellow creatures.

This year Chelseas best-in-show garden was an echo of Reynolds win, with the award going to a garden sponsored by Rewilding Britain. Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt recreated a beaver dam, using wild plants, grasses and native trees. Like a deliberately tousled hairstyle, it looked like a quiet green corner of countryside undisturbed by people or other large animals.

In the two decades since Reynolds win, the plastic grass industry has marched across multiple gardens. You never have to force this [ark creation] on anyone, she says. The freedom to choose it is part of the message. And her take on plastic grass? Eventually some brave politician will step in and make that illegal.

Irish Wildlife Trust campaign officer Pdraic Fogarty: 'Should we be keeping the Phoenix Park absolutely identical to what it was in the 1700s?'

In the middle of writing this piece I opened Clarissa Pinkola Ests book Women who Run with The Wolves, to one of the many pages I dog-earred while reading it. When we think of reclamation it may bring to mind bulldozers or carpenters, the restoration of an old structure, and that is the modern usage of the word. However, the older meaning is this: The word reclamation is derived from the old French reclaimer, meaning to call back the hawk which has been let fly. Yes, to cause something of the wild to return when it is called.

Call it reclamation or rewilding, the trend is a very positive one, ecologist and environmental scientist Pdraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust says. It has enormous potential. Ironically one of the barriers to it is that its too cheap and too easy. Nature just needs some time and space. This goes against our need for immediate results.

Fogarty has a cherry tree in his garden that found its way there. But outside his house this morning, three tractors have been cutting acres of grass in the Dublin estate where he lives, obliterating any chance of another bird-sown cherry seed making it to treedom. We need to reverse the mentality around mowing, and mow only the places where people want to play football or picnic, he says.

The National Pollinator Plan has done wonders for making people look at things differently, Fogarty says. Public spaces offer an institutional opportunity to make spaces where trees are allowed just to grow themselves. Deer fencing in the Phoenix Park would allow areas to become forests.

Theyre still planting non-native trees in the Phoenix Park, Fogarty says. Its his nearest park. They say the Mediterranean oaks are being planted to replace veteran trees as part of a managed landscape, he says. But, should we be keeping the park absolutely identical to what it was in the 1700s?

We talk on the day that the EU has announced a plan to plant three billion trees. As part of Project Woodland, the Irish Wildlife Trust has been consulting on the next forest strategy for Ireland, due to be published soon. The key question, Fogarty says, is how we are going to meet some of the targets. Natural regeneration where trees seed themselves could help to re-establish native woodlands with a power and speed unmatchable by our efforts. The idea that we need to plant three billion trees is so human-centric. What we need to do is establish forests, large areas of forest and a lot of that needs to be undisturbed.

Cyclists enjoy the wildflowers along the Dodder Walk in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

In rural areas it is not as simple as doing nothing to allow land to rewild. On peat lands we need to block drains. There is a need to fence farm animals out of areas and cull deer populations. We are making some progress. The new CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) is allowing farmers to rewild 30 per cent of land, but this is only applicable to farmers who have fields. Commonage areas, which may have much more potential, are not part of this plan.

There are some rewilding projects that provide more; not just biodiversity benefits but also powerful carbon sequestration. Healthy bogs, particularly healthy raised bogs, will take carbon out of the air forever, compared to forests which store carbon for 100 years.

Fogarty believes the culture war over forest projects is overstated. In the surveys and public consultations there has been huge public support for forests. What people hate are the commercial plantations, cliff faces of conifers clear-felled to leave devastated ecosystems in their wake.

Fogartys advice to anyone wanting to wild their garden is to make space for wildlife and enjoy what arrives. You dont have to be an absolutist. He has a resident family of sparrows and a crowd of starlings as regular visitors. Ants live under the elder that seeded itself. They all feel a little like part of the family.

Rewilding has been a really positive story. People can see with their own eyes, Fogarty says. And what they see is the power of an intelligent system.

Nature is healing became a consoling idea of the early days of the pandemic, when we marvelled at crystal clear waters in Venice or foxes on deserted city streets. The idea blossomed, and then quickly withered into a jokey meme. But the experience left its mark, and leaves us more open to ideas of rewilding public spaces than we have been for generations. We have the solutions, Fogarty says. One of them is the leap of thinking about how to align with natural forces, to see and believe Im part of this system. Now I dont have to control it or dominate it.

