Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

A TikToker has gone viral after posting a story about how her cat got stuck in the drywall that her contractor put up.

Online cat content is usually harmless fun, but a video posted by Ashlin Hadden (@ashlinhadden) has amassed over 71,700 views and garnered plenty of questions from users.

In the clip, Ashlin shows the audience her bathroom, which is being renovated while she was away on a business trip. According to her, the contractors pulled out the bathtub to put in a new shower. However, when she got back home and was looking for her cat she says, I could hear the cat crying from somewhere in here, while gesturing to the new shower wall.

She continues to explain that she had to punch a hole in the wall and as she expected, her cat came out of it. Yes, the stupid ass contractor drywalled my cat into the drywall underneath the bathtub, she says. She claims her cat had been stuck inside the wall for three days when Ashlin realized that it was in there.

However, if Ashlin thought that posting her story to TikTok would garner sympathy, she was wrong. The majority of commenters said that the situation was her fault and that she should have invested in a cat-sitter if she wasnt going to be at home while the contractor was working.In fact, many online sources like the Just Cats Clinic, have suggestions for what to do when you have cats in a home where construction work is happening as they are notorious for finding their way into hard-to-reach spaces.

I have seen this happen before. Its not the contractors fault, its yours, one user said quite plainly.

I was ready to say dont blame the contractor but thats been said already! said another, referring to the many comments siding with the contractor over the woman and her drywalled cat.

Viewers with construction experience also weighed in. I dont usually do animal checks when I do drywall so. one user said.

Another echoed the same, saying Yeah checking for your cat isnt something we do

One user even asked Ashlin directly, Do you really think he did it on purpose? Cats are stealthy little creatures. I seriously doubt he knew the cat was in there. Ashlin replied to the comment, noting that she didnt think the contractor left her cat in the drywall on purpose. But, she continued, I do think that if you are going to leave a hole over night that they should have at least covered it.

However, viewers were so unanimous in their message that Ashlin defended herself in the pinned comment of the video. 1. I wasnt told they would be cutting a hole. 2. Yes they knew about the cat. 3. Yes I shut the bedroom AND bathroom doors before leaving, she wrote.

Ashlin also replied to one user who commented, Everyone agrees its your fault. Not the contractor, with a video captioned MY FAULT, responding to all the criticism.

In the second video, which received only 5,156 views, Ashlin reiterates that the contractor knew about her cats being in the house when he was putting up the drywall. She also states that she wasnt aware they would be cutting a hole in that particular place in the wall and that she had been told the job would only take one day.

The comments for the second video were a little less harsh, with many viewers saying that it was an accident and nobodys fault. However, many people reiterated that Ashlin should have got a pet sitter to watch the cats since they are notorious for hiding in small, dark spaces.

The Daily Dot reached out to Ashlin via Instagram direct message.

Update 2:44pm CT Oct. 7: In an Instagram direct message exchange with the Daily Dot, Ashlin explained that her viral video reminded her how quickly viewers will jump to conclusions.

I have played around with TikTok before a little but never get more than a few views, she said. This viral video reminded me very quickly how quickly people jump in to judge without knowing the whole story AND how important it is to tell the whole story in the first TikTok.

She added that she didnt explain the full story in the first video, which led her to receive a lot of hate from viewers.

My phone was going crazy and wow people were rude she wrote. The whole story is: I hired a contractor to replace my bathtub. They didnt get the job done before I left on a business trip. The contractor knew I had cats. The job was in the master bathroom. I shut the master bathroom door and shut the master bedroom door.

Ashlin noted that this is normally what she does when she goes away for just a few days, which allows her cats to roam the rest of the house, excluding the master bathroom and bedroom. Along with an automatic food feeder, water bowl, and self-cleaning litter box, she believed her cats would be perfectly fine.

I was not told the contractor would be cutting a hole in the closet to get to the plumbing, the TikToker recalled. They didnt get the job done again on time so they left for the night. They obviously didnt cover the hole, left the bathroom door open, and the bedroom door open. So I guess the cat got in the hole at some point. When they came back the next day, they patched up the hole and texted me that they would come back to paint when I got home.

However, when she returned home three days later, Ashlin said she couldnt find her cat. She posted a later video showing her searching for her cat after she got home. Hearing his meows, she realized he was trapped in the wall.

I freak out and go to the neighbors house for a drywall saw, she says. Try to cut it out but the cat was whining so bad that I just punched the wall in.

Ashlin said she called the contractor about the incident, and they apologized and offered to repair the drywall.

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I could hear the cat crying from somewhere in here: Woman says cat was stuck in wall for 3 days after contractor put new drywall up - The Daily Dot

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Norma Izaguirre still has trouble sleeping. For months, she felt like she was being trailed, certain that the man who she says raped and repeatedly sexually assaulted her at work would follow through on his threats to hurt her and her family after she reported the abuse.

Her anxiety has eased since Diego Medina, 30, who faces charges of felony rape and sexual assault in Dakota County, left town and went back to Mexico. But shes still scared he could come back.

Izaguirre says Medina helped her get a job at Absolute Drywall, a company with a checkered past of labor violations and currently under investigation by state regulators for wage theft, as the Reformer first reported in May.

