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It's rare that things go well in 2020, and also that construction projects stay on time and on budget, but the two of those things have come together for the Estevan Police Service's station expansion with just over a month to go before things are completed.

The project is on time to finish by its projected to finish date of January 22, but won't be functional right away. According to Police Chief Paul Ladouceur, the project has been going on generally uninterrupted.

"The crews have advised us that it appears to be on schedule. Some of the stuff can be weather dependant but everything has been going very smoothly. With projects of this size, oftenyou'll come intospeedbumps along the way but it's actually gone very smoothly. It will be a welcome addition to this facility and carry us long into the future."

On the note of longevity, the new expansion isn't just set to be in use for a short time, but rather will be able to last through additions of more staff throughout theyears to come.

"One of the big things with this project is that it was designed with the ability for expansion within the facility itself. There were floor plans put in place where there could be future cubicles put in so I think this building is going to serve this community for years to come."

Once the construction of the project is done, it is still going to take some time before the police station is completely moved over. There are so many different files in different places, some where roof tiles have been moved to make sure there is room for them, some are being stored in the station's garage, and enough furniture and offices to move over that it will take a couple of months.

"Realistically I think we'll be settled on that side by March of 2021 by the time everything is moved over and we're up and running. Completion is still set for January 22 but you probably won't see us operational until March."

COVID 19 has not seemed to play a factor in construction even though it started up around the same time as the pandemic. Police staff and construction workers have been able tostay distanced apart for the entirety of the project.

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Police Station Expansion Still On Track To Open On Time - DiscoverEstevan.com

The Snapdragon 888 system-on-chip unveiled by Qualcomm this week should deliver a noticeable performance boost to next year's flagship Android phones. After all, this is Qualcomm's first 5-nanometer chip, meaning more transistors providing more power with greater efficiency. But that's not the story Qualcomm is dwelling on, as it talks up the merits of its latest mobile processing platform.

Instead, much of Qualcomm's focus with the Snapdragon 888 is to talk about how new additions to the chipset will improve your mobile photography and mobile gaming experiences the kind of thing you're more likely to notice than whether an app launched a little bit faster on one phone or another.

Think of it as Qualcomm's way of distinguishing itself from the A14 Bionic that powers Apple's latest phones or the Kirin silicon Huawei uses in its phones. Qualcomm doesn't mention any of its chip-making rivals by name. But the way it's presenting the Snapdragon 888 speaks volumes about the experiences it thinks phones powered by the new chip can provide.

Here's what you can expect from the Snapdragon 888 and when the new system-on-chip will start appearing in smartphones.

Qualcomm says its Snapdragon 888 chipset is coming to Android phones in 2021, though it hasn't said exactly when. If past releases are any indication, though, you can expect the new chip to start appearing in leading Android phones during the first three months of the new year.

Samsung's next flagship will almost certainly be one of the first phones to sport a Snapdragon 888, as has been the case for the U.S. versions of all Galaxy S releases. That would put the new chip on track for the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is rumored to be launching earlier than usual possibly as soon as January.

But Samsung will have company. At Qualcomm's annual tech summit where the Snapdragon 888 was introduced, Xiaomi said its Mi 11 phone will be one of the first to get Qualcomm's latest chip, though that phone is unlikely to ever reach the U.S.

Qualcomm doesn't make announcements about which devices use its silicon, but the chip maker did provide a list of phone makers who've pledge to support the Snapdragon 888. Beside Xiaomi, that list includes Asus, Black Shark, Lenovo, LG, MEIZU, Motorola, Nubia, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo, Sharp, Vivo and ZTE.

Performance may not be one of the major talking points around the Snapdragon 888's launch, but you should still expect big gains for the devices that use the chipset next year. As noted above, this is Qualcomm's first chip using a 5nm process, and that typically means greater power and efficiency.

Qualcomm's also come up with a new architecture for the chip, which will offer the first commercial CPU subsystem to be based on the Arm Cortex-X1. In addition to that prime CPU, which can top out at up to 2.84GHz, three Arm Cortex A-78 CPUs make up the performance cores, while four Arm Cortex-A55 comprise the efficiency cores.

In terms of performance numbers, Qualcomm says that the Kryo 680 in the Snapdragon 888 can deliver a 25% boost in overall CPU performance over the previous generation. The new CPU is 25% more power efficient than its predecessor, according to Qualcomm.

We'll need to benchmark a device powered by the Snapdragon 888 to see how that compares to current phones on the market. But a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the chip will deliver a 25% boost over the Geekbench scores of some of the fastest Snapdragon 865-based phones we've tested. And that would pull it just about even with Apple's pace-setting A14-powered iPhone 12 lineup.

Qualcomm would counter that its chips are designed for sustained performance and not the short bursts that can propel phones to the lead of benchmark tests a not so subtle dig at Apple's processors.

"Snapdragon is constructed for sustainable, usable performance," said Ziad Asghar, a vice president of product management at Qualcomm, during the Snapdragon 888 unveiling. We're looking forward to getting our hands on a Snapdragon 888 device to see if reality matches our math.

As for graphics, the Adreno 660 GPU included with the Snapdragon 888 is supposed to increase the speed of graphics rendering by 35% over last year's chip, with power efficiency improving by 20%. The performance gain is the biggest yet for the Adreno GPU, Qualcomm says, which bodes well for gaming on Snapdragon 888 phones.