See the original post:
The great rewilding: 'How amazing Ireland would be if we were covered in our own plants?' - The Irish Times

Anderson CountyPalestine Maintenance crews will be on FM 860 widening the pavement. Traffic will be controlled by flaggers and a pilot car.

Anderson County construction projects updates:

US 79 Super 2 Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue work on roadway elements. The speed limit has been reduced to 60 mph throughout the project limits. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. Project consists of widening for a Super 2, including sub-grade work, surface treatment, base and surface hot mix asphalt, widening structures, bridge rail, MBGF, signage and permanent striping.

SH 155 Overlay Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on driveways and drainage structures on SH 155 in Anderson County. The speed limit has been reduced to 60 mph throughout the project limits. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. It consists of OCST, PFC surface, shoulder texturing, edge treatment and pavement markings.

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Cherokee CountyJacksonville crews will be on US 79 near New Summerfield cleaning ditches. Expect daytime lane closures.

Rusk crews will be on FM 1247 for base repairs. Expect daytime lane closures.

Cherokee County construction projects updates:

SH 204 Super-2 Widening Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project adds passing lanes and incorporates safety upgrades.

US 84 Widening

The contractor is scheduled to replace bridge rail. Lane closures will be in place. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. The project will widen and resurface the roadway, along with adding safety upgrades.

FM 22 Safety Widening and Bridge Replacement Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue corrective work and construction on the bridge at Turnpike Creek. Flaggers will be present during construction hours. Expect daily lane closures when work is being done. The bridge will be closed during construction. The project will widen the existing roadway, replace three bridges and incorporate safety upgrades.

SH 21 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue road work construction on driveway upgrades and structure extensions. No lane closures are expected. The project will consist of pavement resurfacing.

US 69 Signals in Jacksonville

The contractor will continue work along US 69 from US 175 to Canada. Traffic control will consist of occasional lane closures and work outside of the roadway when the work is in progress (Monday-Thursdays, weather permitting). This is a safety project to update existing signals and add pedestrian signals, crosswalks, and curb ramps.

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Gregg CountyLongview Maintenance will start mill and inlay with Special Crews on FM 2204 from US 259 Bypass to FM 2276. They will then move to FM 2012 from SH 31 to the Rusk County line.

Gregg County construction projects updates:

Spur 63/McCann Road Bridge Project

This project is part of the City of Longview Guthrie Creek Trail project. It will consist of building a bridge over Guthrie Creek to allow bicyclist and pedestrians to travel under Spur 63. The traffic will be reduced to two lanes, one northbound lane and one south bound lane to allow the contractor to build half of the bridge. Traffic will be switched later to allow completion of the bridge construction. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, new bridge, flexible base, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, flexible base, curb and gutter, sidewalks, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

Pentecost Rd. Bridge Replacement

The project consists of replacing the bridge structure on Big Head Creek. Pentecost Road will be closed to through traffic. Only local traffic will be allowed. Through traffic needs to select an alternate route. Estimated completion is August of 2022.

FM 1249 - Kilgore

There is no work scheduled this week. The project consists of milling existing hot mix asphalt and placing new hot mix asphalt, new striping and minor drainage structure work. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays. Estimated completion is August 2022.

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Henderson CountyAthens maintenance is scheduled to mill and inlay on SH 84 between SH 19 and Loop 256. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic. Crews are also scheduled to repair base failures and blade hot mix on SH 274 between SH 334 and the Kaufman County line. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Henderson County construction projects updates:

SH 198 Bridge Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on the new northbound bridge and roadway elements. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The speed limit has been reduced to 50 mph throughout the project. The project consists of the construction of replacing bridges, approaches, grading, structures, asphalt concrete pavement (ACP) base, ACP surface, retaining walls, curb & gutter, MBGF, and pavement markings.

BUS 175 Safety Improvement Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on traffic signal supports on BUS 175. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes traffic signals, curb ramps and pavement markings.

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Rusk CountyRusk County crews will be overlaying on FM 2867. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

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Smith CountyTyler Maintenance will have a base failure crew on FM 15. Flaggers will control traffic. A herbicide unit will also be in various locations throughout Smith County.

