Ezequiel Gutierrez didn’t put out pastries Wednesday in his Russellville shop, Mexico Cakes & Bakery.
Juan Martinez kept the front door locked at his grocery store, Tortilleria Daisy.
Jaime Valdez did not oversee his commercial and residential properties.
And at least half a dozen chicken plants across the state were forced to shut down or scale back operations. The parking lot was virtually empty at a Wayne Farms poultry plant in DeKalb County that employs about 850 people.
Gutierrez, Martinez and Valdez are all legal immigrants in Alabama, but they stood in solidarity with other Hispanics across the state in protesting the new immigration law by keeping their businesses closed and their children out of school.
The protests were at least partially prompted by social media outlets such as Facebook, as well as a Spanish-language radio station in Birmingham.
Valdez said he would make efforts to use very little utilities, showering Tuesday night instead of Wednesday, for example, to further the idea that he had, in essence, left the state for the day.
He said Hispanics also tried to refrain from making purchases Wednesday to show how the economy would be affected without their tax dollars.
Valdez became a U.S. citizen in 1988, but he crossed the border from Guatemala into California illegally in 1980.
“I don’t forget — I was an undocumented, too,” he said. “I crossed the border undocumented, and I don’t forget what that was like.”
Russellville Mayor Troy Oliver said Franklin County might see some economic impact as a result of the protest.
“The Hispanic community has a large impact on the economy here and also on the school system,” he said. Because businesses were closing for just one day, however, he said the impact would be minimal.
Oliver said while he appreciates Hispanic residents’ exercising the right to peacefully protest, he does not encourage keeping children out of school, adding that he’d spoken with one boy who cried because he hadn’t been taken to class Wednesday.
“The white kids, too, are really worried about what’s going to happen to these Hispanic kids that they’re friends with,” Oliver said. “They’re truly concerned. So why bring (the protest) into the school system when the children are doing so well? Why get them focused on something that they really can’t do anything about and really shouldn’t know anything about until all of this is sorted out?”
Valdez said this was one time he could not honor Oliver’s wishes.
“He told me I should send my kids to school, and I said, ‘No, I’m disappointed now. I have to support the people who need it,’ ” Valdez said.
School officials in Franklin County said children of immigrant families who didn’t report to school Wednesday ultimately punished themselves, adding that unexcused absences lead to truancy issues.
The Russellville school system, with about 800 Hispanic students, had 170 students out Wednesday.
“We must follow board policy on attendance, and our hope is that they’re back in school (today),” Ramona Robinson, the system’s federal programs coordinator, said Wednesday.
At Tharptown School in Franklin County, where there is a significant population of Hispanic students — about 32 percent of the student body — there also were unusually high numbers of absentees.
Tharptown is one of the smallest schools in the county. There were 34 Hispanic students absent at the high school Wednesday and 39 of the 100 Hispanic elementary-age children.
“This is of great concern for us as a school system, but also as a state,” Tharptown Elementary guidance counselor Brandi Gholston said. “We could get into the emotional aspects of this all day long, but looking just at numbers, we stand to lose a lot of revenue. It hurts us financially when our average daily attendance takes a dive like this, but several days like (Wednesday) would really be devastating. The really sad thing is that these aren’t children who normally miss school at all.”
In Florence, Hispanic student absenteeism wasn’t higher than usual Wednesday, Superintendent Janet Womack said.
“Communication with these families has been the key on our parts,” she said. “I wasn’t alerted Wednesday to any unusually high absenteeism.”
An estimated 185,000 Hispanics live in Alabama. According to the latest census reports, the largest number of Hispanics reside in Franklin County. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 70 percent of the state’s Hispanic residents are Mexican.
Republican supporters say Alabama’s strict new immigration law was intended to force illegal workers out of jobs and help legal residents find work in a state suffering from high unemployment.
The law allows police to detain people indefinitely if they are suspected of being in the country illegally and requires schools to check the status of new students when they enroll.
Since a federal judge upheld much of the law two weeks ago, many frightened Hispanics have hidden in their homes or fled Alabama.
The Obama administration is among the critics of the new law and asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to at least temporarily block enforcement, arguing in court documents that the statute oversteps the state’s authority. It’s not clear when the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the administration’s request for a preliminary injunction.
2011年10月13日星期四
2011年10月12日星期三
Council must explain its thinking
Walter Markham’s criticisms of PKC planning (PA, September 23) will resonate with many people.
The council has a raft of stated aims and policies, but it is unclear just how it applies those in development management.
It seems that staff are left to decide what to use and how, while adding “policies” of their own.
Differences of opinion between staff and members and among the latter are also often evident at committee meetings.
Since providing some level of certainty as to what will happen is a key role of the planning system this is grossly unsatisfactory.
A plan should not be a kind of “menu” from which members, officers, applicants or objectors can select whichever aims or policies support their opinions, while ignoring those which do not.
Even individual policies can be interpreted in many ways, since no criteria for their use are indicated.
An example is Policy 41 of the Perth Area Plan, the gist of which is that “infill” in housing areas should not “significantly” increase area densities. Since it is not said whether the area is the immediate environs, the street, or a larger unit and just what percentage eg. 5, 15, 25, or more is deemed “significant” this policy can mean anything the council chooses.
In some areas densities have increased by well over 100% through “infill” suggesting the council has not applied the policy at all. It seems to be left to staff to choose whether or not to use it, and if so, how. Yet in the 15 years since the plan was adopted there has been no seemingly no clarification of the matter. Officials should have sought such.
Mr Markham noted that no reference was made to pedestrian and bus accessibility in the report on the monastery land, although providing such is one of the government’s, and the council’s, priorities.
SPPs 3 and 17 and the new “Tactran” transport strategy as well as the development plans state this.
However, a reason offered for refusal was that views of “listed” buildings would be obscured by the proposed development. Yet the Council has no official policy for this matter. Perhaps it is an officers’ (“under the counter”) policy.
