Veterans in Agriculture to partner with Extension for Ag Connections Program – Le Mars Daily Sentinel

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(USDA Photo Contributed)U.S. Marine Corps veteran Calvin Riggleman holds an oregano seedling and soil on Bigg Riggs farm in Hampshire County, West Virginia.

BY Courtney Long

ISU Farm, Food and Enterprise Development

AMES Iowas Veterans In Agriculture recently announced that they are one of 17 recipients of USDA-NIFAs Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Program Grant. They will partner with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Farm, Food and Enterprise Development, Iowa States Beginning Farmer Center, Iowa Foundation for MicroEnterprise, and Community Vitality and Ag Ventures Alliance on the three-year program, Connecting Veterans to Agri-Food System Opportunities.

When returning to civilian life, many veterans are interested in developing careers in agricultural enterprises and food system industries. Supporting these transitioning members and veterans is important for sustaining food and agriculture systems across rural America, as 46 percent of active U.S. military personnel are from rural areas. Additionally, about one-third of Iowas farmland is owned by people over age 75, whereas only 2 percent is owned by people under age 35. Sixty-eight percent of Iowa farmers report they have no adult children currently engaged in farming. These facts indicate the importance of connecting and educating a new generation of food producers and helping them access resources, land and food system opportunities.

We are excited to be a part of this grant to provide additional concepts for food system development, in particular with veteran farm and food businesses, said Courtney Long, program manager for farm, food and enterprise development with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

The AgVets grant will equip military veterans with skills, training and experience for careers in agriculture and food production and aims to increase the number of military veterans pursuing careers in agriculture through comprehensive, hands-on and immersive learning.

We are thrilled to have received this grant, said Beth Grabau, VIA executive director. It will provide an opportunity to meet the needs of veterans and those who are transitioning from military service.

The approach is multi-faceted to support different learning options for veterans because each veteran brings a unique set of skills, knowledge and interests.

It will include hands-on learning, apprenticeship options with training curriculum and mentorship, and opportunities to explore local food system enterprises, traditional commercial agriculture opportunities, and agri-food systems and value-added enterprises to supplement off-farm employment through technical assistance and mentoring options.

Additional workshops will be offered for transitioning farms or returning to the family farm, succession planning, whole-farm planning and enterprise management, as well as Community Food Systems certification for those interested in planning skills for food system sectors. Participants will have options to learn about agricultural technologies, startup ventures and rural angel investor networks.

Over the next three years, this dynamic project will increase awareness of local, state and federal programs for veterans in the Iowa and the Midwest and help build our veteran farm and food businesses, said Grabau.

For more information about this grant and other programs provided, contact Veterans In Agriculture at info@veteransinagriculture.org. For information on ISU Extension and Outreachs involvement, contact Courtney Long at court7@iastate.edu.

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Veterans in Agriculture to partner with Extension for Ag Connections Program - Le Mars Daily Sentinel

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own – Scroll.in

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In one of those coincidences, 83-year-old Stan Swamy was arrested by Indias high-profile National Investigation Agency about the same time that another octogenarian, Francis, was declaring that all men and women in the world are brothers and sisters, with responsibility to each other and to the earth on which they all live, its resources, its environment, its climate.

Stan Swamy and Francis the Pope are both members of the five-century-old Society of Jesus. The Jesuits, as they are called, are, the world over, at the cutting edge of the struggles of the poor and the marginalised resisting the plunder of their natural resources, and the ushing of their human dignity and constitutional rights.

To demand the freedom of the frail, ailing Catholic priest without an equally strong demand that the rights of Adivasis over their lands, forests, water and resources be safeguarded would be belittling the man who has given the last half-century of his life making their struggles his own. Born in Trichy, in Tamil Nadu, Father Stan Swamy SJ has sought to interpret his vocation and training in Ignatius Loyolas philosophy in the service of the most deprived, the most threatened.

I have known of his work for all those decades and have known him personally now for some time. I last met him in 2017, around this time, when a team of Karawan-e-Mohabbat, founded by Harsh Mander, was in Jharkhand, and called on him at his spartan home in Bagaichi, on the outskirts of Ranchi one night to pay him our respects. The lawyers, activists and writers in our young team were thrilled to meet a legend and a hero. He was gracious in receiving our salutations with humility, and a smile, saying he was but human, doing his duty with the people he loved.

These people are Indias Adivasis. Many scientists think of them as the original inhabitants of the subcontinent. But so disturbing is this thought to proponents of religious nationalism that international terms such as indigenous people, or the Hindi equivalent Adivasi, are anathema to them. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and its offspring, including the Bharatiya Janata Party that rules the country and many of its states, describe them as vanvasis, or forest dwellers. Dalits, the former untouchables, are no less distressed, with their caste persecution with all its humiliation and violence.

In very brief summation of their plight, this about 8.6 % of Indias population continue to suffer despite conditional mandated affirmative action, a proportional representation in educational and government jobs and in the political processes. As the Minority Rights Group and many national activists point out every day, much of what is on paper does not exist on the ground.

Affirmative action policies strictly limited to public sector have not improved the prospects of Adivasis in the growing private sector, notes the Minority Rights Group. Adivasis often face hardships and exclusion because of physical remoteness, poverty and prevalent social prejudices. Since few Adivasis finish schooling, most are unable to use the reserved places in higher education or the civil service.

The Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 or PESA was introduced in the late 1990s as a legislative means of promoting self-governance in rural areas through the creation of local village bodies. But it is perpetually sought to be diluted, sidestepped and sabotaged. Adivasis continue to face prejudice and often violence from mainstream Indian society, the Minority Rights Group says. They are at the lowest point of almost every socio-economic indicator the destruction of their economic base and environment poses grave threats to those who are still able to follow their traditional way of life and may result in the cultural extinction of many of the smaller Adivasi peoples.

Stan Swamy, and everyone else who has seen these areas, knows that the economic and social problems of Adivasis are born of their gradual displacement from their customary lands. Adivasis have been denied land ownership rights over the last century and their displacement from their land has made them reach a stage where they are fighting to retain their economic and social identity, a Minority Rights Group report says.

The 2006 Forest Rights Act was enacted to secure the rights of Adivasis to their customary lands and forests. But its implementation is still not more than covering just 2% of potential claims reportedly resolved. A February 2019 ruling by the Supreme Court on implementation of the Forest Rights Group 2006 put more than a million Adivasis at risk of eviction from their land and homes.

These set the stage for protests. The protests triggered government vengeance. This led to ultra-left political activity, which in turn precipitated large-scale state violence, at one time government luring a section Adivasis under the banner of the Salwa Judum to wage war on their brothers. Many were killed, many more arrested on charges of being Maoists or assisting them.

Swamy saw innocent Adivasis languishing in jails on trumped-up charges, much as he himself is now in jail on what we know to be fabricated allegations. He helped conduct a research study on Left-wing undertrials in Jharkhand. The study found that of the 102 imprisoned youth they spoke with, as many as 97% that said allegations against them were wrong. The government had imposed the harshest law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on them without evidence. The large number of acquittals eventually vindicated the study.

As part of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee, Stan Swamy questioned the practice of solitary confinement following the banning of Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti in December 2017. His paper, in the April 7, 2018, edition of the Economic and Political Weekly, written with human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, also in jail in the Bhima-Koregaon case, exposed the deplorable conditions in jail, and the repressive measures by the authorities without court sanction.

Swamy has consistently questioned why governments of all political hues do not implant the Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act as it should be, and have been tardy in following Article 244(1) of the 5th Schedule, which requies a Tribal Advisory Council sending its reports to the President of India.

Stan Swant has, like many if not most activists, has also been supportive of the Pathalgadi movement that has foregrounded a traditional practice of honouring ancestors specially in the Khunti region of Jharkhand by placing stone slabs in burial or cremation places.

In the 1990s, the retired bureaucrat-turned-activist BD Sharma and his colleague Bandi Oraon, used stone slabs inscribed with constitutional provisions under Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act and the Fifth Schedule. This came to be known as Pathalgadi.

Governments, and their backers in India Inc. were not amused. The Central government in 2013 passed the Land Acquisition Act, diluting the need for a social impact assessment before any acquisition of land and potentially removing legal safeguards of Adivasi lands.

In the transcript of his interrogation by the National Investigation Agency earlier this year, Swamy said:

I moved to Jharkhand [from Bangalore] and was associated with the JOHAR (Jharkhand Organization for Human Rights) at Chaibasa for a few years. Then I moved to Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, and founded Bagaicha, a Jesuit social research and training centre at Namkum, Ranchi. I have been active at Bagaicha for the last 15 years. I have been working in collaboration with peoples movements that were working against unjust displacement, human rights violations, illegal land acquisitions, and policies that were designed or amended to acquire more land, making the indigenous people landless.