Enhancement to the GPU also impact how graphics are displayed, with Qualcomm promising OLED display uniformity as well as picture quality improvements.

5G continues to be a major focus of Qualcomm, so you can bet that it's a key part of the Snapdragon 888 story. The new system-on-chip includes an integrated modem, much like last year's Snapdragon 765G. Only this time, the modem is Qualcomm's 3rd generation Snapdragon X60 modem, which supports both sub-6GHz carrier aggregation and mmWave. That means a Snapdragon 888-powered phone will work with just about any operator's 5G network, including those that use dynamic spectrum sharing to extend 5G connectivity.

You should enjoy fast data speeds with the Snapdragon 888, at least where high-speed connectivity is available. The X60 is capable of 7.5 Gbps speeds. No 5G network is even close to delivering that right now, but it's nice to know that there's plenty of headroom for your phone's 5G performance as networks get faster.

One of the more intriguing parts of the Snapdragon 888's 5G support is the fact that it supports Global 5G multi-SIM, meaning you can expect 5G to extend to international roaming at least if we're ever able to leave our houses again. 5G multi-SIM support also means that you can have separate numbers on the same phone.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets power photographic features, too, and the enhancements introduced to the Spectra 580 image signal processor (ISP) are particularly noteworthy.

For the first time, Qualcomm's offering a triple ISP that can capture images from three cameras at the same time; on previous Snapdragon Series 8 chipsets, Qualcomm had used a dual ISP.

The switch to a triple ISP means being able to simultaneous snap a trio of 28MP shots, all from different points of view. Or you could capture three 4K videos all once for a wide shot, a close up and a shot of the person doing the filming from the front camera. Thanks to triple concurrency, all cameras can run in the background at the same time, so that you can seamlessly switch between lenses without a noticeable lag.

The Spectra ISP is getting a speed boost of its own with the Snapdragon 888. Qualcomm promises speeds of 2.7 gigapixels per second, which is 35% faster than the Snapdragon 865's ISP. In one second, you'll be able to capture a burst of 120 photos.

In another first for Qualcomm's chips, the Snapdragon 888 can capture photos in 10-bit HDR HEIF. That allows cameras powered by the Spectra ISP to capture photos in more than one billion shades of color, enabling end-to-end 10-bit capture and display. Previously, the Snapdragon 8 Series' ISP could support 4K still image capture, and now that's being extended to video capture with the Snapdragon 888.

Cameras on Snapdragon 888 phones should also be more adept when the lights are turned low, as the chipset introduces a new low-light architecture. That should allow the camera to work in 0.1 lux, which a Qualcomm rep described as near darkness.

More people are playing mobile games, and Qualcomm's responded by ramping up the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features it includes with its high-end processors. That's Qualcomm's push to bring desktop-quality gaming to mobile, and in the past it's introduced capabilities such as desktop forward rendering for improved lighting and updateable GPU drivers.

In addition to supporting ultra smooth gaming capable of delivering gameplay at 144 frames per second, the Snapdragon 888 also adds variable rate shading for improved game rendering. That's a first for mobile devices, according to Qualcomm, and when it's implemented by game makers, it should boost gameplay performance by 30%. That means games will run smoother and longer without taxing your phone's battery as much.

Most games on your smartphone rely on a touchscreen interface to control the action, so Qualcomm is introducing a way to make your touches count. The company's Game Quick Touch feature can improve responsiveness by up to 20% in games running at 60 frames per second; in 120 fps games, response tims are cut by 10%.

In addition to all the other components on a Snapdragon 8 series chipset, you'll also find an AI engine that impacts multiple tasks across a smartphone. The Snapdragon 888 introduces a new 6th-generation AI Engine along with a Hexagon 780 processor that's more efficient and powerful than previous versions.

Many of the improvements to the Snapdragon 888's AI engine can be traced to a new architecture Qualcomm is using. The Tensor, Scalar and Vector AI accelerators have been fused in this version, allowing them to work together as one unit so they can share memory for faster performance.

That promises a number of benefits for AI-powered features. The Tensor Accelerator's Compute capacity has doubled, while the Scalar Accelerator is 50% more powerful. Qualcomm says you can expect up to a 3x performance per watt improvement from its last mobile processing platform, with the AI engine able to perform 26 tera operations per second (TOPS). For context, the Snapdragon 865 provided 15 TOPS, which was pretty impressive when it was introduced a year ago.

All of this translates to a more responsive device when it comes to working with the camera, voice assistant and any other part of the phone where responsiveness is key. The AI engine on the Snapdragon 888 can provide capabilities like noise suppression when you're on a phone call to cancel out ambient noise around you or AI-based upscaling on videos so that you can watch them at enhanced resolutions.

Last year's top-of-the-line Snapdragon chipset included a Qualcomm Sensing Hub to help with activities such as screen awake, lift and activity detection, and audio prompts. The Snapdragon 888 introduces the second generation version of that hub, with its own dedicated AI processor. That makes the revised Qualcomm Sensing Hub even more contextually aware of its surroundings.