Moreover, it is a long established principle that planning consent cannot be refused to maintain views, nor to keep land in its existing condition. One would expect members and staff to know this.
Views of the monastery, and the open field, anyway, could easily be blocked by planting an evergreen hedge on its land close to the road. The council has no power to prevent this. Those who objected because they liked the existing landscape obviously did not realise this.
If councillors, officials and others had a proper understanding of these matters then a great deal of their time and public money would be saved.
The problems are exacerbated by the council’s failure to make clear, what its priorities are.
As with education, housing, recreation, etc planning decisions are “political” as well as “technical” and councils must explain how they interpret national and local policies and what their priorities are.
All proposals for public projects are subject to benefit/cost analyses, to indicate who will pay and who will gain. Development applications should be similarly assessed.
In Brighton, where I am temporarily based, the local council’s stated priorities are to provide much more housing and greatly reduce car use.
Its planning policies reflect this.
Although there are many “conservation areas” and “listed” buildings protection of these comes second to housing provision. Councillors and staff must follow this dictum in making development decisions. It requires them to be creative and imaginative in making recommendations/decisions.
In regard to car use, parking is not required on housing sites, since it is believed such encourages car ownership. A maximum of one stall per home is permitted. There is no parking for most staff at Council HQ.
Most then travel to work by bus, bike, or on foot.
PKC is, according to its website, preparing “supplementary guidance” on reduction of carbon emissions in development. These will focus on reducing energy use by locating, siting and designing buildings in particular ways.
Yet this key concern seems not to be addressed in development management, or by those making comments thereon.
I agree that the council should indicate to intending applicants what matters will be considered in assessing their proposals and ask them to provide statements showing how these will be addressed.
Those offering opinions, whether for or against, should also refer to these.
Many public comments ignore policies, except where these relate to their own interests, and offer no hard evidence to support their views. These are not then useful in making decisions.
Applicants must pay highly to have their proposals decided upon.
The council has a raft of stated aims and policies, but it is unclear just how it applies those in development management.
It seems that staff are left to decide what to use and how, while adding “policies” of their own.
Differences of opinion between staff and members and among the latter are also often evident at committee meetings.
Since providing some level of certainty as to what will happen is a key role of the planning system this is grossly unsatisfactory.
A plan should not be a kind of “menu” from which members, officers, applicants or objectors can select whichever aims or policies support their opinions, while ignoring those which do not.
Even individual policies can be interpreted in many ways, since no criteria for their use are indicated.
An example is Policy 41 of the Perth Area Plan, the gist of which is that “infill” in housing areas should not “significantly” increase area densities. Since it is not said whether the area is the immediate environs, the street, or a larger unit and just what percentage eg. 5, 15, 25, or more is deemed “significant” this policy can mean anything the council chooses.
In some areas densities have increased by well over 100% through “infill” suggesting the council has not applied the policy at all. It seems to be left to staff to choose whether or not to use it, and if so, how. Yet in the 15 years since the plan was adopted there has been no seemingly no clarification of the matter. Officials should have sought such.
Mr Markham noted that no reference was made to pedestrian and bus accessibility in the report on the monastery land, although providing such is one of the government’s, and the council’s, priorities.
SPPs 3 and 17 and the new “Tactran” transport strategy as well as the development plans state this.
However, a reason offered for refusal was that views of “listed” buildings would be obscured by the proposed development. Yet the Council has no official policy for this matter. Perhaps it is an officers’ (“under the counter”) policy.
Moreover, it is a long established principle that planning consent cannot be refused to maintain views, nor to keep land in its existing condition. One would expect members and staff to know this.
Views of the monastery, and the open field, anyway, could easily be blocked by planting an evergreen hedge on its land close to the road. The council has no power to prevent this. Those who objected because they liked the existing landscape obviously did not realise this.
If councillors, officials and others had a proper understanding of these matters then a great deal of their time and public money would be saved.
The problems are exacerbated by the council’s failure to make clear, what its priorities are.
As with education, housing, recreation, etc planning decisions are “political” as well as “technical” and councils must explain how they interpret national and local policies and what their priorities are.
All proposals for public projects are subject to benefit/cost analyses, to indicate who will pay and who will gain. Development applications should be similarly assessed.
In Brighton, where I am temporarily based, the local council’s stated priorities are to provide much more housing and greatly reduce car use.
Its planning policies reflect this.
Although there are many “conservation areas” and “listed” buildings protection of these comes second to housing provision. Councillors and staff must follow this dictum in making development decisions. It requires them to be creative and imaginative in making recommendations/decisions.
In regard to car use, parking is not required on housing sites, since it is believed such encourages car ownership. A maximum of one stall per home is permitted. There is no parking for most staff at Council HQ.
Most then travel to work by bus, bike, or on foot.
PKC is, according to its website, preparing “supplementary guidance” on reduction of carbon emissions in development. These will focus on reducing energy use by locating, siting and designing buildings in particular ways.
Yet this key concern seems not to be addressed in development management, or by those making comments thereon.
I agree that the council should indicate to intending applicants what matters will be considered in assessing their proposals and ask them to provide statements showing how these will be addressed.
Those offering opinions, whether for or against, should also refer to these.
Many public comments ignore policies, except where these relate to their own interests, and offer no hard evidence to support their views. These are not then useful in making decisions.
Applicants must pay highly to have their proposals decided upon.
2011年10月11日星期二
Molasses used in cleanup of polluted sites
For more than half a century, International Molasses Corp. has sold its product to bakeries and manufacturers that use the sticky syrup in cookies and candy.
But recently, the Saddle Brook company found a new and unexpected market — at contaminated industrial sites, where the molasses literally gets pumped into the soil.
A 6,000-gallon tanker truck filled with diluted molasses recently pulled into the parking lot of the 25-acre campus of Kearfott Guidance and Navigation Corp. in Woodland Park. Workers attached hoses from the truck to several injection wells, and the molasses flowed silently into the ground under the facility's parking lot to help rid groundwater of high levels of contamination that seeped into the soil decades ago.