Also, this week, seal coat operations will continue in Smith County at these locations:

Monday, June 13: Crews will begin on SH 110N at Loop 49 and will head north, stopping just south of IH 20.

Tuesday, June 14: Crews will move to FM 344 at SH 110.

Wednesday, June 15 to Friday, June 17: Crews will move to Troup to seal coat FM 346, SH 135 and SH 110.

Smith County construction projects updates:

Sidewalks at various locations in Smith County

No work is scheduled this week. The project is adding sidewalks along SH 64W in Tyler, SH 110W, and SH 135N in Troup.

FM 344, etc., Safety Improvements

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of improving drainage, culvert work, and guardrail upgrades.

SH 155 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue the mill and inlay on the main lanes. Anticipate lane closures while work is in progress. When in progress, hours will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights. Expect delays. The project will resurface the roadway, upgrade drainage structures, and repair bridge joints.

SH 64 Bridge Maintenance

The contractor is awaiting punch list. When work is in progress, hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lane closures will be in place when working on the metal beam guard fence and retrofit rail. The project consists of bridge maintenance and repair.

Tyler State Park Bridge and Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue ROW prep. The project will consist of bridge and pavement resurfacing.

SH 110 & FM 346 Landscape Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of landscape development.

Whittle Street, CR 2110 and CR 289 Bridge Replacement Project

No work is scheduled on Whittle Street at West Mud Creek Tributary. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

The contractor is scheduled to continue construction on the CR 2110 bridge at Kickapoo Creek. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

No work is scheduled this week on the CR 289 bridge at Prairie Creek. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure. The contractor will complete one bridge at a time. Weather permitting, the bridge is scheduled to be completed at the end of May.

IH 20 Mill and Inlay

The contractor is scheduled to continue base repairs on the westbound outside lane. Nightly lane closures will be in place. Work will be done at night, Sundays from 9 PM to 5 AM and Monday-Thursday 8 PM to 5 AM. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. Project consists of an overlay with TBPFC surface, ACP surface, planning, shoulder texturing and pavement markings.

SH 135 Bridge Replacements

No work is scheduled this week. The project is currently under time suspension due to migrating birds nesting under the bridges. The project consists of the replacement of the bridge at Mud Creek and Mud Creek Relief.

US 271 Rehab, Turn Lanes, and Pavement Overlay

Crews will be performing paving rehab operations on the NB side. The NB outside lane will be permanently closed with signs and channelizing devices for the affected section. Traffic control will be managed by flaggers as needed. The project consists of paving, structures, MBGF, and pavement markings from I-20 north to the Gregg County line. The portion from I-20 to FM 16 also includes turn lanes and pavement rehabilitation.

IH 20 at Barber Road

This project consists of widening on ramps and exit ramps, culverts, drainage upgrades, new metal beam guard fence and bridge rails on the Barber Road overpass, and asphalt overlay. No work this week on this project.

Safety Improvement Project (Van Zandt, Anderson, Smith and Henderson County)

The contractor is scheduled to continue work on driveways and drainage structures on FM 850 in Smith County. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes grading, structure work, guard rail replacement and bridge rail upgrades.

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Van Zandt CountyMaintenance crews are scheduled to perform base work on FM 859 between IH 20 and US 80. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Van Zandt County construction projects updates:

I-20 MBGF Improvements (Van Zandt, Smith, and Gregg counties)

Crews will be addressing punch list items in Smith and Gregg County (eastbound and westbound). Lane closures will be in effect nightly and will be managed by message boards, channelizing devices and law enforcement officers. Seeding will be performed daily using a mobile operation managed by LEOs and TMAs. This project is to construct safety improvements consisting of upgrading metal beam guard fence and mow strip.

SH 19 Super Two Widening & Overlay

Crews will be performing roadway widening operations northbound. Traffic control will consist of a northbound shoulder closure managed by channelizing devices. The project consists of Super 2 work including grading, base repair, treated subgrade, flex base, OCST, PFC surface, structures, signs and pavement markings.