A demo that Qualcomm showed off at its tech summit illustrated how the sensing hub could detect where you parked your car in a multi-level garage, all without any user input. The sensing hub can also detect different sounds like a baby crying and respond with an appropriate notification.

We've talked about 5G, but that's only part of the Snapdragon 888's connectivity capabilities. This is a Wi-Fi 6-enabled device, as you might expect, so it will connect efficiently to Wi-Fi 6-ready networking gear. The Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 mobile connectivity system can support wireless speeds of up to 3.6 Gbps.

On the security front, the Snapdragon 888 supports features such as a hypervisor that can quickly switch between isolated OSes on your phone. (Think setting up work and personal profiles on phones that keep apps and other data localized to specific profiles.) This is also the first Content Authenticity Initiative-compliant smartphone camera for capturing cryptographically-sealed photos.

Perhaps one of the more noteworthy enhancements brought about with the Snapdragon 888 is Qualcomm's QuickCharge 5 technology. It's capable of supporting up to 100W chargers, with the promise of providing a 50% charge to a phone in 5 minutes. Even if your future phone doesn't recharge at that blistering speed, faster charging looks to be on the horizon with Snapdragon 888-powered devices that employ the latest version of QuickCharge.

While all those features give us an overview of what the Snapdragon 888 brings to the table, we're going to have to wait for a device powered by the new chip to fully appreciate its capabilities. Certainly, getting to test a Snapdragon 888-powered phone will let us compare Qualcomm's latest to the chips powering Apple's new phones.

But there's a lot to anticipate about the Snapdragon 888 beyond just speed improvements. The new camera capabilities in particular promise to push mobile photography forward, and the gaming features will further cement the smartphone's place as a device for serious gamers. Qualcomm has introduced a lot of key enhancements with the Snapdragon 888, and we're looking forward to see how that translates to new mobile experiences.

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An aerial map shows the portion of West Vineyard Street that will close for construction work starting Dec. 14. MAUI COUNTY graphic

The Maui News

West Vineyard Street between Market and Church streets will be closed starting Dec. 14 through January as construction work continues in the area, the county announced Wednesday.

The closure will reduce the amount of time needed to complete this portion of Vineyard Street as part of the Wailuku Town Improvements Project, the county said.

Crews from MIRA Image Construction will be improving roads, sidewalks, water and sewer lines and drainage systems in the area, as well as putting existing overhead electrical and communication lines underground.

Drivers traveling on West Vineyard Street from High Street will be detoured around the construction area back to West Vineyard via Church, Main and Market streets.

Portions of the municipal parking lot will remain open during construction. However, the only entrance will be from Market Street, and the only exits will be at Market and Church streets. The entrance and exit to the parking lot from West Vineyard will be closed permanently.

Detour signs will be posted. Pedestrian access to businesses and apartments along Vineyard Street will be provided, and passenger drop-off and loading areas will be designated along Market Street for those residences.

Special duty officers will also be on site to direct traffic.

For questions or concerns, contact MIRA Image Construction Superintendent David Perez at (808) 306-5206.

For the latest updates on the Wailuku Town Improvement projects, visit http://www.WailukuLIVE.com.

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Residents of Nairobi's upmarket estate, Lavington have moved to court to stop the construction of a church in the area.

In a case filed through lawyer Wilfred Mutubwa, the locals claim that the construction of Lavington United Church is causing pollution through noise and effluent discharge.

This, they say, is creating disturbance at a time when most residents are schooling and working from home following the government's directive to contain the spread of Covid-19.

They further argue that development violates the zoning requirements for the upscale neighborhood and want the court to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) license issued by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) on October 24th, 2019.

The proposed development exceeds the permissible densities and heights which will irreversibly impact the local environment without any possible mitigation, court documents read.

The residents also want the court to order the church to halt construction works pending the hearing and determination of their application.

They further note that the construction has led to an increase in traffic snarl-up along Ndoto and Margaret Kenyatta roads as a result of inadequate access and exit of the proposed project, which they also claim is risking their safety.

The residents allege that the project report relied on to issue the church with an EIA license is false and intended to mislead Nema.

The church is required to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment study report in order to acquire the EIA license as opposed to an EIA project report which is not sufficient to acquire the license in the circumstance, they say.

The plot numbers in the EIA license issued by Nema are not the same as the plot number of the project site in the change of user approval issued by the Nairobi city county.

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Residents of Lavington in Court to Stop Construction of Church in the Area - Mwakilishi.com

Basalts building boom remained on a torrid pace in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic and it is expected to be even busier next year.

The town government anticipates that it will collect $488,000 through building permits in 2020. While that is down from $517,753 collected in 2019, it is significantly more than budgeted for this year.

Aspen Skiing Co.s workforce housing project is taking shape in Willits. It will be completed in 2021. (Scott Condon/The Aspen Times)

Workers progress on the exterior of The Arts Campus At Willits building on Wednesday. (Scott Condon/The Aspen Times)

The Stotts Mill property in Southside has been cleaned up and infrastructure work is expected to start this month. Construction on the first phase of the project will start in 2021. (Scott Condon/The Aspen Times)

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Several big projects ignited in 2020 and pumped up the towns coffers. They included Aspen Skiing Co.s 38-unit work force housing project in Willits Town Center, which obtained permits for nearly $14 million worth of work; The Arts Campus at Willits, with a $4.25 million performing arts center; and the first phase of the Steadman orthopedic clinic at $4.8 million with much more to come in 2021.