In a relatively new process called enhanced anaerobic bioremediation, the diluted molasses provides a food source for microbes that occur naturally in the soil. The microbes multiply, then use the solvents the way humans use oxygen, breaking them down into non-toxic byproducts, such as carbon dioxide.
International Molasses now ships its syrup to cleanup sites in New Jersey and several other states.
"A few years ago we started seeing a lot of growth in this area," said Eric Lushing, vice president of Malt Products Corp. and its subsidiary, International Molasses Corp., which supplies molasses to the Kearfott site.
"The molasses we produce is food grade, which is not true of a lot of refineries, which make it below food grade," Lushing said. That makes their product more appealing to cleanup experts, since food grade molasses does not contain other chemicals that might exacerbate a contaminated site's issues, he said.
The companies' molasses and malt products are more typically sold to food manufacturers that make cookies, snack foods, breakfast cereals, candy and peanut butter.
International Molasses Corp. began in 1957 as a regional supplier of malts and has grown internationally. It has manufacturing plants in Maywood as well as in Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The company also has a product called Eco-Molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining that is sold to golf courses and other facilities for lawn maintenance. Eco-Molasses is touted as a product that improves leaf color and plant health, decreases thatch, and increases microbial activity in the soil.
"We're hoping that within two years this process will bring the contaminants down to an acceptable standard," said Mo Mohiuddin, project manager with Arcadis, the contractor hired to clean up the Kearfott site. "We won't get every molecule of contamination but we should be able to hit 99 percent of the mess."
Anaerobic bioremediation is a growing strategy for contamination cleanup experts. It has been used at hundreds of sites nationwide, including Air Force bases from Oklahoma to California.
Mohiuddin said Arcadis has used it successfully at dozens of sites, including a 3M plant in upstate New York and a Johnson & Johnson facility in New Jersey.
DuPont is conducting a pilot study to determine how well bioremediation would work to clean up groundwater contaminated with solvents beneath homes in Pompton Lakes. Instead of molasses to spur microbe activity, however, DuPont plans to inject the soil with soybean oil.
The concept is the same, but whether vegetable oil or molasses is used depends on factors specific to each site, said Dan Pope, a consultant affiliated with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
"It's mainly dependent on the practical problems of making it work at the site. How long do you need or want the product to last in the subsurface — a few days, months or years?" Pope said. "Molasses is more readily broken down — it's pretty soluble, and you can push it out farther and more quickly into the subsurface. Oil globs on to the subsurface particles more. But in the end, basically they are both food for the microorganisms in the soil."
Arcadis' Mohiuddin agreed. "Oil stays a much longer time in the soil, and the remediation rate is slower," he said. "The molasses solution degrades very quickly." Molasses is also cheaper."
In the Kearfott cleanup, the molasses gets hauled in by tanker truck each month, Mohiuddin said. Workers attach hoses from the tanker individually to each injection well.
Because bioremediation is still relatively new, little data exists to measure success. Most sites using the process are still undergoing remediation and are not fully cleaned.
The Kearfott plant on McBride Avenue is bordered by the Passaic and Peckman rivers. The facility was built in 1950, and the company makes navigation and guidance systems, gyroscopes and other electro-mechanical products for the aerospace industry.
Before the early 1960s, chemical waste at the site, including solvents, was disposed of in dry wells, most likely unlined holes dug about five feet deep, according to documents filed with the Department of Environmental Protection. Later, waste solvent return lines from degreasing tanks were fed into 55-gallon drums for disposal.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, several underground storage tanks that had been leaking were removed from the site. They had been used to store solvents, gasoline and fuel oil. Several hundred yards of contaminated soil was excavated and disposed offsite in 1993.
Testing of the soil and groundwater indicated extensive contamination by six volatile organic compounds, including the solvents PCE and TCE, which have been linked in lab studies to cancer. Most of the contamination was detected near the site of the underground tanks.
Worried the contaminated groundwater could flow into the bordering rivers, an earlier contractor proposed installing a slurry wall in the ground to block the contamination and a pump and treat system to strip the contaminants out of the groundwater.
But Arcadis said the molasses treatment would be faster.
A six-month pilot test in 2005 to inject the molasses near the rivers worked well enough for Arcadis to propose widening the scope of the injections to the rest of the site. But the DEP case manager for the site left, Mohiuddin said, and it took the state until 2009 to issue the permits to restart molasses injections.
Arcadis recently won approval to add 14 more injection wells, which were drilled a few months ago. Arcadis now pumps about 6,000 gallons of molasses each month into 24 wells extending 16 to 17 feet deep.
Cleanup costs between 1986 and 2010 totaled an estimated $2.4 million, and cleanup through 2015 is expected to cost another $1.3 million, DEP records indicate.
Groundwater will be monitored quarterly until there are significant declines in contamination, officials said.
But recently, the Saddle Brook company found a new and unexpected market — at contaminated industrial sites, where the molasses literally gets pumped into the soil.
A 6,000-gallon tanker truck filled with diluted molasses recently pulled into the parking lot of the 25-acre campus of Kearfott Guidance and Navigation Corp. in Woodland Park. Workers attached hoses from the truck to several injection wells, and the molasses flowed silently into the ground under the facility's parking lot to help rid groundwater of high levels of contamination that seeped into the soil decades ago.
In a relatively new process called enhanced anaerobic bioremediation, the diluted molasses provides a food source for microbes that occur naturally in the soil. The microbes multiply, then use the solvents the way humans use oxygen, breaking them down into non-toxic byproducts, such as carbon dioxide.
International Molasses now ships its syrup to cleanup sites in New Jersey and several other states.
"A few years ago we started seeing a lot of growth in this area," said Eric Lushing, vice president of Malt Products Corp. and its subsidiary, International Molasses Corp., which supplies molasses to the Kearfott site.
