Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Get To Know Jon Talton The Rogue Columnist
A pen warmed up in hell'
Fact-based commentary about Phoenix, Arizona, and the nation
December 19, 2016
Phoenix 101: the twenties
Just the intro to his most recent article to whet your appetite for his kind of reporting.
He lives in Seattle, admired by most of his colleagues.
[Blogger's Note: some good details about the Salt River Valley, Mesa and expansion of railroad links among other interests]
[Blogger's Note: some good details about the Salt River Valley, Mesa and expansion of railroad links among other interests]
"If this photo shows a busy little city from the Roaring Twenties, that's exactly what you found in Phoenix during this transformative decade. Town to city, horses to cars, less Wild West and more sophistication — Phoenix had been moving this way for years. But in the 1920s, they became solidly entrenched — even Town Ditch was covered. The first "skyscraper," the seven-story Heard Building, right, opened in 1920. By the end of the decade, it had several taller and more impressive siblings that remain some of the city's most treasured and beautiful buildings. Central Methodist Church (ME South) on the near right would move to a handsome new structure at Central and Pierce.The Great War had brought changes to the Salt River Valley, especially with the booming demand for cotton. By 1920, it had turned into a bust and Phoenix was suffering through the national recession. Things would soon turn around as the economy expanded and America embarked on, as F. Scott Fitzgerald put it, "the greatest, gaudiest spree in history." It was the Jazz Age, with the experiment of Prohibition sidestepped with speakeasies. Prohibition was hardly observed at all in the non-Mormon towns of the West. In Phoenix, bars, borthels, and gambling dens operated in the open, sometimes making payoffs to the city. This wide-open environment soon attracted the Mafia, including Al Capone. . . "
24 Boeing AH-6i Little Bird Helicopters Delivered to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia accepts first AH-6i helos
21 December 2016
Just hours ago in the midst of widespread condemnation of Britain for armaments and weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in its war against Yemen that's killed over 10,000 people and destroyed vital infrastructure, IHS Jane's Defense Weekly reported what was disclosed but declined to discuss the issue and acceptance of the world's deadliest and most lethal attack helicopter.Saudi Arabia has accepted into service the first of 24 Boeing AH-6i Little Bird light attack and reconnaissance helicopters, the manufacturer disclosed in the December issue of its in-house magazine, Frontiers.
While Boeing did not name Saudi Arabia, it said in Frontiers that the first international customer accepted the type in August
Photo credit: An AH-6i testbed aircraft being displayed to reporters at Boeing's Mesa production facility on 8 June. Source: IHS/Gareth Jennings
Source: http://www.janes.com/article/66454/saudi-arabia-accepts-first-ah-6i-helos
Link to view December 2016 issue of Frontiers >> http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2016/december/#/1/
The company told reporters in June that deliveries would begin from its Mesa production facility in Arizona in the coming weeks, but declined to discuss the issue after that. The US Army too would not comment to IHS Jane's on the sale, which has been widely reported to be for the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG), beyond a Federal Business Opportunities notification posted in August in which it said that the first 12 helicopters would be transported to Saudi Arabia "as soon as possible".
The AH-6i features an enhanced powerplant, payload, and avionics package, giving it enhanced 'hot and high' capabilities; a large and varied arsenal that includes 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm machine guns and AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles; and interoperability with the latest-variant AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter.
Production has been running at two airframes per month, with the last of the SANG's helicopters due to arrive on the line in February 2017.
Want to read more? For analysis on this article and access to all our insight content, please enquire about our subscription options: ihs.com/contact
IHS
Extreme Proton Wave Striking Earth Now!
Good narration, Heads up
Published on Dec 19, 2016
Views: 114,291
Links @ http://www.BPEarthWatch.Com
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
HUD AWARDS NEARLY $2 BILLION FOR LOCAL HOMELESS PROGRAMS
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Julián Castro, Secretary
Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20410
FOR RELEASE
Shantae Goodloe
202-708-0685
Funding supports thousands of local homeless housing and service programs across the U.S.
WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s effort to prevent and end homelessness, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded a record $1.95 billion in grants to nearly 7,600 homeless assistance programs across throughout the nation, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. HUD’s Continuum of Care grants provide critically needed support to local programs on the front lines of serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness. View a complete list of all the state and local homeless projects awarded funding.