CR 2918, etc. Bridge Replacements

Crews will be grading and paving at CR 2708 and addressing punch list items on CR 2918. CR 2708 will be closed at the bridge for the remainder of construction. CR 2319 and CR 2918 are open to traffic and in the punch-list phase. Minimal impact to the traveling public is anticipated. The project consists of removing and replacing four bridges.

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Wood CountyMaintenance crews are scheduled to overlay on SH 11 starting at the Camp County line heading west towards Winnsboro. Expect lane closures with flaggers and a pilot vehicle controlling traffic.

Wood County construction projects updates:

SH 37 Road Widening and PFC Overlay

Crews will be performing roadway widening operations on the northbound side. Traffic control will consist of daily shoulder closures managed by flaggers and a pilot car. The project consists of base repair, level-up, spray paver, permeable friction course surface, structures, bridge rail, metal beam guard fence, and pavement markings.

FM 2088, etc. MBGF Improvements in Wood County

Crews will be replacing MBGF on FM 17 at three Lake Fork bridges and on FM 2088. Traffic control will consist of daily lane closures managed with flaggers. The project is for bridge maintenance consisting of MBGF and bridge retrofit rail.

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I-20 Total Maintenance Contract

See original here:
TxDOT Project Updates for the Week of June 13, 2022 - Texas Department of Transportation

This time last year I wrote about the rapidly increasing world population, noting that not a single EU policy was concerned with food security or availability.

his week, EU Agricultural Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski visited Dublin for the World Potato Conference and attended a meeting of the IFA national executive.

After months of denial by both him and other leaders that the invasion of Ukraine would impact on food availability in Europe, he has finally come out and said food security is now a top priority for the EU.

The world has been walking a food security tightrope for several years. Global commerce had become very lean, very internationalised and very efficient.

But the danger with a tightrope is that the smallest thing can throw you off. Remember, a few years back, just one boat blocked the most important shipping route in the world, the Suez Canal.

Now, global transport is still unreliable and multiple times the cost. I fear that the war in Ukraine has fundamentally altered the economics of EU food production for the future.

An abundance of internationally traded cheap grain was the cornerstone on which affordable food was built.

Corn is an incredible feed that can be eaten by humans in its natural form as cereals or bread or it can be fed to produce chicken, pork, beef or milk.

Up until very recently it traded at the same price as it did in the 1970s. This has now changed dramatically, due to a sharp increase in the cost of production which is likely to lead to a drop in production and a scenario not seen in generations, where demand is greater than supply.

The developed world, particularly European citizens, are in for a shock with the rate of food inflation that is about to hit them a figure of 8pc is being bandied about.

Yet many of the major costs to produce food fertiliser, feed and oil are up well over 100pc.

In the past, the powerful retailers have simply refused to give a price increase to suppliers.

The retailers will continue to squeeze suppliers, particularly own-brand suppliers, who have signed contracts. They will do this even if the producers go broke, because thats what the big retailers have been doing for decades, while legislators and consumer watchdogs turned a blind eye, so long as they continued to supply food as cheaply as possible.

This year the EU Ag Commissioner will get his wish with at least a 20pc drop in fertiliser usage due to the exorbitant cost (and to a lesser extent availability), but this could become a nightmare for consumers when production drops and demand continues to increase.

Last week I had a long chat with a dairy farmer who has been producing organic milk for over 20 years.

He is locked in to a 12-month fixed-milk-price contract and the buyer was not willing to renegotiate because the retailer was not interested in his yarn about increased costs.

The farmer told me the price of organic grain had rocketed to 700/t. We are in uncharted territory

And remember you and I are consumers, the same as everyone else in Europe. The difference is we are also food producers.

Back on the farm we are slightly tight for grass after an excellent spell that allowed us to take surplus bales and reseed 5pc of the MP, with another 4pc sprayed today for re-seeding next week.

This year in our efforts to establish clover we are sowing 2kg+ of clover seed per acre and grazing the new re-seed every time it has a cover of 800.

Milk output has dropped a little to 23.5L at 4.35 fat and 3.8 protein or 1.97kg/ms.

We increased the meal to 3kg this week and 4kg of zero grazing for five days to help support farm cover currently 120 per cow.

All cows have been AId and now we are hoping for a good conception rate.