"The molasses we produce is food grade, which is not true of a lot of refineries, which make it below food grade," Lushing said. That makes their product more appealing to cleanup experts, since food grade molasses does not contain other chemicals that might exacerbate a contaminated site's issues, he said.
The companies' molasses and malt products are more typically sold to food manufacturers that make cookies, snack foods, breakfast cereals, candy and peanut butter.
International Molasses Corp. began in 1957 as a regional supplier of malts and has grown internationally. It has manufacturing plants in Maywood as well as in Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The company also has a product called Eco-Molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining that is sold to golf courses and other facilities for lawn maintenance. Eco-Molasses is touted as a product that improves leaf color and plant health, decreases thatch, and increases microbial activity in the soil.
"We're hoping that within two years this process will bring the contaminants down to an acceptable standard," said Mo Mohiuddin, project manager with Arcadis, the contractor hired to clean up the Kearfott site. "We won't get every molecule of contamination but we should be able to hit 99 percent of the mess."
Anaerobic bioremediation is a growing strategy for contamination cleanup experts. It has been used at hundreds of sites nationwide, including Air Force bases from Oklahoma to California.
Mohiuddin said Arcadis has used it successfully at dozens of sites, including a 3M plant in upstate New York and a Johnson & Johnson facility in New Jersey.
DuPont is conducting a pilot study to determine how well bioremediation would work to clean up groundwater contaminated with solvents beneath homes in Pompton Lakes. Instead of molasses to spur microbe activity, however, DuPont plans to inject the soil with soybean oil.
The concept is the same, but whether vegetable oil or molasses is used depends on factors specific to each site, said Dan Pope, a consultant affiliated with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
"It's mainly dependent on the practical problems of making it work at the site. How long do you need or want the product to last in the subsurface — a few days, months or years?" Pope said. "Molasses is more readily broken down — it's pretty soluble, and you can push it out farther and more quickly into the subsurface. Oil globs on to the subsurface particles more. But in the end, basically they are both food for the microorganisms in the soil."
Arcadis' Mohiuddin agreed. "Oil stays a much longer time in the soil, and the remediation rate is slower," he said. "The molasses solution degrades very quickly." Molasses is also cheaper."
In the Kearfott cleanup, the molasses gets hauled in by tanker truck each month, Mohiuddin said. Workers attach hoses from the tanker individually to each injection well.
Because bioremediation is still relatively new, little data exists to measure success. Most sites using the process are still undergoing remediation and are not fully cleaned.
The Kearfott plant on McBride Avenue is bordered by the Passaic and Peckman rivers. The facility was built in 1950, and the company makes navigation and guidance systems, gyroscopes and other electro-mechanical products for the aerospace industry.
Before the early 1960s, chemical waste at the site, including solvents, was disposed of in dry wells, most likely unlined holes dug about five feet deep, according to documents filed with the Department of Environmental Protection. Later, waste solvent return lines from degreasing tanks were fed into 55-gallon drums for disposal.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, several underground storage tanks that had been leaking were removed from the site. They had been used to store solvents, gasoline and fuel oil. Several hundred yards of contaminated soil was excavated and disposed offsite in 1993.
Testing of the soil and groundwater indicated extensive contamination by six volatile organic compounds, including the solvents PCE and TCE, which have been linked in lab studies to cancer. Most of the contamination was detected near the site of the underground tanks.
Worried the contaminated groundwater could flow into the bordering rivers, an earlier contractor proposed installing a slurry wall in the ground to block the contamination and a pump and treat system to strip the contaminants out of the groundwater.
But Arcadis said the molasses treatment would be faster.
A six-month pilot test in 2005 to inject the molasses near the rivers worked well enough for Arcadis to propose widening the scope of the injections to the rest of the site. But the DEP case manager for the site left, Mohiuddin said, and it took the state until 2009 to issue the permits to restart molasses injections.
Arcadis recently won approval to add 14 more injection wells, which were drilled a few months ago. Arcadis now pumps about 6,000 gallons of molasses each month into 24 wells extending 16 to 17 feet deep.
Cleanup costs between 1986 and 2010 totaled an estimated $2.4 million, and cleanup through 2015 is expected to cost another $1.3 million, DEP records indicate.
Groundwater will be monitored quarterly until there are significant declines in contamination, officials said.
2011年10月10日星期一
MotionX GPS Drive is Top-Notch Auto and Pedestrian Navigation App
GPS navigation systems are expensive and have become more of a commodity than an essential tool for driving. However, that’s not to say drivers don’t need them from time to time. And if they do, MotionX GPS Drive is the one they want.
Developed specifically for the iPhone, the navigation app turns the handset into more than just a point A to point B system. It turns it into a “Hey, what else is out there and I’d like to be told when I’m at the doorstep…” feature rich navigation master.When MotionX GPS Drive is launched the user is prompted to agree with the end user license agreement, similar to any GPS device, stating that the app should not be configured while driving. Phew, glad the legal jargon is out of the way. Now, onto the good stuff. Oh wait, there is another prompt. This time asking to be added to MotionX’s database just incase there is a device change.
Now? Nope, there is then another prompt to download live voice guidance with spoken street names. The download is free for the first 30 days and at the end of the service there is no automatic charge.
Beyond the prompts there is a beautiful layout of navigation functions that make traveling near and far a breeze. Quick POI’s (point of interest) such as dinning, airport, medical and more are easily accessible on the front screen and are situated around a sleek black colored interface. One tap and search results bring up the closest POI for that specific category.
One of the most useful features is the map view option that overlays the search results with the surrounding area and shows which direction the user is pointed in. It even has a Facebook Checkin shortcut, which came in handy several times.
Along with the normal find this place and go to it function is a bonus music option that allows the MotionX GPS Drive app to pull up the iTunes music library for some background traveling tunes. Very useful. Another bonus feature is an actual magnetic compass for exploring latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, heading and strength of the GPS signal. It also includes save this, email or save as a parking spot quick keys.