The two met in a Minneapolis restaurant and struck up a conversation that eventually turned to work. Izaguirre told him she cleaned houses, but work had largely dried up in the pandemic and she was struggling to make money.

Medina told her Absolute Drywall needed workers for a major contract: sheetrocking hundreds of apartments at Viking Lakes, a sprawling multi-use development the Wilf family owners of the Minnesota Vikings built around the teams new headquarters and training facility in Eagan.

Izaguirre was hired to clean up after the other workers finished hauling out garbage and sweeping up dust. It was one of the lowest-paying jobs on the site and at times degrading, like when she had to clean urine from bathtubs and pick up urine-filed bottles left by workers with nowhere else to relieve themselves.

The job promised more than she made cleaning houses $18 an hour although like many of her coworkers, she says she was rarely paid for all the hours she worked. Izaguirre has filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry for thousands of dollars in wage theft, along with about two dozen others who worked on the Viking Lakes project.

Several months after she started, Medina started making sexual advances, Izaguirre said.

He wanted to hug me, wanted to touch me, Izaguirre said in Spanish through an interpreter. I didnt like that. I wanted to work.

Izaguirre said Medina would seek her out on the job while she tried to avoid him. One day on the Viking Lakes project, Izaguirre said she was bending over to clean out a bathtub when Medina came up behind her and pressed himself against her. She says she spun around and told him not to touch her.

But Medina pushed her into the shower and raped her, according to criminal charges filed by the Dakota County Attorneys Office.

He threatened to hurt her if she told anyone and said no one would believe her, according to charging documents.

Izaguirre did tell someone about the abuse. She says she immediately told Guillermo Huerta, her supervisor, that Medina was bothering her. Huerta told her he would investigate and talk to Medina about it.

Huerta said in an interview through a Spanish interpreter that Izaguirre told him Medina was bothering her outside of work. He said he spoke to Medina, who showed him text messages indicating the two were in a consensual relationship. Huerta said he doesnt have copies of the text messages.

In a six-page response to a complaint Izaguirre filed with state Department of Human Rights, Absolute Drywall called it a consensual relationship turned sour. A lawyer for Absolute Drywall did not respond to questions about the allegations or the criminal charges.

Emails to Lester Bagely, a spokesman for the Minnesota Vikings and MV Ventures, were answered from a generic MV Ventures email address saying the company was unaware of the allegations and had not been contacted by law enforcement. MV Ventures also said it has not been contacted by state authorities about the wage theft complaints workers say they filed last year.

Women working in blue-collar, male-dominated industries are especially vulnerable to sexual harassment and assault. Construction remains the most male-dominated industry even more than mining and manufacturing with just one in 10 workers being women. Women in construction also often work in isolation, heightening the risk for abuse.

Labor advocates say sexual abuse goes largely unchecked in the non-unionized construction sector, where other labor abuses such as wage theft and payroll fraud run rampant and enforcement is rare. Many of the workers are immigrants, which also makes them vulnerable to abuse. When businesses do face consequences, the penalties are seldom severe enough to force a business to change, let alone an industry.

Accurate data on sexual abuse at work is hard to come by, since it so often goes unreported. One frequently cited survey from 1992 found 57% of female construction workers had been touched or asked for sex on the job. Another survey from 2021 found 57% of female construction workers were either sometimes or frequently sexually harassed.

Although union workers arent immune from abuse, they do have a grievance process and are more likely to have advocates to bring their complaints to company owners and law enforcement. The building trades also have their own processes for handling abuse complaints, which, though imperfect, offer a clear avenue to seek redress.

Izaguirre only filed her complaints with police and the state Department of Human Rights after connecting with representatives from the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.

The carpenters union was investigating working conditions at the Viking Lakes project since union contractors were passed over for the work.

The Vikings have a long relationship with trade unions. The Vikings worked exclusively with union contractors on U.S. Bank Stadium, Omni Viking Lakes Hotel, TCO Performance Center and TCO Eagans medical office building and sports medicine center.

When the company decided to use non-union labor for the apartment buildings at Viking Lakes, the carpenters union warned the lower price tag is usually paid for through labor abuses like wage theft. The union cautioned Vikings executives about Absolute Drywall, pointing to multiple federal and state citations for labor violations, including employing a 14-year-old to work more than 50 hours a week.

When MV Ventures moved forward with Absolute Drywall, the carpenters union asked that labor advocates be allowed on the site to watch for abuse and harassment. MV Ventures declined, according to the union.

At the time she was working for Absolute Drywall, however, Izaguirre was on her own.

After she first reported the abuse, Absolute Drywall didnt have a human resources professional investigate. Instead, they sent Huerta, a male supervisor who Izaguirre and other former Absolute Drywall workers say verbally abused them. Huerta denies it.

Izaguirre said the company would sometimes send Medina and her to separate job sites. But he would still show up and continued to harass and assault her, according to Dakota County charging documents and her human rights complaint.

Once she was cleaning bathtubs at a job site in Roseville when Medina approached her from behind and said he would pay her for sex, according to her Human Rights complaint. Izaguirre said he reached to grab her but she pushed him away and threatened to call the police if he didnt leave her alone.