I have been writing and supporting the struggles for the implementation of the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitutions, implementation of the provisions of Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 and the Samata Judgment by the Supreme Court of India and promoted the concept of Owner of the land will be the owners of Minerals therein.

Sway said he was surprised when on August 28, 2018,

...my room in Bagaicha was raided by Pune Police saying that my name had appeared in an FIR in the riot case at Bhima-Koregaon, together with eleven others. During this raid, my laptop, mobile phone, a few CDs, documents and files were confiscated by the Pune Police. After about 10 months, since the first raid of my room, once again my room was raided, on 12 June 2019. in this instance too, the hard disk (internal memory) of my computer, mobile phone, my email and social media accounts were confiscated. The Jharkhand, the government headed by the BJP, filed an FIR against me and 19 other activists based on a Facebook posts relating to Pathalgadi 2 movement in Khunti district, Jharkhand.

The FIR accuses us of inciting violence through Facebook posts during the Pathalgadi movement. Though this FIR was filed in the month of July 2018, it was never pursued. But, suddenly in the month of July 2019, it was activated, after the second raid in my room by the Pune police. Since the case against us was merely based on our Facebook posts, we appealed to the Jharkhand Hight Court to quash the case against us. However, the Khunti police have submitted an annexure, received from the Pune police, to the effect that I was one of the accused in Bhima-Koregaon case. To my surprise, during the hearing in the High Court, the Advocate General referred to me as a dreaded criminal.

The National Investigation Agency finally shed all pretences, and arrested the Jesuit priest from Bagaichi on October 8. He was produced before the special court in Mumbai on Friday. It remanded the octogenarian to judicial custody till October 23. He is currently in the mandatory Covid-19 isolation.

In a video message recorded two days befor he was arrested, Stan Swamy maintained, I have never been to Bhima Koregaon for which I am being made an accused. But ...what is happening to me is not something unique happening to me alone, it is a broader process taking place all over the country. We all are aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders are put in jail because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India.

He said he was part of the process and, in a way, happy to be so because he was not a silent spectator. He asserted, I am ready to pay the price whatever be it.

The state has already paid a price. Its reputation is mud. Activists, chief ministers, pollical parties, members of Parliament and common men and women have expressed their shock, their disgust.

Not that it will move the National Investigation Agency or the men in New Delhi whose order it obeys. The Bhima-Koregaon case is about an allegation that Indias intellectuals are conspiring to kill Indias prime minister.

Elsewhere, and in the past, young men and women have been liquidated on such a suspicion.

John Dayal is a veteran journalist who lives in Delhi.

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Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own - Scroll.in

10 letters: Follow the campaign contributions, Hand Avenue extension project should be abandoned – Ormond Beach Observer

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Money for police station should be used to bolster department instead

Dear Editor:

It is inexcusable that we have a leaking roof in our police station. That doesnt mean that we need to spend an estimated $35 million on a new 73,000 square foot facility, located on the very edgeof city limits. I want to support our wonderful police officers and our world class chief, I personally believe that $35 million dollars would be better spent on more personnel and better equipment.

The concern I have is why they want to move the police station, because of fear of flooding during a hurricane. I looked into this concern using UFs storm surge estimator and found that it would take a direct hit of a category 4 hurricane for the police station to have 3 inches of flooding, in fact according to FEMA, the police station isnt in a flood zone, in the 140-year recorded history of the city the land has not flooded. Two of our current city commissioners have publicly acknowledged that commercial redevelopment is a motivating factor for moving the station.

When I reviewed the 2019meeting notes they spent $30,000to have a study completed to determine a new location for the police station. I also saw their estimates for a new roof, new air condition and found these estimates to be outrageous. I ask myself are they getting bids for these estimates? In the meantime, the roof is still leaking 2 years later, inexcusable.

Ken Smith

Candidate forCity CommissionZone 2

Dear Editor:

Website examination of candidate campaign reports in the four Ormond Beach city commission races through Sept. 18: The mayor and the other three incumbents report over $135,000 in donations, most of it from developers, corporationsand political action committees.

The four challengers, Rob Bridger, Tim Grigsby, Ken Smith, and David Romeo report a combined total of over $28,000 from retirees, individualsand their own bank accounts. No money from developers, corporations, or PACs.

The four incumbents received $2,000 each from downtown redeveloper Bill Jones;$1,000 each from Foundation Risk Partners in Destin;$1,000 each from A.L. Rosenbaum LLC; and $1000 each fromLewis Heaster's BHL Inc. Three incumbent commissioners received $1,000 each from the Living Life with Purpose PAC out of Tallahassee;$500 each from Waste Pro, the citys solid waste contractor and$500 each from the Florida Realtors PAC.

Local developers backed the four incumbents with varying amounts: Paul Holub, total $7,350 from six subsidiary companies; Charles Lichtigman, Granada Plaza Group, total $4,850; and Vanacore corporations, total $5,500. A Mori Hosseini company and P&S Paving gave $1,000 each to one candidate. M. Ghyabi, a paid Ormond Beach consultant, and her attorney husband gave $1,000 each to the mayor.

On the expenditure side, two incumbents paid $2,500 total to an Ormond Beach political strategist who is an appointed member of the city planning board while serving as a paid spokesman-representative for the PBA police union. These same two incumbents made generous payments to family members to distribute campaign signs. The bulk of incumbent expenditures were for multiple glossy campaign mailers.

The mailers feature family photos and portray incumbents as environmental champions preserving greenspace, water supply, and the Loop, while protecting us from COVID-19 and natural disasters. They falsely guarantee high quality of life through smart growth, planned development and low property taxes.

Rob Bridger, Tim Grigsby, Ken Smith, and David Romeo, free of corporate influence, each sent a single mailer, challenging the incumbent claims and offering the fresh ideas reported in Observer candidate comparisons. Rob is retired, Ken owns a small business, and Tim and David are employed by local companies. Honorable and courageous, they face a tough fight going up against the business-as-usual status quorum in an election system controlled by money. A system only voters can change.

Mary Anne Andrew

Ormond Beach

Editor's note: The Ormond Beach City Commissioners were each given a chance to respond to this letter in 50 words or less. Only two responded by the deadline.

I am pleased to recommend the following candidates in this years City of Ormond Beach:

Bill Partington MayorDwight Selby Commissioner Zone 1Troy Kent Commissioner Zone 2Rob Littleton Commissioner Zone 4

All are incumbents and they have done an outstanding job in leading the city in recent years. They have served us well and deserve to be returned to office alongside Commissioner Susan Persis who was unopposed. As a fifty year resident, I think the quality of life here has never been better and the future never looked more promising.

All have opponents who, in my opinion, share a pessimistic and unwelcoming no-growth attitude which is antithetical to free-markets and the opportunity, prosperity, liberty, and most of all, respect for property rights which flows therefrom. Their opponents want to re-adopt a bevy of onerous and subjective environmental and land development regulations which the city rightly did away with some years ago. They also want to reinstate a number of useless feel-good advisory boards which do nothing but squander staff time and gum up the decision making process. Their opponents reject out-of-hand any discussion of a Hand Avenue I-95 flyover before the full impact of the Avalon Park Daytona project has been determined and funding options evaluated. The same misguided attitudes and policies their opponents want to re-impose are the reasons much of the land south along Clyde Morris Boulevard and Williamson Boulevard, and the land west of I-95 south of State Road 40 (where Avalon Park will be developed) was annexed into the city of Daytona Beach and not Ormond Beach. And, its the reason we have a police station on one of the most valuable commercial parcels in our blossoming downtown area. Ormond Beach has seen this horror movie before: Nightmare on South Beach Street, and we dont need an encore with different actors.

Investment capital is the lifeblood of a prosperous free-market economy and it flows to where it is both welcomed and well-treated. Our current mayor and commissioners understand this and it is obvious their opponents do not.

Editor's note: The Ormond Beach City Commission candidates challenging the incumbentswere each given a chance to respond to this letter in 50 words or less. Only threeresponded by the deadline.

Dear Editor:

In regards to the Backpack Apology Sought article in the Oct. 8 Ormond Beach Observer:Kudos to the gym teacher for doing what wasright. No apologies are needed unless it is from the mother of the student trying to start controversy. Anyone questioning all lives matter in any form, whether it be verbal or written, truly have to be racist. I cant imagine what would happen if a student came in with a back pack saying white or yellow lives matter!"