Henry and Patricia Walsh farm in Oranmore, Co Galway along with their son Enda and neighbour and outfarm owner John Moran

Read more:
Henry Walsh: The world is in for a shock with food price hikes - Farming Independent

Courtesy MFGA

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM)is committing up to $100,000 for Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA)over two years to help farmer-led efforts and projects focused on soil, water, and grass.

A new funding arrangement will see Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM) commit up to $100,000 for MFGA over the next two years via corporate and project support, kicking off with support of the MFGA Green Gold Program, which is designed to guide the optimum cut of alfalfa based on highest relative feed value.

This is an incredible and very unique partnership, said Duncan Morrison, MFGA executive director. We are humbled and grateful to have the support of DFM. The great thing is we have structured the partnership as a win-win for both organizations. We know that dairy farmers are keen to work with the soils, grasses and natural areas on their farms to help reach the net zero carbon pledge made by Dairy Farmers of Canada. We believe MFGAs producer network, peer to peer interactions and project involvement underway and ahead are perfect to help DFM reach its goal.

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba is a long-time supporter of the MFGA Green Gold Program.By working with MFGA on future projects around soil, grasslands, and water management, we are creating more opportunities for dairy farmers to learn and participate in projects that support these best management practices, said DFM chair David Wiens. This is also a great opportunity to kick off our partnership with MFGA's Green Gold Program, in which we have been long time partners and supporters.

On top of the corporate support, MFGA will look for case by case opportunities to promote and deliver programming, research, and knowledge transfer to dairy farmers (extension services) with DFM. Targeted and pitched projects will focus on water, grass, soil, carbon, and must fit with ongoing or new partnership opportunities around on-farm and applied research and projects with research potentially aimed at: BMP development, farmer profitability, environmental (soil health, carbon sequestration, etc.), water models, soil mapping and carbon models.We approached DFM with a proposal that centered on our shared interests, long and trusted history and our respective organizational ambitions, added Morrison. There is a lot of work ahead for MFGA to realize the absolute maximum from this partnership and we are up to the task. We all want healthy soils, lands and waters and in many cases, farmers are already doing that great work individually. This partnership is going to bring us all together on key fronts, allow us to work more strategically and seamlessly and celebrate our successes together.

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Dairy Farmers of Manitoba commits up to $100,000 for Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association - Steinbachonline.com - SteinbachOnline.com

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PROVO The Utah County attorney and sheriff took shots at each other last week over a child sexual abuse investigation recently announced by the sheriff's office.

In dueling press conferences on June 1, prosecutor David Leavitt called it a political attack on him, while Sheriff Mike Smith refused to name suspects or link the case to Leavitt. Both discussed a case that was filed in 2012, and later dropped in 2014, all before Leavitt was elected to his current office.

The day before, the sheriff's office had made a vague announcement about an investigation into ritualistic child sexual abuse. Leavitt then called a news conference and shared that he was named in a 151-page document labeled as a "victim statement" that was connected to the 2012 case. The statement names Leavitt and more than a dozen others as part of a group alleged to have practiced ritual sexual abuse of children.

Now, courtroom audio recordings obtained by the KSL Investigators provide more insight into the dismissal of 18 felony child sexual abuse charges against a Utah County man. In an effort to protect the privacy of the woman who came forward, KSL is not naming the man who was charged.

"Those charges were dismissed by my predecessor because the allegations were so untenable and unbelievable," Leavitt said.

Leavitt said the allegations are "100% false," but when pressed about details surrounding the dismissal of the case, admitted he had not reviewed the case file himself. He said the records are not digitized and would take several days to locate.

"I will make those files available to the extent they are allowed under the law," he said. "I have nothing to hide."

According to online court records, the case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can still refile the charges. When questioned Friday about the effort to locate the old records, a spokesperson for Leavitt's office said he was traveling and could not immediately provide answers.

There's a lot more that needs to be done with this case, and it's just not coming together.David Sturgill, Utah County prosecutor

During his news conference, Leavitt said he discussed the case with David Sturgill, the prosecutor who was assigned to the case 10 years ago and still works in the Utah County Attorney's Office.

"He told me they dismissed it because the evidence was so outlandish," Leavitt said.

But Leavitt's statements about the dismissal don't quite line up with what attorneys said in court.