After that, Izaguirre said Medina groped her again while she was bending down to pick up a piece of scrap drywall, according to the Human Rights complaint. Izaguirre said she sprung up and grabbed a broom to beat him away, but he just walked away laughing.

Another worker for Absolute Drywall, Guillermo Macario-Alcocer, said he witnessed some of the abuse. He said he saw Medina grope her, and he saw Izaguirre push him away.

Macario-Alcocer says he told Medina to leave her alone, and Medina asked if he wanted to have sex with Izaguirre, too.

(I told him) he was crazy and sick, Macario-Alcocer said in an interview in Spanish through an interpreter.

Izaguirre, who has work authorization and has been in the country for 23 years, said she thought about quitting but didnt have a car and needed to keep earning money to pay her bills and help her family.

After reporting the abuse to her supervisor, Izaguirre said she finally brought her complaints to Absolute Drywalls owner, Daniel Ortega. But she says he replied that she was in a consensual sexual relationship with Medina.

I said, That is a lie, Izaguirre said. He didnt believe me.

Izaguirre told police Ortega threatened to fire her if she continued complaining. Soon after, she was. Ortega told her there was no more cleaning work.

In Absolute Drywalls response to Izaguirres complaint with the state Department of Human Rights, Ortega denies that Izaguirre told him about sexual assault at their meeting. He said she just complained that her hours were being cut and Medina had not be fired.

In the company response letter, Ortega did acknowledge receiving a complaint from Izaguirre in July 2021. Ortega said Izaguirre complained of harassing comments but not assault. According to the letter, Ortega confirmed he had Huerta and another employee investigate.

Huerta reported back to Ortega that Izaguirre and Medina had a consensual sexual relationship outside the workplace, and that no one had seen them touching one another in the workplace.

It is plausible that the alleged harassment was in fact consensual moments between intimate partners, the letter states. Izaguirre was, according to coworkers, upset when the relationship ended and she may have re-framed the interactions as nonconsensual after the fact.

The company said in its letter to state investigators that Izaguirre was the one who created a hostile work environment by refusing to do cleanup work and instead demanding other kinds of work. According to the company, Izaguirre was fired because there wasnt any scrapping work that she demanded, not because she reported being sexually assaulted.

Izaguirre said she did tell Ortega she didnt want to clean bathtubs because they were often filled with urine and other excrement.

The letter states that Medina was let go around the same time as Izaguirre and more than 50 other workers in September 2021, after the company finished work on the Viking Lakes project.

After being fired by Absolute Drywall, Izaguirre was jobless for two months but now has work again cleaning houses.

Through filing complaints she hopes to be made whole financially. She could also win a monetary settlement through her discrimination complaint, but Izaguirre says she doesnt want money.

I dont want this to happen to any more women, Izaguirre said. You have to report it, denounce it to the authorities so the same thing doesnt happen again.

Her hope is waning, however.

Izaguirre filed a complaint with the Department of Human Rights nearly five months ago and hasnt seen any progress in the case except the response Absolute Drywalls lawyer sent in August. She says she also hasnt seen anything come of her complaint of wage theft with the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Neither department confirmed ongoing investigations.

Although there is a warrant out for Medinas arrest, its possible hell never be arrested let alone stand trial.

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She reported sexual abuse on the job. The boss told her it was consensual. - Minnesota Reformer

Construction at Routt Countys new Health and Human Services building is progressing as crews work to close up the building before snow hits town.

Despite supply chain challenges that continue to delay the arrival of some products, the project is still slated to finish in March within the buildings $14.1 million price tag.

This project has gone about as close to plan as you could hope for a project of this scale, said Routt County Commissioner Tim Corrigan. Having worked through some really difficult stuff earlier in this project, its pretty gratifying to see us proceed along and getting toward the finish line.

From the outside, the building is starting to more closely resemble a graphic of it that has been sitting in the commissioners hearing room for more than a year. Much of the brickwork is in, exterior siding is going up and windows are slated to be finished later this month.

But Quentin Rockwell, a project manager for Wember Inc. representing the county on the project, said even more work in the last month has been happening inside, including finishing most of the drywall on the buildings main floor. While drywall work overall is lagging behind schedule, Rockwell said he didnt think it would impact the overall project timeline.

The goal over the last few months has been to get the building to dry in, meaning it is complete enough so it can withstand the winter elements. Rockwell said he felt the building was essentially there, though there are still a few things to button up.

We just need to be ready for any kind of additional winter protection that we just know is a risk in the climate that we build in, Rockwell said, referring to needing to temporarily heat the building to complete interior work. Some of these costs are already considered in the current budget, Rockwell said.

The other significant risk on the project is with the supply chain. Rockwell said they are still seeing delays with mechanical equipment, like roof top HVAC units, as well as other information technology, audiovisual and security equipment.

Every project weve worked, were seeing a lot of unique challenges that maybe in years past we havent experienced, Rockwell said. Now, its just kind of the norm.

The cost to install locally produced artwork in the building also is yet to be determined, but as of now, Rockwell said he didnt expect any of this to overwhelm the projects budget.

About a year ago, commissioners learned the cost for the building had jumped about 40% from an earlier estimate of $9.8 million because of increased costs for structural steel, wood and labor.