MotionX GPS Drive is probably more feature packed than some of the top of the line GPS navigation systems and it beats them in function, not to mention price by $200. These reasons combined with live traffic flow maps and multi-stop routing make it the only GPS system required for driving or walking.
Developed specifically for the iPhone, the navigation app turns the handset into more than just a point A to point B system. It turns it into a “Hey, what else is out there and I’d like to be told when I’m at the doorstep…” feature rich navigation master.When MotionX GPS Drive is launched the user is prompted to agree with the end user license agreement, similar to any GPS device, stating that the app should not be configured while driving. Phew, glad the legal jargon is out of the way. Now, onto the good stuff. Oh wait, there is another prompt. This time asking to be added to MotionX’s database just incase there is a device change.
Now? Nope, there is then another prompt to download live voice guidance with spoken street names. The download is free for the first 30 days and at the end of the service there is no automatic charge.
Beyond the prompts there is a beautiful layout of navigation functions that make traveling near and far a breeze. Quick POI’s (point of interest) such as dinning, airport, medical and more are easily accessible on the front screen and are situated around a sleek black colored interface. One tap and search results bring up the closest POI for that specific category.
One of the most useful features is the map view option that overlays the search results with the surrounding area and shows which direction the user is pointed in. It even has a Facebook Checkin shortcut, which came in handy several times.
Along with the normal find this place and go to it function is a bonus music option that allows the MotionX GPS Drive app to pull up the iTunes music library for some background traveling tunes. Very useful. Another bonus feature is an actual magnetic compass for exploring latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, heading and strength of the GPS signal. It also includes save this, email or save as a parking spot quick keys.
MotionX GPS Drive is probably more feature packed than some of the top of the line GPS navigation systems and it beats them in function, not to mention price by $200. These reasons combined with live traffic flow maps and multi-stop routing make it the only GPS system required for driving or walking.
2011年10月9日星期日
Deaths of 8 children put Hillsborough Kids Inc. in limbo
The homegrown, nonprofit agency charged with protecting 2,500 of Hillsborough County's most vulnerable children is at risk of losing its $65.5 million state contract because of eight dead kids.
They died in the last two years while under the supervision of Hillsborough Kids Inc.
The eight stood out in a Department of Children and Families study of child deaths statewide. Seven of the eight children were under supervision because of reports of abuse, neglect or abandonment. DCF said no other agency in Florida had so many deaths.
Two agencies — Big Bend Community-Based Care in Tallahassee and Our Kids Inc. in Miami-Dade — each reported five deaths. Just one case apiece involved children who had previously been abused or severely neglected.
"Any death of a child raises concern," said Mike Carroll, DCF's regional director. "When you have eight, especially under the circumstances that occurred here, that raises alarms."
He said the future of Hillsborough Kids was undecided, but "performance around child safety is a key success requirement for any vendor we contract with. If a vendor is unable to perform at a high level in the business of keeping kids safe, that puts its ongoing contract at risk."
Hillsborough Kids' response:
"Message received," said CEO Jeff Rainey.
The agency's contract runs out in June. DCF issued "Invitations to Negotiate" to both for-profit and nonprofit agencies. Among the expected competitors are agencies serving Pinellas, Pasco and South Florida counties.
Hillsborough Kids has been DCF's lead social service agency in the county since the state began outsourcing services to families and children in 2001. The giant office on Florida Avenue sits next door to DCF's Hillsborough headquarters.
The expiring contract would have gone out for bid regardless of performance, and a decision to renew isn't based on a single number. Rainey said the vast majority of protected children are living safely. In the past five years, 10,000 more have been kept out of the system through aid to families, and 2,000 others have been adopted. He also cites the agency's local roots, its 12-year Tampa history, and its warehouse of food, kitchenware and clothing that keeps the families it counsels going.
"We either bat a thousand, or we bat zero," Rainey said. "When a child dies, we bat zero."
In the last two years, tragedy has struck one child after another.
Among the most publicized: a 4-month-old boy who was beaten and thrown from a car on I-275 in 2009. The ex-boyfriend of the baby's teenage mother was charged with his murder. Another victim was a 5-month-old girl choked to death last year. Police charged her mother. Also last year, an 18-month-old toddler, once found sleeping next to a loaded gun during a drug raid, wandered into the path of car in an apartment parking lot and was killed.
This year, two more child deaths caused Hillsborough Kids to take action against two key subcontractors that perform home visits:
Mental Health Care Inc. was found at fault in its monitoring of Ezekiel Mathis, a 1-year-old killed last May. Three workers apparently were unaware that a boyfriend they found living in the home had been barred by a judge. Their e-mail inquiry to deputies wasn't opened until after the baby's death. The boyfriend is charged with his murder. After the tragedy, MHC removed the three workers from its Crisis Response Team.
Recently, MHC's $2.4 million contract was cut by $250,000. MHC also received only a six-month extension of its contract rather than full renewal. At the same time, Hillsborough Kids signed a yearlong, $689,000 contract with an agency similar to MHC.
Children's Home Society was cited for missing dangers 16-month-old Ronderique Anderson faced when he was taken from his mother and put in the care of his father. Investigators found caseworkers should have provided the mother with better services and more closely examined the criminal backgrounds of the father and his girlfriend. They also said the case supervisor did not provide sufficient oversight or instruction. His father is charged with beating the baby to death last February.
Children's Home Society, which is paid $5.1 million annually, was stripped of half its caseload.
David Bundy, CEO of Children's Home Society of Florida, said his agency agreed a smaller caseload was necessary to get a handle on problems.
DCF acknowledges that in the volatile business of protecting vulnerable children, some can die — even when everything possible is done to prevent it.
But the review of the eight deaths found that, in some cases, everything wasn't done.
The two most common shortcomings identified by DCF: failures of frontline workers in the most potentially dangerous homes to understand the family dynamics, and failures of their supervisors to give enough guidance.