The truth is that all lives do matter and most people do not look at the world in black, white or yellow. You are what you are and very good people are on allsides. There is only a few that want to keep the controversy going.

The sad thing is that the education system seems to like the controversy and is promoting it. It has to end in the school systems and at home.

Please... Letseveryone get along and the world will be a much betterplace.

Terry York

Ormond Beach

The city of Ormond Beach just approved a $47,000 design for a new bait house expected to cost another $865,000. Zone 2 Commissioner Kent called it a once in a generation opportunity.

Citizens have asked for a new medical emergency center on the beachside to replace the hospital on A1A that was abandoned, then razed by Advent. Property crime in the city is at an all-time high with unfilled vacancies in the Police Department. Infrastructure leaks have become an epidemic while the city allocates millions in resources to buy Medjool palm trees, a church, a floating boat dock, a relocated police station, and now a bigger and better bait shop next to the floating boat dock.

Mayor Partington stated he would like to get input on conceptual plans for the new facility from the public, Ormond MainStreet, and the past Downtown Steering Committee. As he did in the 2018 election, Granada Pier Bait and Tackle owner-operator Ike Leary has already given his input: 2020 campaign contributions of $500 each to Mayor Partington and Commissioner Kent and $250 each to Commissioners Dwight Selby and Rob Littleton.

Michael Young

Ormond Beach

In last weeks edition of the Observer Lori Bennett was right on!

If you didnt read it please do.If you did, read it again and remember this as you go to the polls in November.

And that goes for the County Council also. Lets start fresh all the way around.

Sylvia Meincke

Ormond Beach

The proposed Hand Avenue Extension would bridge eight lanes of I-95 and require another bridge over the Tomoka River, a Florida Outstanding Waterway with environmentally protected buffers. This idea was first proposed more than two decades ago and still enjoys unanimous support from Ormond Beach city Commissioners, despite its removal from the county road priority list. The estimated price tag, now at $50 million, continues to rise.

The Ormond Beach mayor and City Commissioners have touted the Hand Avenue Extension as necessary to relieve additional traffic gridlock on Granada Boulevard when 10,000planned homes (Avalon Park) are built west of I-95. (Keep in mind, many Ormond residents already use Hand Avenue as an alternative to Granada Blvd.) The commissions theory is highly questionable in that most eastbound traffic using the proposed extension will likely turnleft on Williamson, Clyde Morris, or Nova, still ending up on Granada Boulevard, as there is no bridge to the beach on Hand Avenue. Additionally, east of Nova Road, Hand Avenue turns into a residential road with a 25-mph speed limit. Right now, most Daytona residents living west of I-95 use LPGA as their main east-west artery. The Hand Avenue Extension will make access to Granada easier for those residents, present and future.

A more likely rationale for the Hand Avenue extension is the opportunity to accelerate commercial and residential development of lands west of I-95, and to enhance the marketability of those properties.

The Ormond Beach city commission needs to abandon the charade of Hand Avenue traffic relief and embrace more practical traffic solutions for West Granada, where the commission continues to approve new commercial development.

Mike McLarnan

Ormond Beach

Dear Editor,

Glossy mailers from developer-financed incumbents keep filling mailboxes with misleading information. Claims made on radio talk shows and in public forums have also raised eyebrows.

Mayor Bill Partington: 17 years in office

Claim: Spearheaded creation of Ormond Beach Environmental Discovery Center.

Fact:The Discovery Center was the brainchild of a former commissioner, the late Joyce Ebbets. A half-mile directly north of the Discovery Center, development waivers obliterated 23 acres of environment on a migratory bird flyway, clearcutting a forest for a Wawa and carwash.

Claim:conserving our greenspaces and celebrating our environmental heritage.

Fact:Voted to weaken our wetland and development rules, abolished the citizen environmental advisory board and development review board, denied citizen request for a tree advisory board.

Claim:provisions in place to protect our residents and community from any health threat

Fact:Failed to mandate masks in public against universal recommendations from medical science. Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, DeLand, Palm Coast, other cities mandated masks.

Zone 1 Commissioner Dwight Selby: 4 years in office

Claim:Has led the charge to keep city spending in checkFought to save you every penny

Fact:Voted to buy a church for $780,000, a boat dock for $1.3 million, 105 Medjool palm trees at $5,000 each; advocates $50 million Hand Ave. extension over I-95 and Tomoka River.

Claim:fighting to convert aging, hazardous septic tanks, reducing north peninsula dependence

Fact:North peninsula is in county jurisdiction. The conversion was rejected by both county and city residents. No leadership to convert 800 septic tanks still functioning in Ormond Beach.

Zone 2 Commissioner Troy Kent: 17 years in office

Claim:Hand Avenue extension will relieve traffic on Granada Boulevard.

Fact:$50 million overpass at I-95 will actually funnel more traffic onto Granada.

Claim:Proud of the job Ive done decreasing taxes during a pandemic.

Fact:Going to rollback saved only $14 or less for most homeowners. In election year, tax reduction significant only for wealthy, high-priced homes and large commercial properties. Revenue shortfalls from pandemic estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Zone 4 Commissioner Rob Littleton: 4 years in office

Claim:Police officers and firefighters important to maintaining a safe and healthy community.

Fact:Failed to support a mask mandate to protect first responders and other essential workers.

Claim:Police station should be moved out of flood zone to free up commercial real estate.

Fact:The police station, 20 years old, on land that has never flooded, reduces traffic.

Judith Ronci

Ormond Beach

Editor's note: The Ormond Beach City Commissioners were each given a chance to respond to this letter in 50 words or less. Only two responded by the deadline.

Dear Editor:

On Oct.5, Terri Kolaska submitted a letterand was advised it would appear in the 10/8/20 edition of the Observer. Granted, the general public has no say in the matter of letters being published. But, being told it would be printed, one would just assume...

Anyway, it did not get in print as it was "bumped"for an article by the publisher, John Walsh, whose article was postedonline 2 1/2 days after Terri's letter was posted.Her letter was written and submitted to promote her choice of candidates for city and county political positions.Curiously, Mr. Walsh's article contained a similar intent, but with a completely different cast of characters.Let's examine some other oddities about Mr. Walsh's article.

1. He states that "The following endorsements...are my personal views."Not only does he state "we" four times in just the first two paragraphs, the article is entitled "Observer supports candidates... "Who is 'we'?I thought this to be"personal."

2. Bottom of second paragraph:"My views are...culmination of conversations with friends...", etc. Terri (and I) had conversations with numerous local people also, probably not in the same social circles as Mr. Walsh's contacts.But, through Terri, our contacts deserved to have their voices heard too, in a timely manner.

3. Walsh supports the Hand Avenue Extensionas does the current city commission.Thiswill destroy Ormond Beach and the wetlands west of I-95 to Tymber Creek Road.

4. I have been informed that the challengers for the mayoral and city commission seats were never informed that the answers to the interview questions were going to be used as a comparative measure between them and the incumbents for election guide comparison the result of short answers to questions from Mr. Walsh.

5. Walsh endorses Deb Denys for County Chair. Denys did not even respond to questions for the "Election Guide" interview.

6. Walsh's article over 500 words.Terri's 'Letter' less than 200 words.(Note:Maximum 400 words for a letter)

7. Walsh lives in Palm Coast, yet is giving advice to you folks in Ormond Beach as to whom he wants you to vote for.

Walsh is the publisher so, I guess he can do all that.

If you have not voted, please do so. Refer to Terri's letter, here.All votes matter.

Ed Kolaska

Ormond Beach

The Ormond Beach Observer, reporting on our city government with a high level of professionalism, is crucial to the local democratic process. During the 2018 election campaigns, publisher John Walsh earned respect with his sincere written apology for giving discounts and reserved political ad buys to incumbents and their PACS. He was cleared by the Elections Commission of any wrongful intent.

The Observer endorsed the incumbents in the 2018 election, and Mr. Walsh recently gave his personal written endorsement to the four incumbents running in 2020, explaining his decisions were rooted in his inherent support of growth for business, advertising, and jobs. He agreed with the mayor and commissioners on major issues, including the Hand Avenue extension, their partnerships with developers, and the adoption of state wetland regulations that replaced Ormonds strong standards.

Mr. Walsh explained that he compared the Observer candidate questionnaire answers with his own and endorsed the incumbents when those views aligned. A logical methodology, but the endorsement came as a surprise to the challengers who werent called in for interviews and were led to believe the newspaper would not be making 2020 endorsements. When they were sent the questionnaire, challengers were not told the publisher would use their answers in deciding hisendorsements. Not that a more transparent process would have led to different candidate answers or different publisher endorsements.