Since then, the cost has largely held steady and there is still about a 5% contingency left, which amounts to about $610,000 between the county and the general contractor, Calcon Constructors.

The amount of money set aside as a contingency has dropped in the last month, but Rockwell said he wasnt concerned with how much was left at this stage of the project.

I think we just need to be conscious and very aware of how were utilizing our contingency and any risks that we know are out there, Rockwell said. With this level of contingency, I feel that gives us the appropriate amount of money we need to be able to do that.

To reach Dylan Anderson, call 970-871-4247 or email danderson@SteamboatPilot.com.

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Routt County Health and Human Services building project 'as close to plan as you could hope' - Steamboat Pilot & Today

Oct. 7, 2022

Demolition and renewal. When the new super, John, arrived at my Lower Manhattan co-op eight years ago, he quickly impressed shareholders with his talent and initiative and with the red, white and blue Captain America shield that suddenly appeared on his office floor. Until John uncovered it, this 20-inch iron disk with a star in the middle had been hiding in plain sight under layers of gray paint applied at least since 1979, when the Depression-era bank storage building was converted to residential lofts.

New York City attracts people who appreciate its history and yet can hardly wait to knock it down and start over. This cycle of demolition and renewal plays out at our co-op, where shareholders appreciate the beauty and history of the buildings exterior, yet inside our apartments we remove any hint that something existed before us. The exception is John, who enjoys seeking out and restoring items that hold memories of our buildings past. Because of his interest, we now know that the Captain America shield in his office is actually an iron hatch that once allowed for deliveries to the coal room under the floor.

Our own Building Museum. While the shield certainly is the most dazzling of his finds, John has collected enough items from the buildings endless renovations to line a shelf in his office that I call the Building Museum. The most recognizable are two empty beer cans Budweiser and Schaefer circa 1960 that were discovered inside a demolished apartment wall, their obsolete pop tops and contents long gone. Next to them is an iron chisel embedded in a piece of stone and cement from the buildings original entry steps that were tossed out during our 2016 lobby renovation. Hanging above the shelf is a beautiful shiny copper orb. John retrieved it and two other leveling floats when we replaced the buildings original wooden water tank in 2019. When John finds the time to restore all three floats to their original luster, perhaps the trio could hang in our lobby as a gleaming industrial version of a Calder mobile.

In the basement sits the buildings original bank vault not a safe, but a vault the size of a New York studio apartment. Its spectacular, with thick steel doors and locking rods the width of foam exercise rollers. Unfortunately, its in our commercial tenants space, and thus out of Johns reach. And yet. When a new standpipe needed to be installed in the basement, two metal rods had to be removed from the vault door to make room. Theyre not much to look at, but theyre the only pieces of the vault John could get for the museum so far.

Succumbing to the inevitable.While I admire Johns appreciation of things past, I, too, eventually chose modernization over preservation. After more than two decades, my husband and I realized that our memory-filled apartment had devolved into a storage space for unused stuff, well-worn furniture and unreliable old appliances. When the children moved out, we started a gut renovation.

Although he was not our super at the time, John would have been pleased that our demolition revealed an artifact not to be appreciated and removed but rather appreciated and left in place. On the perimeter wall behind the Sheetrock were the faded signatures of those who had come before us, including, I hoped, the original builders from 80 years earlier.

My husband and I considered altering our designers drawings so as to expose the old signatures in our new living room. But we learned that just as New Yorkers have to knock it down, builders have to build it up. So when the drywall crew arrived, my family and the workers gathered in front of the old signatures, Sharpies in hand, and signed our names under theirs. Then all the signatures were covered with a sheet of new drywall. Maybe theyll be rediscovered during the next gut renovation.

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At This Manhattan Co-op, the Super Is the In-House Historian - Habitat magazine

Oct. 7Renovations on a Fourth Avenue Northeast building where industry leaders and the Alabama Community College System will design courses to train workers won't be completed until early next year as a block of downtown office space remains vacant.

Work on the state system's Innovation Center probably won't be finished until Feb. 1 and it likely won't be ready for occupancy until March 1, officials said this week. The site is the former Decatur City Schools central office. The other building in the block north of Lee Street and between Fourth Avenue and Cherry Street is the closed former BVBA Compass Bank branch.

Officials had originally hoped to have the Innovation Center finished this past summer.

Blake McAnally, trustee-at-large with the Alabama Community College System (ACCS), said there has been a delay in getting HVAC units for the Innovation Center, slowing construction.

"The air-handling units were scheduled to be shipped (Oct. 6) and we got word this week that they're now being pushed out to Oct. 31 to ship," McAnally said. "Because we can't condition the space yet, there's a lot of work inside that can't take place."

ACCS Vice Chancellor Keith Phillips said architects with Huntsville-based Goodwyn Mills Cawood said they are also waiting on an electrical panel to be delivered, which is currently being upgraded to accommodate the building.

McAnally said most of the electrical and plumbing work on the Innovation Center was finished, but the work cannot continue until they have power and air-conditioning.

"If you can get the air-conditioning in the beginning, then you can start with drywall finishes, trim and paint and things of that nature," McAnally said.

Training programs for industry will be developed at the Innovation Center and taught at various locations around the state.