The top five building permit fees in 2020, by dollar amount, were Aspen Skiing Co. at $171,873; East Valley LLC for the Block 11 project in Willits Town Center at $89,723; Basalt Medical Properties LLC for the Steadman project foundation, $69,685; The Arts Center At Willits at $60,498; and Willits Town Center Block 11 North at $44,015.

Tim Belinski is the head of a development group that is finishing a mixed residential and commercial project in Willits and preparing to start a different mixed use project at the former Pan and Fork property downtown.

He said in a recent interview that 2020 looked bleak for construction in March and April when the coronavirus pandemic forced an economic shutdown. However, the interest of people to relocate or spend more time in the Roaring Fork Valley helped reignite residential construction once stay-at-home orders were lifted, he said.

Next year is shaping up to be even busier in Basalt. The towns draft budget for 2021 is projecting $626,000 from building permits.

A graph prepared by the Basalt planning department for the Planning and Zoning Commission last month showed all the prospective constructive activity for 2021. Here is a rundown of those projects:

Belinskis Basalt River Park LLC will break ground on the first phase of a project at the former Pan and Fork property. The first phase is 24 residential units, including four employee-housing units.

Basalt Mini-Storage is expected to pursue its second building of 20,000 square feet in Southside.

Habitat For Humanity Roaring Fork will start the last phase of Basalt Vista, a 27-unit affordable housing project near Basalt High School.

Stotts Mill is expected to start on infrastructure this month and advance next year on its project with 113 residences and a 4,000-square-foot daycare.

The Steadman Clinic will advance to the next stage on a 50,000-square-foot clinic with an underground parking garage.

Park Modern is expected to advance on an eight-unit residential building, the last in its cluster along Willits Lane.

St. Vincent Catholic Church plans to expand its parish hall in downtown Basalt.

A 5,000-square-foot automated car wash is expected to start construction at 115 Southside Drive.

Other development proposals are anticipated to go through the review process in 2021, according to the planning department. A bank will pursue construction of a 3,840-square-foot building in a vacant lot adjacent to Element Hotel in Willits.

A 12-unit apartment building is being contemplated on Emma Road, next to Harry Teague Architects.

The town staff is in preliminary discussions with a development team eyeing a multi-family development project near the Basalt Post Office.

The town government also has two major projects on its plate with the $3.3 million upgrade to the Arbaney Pool and a $750,000, first-phase development of the Basalt River Park near downtown.

Another major project in the midvalley but outside of Basalt is Ace Lanes Tree Farm project. After a year of working on infrastructure, buildings in the mixed-use commercial and residential village will start going vertical in 2021.

Building permits, special improvement fees, business licenses and liquor licenses are expected to generate about $795,000 next year or about 10% of Basalts general fund revenue.

scondon@aspentimes.com

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2021 shaping up to be busy construction season in Basalt - Aspen Times

Soviet authorities were known for their fierce fight against religiosity - Lenin and Stalin were building an absolutely secular state. Monasteries and convents were closed and converted into prisons; churches were blown up or adapted for economic needs. (Click here to find out how the Soviets used captured churches.)

Nevertheless, the construction of the Old Believer Church of St. Nicholas near Tverskaya Zastava (on the photo above), almost in the heart of Moscow, was completed in 1921. The Bolsheviks must have been too preoccupied with the Civil War at the time, and the church remained opened up until the beginning of World War II.

Several wooden churches were built in the second half of the 1920s in Pskov, Vladimir, Arkhangelsk regions. Many were later closed as places of worship, but their buildings have survived to this day.

Church of St Paraskeva in Velikodvorye, Vladimir Region, built in 1924

Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in Khredino, Pskov Region, built in 1925

This church (on the photo below), built in 1872 by the famous architect Nikolai Shokhin, was preserved probably because they thought it too beautiful to be demolished. The village of Lyublino in Moscow Region (now a district of the City of Moscow called Lyublino), where the church was located, became a site for a foundry and mechanical plant.

So, in 1927 the church was moved further from Moscow and reassembled in the village of Ryzhevo, also in Moscow Region.

Church of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, Ryzhevo, Moscow Region, originally built in 1872 and moved here in 1927

In the 1930s, no new churches were built, and existing ones were targeted in a campaign of persecution: their domes and bells were taken down and melted into ammunition, and their holy items were destroyed. Priests were killed or sent to prison camps by the Bolshevik authorities, and their children had to hide their origins, otherwise they could also be sentenced and exiled as relatives of enemies of the people. In the 1930s, more than 100,000 people were convicted for having an association with the Church.

Stalin was one of the most implacable foes of religion, and under his rule the original Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was blown up, as well as thousands of churches and monasteries closed. However, as somebody who studied in a seminary, Stalin understood how important religion was for people and maybe he himself was a believer, no one can say for sure. At the beginning of World War II, he rehabilitated the Russian Orthodox Church, allowing Easter services and processions of the cross, and even reopened some churches.

Most historians think his actions were driven by pragmatism: the move was aimed to boost people's morale during the war. In 1943, Stalin even had a meeting with religious leaders. At that meeting a Patriarch was elected, and an agreement was reached on cooperation between the Church and the Soviet government. (Click here to read more about Stalin's relations with the Church.)