Each of the six questions limited candidate answers to twenty-five words. This narrow scope allowed little context and ignored other key questions. Has the commission acted responsibly in the pandemic to protect vulnerable citizens and essential workers? Should Biketoberfest vendor permits have been granted? What is the city doing about vacant storefronts and small businesses struggling to survive outside the downtown CRA zone? Are elections fair when incumbents receive tens of thousands of special interest dollars from corporations, developers, and PACS?

Clear conflicts of interest can be found in every incumbent campaign report. The challengers, struggling to get their messages out, have refused all corporate money. Some have had to invest personal funds to pay campaign bills.

Despite the disappointing endorsements, the Observer must be commended for publishing the candidate comparisons that provided a level playing field for challengers, and for printing readers editorials that allow all voices to be heard.

Ormond Beach is fortunate to be served by this gem of a community newspaper.

Lori Bennett

Ormond Beach

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10 letters: Follow the campaign contributions, Hand Avenue extension project should be abandoned - Ormond Beach Observer

Grant to fund digitization of early 20thcentury Extension publications – WSU News

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By Nella Letizia, WSU Libraries

A recent grant from the Center for Research Libraries Project CERES will allow Washington State University Libraries to digitize some 41,000 documents of early Washington State College Extension home economics publications as well as reports of the then-named Tree Fruit Experiment Station, todays WSU Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center.

The digital collection will be of interest to farmers, nutritionists, historians and cultural studies researchers looking for Extension material from the first half of the 20th century.

These materials provide not only a wealth of agricultural scientific knowledge, but they also provide a window into what life was like over the last century in the state of Washington, said David Luftig, WSU agricultural sciences librarian and principal investigator of the digitization project. Furthermore, we are also pleased that this collection will include most, if not all, of the early 20th-century home economics and gardening publications that have yet to be digitized.

Although the early Extension publications often provide a homogeneous voice, the home economics publications were typically written and edited by women and provide a unique voice regarding life in Washington that is seldom heard, he added.

The project is a continuation of two previous Project CERES-WSU collaborations in 2013 and 2014. The result of these digitization efforts is housed in the WSU Extension Publications Archive. WSU Extension materials are currently cataloged and located within locked library storage due to the fragility of the items, Luftig said.

It is expected these items will be more widely utilized once they are more accessible and have the appropriate metadata assigned, he said.

Along with Luftig, the digitization project will be managed by Gayle OHara, manuscripts librarian in Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections (MASC). Other staff from MASC and WSUs Owen Science and Engineering Library have contributed efforts as well.

In 2012, the Center for Research Libraries formed Project CERES with the U.S. Agriculture Information Network and the Agriculture Network Information Collaborative to support the ongoing preservation and digitization of collections in agriculture. Project CERES has two primary goals: to sustain consensus-based, cooperative archiving of primary serial collections in agriculture and to expand electronic access to digital and print resources from all world regions to support agricultural research.

See the article here:

Grant to fund digitization of early 20thcentury Extension publications - WSU News

Unions demand extension to visa renewal scheme for international health workers – Redhill And Reigate Life

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International healthcare workers should have their visas automatically renewed for free to ensure they can help tackle the UKs second wave of coronavirus, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

Between the end of March and October 1, health and care staff with expiring visas had them automatically renewed for 12 months free-of-charge, allowing them to stay and work in the country.

Now, the BMA, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison have written to Home Secretary Priti Patel asking for the system to be extended as a matter of urgency.

The joint letter said: It is clear we are now entering a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With daily cases reaching record highs we need to do as much as possible to retain the skills and experience of our talented overseas colleagues as we have an incredibly tough few months ahead.

It added: We are calling on you as Home Secretary to intervene to renew the visa extension as a matter of urgency, on a rolling basis for the duration of the pandemic, to reflect the ongoing crisis and to demonstrate that our thankfulness for the sacrifice of these workers has not diminished.

The groups have also asked for the Government to refund any workers who have already paid to have their visas extended since October 1.

Dr Nagpaul, from the BMA which represents doctors in the UK, said international staff had worked tirelessly and selflessly during the pandemic.

He added: This often came at the expense of their own health and wellbeing, and as we know, in too many cases, we have seen staff who came from overseas to look after people in this country tragically lose their own lives to this dreadful virus.

Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN chief executive, said: Overseas nursing staff make a vital contribution to the nursing workforce and they have been under significant pressure caring for patients during the pandemic.

It is unfair that at the same time they should be worrying about arranging an extension to their visa.

If the Government wants to show support and recognition of those who have dedicated themselves to caring for UK patients, they should act now to grant automatic extension to visas throughout the pandemic.

Sara Gorton, Unison head of health, said: As infection rates rise, the NHS and social care services are going to need all the help they can get. The Government must extend the visa scheme for frontline staff.

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Unions demand extension to visa renewal scheme for international health workers - Redhill And Reigate Life

How Ice Shelf Loss Will Change the Antarctic Ecosystem – The Scientist

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This month, Arctic sea ice shrank to its second lowest level on record, while the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming places on the planet. The calving of the worlds largest iceberga 1-trillion-ton mass called A-68 that split from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017is one of almost a dozen significant ice shelf loss events at the southern pole in the past few decades. Under a business as usual climate scenario, in which carbon emissions continue unabated, it is estimated that the melting of Antarctic ice will cause global sea level to rise up to three times as much as it did in the last century.

To better understand how climate change is shaping Antarctic ecosystems, the National Science Foundation sponsored a workshop in November 2017, bringing together almost 40 interdisciplinary researchers to assess the current state of knowledge regarding ice shelf loss and identify critical information gaps. Their review, published yesterday (October 5) in WIREs Climate Change,pulls from decades of research that have already noted changes to Antarctic ecosystems due to ice shelf thinning and retreat.

The Scientistspoke with Jeroen Ingels, a marine ecologist at Florida State University and the lead author of the new study, about the most pressing takeaways from the teams findings.

Jeroen Ingels: Its mainly the large organisms associated with the ice, [such as] penguins and whales. Both feed on krill, which have cycles that are associated with the appearance and disappearance of sea ice. Then you have phytoplankton blooms, and increasingly more salps [gelatinous invertebrates] as well. So theres this food web thats situated in the open sea. But of course, all of that is also connected to the bottom, benthic environment. You have lots of different benthic organisms, from microbes to meiofaunal, macrofaunal, and megafaunal species.

The seafloor beneath ice sheets is analogous to the deep sea, where originally it was considered azoic [lifeless] until people started looking. But a few decades ago, they were able to drill a hole through the ice and peer down, and you see theres actually quite a bit of life there.

JI:I think one of the important things to realize is that it's not going to be uniform. We like to think of climate change as a warming climate all over, but we know very well now that its going to be different in different places. The same is true for the Antarctic. Some places ice is disappearing and other places its growing.

In areas where the ice disappears, the whole system on the seafloor is going to change. The distribution of species that are dependent on sea ice production will shift closer to shore in the place where the ice shelf used to be. Phytoplankton blooms can come into these areas . . . that are able to send food down to the sea floor. Species that are adapted to the dark depths are going to be invaded by species that are more adapted to exploiting the new food sources. All these ecological matches that were once standard suddenly turn into mismatches, and trying to figure out what the consequences will be is quite difficult to do.

All these feedback loops are increasing the rate at which [ice shelves] are breaking off and collapsing, and it seems like they are poised to make this place disappear as fast as possible.

Jeroen Ingels, Florida State University

JI:The ice sheets are clearly melting, and the timescales and the rapidity [are unprecedented]. It happens, but it happens over tens of thousands of years. It doesn't happen in a few decades. But the warming itself is changing oceanographic patterns, causing melting at the base of the ice shelves. All these feedback loops are increasing the rate at which [ice shelves] are breaking off and collapsing, and it seems like they are poised to make this place disappear as fast as possible.

JI:Its the interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean, and the variable climate patterns in different regions of the Antarctic, that make it difficult for models to speak specifically to how much ice is thinning. Its a lot for any model to calculate what exactly is going to happen and how long its going to take. I think thats something that scientists are working really hard on, but they havent quite solved the resolution needed to address those particular questions.

TS:What is it going to take to establish the long-term, collaborative, interdisciplinary initiatives needed to address the challenges of studying the Antarctic?

JI:I think it has become quite clear that research investment [is needed] in infrastructure, in science, and in time to tackle the big questions in the Antarctic. Look at space programs, you ask one huge question and you get hundreds of millions [of dollars] in funding for [decades]. We have an ethical obligation to start understanding what is happening to our planet that . . . we are actually dependent on. I think its reasonable to say that we should increase our efforts to try and understand it, and to make it perhaps a bit more livable and manageable.