This year, HUD continued to challenge state and local planning organizations called “Continuums of Care” to support their highest performing local programs that have proven most effective in meeting the needs of persons experiencing homelessness in their communities. Many of these state and local planners also embraced HUD’s call to shift funds from existing underperforming projects to create new ones that are based on best practices that will further their efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
“Today marks another critical investment in support of those working each and every day to house and serve our most vulnerable neighbors,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. “We know how to end homelessness and will continue to encourage our local partners to use the latest evidence to achieve success. These grants support proven strategies to end homelessness once and for all.”
“Continuums of Care across the nation are acting with urgency and resolve, with a focus on using federal resources as effectively and efficiently as possible,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “The investments being made through these grants are absolutely critical to sustaining and building upon the progress communities are making toward ending homelessness.”
In 2010, President Obama and 19 federal agencies and offices that form the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) launched the nation’s first-ever comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness as well as to end homelessness among children, family, and youth.
Each year, more than one million people experiencing homelessness are provided emergency, transitional, and permanent housing. The Department estimates there were 549,928 persons experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2016. Since the launch of Opening Doors in 2010, local communities around the country report:
Ø The total number of individuals experiencing homelessness declined by 14 percent;
Ø Veteran homelessness fell by 47 percent;
Ø Chronic homelessness declined 27 percent; and
Ø Family homelessness declined by nearly 23 percent.
HUD has launched a robust effort to more accurately account for the youth and young adult population in the nation’s next count slated for next month. Once local communities gather and report their 2017 data, HUD will issue a new national estimate in the Fall of 2017.
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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet
at www.hud.gov and http://
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet
at www.hud.gov and http://
Whoa-AH! There’s a Jet Stream In Our Core That's Speeding Up
19 December 2016
We would normally associate jet streams with the weather but, thanks to ESA’s magnetic field mission, scientists have discovered a jet stream deep below Earth’s surface – and it’s speeding up.
Launched in 2013, the trio of Swarm satellites are measuring and untangling the different magnetic fields that stem from Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere.
Together, these signals form the magnetic field that protects us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that stream towards Earth in solar winds.
Measuring the magnetic field is one of the few ways we can look deep inside our planet. As Chris Finlay from the Technical University of Denmark noted, “We know more about the Sun than Earth’s core because the Sun is not hidden from us by 3000 km of rock.”
The field exists because of an ocean of superheated, swirling liquid iron that makes up the outer core. Like a spinning conductor in a bicycle dynamo, this moving iron creates electrical currents, which in turn generate our continuously changing magnetic field.
The accurate measurements by the unique constellation of Swarm satellites allow the different sources of magnetism to be separated, making the contribution from the core much clearer.
Earth’s stormy heart
Phil Livermore from the University of Leeds in the UK and lead author of the paper said, “Thanks to the mission we have gained new insights into the dynamics of Earth’s core and it’s the first time this jet stream has been seen, and not only that – we also understand why it’s there.”
One feature is a pattern of ‘flux patches’ in the northern hemisphere, mostly under Alaska and Siberia.
“These high-latitude flux patches are like bright spots in the magnetic field and they make it easy to see changes in the field,” explained Dr Livermore.
Swarm reveals that these changes are actually a jet stream moving at more than 40 km a year – three times faster than typical outer-core speeds and hundreds of thousands of times faster than Earth’s tectonic plates move.
“We can explain it as acceleration in a band of core fluid circling the pole, like the jet stream in the atmosphere,” said Dr Livermore.
So, what is causing the jet stream and why is it speeding up so quickly?
The jet flows along a boundary between two different regions in the core. When material in the liquid core moves towards this boundary from both sides, the converging liquid is squeezed out sideways, forming the jet.
“This could be provided by buoyancy, or perhaps more likely from changes in the magnetic field within the core.”
As for what happens next, the Swarm team is watching and waiting.
Rune Floberghagen, ESA’s Swarm mission manager, added, “Further surprises are likely. The magnetic field is forever changing, and this could even make the jet stream switch direction.
“This feature is one of the first deep-Earth discoveries made possible by Swarm. With the unprecedented resolution now possible, it’s a very exciting time – we simply don’t know what we’ll discover next about our planet.”