DCF administrator Carroll says effective casework is based on common sense, intuition and experience as much as following check lists and completing questionnaires. Supervisors are key, especially when caseworkers are young,
In one federally required quality assurance check this year, Hillsborough Kids scored 25 percent for supervisory reviews of children's safety, permanency and well-being.
It scored 56 percent on how well supervisors followed up on guidance and direction.
The agency was criticized for considering the mother's needs in just seven of 11 sample cases and the father's needs in two of nine.
Other Hillsborough Kids subcontractors include Camelot Community Care, Gulf Coast Community Care, Devereux, and Youth and Family Alternatives.
Among the eight dead children, three fell under Camelot supervision, three under Children's Home Society and one each was managed by Devereux and Mental Health Care.
Rainey said the number of subcontractors has helped reduce caseloads. But Hillsborough Kids' strategic plan acknowledges the difficulties of managing so many subcontractors.
Hillsborough Kids has prohibited Mental Health Care from sending a case manager and therapist to a home at the same time, then counting their visit as two of the three required visits per week — something that happened in the Ezekiel Mathis death. Rainey said the joint visit was an isolated incident, not a regular practice.
The joint visits were done for safety, the agency replied in writing. "MHC still teams its staff when safety is a concern, and agrees with HKI to count this as one visit only."
In a review, Hillsborough Kids also criticized Children's Home Society for "a significant number of risk/safety issues" and performances "below expectations in qualitative guidance by supervisors."
The agency demanded future scores of at least 80 percent on quality assurance reviews.
It ordered Children's Home Society to submit a written plan for improvement.
"We agreed with the findings," said Bundy, the society's CEO. He said his agency is working with the universities of South Florida and Central Florida to catch red flags earlier. He said the agency found it wasn't making changes fast enough in Hillsborough and redesigned the program with major staff changes.
At Hillsborough Kids, Rainey said, his agency has reviewed 1,800 cases and introduced changes.
They include the pending creation of a special dependency court for the highest-risk cases. It will be presided over by Circuit Judge Katherine Essrig.
New software will flag families at high risk for abuse: those with teen mothers, day care problems, past domestic violence and parents who were abused as children. Most of the factors showed up in the eight deaths. The agency also has started a Family Finding program to identify biological or adoptive family members, teachers, coaches, and friends to form support teams for children.
Rainey said frontline workers will have to take an additional 16 hours of training to learn how to size up families and household environments.
He said supervisors, too, will get more training and will be equipped with devices that alert them to problems found during home visits.
DCF's Carroll said the changes are all good.
"But in the end, what we are looking for is improved performance."
Robin Rosenberg, deputy director of Florida's Children First, serves on the committee that will review bids when Hillsborough Kids seeks to renew its contract. She said she hasn't yet formed an opinion, but she said the number of deaths "is alarmingly high."
DCF, she notes, has shown before that it's not afraid to make big changes to give kids and families a better shot to survive and thrive.
"Safety is important, but it is not everything," she said. "We could lock kids in padded cells and they would be safe. We have to do a lot more to make sure they do well."
They died in the last two years while under the supervision of Hillsborough Kids Inc.
The eight stood out in a Department of Children and Families study of child deaths statewide. Seven of the eight children were under supervision because of reports of abuse, neglect or abandonment. DCF said no other agency in Florida had so many deaths.
Two agencies — Big Bend Community-Based Care in Tallahassee and Our Kids Inc. in Miami-Dade — each reported five deaths. Just one case apiece involved children who had previously been abused or severely neglected.
"Any death of a child raises concern," said Mike Carroll, DCF's regional director. "When you have eight, especially under the circumstances that occurred here, that raises alarms."
He said the future of Hillsborough Kids was undecided, but "performance around child safety is a key success requirement for any vendor we contract with. If a vendor is unable to perform at a high level in the business of keeping kids safe, that puts its ongoing contract at risk."
Hillsborough Kids' response:
"Message received," said CEO Jeff Rainey.
The agency's contract runs out in June. DCF issued "Invitations to Negotiate" to both for-profit and nonprofit agencies. Among the expected competitors are agencies serving Pinellas, Pasco and South Florida counties.
Hillsborough Kids has been DCF's lead social service agency in the county since the state began outsourcing services to families and children in 2001. The giant office on Florida Avenue sits next door to DCF's Hillsborough headquarters.
The expiring contract would have gone out for bid regardless of performance, and a decision to renew isn't based on a single number. Rainey said the vast majority of protected children are living safely. In the past five years, 10,000 more have been kept out of the system through aid to families, and 2,000 others have been adopted. He also cites the agency's local roots, its 12-year Tampa history, and its warehouse of food, kitchenware and clothing that keeps the families it counsels going.
"We either bat a thousand, or we bat zero," Rainey said. "When a child dies, we bat zero."
In the last two years, tragedy has struck one child after another.
Among the most publicized: a 4-month-old boy who was beaten and thrown from a car on I-275 in 2009. The ex-boyfriend of the baby's teenage mother was charged with his murder. Another victim was a 5-month-old girl choked to death last year. Police charged her mother. Also last year, an 18-month-old toddler, once found sleeping next to a loaded gun during a drug raid, wandered into the path of car in an apartment parking lot and was killed.
This year, two more child deaths caused Hillsborough Kids to take action against two key subcontractors that perform home visits:
Mental Health Care Inc. was found at fault in its monitoring of Ezekiel Mathis, a 1-year-old killed last May. Three workers apparently were unaware that a boyfriend they found living in the home had been barred by a judge. Their e-mail inquiry to deputies wasn't opened until after the baby's death. The boyfriend is charged with his murder. After the tragedy, MHC removed the three workers from its Crisis Response Team.
Recently, MHC's $2.4 million contract was cut by $250,000. MHC also received only a six-month extension of its contract rather than full renewal. At the same time, Hillsborough Kids signed a yearlong, $689,000 contract with an agency similar to MHC.