"The allegations are some of the worst allegations of sexual abuse that I've come across in the many years that I've been prosecuting these types of cases," Sturgill said during a hearing in May 2013.

During that same hearing, the defense attorney representing the man charged also discussed the seriousness of the case and the need for a thorough investigation.

"If Mr. [] is convicted of these charges, he will never see the light of day," said Michael Esplin. "I mean, these are he'll be there for the rest of his life in prison."

During a hearing in March 2014, Sturgill moved to dismiss the charges, with a plan to possibly refile the case in the future.

Neither attorney shared concerns during the hearing that the allegations were outlandish or unbelievable. Instead, they pointed to the several-years delay in reporting by the alleged victim, and difficulty in obtaining records.

"There's a lot more that needs to be done with this case, and it's just not coming together," Sturgill said. "I'm getting resistance from DCFS and then there's other medical records that we're having some trouble gathering. A lot of it's due to just the age of this case. It's an extremely delayed disclosure."

Esplin sought unsuccessfully to have the case permanently dismissed, citing similar challenges that he believed would prevent his client from having a fair trial.

"Witnesses have passed away, records have been shredded, just because of the nature of the length of the time that's gone on," he said. "I don't believe this case will ever be ready to be tried."

Those charges were dismissed by my predecessor because the allegations were so untenable and unbelievable.David Leavitt, Utah County attorney general

Why the case was never refiled and what will happen with it now are questions that remain unanswered, but the sheriff says the current investigation has expanded beyond one case.

"We have new victims coming forward," he said.

The man once charged in the case has recently filed to have the court records expunged. The Attorney General's Office has filed an objection to the expungement request, saying, "The petitioner is currently the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by four law enforcement agencies into the same conduct which was the basis of the 1999 arrest."

The Utah County Attorney's Office has also filed an objection.

Smith has said the current investigation will continue, regardless of whether the 2012 case is expunged.

Daniella Rivera joined the KSL team in September 2021. Shes an investigative journalist with a passion for serving the public through seeking and reporting truth.

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Courtroom audio sheds light on case at the heart of Utah County controversy - KSL.com

I have long puzzled over why Van Goghs paintings of his own chair and that of Gauguin were separated. They are so obviously a pair and Vincent must have expected them to hang together, facing each other.

Van Goghs Chair (November 1888-January 1889) was sold by Vincents sister-in-law Jo Bonger to the National Gallery in London in 1924. Gauguins Chair (November 1888) remained with the family, ending up at Amsterdams Van Gogh Museum on its establishment in 1973.

Splitting up the pair seems most unfortunate. It also struck me as surprising that Bonger had sold off her brother-in-laws own chair, rather than that of Gauguin, who was just a friend.

An answer comes in an article by Louis van Tilborgh, a senior researcher at the Van Gogh Museum, in the latest issue Simiolis, the quarterly journal of Dutch art history. In Van Gogh, Gauguin and Rembrandt he argues that Bonger took a dislike to Gauguinand wanted the painting of his chair hidden away.

This interpretation helps us see the two chair paintings in a fresh light. In his article, Van Tilborgh rejects some of the traditional interpretations of the pictures, focussing on Van Goghs artistic ambitions and his partnership with Gauguin.

The collaboration of the two artistswhich had started off with such high hopes, but ended in tragedyis illustrated by these two paintings. The men presumably both had their favourite chairs in the Yellow House, where they lived together in Arles for two months in the autumn of 1888.

Vincents own chair was a simple piece of rustic furniture with a straw-covered seat, reflecting something of his more austere personality. Gauguin had a comfortable armchair, depicted under gaslight, with a candle and two novels, suggesting a sophisticated man who enjoyed the evening hours. In a sense, the two pictures can be regarded as portraits of the artists.

Van Gogh began the paintings in mid-November 1888, when relations between them were still friendly. He finished Gauguins Chair and most of Van Goghs Chair within a few days. A month later their collaboration came to a terrible end, when during the evening of 23 December 1888 Vincent mutilated his ear. By this time serious tensions had developed between them. Gauguin quickly fled to Paris.

In January Van Gogh returned to the picture of his own chair, adding the pipe and tobacco on what had been an empty seat. Smoking, for him, represented consolation and relaxation, which was now much needed. He also included onions in the background, which presumably had a meaning for him, although their symbolism remains somewhat obscure. Finally, he prominently signed the picture, indicating that it was both his work and a representation of his personal seat.