Source : European Space Agency (ESA) - view original press release
ADA COMPLIANCE: DECEMBER UPDATE from Mesa Chamber of Commerce
BACKGROUNDThanks to a Chamber member, we were informed a few months ago of the lawsuits being filed against businesses and property owners in and around Mesa. We held a small meeting right away, followed by a larger forum graciously hosted by Phoenix Marriott Mesa with Attorney Lindsay Leavitt from Jennings, Strouss, and Salmon, PLC presenting. We had a great forum and were able to share quite a bit of information.
Since that time the Arizona Attorney General's Office has taken action and is now working to resolve the legal challenges.
This is a recent update from the Arizona Attorney General's OfficeOn Wednesday, December 7, the Attorney General's Office just filed a Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, in which the AGO asked the Court to dismiss all of the 1,000+ Consolidated Cases without leave to amend. Plaintiffs will now have a chance to respond to the Motion, and then we will have the ability to reply. After that occurs, Judge Talamante may order oral argument, or may simply rule.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This is a recent update from the Arizona Attorney General's OfficeOn Wednesday, December 7, the Attorney General's Office just filed a Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, in which the AGO asked the Court to dismiss all of the 1,000+ Consolidated Cases without leave to amend. Plaintiffs will now have a chance to respond to the Motion, and then we will have the ability to reply. After that occurs, Judge Talamante may order oral argument, or may simply rule.
Links for the filings are available here: https://www.azag.gov/
In state court, the AGO's motion to dismiss is still pending, and AID's response is due December 27.
On December 12, Judge Wake held a hearing in federal court on whether to remand one case before him (AID v. MidFirst Bank) to state court. Under the federal standard, if Judge Wake felt it was "absolutely certain" that a remand would be futile, he could dismiss the state claim instead of remanding. As you'll recall, Judge Wake also raised some questions about potential ethical violations by AID's counsel.
The hearing lasted about two and a half hours. Judge Wake extensively questioned AID about their injury (or lack thereof), their damages (or lack thereof), their settlement demands, their ethical responsibilities, and their theory of standing. (Mr. Strojnik claimed that anyone, anywhere in the world could bring an AZDA claim as long as they had knowledge that any instance of non-compliance in Arizona existed.) Notably, in this particular case, AID's settlement demand had dropped all the way down to $319.
Judge Wake allowed the State to participate as an amicus, and we were able to raise several points at the hearing, including: (1) AID's lack of standing under Arizona Supreme Court precedent; (2) AID's circumvention of the ADA by setting up an agreement with Mr. Strojnik in which Mr. Strojnik agrees to charge a $5,000 flat fee but then promises to "donate" the fee back to AID, thus allowing AID to collect more than it actually had to spend; and (3) the fact that many defendants are not, and were not, represented by counsel, and thus may not have realized how unreasonable AID's settlement demands were, or been able to see that AID presented inflated damages and fees amounts with no basis in fact or law.
Judge Wake took the matter under advisement, and I will let you know when he issues a ruling. Obviously, any ruling that he makes does not directly apply to any of the Consolidated Cases in state court, but his ruling could provide helpful information for Judge Talamante to consider when he is evaluating whether these cases should be dismissed and/or whether AID and its counsel should be sanctioned.
~Matthew
Matthew du Mée | Office of the Arizona Attorney General
Senior Litigation Counsel
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Thanks to ABC15 Investigative Reporter, David Biscobing for his work on this story. Please follow David on his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/
Aired on ABC15: August 3, 2016
Aired on ABC15: August 4, 2016
http://www.abc15.com/news/
Aired on ABC15: August 8th, 2016http://www.abc15.com/news/
Aired on ABC15: August 8th, 2016http://www.abc15.com/news/
Link to story in the AZ Republic by Maria Polletta:
http://www.azcentral.com/
http://kjzz.org/content/
RESOURCES FOR ADA COMPLIANCE
RESOURCES FOR ADA COMPLIANCE
Pacific ADA Center
ADA questions and resources
Department of Justice's ADA Information Line
Aaron Ament
AEC Engineering
Peter Fischer
Access Architectural
Nick Ade
Signarama - East Mesa
Hank Drenth
Ace Asphalt
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
Please do not hesitate to send any additional questions to Chamber CEO Sally Harrison, reach her by email at sharrison@mesachamber.org or by phone at (480) 481-7780.
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