Already in 1944 approval was given to build the Church of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye in the town of Saraktash in Orenburg Region. Soon, a religious community was formed there. In the 1960s, the church was closed, but in the 2000s a new Holy Trinity Cathedral was built in its place.

A new Holy Trinity Cathedral built on the place of the Church of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, Saraktash, Orenburg Region

After the war, several more churches were built in the USSR, albeit only in the provinces. For example, two were erected in 1946 in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk in the Urals.

Church of Archangel Michael in Magnitogorsk, built in 1946

Church of St. Nicholas in Magnitogorsk, built in 1946

Church of St. Nicholas in Mineralnyye Vody, the Caucasus, built in 1950

Churches were also built in Central Asia and Kazakhstan, to where people from all over the USSR were relocated.

The Resurrection Cathedral in Bishkek, present-day Kyrgyzstan, built in 1944-47

St. Nicholas Cathedral in Dushanbe, present-day Tajikistan, built in 1943

Having denounced Stalin's personality cult, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to fight against all other "cults", of which he considered religion to be one. In an effort to return to Lenin's original doctrine, he decided to once again "tighten the screws" in the religious sphere: churches were again closed, and priests were closely watched by the KGB. Khrushchev also put pressure on religious leaders of different faiths in order to ban believers from making pilgrimages to holy places. Many religious buildings were handed over to secular cultural organizations. In 1964, an Institute of Scientific Atheism was established, while special state commissions dealt with the affairs of believers.

And yet, new churches were built in the country, including those whose construction was sanctioned when Stalin was still alive.

Church of the Transfiguration in Yakino, Republic of Komi, built in 1956

Cathedral of Archangel Michael in Karaganda, present-day Kazakhstan, built in 1946-54

In 1956, parishioners in Moscow collected money and themselves built a new wooden church to replace one that had burnt down.

Church of St. Nicholas in Biryulyovo, Moscow, built in 1956

Given the authorities' tough policy, construction of new churches often depended on the local religious community and the personality of the local bishop. For example, Yermogen Golubev, the archbishop of Tashkent and Central Asia in 1953-60, resorted to a ploy and, having received permission to restore an old church in Tashkent, quickly began to rebuild and expand it. Before the authorities realized what was happening, a new cathedral was ready.

Assumption Cathedral in Tashkent, present-day Uzbekistan, built in 1958

Using the same tactic, Yermogen managed to build churches in several other Central Asian cities. However, soon he was removed from his post on suspicion of anti-Soviet sentiment (in the 1930s he had served almost 10 years in the camps).

When Leonid Brezhnev came to power, he softened Khrushchev's tough policy towards the Church and decided to useit in his interests. He allowed churches to be restored to believers, and legalized church rites during funerals and the use of religious symbols on graves.

Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin in Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo Region, rebuilt in 1979-1983 from a prayer house

However, under Brezhnev relations with the Church were marred by the authorities' fight against dissidents. Priests were forced to cooperate with the security services and break the seal of confession. Also, priests were closely watched for their loyalty to the regime.

Church of Archangel Michael in Novokuznetsk, built in 1975

At the same time, permission was issued to expand, complete and even, if necessary, build new churches. Thus in the 1970s and early 1980s, a number of new churches were built in different cities across the USSR.

Ascension of Our Lord Church in Belovo, Kemerovo Region, rebuilt in 1974-76 from a small 1946 prayer house

Annunciation Church in Abaz, Republic of Khakassia, built in 1980

During Gorbachev's Perestroika, the state's religious policy was revised, and since the late 1980s previously closed churches were restored to believers. In 1990, a law on freedom of religion was approved.

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Scott Liles, Baxter Bulletin Published 2:58 p.m. CT Dec. 3, 2020 | Updated 3:09 p.m. CT Dec. 3, 2020

First Baptist Church of Mountain Home's Living Nativity display returns this weekend for the 2020 Christmas season. The drive-through display will begin Thursday night and continue through Sunday night, running from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each night.(Photo: Submitted photo/First Baptist Church of Mountain Home)

The First Baptist Church of Mountain Home will bring the story of the birth of Jesus to life this weekend with its annual Living Nativity drive-through display.

This will be the sixth year for the Nativity, which uses church volunteers, live animals and theatrical sets to recreate crucial scenes from the Biblical story.

The Living Nativity will run Thursday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each night. This year's event will be completely drive through due to COVID-19 concerns.

Visitors should enter the First Baptist Church campus off of Spring Street, where they will pass through a facsimile of Bethlehem and witness scenes relating to the Nativity story. Visitors will then stop under the church's sanctuary awning to listen to the church choir perform before stopping at the Christian Life Center awning to receive prepackaged refreshments and children's activity books. Visitors will then exit the church campus on Club Boulevard. The church will have volunteers out helping to direct traffic through the display.

Last year's Living Nativity attracted1,900 visitors in 900 vehicles, church officials said. This year's turnout is expected to beat those numbers, they said.