Traditionally, art historians have regarded the two paintings as empty chairsand have linked them with the tensions that the artists were facing. But Van Tilborgh points out that in mid-November, when they were mostly done, relations were still collaborative. And when fully completed, he sees both chairs as not empty, but occupied and speaking of presenceone with Gauguins books and the other with Van Goghs pipe.

Vincent sent the two paintings to his brother Theo in Paris in April 1889. After Vincents suicide in July 1890 ownership passed to Theo and following Theos death in January 1891 to Bonger.

The publics first opportunity to see Van Goghs Chair came in 1905, when Bonger lent it to a major retrospective of the artists work in Amsterdam. Comprising nearly 500 works, it is still the largest Van Gogh show ever held. Although most of the important family paintings were lent, Gauguins Chair was not included.

Reproduction of Van Goghs Chair and cover of Vincent van Gogh: 40 Photocollographies daprs ses Tableaux et Dessins, Amsterdam (1905) Credit: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Goghs Chair (but not Gauguins Chair) was also included in an important portfolio of reproductions of the artists work which was published in 1905. From then onwards Van Goghs Chair was lent to ten other exhibitions up until the First World War, which meant it came to be regarded as a key work.

In December 1923, Bonger loaned Van Goghs Chair to the artists first one-man show in London, at the Leicester Galleries. A few weeks later it was bought by the National Gallery for just under 800, with funds provided by Samuel Courtauld.

But it was not until 1928 that Gauguins Chair was first publicly exhibited. This was three years after Bongers death, when the collection was managed by her son, Vincent Willem.

Van Tilborgh believes that Bonger resented Gauguin because after his friends suicide he had tried to claim credit for Van Goghs artistic innovations. One can also speculate she partly blamed Gauguin for Van Goghs tragic self-mutilation.

The first time the two chair paintings were brought together was at a Van Gogh show at Manchester Art Gallery in 1932. A newspaper article noted that the pair were among the most notable exhibits and were poignant with meaning, an indication that their importance was finally being recognised.

Manchester Evening Chronicle, 11 October 1932, with an article on the citys Van Gogh exhibition (a cutting in an album at Manchester Art Gallery) Credit: Manchester Art Gallery

These two still lifes reveal much about one of the most important collaborations in art history. Sadly, the paintings are now only rarely brought together.

Other Van Gogh news:

Now that the Hermitage Amsterdam has cut its links with the St Petersburg museum, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has struck off on its ownwith Van Gogh. This is part of a fundamental rebranding, with the Hermitage dropping a m to become Heritage, with a focus on Dutch heritage.

Van Goghs The Yellow House (September 1888), at the far end of the room, in the rebranded Dutch Heritage Amsterdam Credit: The Art Newspaper

The Van Gogh Museum has offered an extremely generous loan, The Yellow House (September 1888). This single painting is displayed alone, at the far end of a huge gallery. In side rooms, there are displays of reproductions of Van Gogh's art and panels about his life, presented engagingly. With only a single original picture, even though a masterpiece, and a 15 ticket charge it is hardly attracting the crowds that flock to the nearby Van Gogh Museum. But supporting Heritage Amsterdam, which has taken decisive action over Ukraine, is a worthy cause.

Van Gogh is certainly in good company at Heritage Amsterdam. After The Yellow House returns home to the Van Gogh Museum it will be followed by Rembrandts last Self-portrait (1669) from the Mauritshuis in The Hague (28 June-24 July).

Martin Bailey is the author of Van Goghs Finale: Auvers and the Artists Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln, 2021, available in the UK and US). He is a leading Van Gogh specialist and investigative reporter for The Art Newspaper. Bailey has curated Van Gogh exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery and Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland. He was a co-curator of Tate Britains The EY Exhibition: Van Gogh and Britain (27 March-11 August 2019).

Martin Baileys recent Van Gogh books

Bailey has written a number of other bestselling books, including The Sunflowers Are Mine: the Story of Van Gogh's Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, available in the UK and US), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence(Frances Lincoln 2016, available in the UK and US) and Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, available in the UK and US). Bailey's Living with Vincent van Gogh: the Homes and Landscapes that Shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, available in the UK and US) provides an overview of the artists life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, available in the UK and US).