Editors note: The interview was edited for brevity.

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How Ice Shelf Loss Will Change the Antarctic Ecosystem - The Scientist

Live by the plant, die by the plant – carniverous plants have a haunting place in ecosystem – The Virginian-Pilot – Virginian-Pilot

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One of the most iconic insect eaters is the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), whose shockingly chartreuse leaves tend to turn heads. The traps look like an open clamshell, each half having three to four tiny trigger hairs in its center. Along the outside rim are teeth that have nectar at their base which lures insects. As flytraps patrons move to partake of the nectar, they touch those trigger hairs. All it takes is touching two hairs (or one hair twice) in 20 seconds. The trap will snap shut, but not completely, allowing smaller prey to escape so that the flytrap doesnt waste energy on a trivial meal. A worthy meal will struggle to free itself, triggering more of the hairs, resulting in a sealed trap within a few hours. However, a tightfitting jail cell that digests its victims isnt the only danger lurking in a bog.

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Live by the plant, die by the plant - carniverous plants have a haunting place in ecosystem - The Virginian-Pilot - Virginian-Pilot

Emphasis on robust ecosystem of research and innovation at VIT convocation – The Hindu

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As India aspires to grow and sustain a large and vibrant economy and uplift its society, one of the key elements to its successful realisation was to have a robust ecosystem of research and innovation, said K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and former chairman of National Educational Policy Committee.

Delivering the convocation address virtually at Vellore Institute of Technologys (VIT) 35th annual convocation on Friday, he said that students should aspire for deepening and broadening their knowledge, learn to experience the power of collective teamwork and be guided by higher values which they believe in.

With advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality, an increasing number of hybrid jobs where a persons vocational skills would complement the capabilities of high-tech equipment could be foreseen, he said.

Higher education system was therefore necessary to prepare students for such jobs, he said, adding that vocational education would become an integral part of the larger vision of liberal education.

Noting that students from more than 50 countries were studying in VIT, G. Viswanathan, chancellor, said the Kasturirangan Education Policy Committee spoke about internationalisation as India needs to attract more students from foreign countries to its higher education institutions.

He said that many students went abroad for medical education due to scarcity of seats and hoped the Prime Minister would increase the availability of medical seats in the country. Among others, VIT vice presidents Sankar Viswanathan and Sekar Viswanathan were present.

A total of 7,444 undergraduates and postgraduate students graduated.

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Emphasis on robust ecosystem of research and innovation at VIT convocation - The Hindu

Horseshoe crab blood key to COVID-19 vaccine despite negative impact it could have on ecosystem – NationofChange

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Dwindling in numbers and on the brink of extinction, horseshoe crabs could soon become an indirect victim of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Horseshoe crabs have long been a feature of vaccination research. Their blue blood, used to test the safety of vaccinations and other medial products, is able to detect endotoxinsa substance released by bacteria when they die, EuroNews reported. Since endotoxins can kills humans if entered into the bloodstream, harvesting these ancient crabs for medical research remains prevalent.

The one thing people have to know is that the horseshoe crab has touched everyones life no matter where you live, Allen Burgenson, a global expert in biomedicine working for Lonza Pharma and Biotech, said. They are responsible for maintaining human health around the world.

Once harvested, the crabs are typically drained alive, often with the hope that they will live long enough to regenerate blood for further testing, EuroNews reported.

Each sensitive crab is mounted onto a rack, a needle is inserted into the tissue around their heart, and their blood is drained, Dr Julia Baines, PETAs science policy manager, said. An estimated 50,000 of them die in the process and human interference also means that the species is now vulnerable to extinction.

Conservationists said the harvesting of wild animals for biomedical research is unsustainable and, with the horseshoe crab on the brink of extinction because of their bait and biomedical likeness, they are asking the biomedical industry to start relying on a synthetic alternative immediately.

rFC, developed in the 1980s, is a synthetic equivalent to horseshoe crabs blood, but the United States pharmaceutical industry continues to renew its backing for horseshoe crab blood. And with millions of doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine needed world-wide, animal rights activists and conservationists are trying to bring this growing crisis to public attention before its too late.

Despite years of conservation work by government entities and non-profits who care about the health of our shoreline ecosystems, we are not seeing the results we need. Action must be taken now, or species like the horseshoe crab will disappear from our landscape forever.

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Horseshoe crab blood key to COVID-19 vaccine despite negative impact it could have on ecosystem - NationofChange

How DevOps adoption – and its ecosystem – has increased during Covid: The VC perspective – Cloud Tech

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A new report from venture capital and M&A data provider PitchBook has explored how DevOps tools will continue to blossom in developer and enterprise contexts as well as how Covid-19 has quickened digital transformation.

The companys latest quarterly emerging tech report on cloud tech focused on an overview of technologies related to DevOps as it sees opportunities in broader organisational efforts to make complex systems, workflows and other processes more cohesive, responsive, and manageable.

With this in mind, PitchBooks area of analysis for DevOps includes spaces such as enterprise communication and collaboration tools, low-code and robotic process automation (RPA).

Overall, the pandemic is increasing the pace of CI/CD adoption as more companies work to move application development processes from behind the firewall and into cloud environments. In terms of how this looks practically, the report sees a wider increase.

We expect this to drive more investment and innovation in collaboration and communication ecosystems that can facilitate the distributed enterprise, the report noted. This trend will also encourage a quicker shift to cloud computing as businesses seek to minimise location-based manual operations.

As companies shift to a changing style of work, DevOps can also help with this. Organisations are evolving into continuous creators of digital IP, the report noted. To be successful, they must find ways to streamline and prioritise product creation and reduce administrative bottlenecks.

DevOps has the potential to help organisations realise these goals, while making it easier to manage the complexity and fast-paced nature of todays IT landscape.

The report focused on two primary funding announcements in the past quarter; CircleCI, who raised $100 million in a series E round in April, and developer collaboration platform Postman, who secured $150m in June. Collaboration technology more widely also saw an uptick, including deals for Loom, Figma, and Miro.

The latter two are key to an emerging trend which the report notes as DesignOps. Improvements in the software development supply chain, PitchBook said, are putting pressure on companies to enhance design practices and facilitate better collaboration.

Writing for this publication earlier this month, Patrick Hubbard, of SolarWinds, explored whether DevOps and APM would see an uptick from the next normal.

IT tends to hunker down during uncertain times and run as little as possible but Id argue the value [DevOps] brings to IT teams of many different sizes can be key to enterprise transformation ambitions digital, survival, or otherwise, he wrote.

It remains unclear what the next normal entails, but the fundamentals of great service delivery remain the same, Hubbard added. The DevOps focus on flexibility and continuous process improvement to break transformation logjams comes in handy when the future of technology is full of new possibility.

You can read the full report here (email required).

Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their experiences and use-cases? Attend theCyber Security & Cloud Expo World Serieswith upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more.

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How DevOps adoption - and its ecosystem - has increased during Covid: The VC perspective - Cloud Tech

Microdisplays Industry: an Explosive Ecosystem Mixing Technical Innovations, Strategy Games and Attractive Applications – Display Daily

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For the past few years, AR headsets have been a dream, with no credible alternative but to use microdisplays. A big microdisplay development effort has been observed for such applications in the consumer market, mainly for OLED-on-Si and microLEDs. But in the meantime, LCOS and DLP have the lions share. For major brands, AR would trigger the next consumer electronics revolution. But, at the end of the day, it remains a dream.

A CAGR of more than 100% is expected in microdisplay modules for emerging applications, to reach a market value of US$4.2 billion.assertsZine Bouhamri, PhD, Technology & Market Analyst, within the Photonics, Sensing & Display division atYole Dveloppement (Yole)."That is of course if the use cases are found, and if the technologies can deliver on their promises.

There is still the need to find a compelling use case to convince the consumer. Yoles analysts assume that this will eventually happen, but device maker OEMs will need to step up their game. With the 2023 target in mind, Yole shall expect better use case demonstrations over the next couple of years. Were that to happen, analysts expect the microdisplay module market for AR headsets would grow at a 110% CAGR until 2025, to reach US$1.8 billion.

In this context, Yole investigates disruptive technologies and related markets in depth, in order to point out the latest innovations and underline the business opportunities. Released , theMicrodisplays - Market, Industry and Technology Trends 2020 reportgives detailed analysis of key applications requiring microdisplays, related industrial, technological ecosystems, future trends and evolution of application landscapes. Including technical analysis of microdisplay technologies, associated roadmaps, market forecasts for microdisplay modules per application, supply chain, recent progress and future trends, this study aims to understand the status of the microdisplay technologies. It also gives insights into microdisplay modules volumes and values by application.