The Wise Men are seen during the 2016 Living Nativity display at Mountain Home's First Baptist Church. The display combines costumed volunteers, live animals and theatrical sets to tell the story of the birth of Jesus.(Photo: Submitted photo/First Baptist Church of Mountain Home)

"With all the concern about COVID, this is something that people can get out and do," First Baptist Church pastor Tad Rogers said. "We're keeping people in their cars with their own families."

A volunteer crew of 45 to 60 is required to make the church'sLiving Nativity a reality each December. That number includes people preparing refreshments, construction workers building the sets and volunteers directing traffic in addition to the Nativity performers themselves, many of which will perform outdoors for all four nights.

"There's something to be said for the commitment many of the performers have," youth pastor Jessie Greene said. "Being outside, in the weather, it really builds relationships."

Volunteers will be wearing face masks at the Living Nativity, but many of the costumes have extra fabric around the neck area that will help conceal the COVID-era accessory.

Visitors to First Baptist Church's Living Nativity display will enter the church campus by turning off of Spring Street and proceeding through the church's mock up of Bethlehem. Visitors will eventually exit the campus on Club Boulevard.(Photo: Submitted photo/First Baptist Church of Mountain Home)

"You do your best to make it as authentic as possible, but face masks are just something you can't avoid," Greene said.

Scenes depicted in the drive-through include a Biblical-era marketplace scene; Mary being visited by the angel Gabriel and being told she will give birth to Jesus; Joseph working as a carpenter; Mary and Joseph journeying to Bethlehem; shepherds tending to live sheep and goats and encountering an angel that tells them of Jesus' birth; the arrival of the Wise Men, complete with a living camel; and the manger scene with Mary and Joseph depicting Jesus' birth.

The animals used in the Living Nativity come from a Kansas City-area ranch. The animals' handlers stay in Mountain Home for the weekend and care for the animals before, during and after the Living Nativity display.

First Baptist Church of Mountain Home will perform its annual Living Nativity Thursday night through Sunday night on the church campus.(Photo: Submitted photo/First Baptist Church of Mountain Home)

"The camel has always been a big hit," Rogers said. "You don't get to see that a lot around here."

Despite the event's theatrics, costumes and live animals, the church's focus with the Living Nativity remains on the message it conveys, Rogers said.

"It's a way to spread the word about the Gospel," he said. "We're always excited about that."

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'Living Nativity' returns this weekend - The Baxter Bulletin

Earlier this year, Garden of Memories announced the construction of a mausoleum, and this month that project officially began.

The above-ground entombment structure at the cemetery, located off Highway 7 North next to The Orchard church, is the first of its kind in Lafayette County.

Lafayette County Board of Supervisors president Mike Roberts, who is also the director of sales for Garden of Memories, said the idea of having a mausoleum was dictated by need.

As high as real estate values are, and with the city cemetery being almost to capacity, I mean, were right here. Were just a couple minutes from the Square, Roberts said. If nobody has ever been here, they ought to ride out and look. Its very pretty. The mausoleum is a new idea for this area that is probably where the industrys heading.

The mausoleum will be constructed out of Italian granite and located on the northwest side of the cemetery, adjacent to the Veterans Garden.

Roberts said they began presale for the mausoleum in the summer and the response and interest drove the timeline of when they could begin the project and break ground. The first phase is set to be completed by Spring 2021. There are six phases planned, with room to expand if need be.

The interest kind of drove it. Public interest kind of drove the timeline, Roberts said. The decision to move forward with it, start breaking ground has been dictated by the interest the public has shown.

Once completed, the mausoleum will include an open-air chapel, entombment crypts and columbarium niches.

For more information, anyone interested in the mausoleum can visit cemeteriesofnorthms.org/mausoleums.

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Garden of Memories begins construction of mausoleum - The Oxford Eagle - Oxford Eagle

Born in 1949 in Hanford Village, an African American neighborhoodon the Near East Side, Shirley Mixon had a childhood right out of a book about 1950s suburbia.

No one worried about leaving doors unlocked or bikes unattended. People took pride in their homes and even had contests for the best-kept lawn. Children played outside and neighbors shared plates of food at dinnertime.

The Black Out series: Stories on the impacts of racism felt by Black Ohioans

It was just a close-knit community, said Mixon, 71, who eventually bought her own house in Hanford, where she still lives. When one person hurt, we all hurt.

Hanford was founded as a village in 1909, and was originally bordered by Main Street on the north, Alum Creek on the east, Livingston Avenue on the south and Lilley Avenue on the west. It became a predominantly Black municipality by the 1920sand had its own mayor and police department. (It was annexed to Columbus in 1955.)

Black Out: Shirley Mixon describes the neighborhood she grew up in, divided by the highway

Shirley Mixon describes how Hanford Village was cut by I-70, but survives. She grew up in the mostly Black community.

Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch

Beginning in 1946, the Federal Housing Administration financed the construction of 146 Cape Cod homes in the middle class area, marketed to Black veterans as the Hanford Village George Washington Carver Addition. A number of Tuskegee Airmen lived in the community.

Mixons former street, Bowman Avenue, was lined with homes and a storethat housed both a beautician and barber, who gave all the Hanford boys their first haircut, Mixon said.

Shirley Mixon, 71, grew up in the predominantly Black neighborhood Hanford Village and saw it divided by the construction of I-70 in the 1960s.Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch

Then, in the 1960s, the I-70 interstate cut off Bowman Avenue, eradicated 60 homes and split the community.