McAnally said the ACCS currently provides 23 rapid training programs, or Skills for Success courses, which are based on industry needs around the state. Phillips said they began providing the programs nine months ago.

Story continues

"If industries in the area come to us and say, 'I need this type of training,' those are the ones we have already packaged and are doing all around the state already," McAnally said.

Phillips said several of the Skills for Success courses are on the "drawing board" and they plan to have them in place once the Innovation Center is complete next year. He said they already have active programs such as training for commercial driver Class A and B credentials and food and beverage courses.

Phillips said the Innovation Center will serve as a headquarters for industry leaders and ACCS officials to work together in a central location designing courses, rather than working in remote locations across the state.

"The focus of this particular Innovation Center is if we wanted to bring business and industry to the table to talk about the training needs and for us to develop Skills for Success courses," Phillips said. "We would openly invite business and industries to come sit down at the table and talk about what occupations they need to hire."

Phillips said industries can tell ACCS officials specific skills they need for positions needing to be filled and the ACCS will assist them in customizing training courses with those skills included. He said they are already working with officials from Birmingham-based companies Dunn Construction and Midsouth Paving to design training courses for their employees.

McAnally said the total project cost for the renovations is $3.28 million with a $5 million project budget.

Huntsville-based Goodwyn Mills Cawood is the architect for this project and Gadsden-based Greer Building Contractors is responsible for construction.

wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.

Read the rest here:
ACCS Innovation Center to be open in February - Yahoo News

CARPENTRY TEACHER RECEIVES GRANT THROUGH HARBOR FREIGHT TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS AWARD Joshua Bowles, Carpentry teacher at Alexander Central High School, was awarded a $50,000 Harbor Freight Tools For Schools award on Tuesday, October 4, at the Alexander Central Auditorium. He is pictured above with local and area dignitaries. Pictured above, left to right: front row N.C. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt, U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-5), Career and Technical Education Director Crystal Hoke, and Harbor Freight district representative Brad Campbell; back row teacher and awardee Joshua Bowles, Alexander County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Hefner, and ACHS Principal Jacob Lail.

Joshua Bowles, a high school carpentry teacher from Taylorsville, has been named a winner of the 2022 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, winning $15,000 for himself and $35,000 for his program.

Bowles, who teaches at Alexander Central High School, is one of 20 prize winners across the country who were surprised Tuesday, October 4, with the news that they had won.

In addition to ACHS Career and Technical Education staff and students, Bowles was joined on Tuesday in an assembly in the school auditorium by N.C. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cathy Truitt, Congresswoman Viriginia Foxx, ACHS Principal Jacob Lail, Alexander County Schools Board of Education members Ramie Robinson and Matt Cooksey, Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Hefner, and a Harbor Freight representative.

The mission of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is to increase understanding, support and investment in skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools.

We cannot overstate the impact that high school skilled trades teachers are having in the classroom. Hands-on skilled trades classes are making a comeback, and we couldnt be prouder to celebrate the accomplishments of these remarkable teachers and their programs, said Danny Corwin, executive director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools.

Overall, there are winners from 15 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The winning teachers come from a variety of skilled trades career pathways including automotive, construction, carpentry, industrial technology, welding, agricultural mechanics, and machining.

I work to improve my teaching by constantly evaluating what works and what doesnt. Im not sure I have ever taught any module or lesson the same way twice. I am always making tweaks that will help my students better understand, Joshua Bowles said in his prize entry.

My program affects students lives even more than they can realize now; sometimes information and skills are stored and only used later on when necessary. Students learn skills and knowledge that they will not receive anywhere else in their educational experience through my class. Seeing a product to completion with a sense of pride and satisfaction being one of them. They learn the value of working hard, taking pride in their work, attention to detail, and what quality is acceptable in the market.

Joshua Bowles has taught carpentry for thirteen years the last ten at Alexander Central High School. Bowles found his passion for helping others in high school, where he was moved by his teachers dedication and helped other students in his agricultural mechanics classes. Bowles received a full-ride North Carolina Teaching Fellows Scholarship to North Carolina State University for Agricultural Education and taught agricultural mechanics at Orange High School after taking over for his beloved and dedicated mentor teacher. When the carpentry instructor position opened at his alma mater, he moved back to his home county to take the job and marry his future wife.

Bowless curriculum in carpentry initially focuses on residential construction, and prepares students to launch a career in construction, or in other related fields, such as architecture, masonry, electrical, plumbing, concrete finishing, insulation installation, and more. His more advanced classes focus largely on commercial construction and techniques that are specific to the commercial industry, giving students the skills they need to pursue a career at commercial construction companies.

Bowless students enter a learning culture that is both academic and hands-on with an emphasis on high expectations, repetition, and perfection. He runs the class as close to a residential construction site as possible and all students are expected to participate with high professional standards.

Bowles students start with introductory birdhouses and move into creating Adirondack benches, picnic tables, doghouses, storage buildings, and homes. Students can hone their skills over several years on Bowles student-built job site, where his classes construct an entire home for Habitat for Humanity. From framing the floor system, walls, front and back decks, stairs, and handrails to installing vinyl siding, doors, laminate flooring, and locks, from hanging drywall to perfecting trim, his students do everything. They have completed twelve different Habitat for Humanity homes.