What are the economic challenges and technical issues of the microdisplay industry? Who are the key players? How are they competing with one another? What innovative technologies are these companies working on? What are the pros and cons? What are the development paths chosen by each technology? What are the applications driving their region of interest? Yole reveals its vision of the microdisplay industry.

As analyzed by Yoles team in the newMicrodisplays - Market, Industry and Technology Trends 2020 report, another major trend from which microdisplays could benefit stands in the automotive sector. Yole points out the autonomous driving and also the increased levels of autonomy.

According toEric Virey, PhD. Principal Display Market and Technologies Analyst within the Photonics, Sensing & Display division at Yole:To that end, cars have ever more displays, while more safety is also required. HUDs can help join both worlds. Traditional solutions are too limited for increased FOV and display of information.

New projection technologies are required, alongside innovative optical components, to be able to provide useful, convenient, and safe heads-up displays while occupying as little volume as possible in the car. The first of these modules has just been released in the newest Mercedes S-Class.

ForZine Bouhamri:As we are seeing the first models using a projection microdisplay, we expect the microdisplay module market for automotive HUDs to grow at a 107% CAGR until 2025, to reach US$285 million.

The endgame, be it for headsets or HUDs, is obviously true 3D displays. But this is a longer play as Yole does not expect that to reach significant volumes within five years at a reasonable level of performance.

All year long,Yole Dveloppementpublishes numerous reports and monitors. In addition, experts realize various key presentations and organize key conferences. Throughout the year, discover the numerous display-related reports. Make sure to be aware of the latest news coming from the industry and get an overview of our activities, including interviews with leading companies and more oni-Micronews. Stay tuned!

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Microdisplays Industry: an Explosive Ecosystem Mixing Technical Innovations, Strategy Games and Attractive Applications - Display Daily

How one woman revived the citys most impressive natural ecosystem – Chicago Reader

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One day in the late 1990s, local birder Leslie Borns visited Montrose Beach, as she often did, and noticed lakeshore rush, a grassy plant that hadn't been seen in Chicago in more than 50 years. Excited by what this could mean, Borns contacted the park district to suggest they stop pulling the plants from the sand on the eastern edge of the beach and let whatever pops up continue growing. Twenty years later, the Montrose Beach Dunes is the highest quality natural area in the city of Chicago. Of the nearly 100 natural areas that the park district oversees, it's the only place in the city that has a state-level designation as a protected area.

"I just thought, 'We'll probably get some more plants if they stop grooming the beach,'" Borns remembers. "I had no idea it would become as complex and biodiverse as it did." Today, thousands of native plant species, many endangered in Illinois, call the dunes home. They support hundreds of species of birds, insects, and animals. For many in conservation, the dunes represent the potential of natural habitats and urban environments to successfully coexist.

Just miles from downtown, the dunes stretch about nine acres on a unique site at the southeast end of Montrose Beach, between Montrose and Lawrence, abutting a protected bird sanctuary. Together, the area makes up a large green space that juts out into the lake and curls around to create a protected harbor full of boats. With more than one million visitors per year, Montrose is Chicago's biggest beach.

Unlike the large sand dunes of Indiana, the Montrose dunes are much shorter, lying lower to the ground and with countless grassy plants popping up through the sand. There are no official trails through the dunes. Nothing is paved or mulched. But there are a handful of informal trails that are used by the public.

Local birders and conservationists can't talk about the success at Montrose without crediting Borns. "When she first started, this was just a barren strip of sand," says Brad Semel, natural heritage biologist at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "She had the foresight to understand that wherever you could protect from disturbance, these rare plants would take a toehold and start to reestablish."

I first met Borns, 63, at the dunes in the summer of 2019. A retired book editor, she is tall and thin with medium-length black hair draped around a pale, inquisitive face. She appears adventure-ready, with sizable sunglasses and a big floppy hat protecting her from the sun. She listens intently and responds fervently. She's also quick to grab the binoculars hanging over her shoulder, rarely letting a bird slip by unnoticed. "Oh!" she exclaims mid-sentence. "There's something I haven't seen in a while!"

Two birds in particular have attracted some attention to Montrose Beach the past two summers. Monty and Rose, a pair of charismatic shorebirds called piping plovers, nested at the dunes in May 2019. It marked the first time the federally endangered species nested in Chicago in over 60 years. Borns points out an informational sign, placed at the dunes about 15 years prior, that features a photo of the piping plover, one of the most well-known birds known to nest in the type of habitat that makes up the dunes.

"It was the most iconic bird we could think of," she says. "But I never dreamed that they would come here, and they're nesting right next to the sign."

"The fact that plovers are nesting there is basically credit to all the volunteers," says Tamima Itani, vice president and treasurer of the Illinois Ornithological Society, "and the beach steward, Leslie Borns, who has led the effort to create that kind of habitat."

To the delight of Borns, as well as the many volunteers and local residents who observed the birds last summer, Monty and Rose reappeared this year in early May to again nest at Montrose. According to Itani, while Monty and Rose spend winters apart, they both arrived in Chicago within 48 hours of each other. Once abundant, today there are only about 70 pairs of piping plovers nesting in the Great Lakesand for the past two summers, one pair in Chicago.

Born in Daytona Beach, Borns says beaches have always been close to her heart. "I really took my first walking steps on a beach." She remembers shorebirds were plentiful when she was young. "We used to walk along the tide and these little birds would be running in and out of the tide; you'd practically trip over them." When she moved to Illinois to attend the University of Chicago, she studied history and ultimately pursued a career in book publishing. But she always had bird watching as a hobby.

Borns says her lifelong love of nature is the reason she first noticed the rare plants at Montrose and recognized the opportunity there. Once the city pulled back on grooming that end of that beach, more and more native plants emerged. New birds showed up. Eventually, the dunes formed, and not just any dunes. Known as panne habitat, part of the area is a rare wetland type that only exists along the Great Lakes. There are about 250 acres of it left in the world.

The Montrose dunes are maintained almost entirely by volunteers, all led by Borns. Over the past two decades, she's recruited around 700 volunteers. From March to October, she plans workdays for the public at least once a month. Due to the pandemic and subsequent lakefront closure, the first workday of this year was in mid-August, though Borns has since been planning more of them than normal to make up for the lost time. Volunteers pull weeds, pick up garbage, or repair signs. The park district provides tools and resources as needed, but as the site steward, Borns, a volunteer herself, manages the area.

"This has become my life's work," Borns says. "It's my passion."

She says it's been amazing to watch the area grow and change, and she's grateful for the support from volunteers and the park district, but it hasn't been without challenges.

Last year, the Mamby on the Beach music festival set to take place at Montrose was met with staunch opposition by conservationists as well as some business owners and neighbors. Critics said the concert would disrupt the piping plovers, among other things, and accused the park district of keeping them in the dark. Jam Productions, a local event production company, eventually cancelled the festival, citing the plovers and the rising water level of Lake Michigan.

Borns considers it a big win, but says it was just the latest and most outrageous example of the struggle to strike a balance between recreation and conservation that's always there, especially in a big city like Chicago. "Particularly now, with climate change and the higher lake levels, there's much more competition for the use of these areas." And as habitat restoration becomes increasingly relevant in urban places, cities have to strive to achieve this delicate balance as well. Montrose Beach serves as a glowing example of that balance.

On a typical summer day, the long stretch of sand is dense with beachcombers. There are volleyball courts, a designated dog beach, and a full-service restaurant. It's a hopping place, making the success of the adjacent natural dune area all the more special. Despite the crowds, beachgoers are respectful of the dunes, usually obeying signage and sticking to the designated trails.

"You have the densest metropolitan area in close juxtaposition to this high quality natural area," says biologist Semel. "It's just remarkable, the contrast, and that they can work this well together so far."

For Borns, protecting natural places is about more than protecting endangered species. "I realize how important it is not only to me but to other people," she says. "I've had people tell me they don't know what they'd do here, living in Chicago, if they didn't have a place like this to go to. And it really means a lot to me."v

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How one woman revived the citys most impressive natural ecosystem - Chicago Reader

COVID-19 and beyond: Confidence and resilience in vaccine ecosystem – EURACTIV

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The debate over a rapid but safe and effective vaccine to fight the COVID-19 pandemic has heated up in Europe and worldwide.