Mixons old house, now inhabited by her sister, is one of only four remaining on the street. From their windows, residents can see the highway not only an eyesore and an inconvenience, but,according to residents, scholars government officials and others, a concrete and colossal example of institutional racism and its harm to Black communities.

Most Hanford Village houses are west of the highway; twoare isolated at Alum Creek Drive and Kent Street on the other side.

I lost a lot of friends, Mixon recalled. They couldve gone through Bexley. Why didnt they go through there?

Bexley, the predominantly white, affluent citynortheast of Hanford Village, remained unscathed by I-70, I-71 and I-670, which destroyed large parts of the predominantly Black Near East Side following the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Numerous reports have chronicled the deliberate destruction of Black neighborhoods throughout the U.S. via the interstate system.

Its just a tragic story, said Jason Reece, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State University. (It) played out across many different neighborhoods all the way up the East Side to Milo-Grogan and then to Linden. I-670 wiped out the Flytown neighborhood. And if you look at the old redlining maps of most cities and Columbus is a good example you can pretty much trace the highways right through those areas that were redlined.

In addition to redlining the practice of denying home loans and other resources to Black neighborhoods during segregation the government also targeted the communities for urban renewal. But plans for slum clearance were rarely followed with promised affordable housing, Reece said.

That, combined with the interstate construction, caused many areas to decline.

History of racism:Desegregation stories in Ohio schools, told by those who were there

You cant imagine that happening to other neighborhoods without the power of prejudice and discrimination, Reece said. It didnt have to be like that. There are many routes you could have taken through the city, but they seemed to almost always exclusively target Black communities.

Mixon said some of her neighbors took drastic measures to stay in Hanford.

One friend of my dads said they werent giving him enough money for his house, she said. Sohe lifted his house and moved it.

According to the application to put the neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places by local historian Rory Krupp approved in 2014 another person was so enraged that he set fire to his home.

Segregation and discriminatory housing policies limited where displaced residents could move. Ultimately, they chose Linden, Driving Park and Southfield, Krupp reported.

According to Mixon, things arent the same at the Hanford neighborhoodpark, now considerably smaller and managed by the city.

You find more people from Bexley and other neighborhoods coming down there, she said. One time, we were having a Hanford reunion, and somebody had already bought and paid for the park, so we had to cancel.

With original residents getting older, new people moving in and crime rates creeping up, Mixon said Hanford isnt the same as it used to be. But now that the neighborhood is on the National Register of Historic Places, Mixon feels some relief.

I used to think the freeway would come out here and take the rest of the houses, Mixon said. (But) as long as people can maintain their houses, I think its going to be OK.

Black Out: Ann Walker's home razed for highway

Ann Walker and her husband were raising two children in a Jefferson Avenue home on the North Side when it was razed to make way for Interstate 71. She believes minority communities were targeted for the highway construction.

Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch

A few miles away on Jefferson Avenue, Ann B. Walker wasnt so lucky.

Back in the 1960s, she and her husband, Linwood, owned a two-family brick home in the present-day King-Lincoln District, currently bounded by I-71 on the west, Atcheson Street on the north, 20th Street on the east, and East Broad Street on the south. Similar to other, thriving African American hubs in Chicago, Los Angeles and Milwaukee, the neighborhood was nicknamed Bronzeville in the 1920s.

Ann Walker was living in the present-day King-Lincoln District when the house was razed to make way for I-71.Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch

It was a self-contained community, said Walker, 97, who now lives in Olde Towne East. We elected our own mayor. … People who live on the East Side still think of it as Bronzeville.

There were successful businesses, bars and music venues on Mount Vernon Avenue and Long Street. There also was a sense of camaraderie; Walker said her backyard was a recreational hub for the neighborhood kids.

A wedding day photograph of Ann and Linwood Walker, who had a home together on Jefferson Avenue, which was later razed.Family photograph

But then the construction of I-71 divided and destroyed much of Bronzeville, and the Walkers were forced to give up their home.

We didnt have a choice, she said. We had to either sell or let the city take it. Many of us felt we were not getting the full value for our home.

The Walkers sold for just a couple thousand more than they paid.

The once-bustling Mount Vernon Avenue was cut off at Hamilton Avenue, and Mount Vernonnow feeds into Spring Street, which travels one way over the highway and Downtown to Columbus Community College.

It was deliberate, Walker said. They should have gone through Bexley and they did not. … The businesses had to look for a new location. The doctors and lawyers had to look for a new location. Our schools changed. The population was reduced.

Growing up in the neighborhood, William Richardson also witnessed the devastation firsthand. His father, Marion, owned a bowling alley on Mount Vernon Avenue.

Communities lost: How highways destroyed Black neighborhoods in the 60s

It got pretty clear for community folks that youre doing this to spite us, said Richardson, 76, of the East Side. Why would you take an insignificant street like Spring Street and put a bridge over it and take a thoroughfare such as Mount Vernon Avenue and dead end it unless you were just intent on driving the East Side community under? he said.

Richardsons family moved from Georgia to Columbus in the 1920s as part of the Great Migration of Southern Black families to the North. His mothers family helped construct Shiloh Baptist Churchs building on Mount Vernon Avenue; the congregation had moved a couple times since forming in the 1860s.