To contact Martin Bailey, please email: vangogh@theartnewspaper.com. Please note that he does not undertake authentications.

Read more from Martin's Adventures with Van Gogh bloghere.

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New research sheds light on Van Gogh's problems with Gauguin, as revealed by the paintings of their favourite chairs - Art Newspaper

Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios

The fallout continues for Olive AI, the Columbus-based health tech startup that is shedding top talent amid reports the company overpromises benefits to clients, Erin Brodwin writes for Axios Pro.

Why it matters: The news threatens the company's status as the highest-profile startup in health care automation.

What they're saying: Current and former employees believe the company is dealing with internal culture problems while underdelivering on its promise to save health systems money using automation software.

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Local health tech startup Olive sheds more top talent - Axios

A prominent Pokemon leaker has shed some light on the evolution of Sprigatito, one of the three starters in Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet. When Pokemon fans begin one of the two Nintendo Switch games this November, they will have to make a choice between Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly at the start of the game. The former of this trio, Sprigatito, is a grass cat Pokemon that apparently has a bipedal evolution, which is to say it will be standing on two legs rather than four.

The intel comes the way of Riddler Khu, a well-known leaker within the Pokemon community who most recently leaked the types of each game's cover legendary. In other words, the source in question has proven reliable and reputable in the past. Unfortunately, this is the extent of the information they have provided.

What is here should be taken with a grain of salt. While the source is a good one it doesn't change the fact that it's unofficial, and to an extent, subject to change as well.

At the moment of publishing, none of the implicated parties have addressed or acknowledged this leak. Game Freak and Nintendo rarely budge on their "no comment" policies, but if either does, we will be sure to update the story accordingly.

Pokemon Scarletand Pokemon Violet are both set to release worldwide on November 18, 2022 via Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch OLED.

"The newest chapters in the Pokemon series, the Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet games, are coming to the Nintendo Switch system later this year. As the main character, you can explore a wide-open world at your own pace, and can encounter the Legendary Pokemon Koraidon. In these games, you'll be able to enjoy the iconic adventures of the Pokemon series, like battling against wild Pokemon and trying to catch them! Choose either Sprigatito, the Grass Cat Pokemon, Fuecoco, the Fire Croc Pokemon, or Quaxly, the Duckling Pokemon to be your first partner Pokmon before setting off on your journey through this new region."

For more coverage on all things Pokemon -- including not just the latest rumors, leaks, and speculation, but the latest official rumors as well -- click here.

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Leaker Sheds Light on Starter Evolution - ComicBook.com

As every investor would know, you don't hit a homerun every time you swing. But serious investors should think long and hard about avoiding extreme losses. So spare a thought for the long term shareholders of Shapeways Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SHPW); the share price is down a whopping 86% in the last twelve months. That'd be a striking reminder about the importance of diversification. Shapeways Holdings may have better days ahead, of course; we've only looked at a one year period. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 40% in the last three months. We note that the company has reported results fairly recently; and the market is hardly delighted. You can check out the latest numbers in our company report. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness.

Since Shapeways Holdings has shed US$8.8m from its value in the past 7 days, let's see if the longer term decline has been driven by the business' economics.

View our latest analysis for Shapeways Holdings

Shapeways Holdings isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Shapeways Holdings' revenue didn't grow at all in the last year. In fact, it fell 0.8%. That looks pretty grim, at a glance. The share price fall of 86% in a year tells the story. Holders should not lose the lesson: loss making companies should grow revenue. But markets do over-react, so there opportunity for investors who are willing to take the time to dig deeper and understand the business.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

Take a more thorough look at Shapeways Holdings' financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

Shapeways Holdings shareholders are down 86% for the year, even worse than the market loss of 16%. There's no doubt that's a disappointment, but the stock may well have fared better in a stronger market. The share price decline has continued throughout the most recent three months, down 40%, suggesting an absence of enthusiasm from investors. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Shapeways Holdings (1 is concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Loss-making Shapeways Holdings (NYSE:SHPW) sheds a further US$8.8m, taking total shareholder losses to 86% over 1 year - Simply Wall St