Politicians are mounting pressure on the pharma industry to come up with a vaccine quickly in order to halt the catastrophic implications of the virus. On the other hand, vaccine manufacturers have emphasised that speed will not be prioritised at the expense of peoples safety.

Building confidence in a COVID-19 vaccine will be key in the coming months to tackle rising vaccines hesitancy. Yet, the issues of liability and compensation will take centre stage given that massive vaccination could have side-effects.

Moreover, the pandemic has also raised a number of issues related to the general resilience of immunisation systems and their future preparedness to tackle public health issues.

Many argue that the lessons learnt from the pandemic in this matter are valuable. They are now suggesting putting in place new financial frameworks that will help health systems become more efficient.

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COVID-19 and beyond: Confidence and resilience in vaccine ecosystem - EURACTIV

Defining Trends in the Indian Gaming Ecosystem and the Impact of COVID-19 – CNBCTV18

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The Impact of COVID-19 on India's Gaming Ecosystem

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on the economies of various sectors in our country. Despite this, the Indian online gaming market is poised to grow to $1 billion by 2021 as the entire sector has remained resilient and also seen significant growth during this period.

In Republic of Games by CNBCTV18.com and Akamai, Megha Vishwanath spoke to leaders in the gaming industry about the current trends in the ecosystem.

Significant Surge in Gaming During Lockdown

At the very outset, the lockdown significantly increased people's engagement with games. Therefore, every company had to do a great deal of ramping up and adapting at the back-end to support the increasing traffic.

Swapnil Shaha, COO of Games91, said, "There were a lot of gamers coming in from all across... we almost had got a 500% surge on traffic."

Sidharth Kedia, Group CEO of Nodwin Gaming, too reported a massive surge in gamers on his platform. In his own words, "...the numbers from last year to this year surged 19x..."

The idea that the last 5-6 months saw a greater surge than the past few years found consensus across the panel. Every platform had to do something different in order to reel in more gamers and sustain the increased traffic they were now seeing.

The ban on PUBG sent every platform back to their drawing boards. Speaking about the impact of the ban, Firasat Durrani, VC - Operations at Loco, said, "From one of the insights I saw somewhere, 64% of gaming content consumed on YouTube came from PUBG."

However, as a broadcast app, Loco saw a dip for only as much as a week, till most users moved on to other games. The ecosystem, in this case, had a way of bouncing back.

Challenges Faced by the Sector at Large

The gaming sector, just like every other, has had to find means and ways to cater to the sudden shift in working remotely, while building up the infrastructure to cater to increasing traffic.

Scaling, however, doesn't come automatically, as rightly pointed out by Sidharth Pisharoti, RVP, Media and Carrier Division, Akamai, Not all games are successful. But all games that are successful definitely use the right kind of technology out there, the right partner that helps them to scale and secure their infrastructure and platform. he said.

He also goes on to say, "Not all games are successful. All games that are successful definitely use the right kind of technology out there, the right partner that helps them to scale and secure their infrastructure and platform."

This planning also includes responding to security concerns, with DDoS attacks and credential stuffing attacks rising exponentially with the increased traffic and users.

A Sea of Changes

Currently, existing players are getting a head start. Plus, this is also a time where homegrown players have a chance to make an entrance.

However, it will be crucial to take care of the quality of service in terms of fast download speeds, a greater reliance on cloud technology while also incorporating localized content to appeal to a larger base.

During a time of significant changes, it's also essential to understand the difference between the Indian market from those abroad; Indian players prefer playing these games on their mobiles as opposed to their gaming PCs or laptops.

Additionally, these games need to cater to people much beyond the metropolitan areas as they've been gaining increasing popularity even in remote areas.

What Could the Future Look Like?

Gaming has seen various changes over the years, from the days of the cassettes to the smartphone ecosystem today. Looking ahead, we could see a way for gamers to continually improve their skills by playing against or learning from gamers whose skills they admire.

To this, Naman Jhawar, Senior VP - Strategy and Ops at MPL, added, "You will see professional athletes like a Virat Kohli or a Dhoni being created out of gamers as well... We're already seeing this in terms of smaller platforms..."

Additionally, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence will also have a huge role to play in revolutionizing the gaming industry. The right kind of technology is important for platforms to find success in the present and scale up. The 5G revolution will also have a vital role to play going forward.

In Closing

Despite some major changes, the gaming industry has managed to steadily grow and increase players during this economic slump. This short span has contributed significantly to the ever evolving fast paced gaming sector.

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Defining Trends in the Indian Gaming Ecosystem and the Impact of COVID-19 - CNBCTV18

GameStop Partners with Microsoft to Bolster Its Digital Ecosystem – Wccftech

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With the ever-growing importance of the digital market in the gaming industry, GameStop has been seen as less and less relevant going forward by analysts and investors in the past couple of years, as its shares tumbled down.

The company needed something big to turn the tide and today, it made an announcement that could certainly fit the bill: a multi-year partnership with Microsoft to expand physical and digital game offerings as well as enhancing GameStop's infrastructure when it comes to technology.

Microsoft and HP Work Together to Deliver a Windows Update Fixing Accelerated Battery Swelling and Chemical Aging

Essentially, the company's business operations will now take place on Microsoft's cloud through Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Teams, while associates will be equipped with Microsoft Surface hardware, too.

On the gaming front, GameStop stores will now sell the Xbox All Access subscription service and will therefore benefit alongside Microsoft from the 'customer acquisition and lifetime revenue of each gamer brought into the Xbox ecosystem'.

The press release includes prepared statements from four of the companies' chief executives, including Phil Spencer from Microsoft's gaming side.

George Sherman, GameStops Chief Executive Officer:

This is an exciting day at GameStop as we announce the advancement of an important partnership that capitalizes on the power of our operating platform and significant market share in gaming to accelerate our digital transformation; drive incremental revenue streams; and over time, further monetize the digital world of gaming. Since joining the Company last April, we have been on a mission to evolve our strategy to take advantage of our undisputed leadership position in gaming. Clearly, GameStop is a top destination for an entire spectrum of gaming products, and we are excited about the opportunity to leverage our capabilities in support of the launch of the next generation of gaming consoles and expand our reach and connection to the worldwide gamer community through this partnership.

Jim Bell, GameStops Chief Financial Officer:

We believe Microsofts integrated retail technology platform will enable the continued development of our frictionless omni-channel digital environment, providing customers with an exceptional cross-channel experience for all things video gaming. By standardizing on Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365, all accessed with Microsoft Surface devices at our fingertips, we will be able to create a better connection with our associates and provide them with powerful new tools to deliver rich engaging experiences to our customers while significantly enhancing our cross-channel view of inventory ensuring the most efficient delivery of products to our customers.

Phil Spencer, Microsoft's Executive Vice President of Gaming:

For many years GameStop has been a strong go-to-market partner for our gaming products, and we are excited about continuing and evolving that relationship for the launch of the Xbox Series X|S. GameStops extensive store base, focus on digital transformation in an omni-channel environment and expert gamer associates remain an important part of our gaming ecosystem, and were pleased to elevate our partnership.

Matt Renner, Microsoft's President of US Enterprise Commercial:

GameStop has become a popular destination for gamers to find their favorite video games, hardware and accessories, socialize with others in the community, try out new games, and get educated on the latest tips and trends. By harnessing the power of Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365, GameStop will be able to modernize its technology infrastructure and support store associates and fans in new and exciting ways. This partnership also provides GameStop with advanced retail management technologies that will drive operational efficiencies throughout its omni-channel platform.

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GameStop Partners with Microsoft to Bolster Its Digital Ecosystem - Wccftech

AFWERX Announces NXM Labs Among Top Teams Selected to Revolutionize Space Ecosystem – I-Connect007

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AFWERX,the catalyst for fostering innovation within the U.S. Air Force, announced NXM Labs as one of the top 26 winning teams from a field of over 800 participants from around the world competing in theEngageSpace Challengethat aims to revolutionize the space ecosystem and redefine what's possible in space.

TheEngageSpace Challengeis centered around four key topics Department of Defense Commercial Space Partnerships, Global Space Transport and Delivery, Persistent ISR and Space Asset Resiliency.

NXM competed in the Space Asset Resiliency Challenge against teams from the U.S.,Canada,Europe,Australia,Braziland other allied countries; comprised of entrepreneurial startups, small businesses, global enterprises, as well as leading academic research labs. The Challenge provides a rapid funding vehicle forgovernment buyers to pursue new solutions for today's most pressing space related issues.