This historical photo of the I-71 and I-670 interchange shows where Ann Walker had a Jefferson Avenue home before it was destroyed for freeway construction.Columbus Dispatch

The church sits right at the point where the street was cut off, and Richardson said the city originally wanted to take the building as part of the highway construction.

Shiloh refused to sell, he said of the church, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They saw themselves as being critical to the community.

The highway also reduced traffic into Bronzeville. Prior to its construction, Reita Smith remembers traveling to the neighborhood from her home in the Hilltop.

I would take the trolley car and go to Shiloh for church and Sunday school, said Smith, 84, of the Northwest Side. And then, of course, we spent all our afternoons on Long Street and Mount Vernon.

Richardson spoke fondly of the bowling alley, shops, nightclubs and movie theaters. She said that, overall, the area was safe and friendly.

You lost easy access to the Black community, Smith said. It was like cutting off the blood supply.

According to residents and scholars such as Reece, Bronzeville also was devastated by urban renewal policies. Buildings were demolished, driving both people and businesses out of the neighborhood. The population also was reduced during integration, whenresidents were suddenly free to movethroughout the city.

Today, with development of the area ramping up, residents are worried about retaining the culturalidentity of King-Lincoln/Bronzeville amid the risk of more displacement

A current view of Hanford Village, which was divided by the construction of I-70 in the 1960s.Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch

Gentrification is occurring throughout all of our African American communities, Smith said. Were right back where we started then, needing affordable housing.

One of the most recent blows to the neighborhood was the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority'sdemolition in 2013 of most of Poindexter Village, which opened in 1940 as one of the countrys first public-housing developments. Two of the 35 buildings were sparedand will be turned in to a museum and cultural learning center.

It was policies, not people, said Smith, who lived in the development in the 1960sand advocated for its preservation. The residents wanted to be there.

Walker is glad there will be some remnant of Poindexter.

I think that is very important because you still have a high percentage of Black people living on the East Side, Walker said. They need to be aware of the history.

@miss_ethompson

ethompson@dispatch.com

This is part of a nine-story series that exploresthe ways in which prejudice and systemic racism impact Black Americans.

The creation of The Dispatch Black Out seriesstarted with a simple conversation between reporters Erica Thompson and Mike Wagner, who are part of the newspapers Heart of Columbus team. They wanted to show that the agony, frustration and pain felt by Black people in America wasnt just connected to recent killings of Black people by police.

Along with photographer/videographer Doral Chenoweth, the journalists spent months interviewing dozens of Black people throughout central Ohio, and a few beyond, about their personal experiences with racism, prejudice and discrimination.

Their stories are raw and personal. The intent of the stories, photos and videos is to help others understand why Black people often live in fear for their safety andtheir livelihoods, and why they worry about being looked down upon as being inferior to white people. And hopefully that understanding leads to more equality.

If you have a story to tell, about your own experiences with racism, please fill out the form below.

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How highways destroyed Black neighborhoods in the '60s, as told by elders who were there - The Columbus Dispatch

EAST GREENBUSH When Immanuel Church decided it want to build a new 10,000-square foot church off Columbia Turnpike, town officials quickly discovered that the zoning code didnt permit religious institutions along the towns busiest highway.

I think it was a mistake, Adam Yagelski, the towns director of planning and zoning, said Tuesday about the exclusion of churches from the business district that occurred in 2008.

Its clear theres a legal issue with our code, Yagelski said.

The construction of new churches doesnt occur that often in Rensselaer Countys most populous town or throughout the rest of the Capital Region. The town is scrambling to rewrite the zoning rules to permit churches in the 110 acres along Columbia Turnpike, also known as U.S. Routes 9 and 20, and other areas that exclude the buildings from the B-2 business zone.

There are other churches in the zone, such as St. Marys and the Congregational Church on Columbia Turnpike, but they predate the 2008 zoning update. Yagelski said there are issues with the current zoning, pointing out that the St. Marys property is partially in the business zone along Columbia Turnpike while the rear of the property is in an adjoining area zoned residential.

Immanuel Church wants to raise a new church this spring on the 6.5-acre site at Columbia Turnpike to be the new home for its now 200-member congregation that's expected to grow to 350, said Pastor Brad Guenther. The church, which has Baptist roots, will fill a void in the community, the pastor said. The church will move from rented quarters at 1955 Ferndale Road in Schodack.

Beyond there being a dearth of churches in southern Rensselaer County, and believing that churches really do play a role in serving the needs of the area, the East Greenbush area is clearly important in its close vicinity to Albany, great schools, rapid growth, while maintainingthe refreshingly small town feel of a tight knit community, Guenther said.

Supervisor Jack Conway said the church could provide new community space for activities in the town.

The Town Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on adding churches as a permitted use to the zoning for Columbia Turnpike. That same night, the Immanuel Church intends to appear before the Planning Board to make its initial presentation for site plan review, which is all that would be required with the zoning change.

The town currently is updating its comprehensive plan, which also requires revising the zoning code. Conway said a review will be conducted to avoid zoning issues such as this one.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misidentified Routes 9 and 20 as New York State highways. They are U.S. highways.

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East Greenbush changing zoning error to allow church to move in - Times Union