Bowles wrote in his application, The problems that students must solve are not contrived by me or put forth as hypotheticals but are natural to the building process. Problems naturally arise as students build, especially on the jobsite and because of their experience levels. I tend to try and let students attempt to solve their own problem first and then guide them in the right direction after some small failures. Failure is a much better teacher sometimes than success.

Bowles connects his students to experiences beyond high school, inviting local industry professionals and community college representatives to come speak to his students about furthering their skills. He also places students in a summer apprenticeship program in the trades through the local community college. In this program, students are paired with a local employer in their area and they work for them Tuesday Friday (with Monday as a class day.) Bowles students also showcase their skills locally at the North Carolina pre-apprenticeship contest and a local county construction rodeo, and also through their local SkillsUSA chapter. They compete at the SkillsUSA regional competition, state competition, and this year at the national level in carpentry.

Bowles works to continuously improve his teaching by constantly modifying and evaluating his curriculum. Four years ago, he obtained his certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Skilled trades teachers develop a rapport with students that other teachers do not have the opportunity to do. In other classrooms, teachers are primarily teaching to the class at large. As a skilled trade teacher, we work alongside students in one-on-one or small group situations in the shop, at Habitat for Humanity, student-built house projects, etc. You get to know the student better and can therefore individually tailor learning.

Mike Fenley, representing Sen. Richard Burr, expressed appreciation to Bowles and fellow CTE teachers who equip the next generation of skilled tradespeople.

Congresswoman Foxx commented that she was delighted to attend and celebrate Bowles accomplishments. She thanked the Harbor Freight for its support of CTE programs. Rep. Foxx also shared that her younger brother, who did not want to attend college, was positively affected by a vocational carpentry apprenticeship program during his formative years, leading to his obtaining a journeyman license.

Dr. Hefner, Alexanders school superintendent, thanked those attending and related that, When I became superintendent about eight years ago, my goal was for Alexander County Schools to be the best game in town. We are the best game in town. And that is because of teachers like Joshua Bowles and the opportunities we offer all children in Alexander County.

Today is so special for Alexander County Schools and Alexander Central High School. We are on the map, and I cannot wait to see how this wonderful grant will be used to strength the CTE program, Dr. Hefner related.

Cathy Truitt, State Superintendent and former high school English teacher, thanked Harbor Freight for its support of CTE and congratulated Bowles, saying, You are clearly a credit to your profession.

She also said that school personnel had been telling students for many years the only way to seek a career was to go to a four-year college. That is simply not true. There are many pathways to achieve the American Dreama lot of those pathways do not involve going to college right after high schoolThats okaybecause of programs like the one Mr. Bowles teaches.

The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence was launched in 2017 by Eric Smidt, the founder of Harbor Freight Tools, to recognize outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools.

Grand prize winners will each receive $100,000, with $70,000 going to their public high school skilled trades program and $30,000 to the individual skilled trades teacher behind the winning program. The 15 additional prize winners will each be awarded $50,000, with $35,000 going to their public high school skilled trades program and $15,000 to the teacher. Due to school, district and/or state policy regarding individual cash awards, the schools of several of the winners will receive the entire prize winnings.

The 2022 prize drew a record 768 applications from all 50 states and included three rounds of judging, each by an independent panel of experts from industry, education, trades, philanthropy and civic leadership.

In June, the field was narrowed to 50 finalists. The high school skilled trades programs of the 30 finalists who were not named winners Tuesday will each receive a $1,000 gift card from Harbor Freight Tools.

Harbor Freight Tools is a major supporter of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools program. For more information, visit: harborfreighttoolsforschools.org.

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ACHS teacher receives $50K Harbor Freight Award The Taylorsville Times - Taylorsville Times

Lendlease, Rubicon Technologies, Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions applied mycology to roofing shingles in what is believed to be a first-of-its kind sustainability study, emphasizing the importance of recycling, reuse, and carbon reduction

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, October 06, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lendlease, Rubicon Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RBT), Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions, today announced the completion of a successfully partnered pilot involving used asphalt shingles, mushrooms, and mycoremediation technology to reduce construction and demolition waste in order to produce a sustainable and reusable product to further create a more circular economy.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 11 to 13 million tons of asphalt shingles end up in landfills each year, where they take upwards of 300 years to break down. After seeing the large percentage of waste that was generated by used asphalt roofing shingles from a recent re-roofing project at their Fort Campbell Army installation in Kentucky, Lendlease, Rubicon, Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions proposed a solution to reuse the material in a new capacity.

"Every asphalt shingle from those 214 homes would have gone to a landfill," said Sara Neff, Head of Sustainability at Lendlease Americas. "There was simply no viable use for them. We understand the importance of reducing our Scope 3 carbon by diverting waste streams from the landfill. After teaming up with Rubicon, Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions, we came up with an innovative idea using mycoremediation technology; combining mushrooms and shingles to break down waste materials and create a new by-product that could ideally be reintroduced for reuse, furthering a circular economy."