Children's Home Society was cited for missing dangers 16-month-old Ronderique Anderson faced when he was taken from his mother and put in the care of his father. Investigators found caseworkers should have provided the mother with better services and more closely examined the criminal backgrounds of the father and his girlfriend. They also said the case supervisor did not provide sufficient oversight or instruction. His father is charged with beating the baby to death last February.
Children's Home Society, which is paid $5.1 million annually, was stripped of half its caseload.
David Bundy, CEO of Children's Home Society of Florida, said his agency agreed a smaller caseload was necessary to get a handle on problems.
DCF acknowledges that in the volatile business of protecting vulnerable children, some can die — even when everything possible is done to prevent it.
But the review of the eight deaths found that, in some cases, everything wasn't done.
The two most common shortcomings identified by DCF: failures of frontline workers in the most potentially dangerous homes to understand the family dynamics, and failures of their supervisors to give enough guidance.
DCF administrator Carroll says effective casework is based on common sense, intuition and experience as much as following check lists and completing questionnaires. Supervisors are key, especially when caseworkers are young,
In one federally required quality assurance check this year, Hillsborough Kids scored 25 percent for supervisory reviews of children's safety, permanency and well-being.
It scored 56 percent on how well supervisors followed up on guidance and direction.
The agency was criticized for considering the mother's needs in just seven of 11 sample cases and the father's needs in two of nine.
Other Hillsborough Kids subcontractors include Camelot Community Care, Gulf Coast Community Care, Devereux, and Youth and Family Alternatives.
Among the eight dead children, three fell under Camelot supervision, three under Children's Home Society and one each was managed by Devereux and Mental Health Care.
Rainey said the number of subcontractors has helped reduce caseloads. But Hillsborough Kids' strategic plan acknowledges the difficulties of managing so many subcontractors.
Hillsborough Kids has prohibited Mental Health Care from sending a case manager and therapist to a home at the same time, then counting their visit as two of the three required visits per week — something that happened in the Ezekiel Mathis death. Rainey said the joint visit was an isolated incident, not a regular practice.
The joint visits were done for safety, the agency replied in writing. "MHC still teams its staff when safety is a concern, and agrees with HKI to count this as one visit only."
In a review, Hillsborough Kids also criticized Children's Home Society for "a significant number of risk/safety issues" and performances "below expectations in qualitative guidance by supervisors."
The agency demanded future scores of at least 80 percent on quality assurance reviews.
It ordered Children's Home Society to submit a written plan for improvement.
"We agreed with the findings," said Bundy, the society's CEO. He said his agency is working with the universities of South Florida and Central Florida to catch red flags earlier. He said the agency found it wasn't making changes fast enough in Hillsborough and redesigned the program with major staff changes.
At Hillsborough Kids, Rainey said, his agency has reviewed 1,800 cases and introduced changes.
They include the pending creation of a special dependency court for the highest-risk cases. It will be presided over by Circuit Judge Katherine Essrig.
New software will flag families at high risk for abuse: those with teen mothers, day care problems, past domestic violence and parents who were abused as children. Most of the factors showed up in the eight deaths. The agency also has started a Family Finding program to identify biological or adoptive family members, teachers, coaches, and friends to form support teams for children.
Rainey said frontline workers will have to take an additional 16 hours of training to learn how to size up families and household environments.
He said supervisors, too, will get more training and will be equipped with devices that alert them to problems found during home visits.
DCF's Carroll said the changes are all good.
"But in the end, what we are looking for is improved performance."
Robin Rosenberg, deputy director of Florida's Children First, serves on the committee that will review bids when Hillsborough Kids seeks to renew its contract. She said she hasn't yet formed an opinion, but she said the number of deaths "is alarmingly high."
DCF, she notes, has shown before that it's not afraid to make big changes to give kids and families a better shot to survive and thrive.
"Safety is important, but it is not everything," she said. "We could lock kids in padded cells and they would be safe. We have to do a lot more to make sure they do well."
2011年10月8日星期六
Poor patients to get cheaper medical facilities: Shahbaz
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Punjab government is considering providing treatment and test facilities to the deserving patients at reasonable rates in private hospitals and diagnostic laboratories.
Addressing a meeting to review the ongoing drive for eradication of dengue virus in the province, he said that deserving patients would be provided cheap medical facilities on permanent basis and instructions have been issued for formulating a policy in the regard.
A system should be evolved under which, besides dengue, medical facilities should be provided to the under-privileged classes at reasonable rates in private hospitals and diagnostic laboratories, he said. He said that a vigorous campaign regarding dengue virus was continuing and cooperation of the people was of great importance to contain the epidemic. He said that the government was also making formal legislation for keeping the environment clean.
He said that a strategy should be devised for removing the heaps of garbage and draining out stagnant water. He added that the Solid Waste Management and WASA would present a plan in this regard in few days. He directed the officials to strictly implement the one-month ban on the transportation of tyres from the city and added that the process of fumigation and spray in all graveyards of the city, including the Cantonment area, should be completed by November. He said that “Qadam Barhao-Dengue Makao” campaign has yielded positive results and by adopting this drive as a model, cleanliness drive will be continued on a permanent basis in the province.
Expressing his gratitude to the Indonesian medical team, he said that the way this team was providing guidance to the doctors and nurses by visiting hospitals and extending cooperation in dengue eradication campaign is laudable. He said that an agreement would be made with the Indonesia with regard to cooperation in eradication of dengue virus from the province.
Shahbaz said that dengue virus had converted the elected representatives, bureaucrats and experts into social workers and they had set such an excellent example by serving to the ailing humanity as a team. He said that by following this example, not only dengue, but also other challenges could also be overcome and the country could be put on the road to the progress.
He said that government was implementing a comprehensive strategy for providing best medical facilities to the patients and curbing the dengue virus and action plans have been evolved for meeting this challenge in all districts of the province.