Shingle samples were gathered and transported to Rockwood Sustainable Solutions facility in Lebanon, Tennessee where Mycocycle, an environmental remediation company that uses fungi to decarbonize waste streams, performed what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind pilot study, mixing the sample with three strains of fungi, a process called mycoremediation.

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"The successful completion of this pilot is a fantastic example of environmental innovation in action," said Nate Morris, Chairman and CEO of Rubicon. "Rubicons mission is to end waste, and it is innovations such as these that find second life circular solutions for hard-to-recycle materials. Partnerships, like this one between Rubicon, Lendlease, Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions are possible when environmental innovation and the circular economy meet."

"Using mycoremediation to process waste so as to be further recycled and form part of the circular economy is its highest use," said Joanne Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of Mycocycle. "Our mycelium recycling pilots continue to see excellent results among a wide range of materials, and Im excited to see where our work, in partnership with Lendlease, Rubicon, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions, takes us."

"This partnership has the potential to be a template for the future," continued Neff. "Of those 11 to 13 million tons of asphalt shingles dumped in landfills each year, only 5-10 percent are being recycled. Taking a product that is no longer viable and combining it with a natural renewable source that results in a new product is a phenomenal outcome that is both beneficial to the environment and bolsters the economy. We are proud of this pilot and our future partnerships with Rubicon, Rockwood Sustainable Solutions, and Mycocycle."

Alexandra Ewing of Lendlease, Chris Batterson of Rubicon, Lincoln Young of Rockwood Sustainable Solutions, and Joanne Rodriguez of Mycocycle will be hosting a session on the results of this project, titled "Forging a Truly Circular Economy for Toxic C&D Materials," at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

Additionally, the team is looking to manufacturers across the building industry and encouraging them to continue to focus on the impact these new materials can have on reducing emissions while making our supply chain more sustainable.

About Lendlease

Lendlease (www.lendlease.com) is a leading global real estate and investment group with operations in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Our purpose is to create places where communities thrive. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, Lendlease has approximately 7,700 employees internationally. Our core capabilities are reflected in our operating segments of Development, Construction, and Investments. The combination of these three segments provides us with a sustainable competitive advantage and allows us to provide innovative integrated solutions for our customers.

About Rubicon

Rubicon Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RBT) is a digital marketplace for waste and recycling, and provider of innovative software-based products for businesses and governments worldwide. Creating a new industry standard by using technology to drive environmental innovation, the company helps turn businesses into more sustainable enterprises, and neighborhoods into greener and smarter places to live and work. Rubicons mission is to end waste. It helps its partners find economic value in their waste streams and confidently execute on their sustainability goals. To learn more, visit http://www.Rubicon.com.

About Mycocycle

Mycocycle, Inc. (www.mycocycle.com) was founded in October 2018. It is a woman-owned, early stage cleantech company using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste. Mycocycle was one-of-seventeen companies worldwide selected to The Circulars Accelerator in 2022 through the World Economic Forum and Accenture, was the winner of the 2021 1871 Momentum Awards as an Industry Disrupter and Chicago Innovation "Up and Comer" Award, recognized as a Finalist in FastCompany's "2021 World Changing Ideas" Awards issue, recognized as a Forbes "Next1000" Entrepreneur and Energy+Environment Top 100 Leader, selected as a Top 100 Global Deeptech Pioneer by Hello Tomorrow, and a 2020 Innovation selection in the EPA's Innovation and America Recycle's Fair.

About Rockwood Sustainable Solutions

Rockwood Sustainable Solutions (www.rockwoodrecycling.com) was founded in 2014. Rockwood began their operations in shingle recycling; collecting materials, processing, and utilizing the shingle in hot mix asphalt in Tennessee. As the company progressed, they continued to grow through recycling additional construction products including wood, tires, and drywall. Today, Rockwood is one of Tennessees largest construction recycling companies specializing in a variety of material recovery for various end markets.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "could," "should," "will," "may," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project," the negative of such terms and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Rubicon Technologies, Inc. ("Rubicon") and its management, are inherently uncertain; factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: 1) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Rubicon or others following the closing of Rubicons business combination with Founder SPAC (the "business combination"); 2) Rubicons ability to meet the New York Stock Exchange's listing standards following the consummation of the business combination; 3) the risk that the business combination disrupts current plans and operations of Rubicon as a result of consummation of the business combination; 4) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees; 5) costs related to the business combination; 6) changes in applicable laws or regulations; 7) the possibility that Rubicon may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors; and 8) other risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in Rubicons Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and other documents of Rubicon filed or to be filed with the SEC. Although Rubicon believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward looking statements will be achieved. There may be additional risks that Rubicon presently does not know of or that Rubicon currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Rubicon does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty to update these forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221006005241/en/

Contacts

Investor Contact: Sioban Hickie, ICR, Inc.rubiconIR@icrinc.com

Media Contact: Dan SampsonChief Marketing & Corporate Communications Officerdan.sampson@rubicon.com RubiconPR@icrinc.com

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Industry Partnership Achieves Positive Results in Pilot Project Using Mushrooms to Decarbonize Construction Waste - Yahoo Finance

Oct. 5After sitting vacant for years, the former home of Marietta's Gone With the Wind Museum just off Marietta Square is getting a new lease on life.

Boxwood Social Hall, a multi-use event space, will be the latest tenant of the historic building and is expected to open this fall.

Lauren Ainsworth, the venue's proprietor, told the MDJ she recently moved from Atlanta to restore the structure. She hopes it'll be "something different than your typical venue space."

"We can host anything from a large wedding or dinner gala to small corporate meetings and seminars," she said. "We don't really want to pigeonhole ourselves as a wedding venue. There's so many of those around Marietta."

The property itself has sat vacant since 2018, when the museum moved to its current location in Brumby Hall on Powder Springs Street. Plans to open a restaurant with rooftop dining at the location never materialized. Property records indicate the building is owned by Murphy Thomas.

The 1880s-era building has a rich history, according to Amy Reed, head of the Marietta History Center. It was originally used as a cotton warehouse, becoming a newspaper office and printer for the Cobb County Times in 1918.

In the early 1980s, it had a brief stint as Gus Fletcher's Livery Stable, a bar and dance hall, before it housed Captain Billy's seafood joint in the 1990s, its last tenant before the museum moved in.

Ainsworth said she's worked to preserve the building's historic character while installing some needed updates.

"It's really beautiful. We've kept all the original brick, we still have the original hardwood flooring in. All we've done is put up some some drywall that can easily be taken down without damage," she said. "We're restoring the original rafters, and we did some work on the roof, all keeping to the original designs."

The opening date for the venue remains "a moving target," Ainsworth added, as it awaits its certificate of occupancy from the city, but she hopes to welcome Marietta with a grand opening party soon enough.

Continued here:
Event space coming to former home of Marietta's Gone With the Wind Museum - Yahoo News

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The County of Wilkes intends to make significant improvements to the overall facilities and amenities of the North Wilkesboro Speedway, located at 381 Speedway Ln., North Wilkesboro, NC 28659. With the aid and expertise of Speedway Motorsports, Wilkes County plans to create a new, signature look for the overall complex that embraces the nostalgia of the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway. Creating a structure and facility that can simultaneously embrace the racing heritage of the track and accommodate a multitude of different large-scale events is of paramount importance for the County of Wilkes and Speedway Motorsports. The scope of work includes some site development, fencing, concrete, masonry, structural steel, rough carpentry, casework, waterproofing, siding & roofing, joint sealants, doors and hardware, aluminum storefront, non-structural metal framing, drywall, tiling, ACT, soft flooring, painting, division 10 accessories, fire suppression, plumbing, HVAC, electrical systems, sports track lighting.

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Additional Packages may be added and/or deleted at the discretion of the Design Builder. Historically underutilized business participation is encouraged.

PREQUALFICATION FORMS CAN BE OBTAINED from Choate Construction from jenny arias at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PRE-QUALIFICATION CUTOFF DATE IS Wednesday October 12, 2022

by 5:00 PM

Interested contractors shall submit their completed prequalification submittals to:

Jenny Arias

Choate Construction

Company

2907 Providence Road

Suite 400

Charlotte, North Carolina 28211

Phone: (704) 556-0550

Fax: (704) 556-0601

OR via E-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PLEASE NOTE:

Only Pre-Qualified contractors will receive bidding documents and be allowed the opportunity to bid on this project. If you should have any questions or comments please contact the Choate Construction representative listed above.

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North Wilkesboro Speedway - ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS - Materials and Construction - Speedway Digest

**UPDATE: The house has been found! You can now see it as part of the Skeletour display in Downtown Kalamazoo**

It's something that happens every year in October...skeletons invade downtown Kalamazoo.

Skeletour, as it's called, brings themed skeletons to the downtown Kalamazoo area that are usually posed in front of businesses. They stay up throughout the month so people can see them, take pictures with them, and so on. Cheri's Chocol'art, for example, has an I Love Lucy-themed skeleton outside their store as an homage to that iconic chocolate factory scene from the show:

However, with the official kick-off of the Skeletour happening this Friday, October 7th, a piece of one of the displays has gone missing.

A small, haunted house meant to be used for the Jacqua Realtors' display has disappeared. This is what it looks like:

Via/ Downtown Kalamazoo

The 5ft house was taken from the area surrounding the 8thDistrict Courthouse. Now, it could have been taken by mistake since there was no skeleton set up next to it at the time. However, Downtown Kalamazoo is now asking locals to keep an eye out for it so it may be returned to Jaqua Realtors' display.

It was last seenin the back of a white pickup driving south on Westnedge around 2:15 pm. This was close to Whites Road. There's no reward being offered but, there's also no penalty for taking it. They just want it back.

If you happen to spot it around town, call269-388-2830, and someone will come and get it. Additionally, you can reach out to the Downtown Kalamazoo Facebook page here.

This isn't the first time a piece of the Skeletour display has gone missing. Last year, someone decided to steal the head off one of the skeletons:

The kickoff for Skeletour is happening this Friday, October 7th, as mentioned above. Find more information below:

Sorry, everyone else, Alan Perkins in Ohio just won Halloween with his giant, homemade skeleton that looks to be overtaking his home.

Muskegon House Listing Features Weird Skeleton Man in Every Photo

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Have You Seen This Tiny House Stolen From Downtown Kalamazoo? - wkfr.com