He said that the dengue patients were being looked after properly in the High Dependency Units and besides other arrangements, one nurse had been deputed for looking after one patient. Expressing satisfaction over the pace of addressing the complaints being received on help line set up for providing guidance to the citizens regarding awareness against dengue, he directed that the process of redressing complaints should be further accelerated and the parents of the students should also be invited to the seminars being held in educational institutions. He said that the cooperation of laboratories for conducting dengue test at Rs 90 is commendable.
Addressing a meeting to review the ongoing drive for eradication of dengue virus in the province, he said that deserving patients would be provided cheap medical facilities on permanent basis and instructions have been issued for formulating a policy in the regard.
A system should be evolved under which, besides dengue, medical facilities should be provided to the under-privileged classes at reasonable rates in private hospitals and diagnostic laboratories, he said. He said that a vigorous campaign regarding dengue virus was continuing and cooperation of the people was of great importance to contain the epidemic. He said that the government was also making formal legislation for keeping the environment clean.
He said that a strategy should be devised for removing the heaps of garbage and draining out stagnant water. He added that the Solid Waste Management and WASA would present a plan in this regard in few days. He directed the officials to strictly implement the one-month ban on the transportation of tyres from the city and added that the process of fumigation and spray in all graveyards of the city, including the Cantonment area, should be completed by November. He said that “Qadam Barhao-Dengue Makao” campaign has yielded positive results and by adopting this drive as a model, cleanliness drive will be continued on a permanent basis in the province.
Expressing his gratitude to the Indonesian medical team, he said that the way this team was providing guidance to the doctors and nurses by visiting hospitals and extending cooperation in dengue eradication campaign is laudable. He said that an agreement would be made with the Indonesia with regard to cooperation in eradication of dengue virus from the province.
Shahbaz said that dengue virus had converted the elected representatives, bureaucrats and experts into social workers and they had set such an excellent example by serving to the ailing humanity as a team. He said that by following this example, not only dengue, but also other challenges could also be overcome and the country could be put on the road to the progress.
He said that government was implementing a comprehensive strategy for providing best medical facilities to the patients and curbing the dengue virus and action plans have been evolved for meeting this challenge in all districts of the province.
He said that the dengue patients were being looked after properly in the High Dependency Units and besides other arrangements, one nurse had been deputed for looking after one patient. Expressing satisfaction over the pace of addressing the complaints being received on help line set up for providing guidance to the citizens regarding awareness against dengue, he directed that the process of redressing complaints should be further accelerated and the parents of the students should also be invited to the seminars being held in educational institutions. He said that the cooperation of laboratories for conducting dengue test at Rs 90 is commendable.
2011年10月7日星期五
How to conduct a basic church security survey
Think like a thief or a criminal. Are you surrounded by suburbs, or is your church now located within a business community? No matter your site, you should look for burglar bars, steel doors, burglar alarm signs and indications of intense police or private security activity. Do the same walk-about at night.
Individual victims may be significantly harmed in any crime. When the crime occurs at church, however, the danger is that the fellowship may be harmed, along with attendance. Folks don't ordinarily worship at sites they are afraid to visit.
There also is a strong liability issue. When a civil suit results from harm at your site, the usual claim is that the church "did not exercise ordinary care."
If your church is in an inner-city crime "hot zone," or any crime-intensive venue, there is also the issue of "forseeability," another legal term implying your church did not reasonably attempt to deter or prevent criminal activity. The terms "due diligence" and "due care" often are heralded in litigation. Failure to respond to assessed risks appropriately may well be considered negligence.
The Scriptures also address this issue. "A prudent man foresees evil and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it" (Proverbs 22:3, NIV).
Many observers believe a determined adversary can overcome almost any security system, but this isn't true. If a determined adversary could defeat any security system, we would not be able to keep an American president in office, our national treasury would be pilfered continually, and our personal bank accounts wouldn't be safe.
In the late 1980s, skyjackings occurred at the rate of two or three each month. Today, these attacks are rarely heard of. Effective security was put in place. The security practices used to protect airlines, our financial institutions and our governing bodies can be used to protect houses of worship.
A purse left in an unoccupied Bible-study class is a soft target. That same purse sitting on the pew between a wife and her husband is much more secure and is a hardened target. Target hardening also involves locks, lights, security doors, fences, alarms and closed-circuit television units.
For a church, the primary form of target hardening is called access control. If guardians — church members, greeters or private security officers — can limit access first to your parking lots and then to your sanctuary, you will have established the first and second tiers or layers of security protocols.
Individual victims may be significantly harmed in any crime. When the crime occurs at church, however, the danger is that the fellowship may be harmed, along with attendance. Folks don't ordinarily worship at sites they are afraid to visit.
There also is a strong liability issue. When a civil suit results from harm at your site, the usual claim is that the church "did not exercise ordinary care."
If your church is in an inner-city crime "hot zone," or any crime-intensive venue, there is also the issue of "forseeability," another legal term implying your church did not reasonably attempt to deter or prevent criminal activity. The terms "due diligence" and "due care" often are heralded in litigation. Failure to respond to assessed risks appropriately may well be considered negligence.
The Scriptures also address this issue. "A prudent man foresees evil and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it" (Proverbs 22:3, NIV).
Many observers believe a determined adversary can overcome almost any security system, but this isn't true. If a determined adversary could defeat any security system, we would not be able to keep an American president in office, our national treasury would be pilfered continually, and our personal bank accounts wouldn't be safe.
In the late 1980s, skyjackings occurred at the rate of two or three each month. Today, these attacks are rarely heard of. Effective security was put in place. The security practices used to protect airlines, our financial institutions and our governing bodies can be used to protect houses of worship.
A purse left in an unoccupied Bible-study class is a soft target. That same purse sitting on the pew between a wife and her husband is much more secure and is a hardened target. Target hardening also involves locks, lights, security doors, fences, alarms and closed-circuit television units.
For a church, the primary form of target hardening is called access control. If guardians — church members, greeters or private security officers — can limit access first to your parking lots and then to your sanctuary, you will have established the first and second tiers or layers of security protocols.
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