"The AFWERX EngageSpace challenge is critical to our future of industrial development in space," statedMark Rowland, Innovation Actualizer of AFWERX. "On behalf of AFWERX and the Department of Defense, we congratulate the teams advancing to the next phase. Their contributions are invaluable and have the potential to create game-changing results across the Air Force enterprise."

TheSpace Asset Resiliency Challengefocuses onensuring America's space assets can thrive in space in the face of growing dangers, including cyberattacks. NXM's winning proposal focused on increasing the security and longevity of critical space, air, land and sea assets.

NXM's Autonomous Securityplatform enables devices to automatically defend themselves and recover from rapidly evolving cyberattacks, eliminating the risk of a fleet-wide attack. NXM's scalable blockchain-based approach to security and command and control overcomes critical network interoperability challenges facing today's military and commercial SATCOM operations,making it a universal solution for next generation space ecosystems.

"We're thrilled to have been selected as one of the winning teams at this prestigious event," saidScott Rankine, NXM CEO. "AFWERX provided us with a unique opportunity to showcase our solution to government buyers and potential aerospace partners from around the world."

The AFWERX EngageSpace Challenge attracted 809 solutions and brought together over 50 space subject matter experts from the U.S. government to review the submissions. Throughout the event teams showcased their technology using virtual booth's complete with video links and digital collaterals. The top 171 teams were invited to pitch their solutions to a panel of subject matter experts, followed by a Q&A session with the evaluation team. The top 31 solutions from a total of 26 teams were announced and invited to engage with the Air Force to secure commercial contracts. For a complete list of participating teams visit Engage.Space/exhibitors.

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AFWERX Announces NXM Labs Among Top Teams Selected to Revolutionize Space Ecosystem - I-Connect007

iConnections Announces Partnership With The Investment Institute to Build Transformational Ecosystem For the Investment Industry – Business Wire

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Investment Institute (TII), a leading membership body offering unbiased and non-commercial educational investment forums for senior decision-makers from leading endowments, foundations, pension funds, family offices and asset management firms has announced a strategic partnership with iConnections, the industry leading platform that seamlessly connects managers and allocators for virtual meetings, giving managers the ability to subscribe and share.

The iConnections Investment Institute will allow TII members real-time interactions and access to peers in the community throughout the year as well as enable allocators to clearly identify managers and strategies that may be of interest.

With technology playing an increasingly critical role in every aspect of business, companies recognize that they need to accelerate the development of digital solutions to ensure they remain on the competitive vanguard. The partnership brings together deep skills in business and technology strategy, product ideation, technology development and deployment.

It has always been a core mission of The Investment Institute to inspire a culture of collaboration and community among institutional investors, family offices, consultants and asset managers while fostering an environment to learn and connect in a way that promotes lifelong relationships, trust and friendships. We believe that through our partnership, TII and iConnections will build an ecosystem for the investment industry, allowing the Institutes community various ways to connect virtually all year round. Most importantly, the platform will keep allocators connected safely and securely with peers and facilitate a manager selection process that fits their investment profiles, said Andrea Szigethy, Founder and CEO of The Investment Institute.

We are delighted to partner with TII to deliver a comprehensive thought leadership program on the iConnections platform that will feature some of the best-known allocators, money managers, policy makers, economists, strategists and business leadership names in the industry. Our innovative technology will enable the Institute and its members to establish a truly global presence by providing access to our community engagement tools, virtual meetings, events and one-to-one meetings, as well as by facilitating the ability to host bespoke events, said Ron Biscardi, co-founder and CEO of iConnections.

Partnering with iConnections will unlock the full potential of digital transformation for the Institute and provide our members with an extension of what we have already built for our community. The iConnections platform will provide the opportunity to enhance the personal and professional connections with peers, exchange ideas and meet in a private and secure environment, said Donna Holly, President of The Investment Institute.

Through the partnership, TII and iConnections will also collaborate on philanthropic initiatives as part of the iCare program, designed for allocators and managers to support charitable organizations just by using the platform. A percentage of iConnections revenue will be donated each year to charities chosen by members of the community.

About iConnections

iConnections is a community that connects the investment management industry year-round. Our software platform seamlessly connects managers and allocators for virtual meetings, giving managers the ability to subscribe and share information with allocators who can efficiently select and meet managers all on one platform. The scalable technology powering iConnections can be used for bespoke events by managers, allocators and service providers. In an environment where physical events and meetings are no longer the norm, we've reimagined how the investment industry connects. Visit https://www.iconnections.io/ to learn more.

About The iConnections Investment Institute

The iConnections Investment Institute (TIII) offers premier, unbiased, non-commercial educational investment forums for senior investment decision-makers from leading endowments, foundations, pension funds, hospitals/healthcare, single family offices (SFOs), multi-family offices (MFOs), RIAs, consultants, outsourced CIO firms, asset management firms and other financial institutions. TIII features some of the most well-known and leading allocators, money managers, policy makers, economists, research strategists and business leadership gurus along with some of the most prominent institutional and private investors and brings them together for face-to-face conversations, debate and problem-solving. The programs cover complex issues surrounding the financial industry and the speaker faculty analyze risk while revealing many opportunities in the current market environment. For more information please visit our website at https://theinvestmentinstitute.org/.

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iConnections Announces Partnership With The Investment Institute to Build Transformational Ecosystem For the Investment Industry - Business Wire

Secure Technology Alliance Webinar to Explore Challenges to Robust Growth of the Mobile Driver’s License Ecosystem – GlobeNewswire

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PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Oct. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Issuance and adoption of mobile drivers licenses (mDLs) have accelerated across the U.S., with more public and private operations exploring numerous use cases for mDLs. As with large-scale implementation of new technology, challenges arise that need to be addressed as implementation and acceptance increases. The Secure Technology Alliance announced today the fourth and final webinar in its mobile drivers licensewebinar series, which will focus on challenges to the rollout and growth of the mDL ecosystem and will kick off industry activities to address them. With the immense potential offered by mDLs, this webinar will help stakeholders understand the necessary considerations for supporting national scale issuance, acceptance and verification.

The webinar, Challenges to the mDL Ecosystem, will be held October 28 at 1pm ET/10am PT. Registration is available at https://securetechalliance.webex.com/securetechalliance/onstage/g.php?MTID=e4783ce208798231140cc84a966dab9a5.

Speakers for the fourth webinar are: Arjan Geluk, UL; Loffie Jordaan, AAMVA; David Kelts, GET Group North America; Tom Lockwood, NextgenID; Mindy Stephens, AAMVA; Randy Vanderhoof, Secure Technology Alliance.

mDLs are designed for convenience, speed and security, but, as with any new ecosystem, they face implementation hurdles to overcome as we roll out new technology. Setting standards, establishing trust, and ensuring conformance are just a few of the considerations that will go into making mDLs effective and interoperable across the U.S., said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Secure Technology Alliance. Identity issuers, verifiers, government agencies, application developers and solution integrators are invited to this webinar to learn more about whats ahead for mDLs, what it will take to get the ecosystem up and running and how the industry is working towards a seamless adoption.

Attendees of the fourth webinar will get a better understanding of implementation considerations in the mDL ecosystem, including:

The webinar series is being developed as part of the Secure Technology Alliances mDL Initiative. The mDL Initiative, led by the Alliances Identity Council, champions the awareness, education, coordination, and adoption among leading industry organizations and potential end user organizations that rely on identity credentials. TheIdentity Councilprovides leadership and coordination and serves as the focal point for the Alliances identity and identity-related efforts leveraging embedded chip technology and privacy- and security-enhancing software. The Alliance launched a new public information web portal,www.mDLConnection.comto provide digital identity providers and early adopters with timely information about mobile drivers licenses, its uses and a state-by-state implementation tracker.

About the Secure Technology AllianceThe Secure Technology Alliance is the digital security industrys premier association. The Alliance brings together leading providers and adopters of end-to-end security solutions designed to protect privacy and digital assets in payments, mobile, identity and access, healthcare, transportation and the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) markets.

The Alliances mission is to stimulate understanding, adoption and widespread application of connected digital solutions based on secure chip and other technologies and systems needed to protect data, enable secure authentication and facilitate commerce.

The Alliance is driven by its U.S.-focused member companies. They collaborate by sharing expertise and industry best practices through industry and technology councils, focused events, educational resources, industry outreach, advocacy, training and certification programs. Through participation in the breadth of Alliance activities, members strengthen personal and organizational networks and take away the insights to build the business strategies needed to commercialize secure products and services in this dynamic environment.

For more information, please visit http://www.securetechalliance.org.

CONTACT:Adrian Loth and Dana KringelMontner Tech PR203-226-9290aloth@montner.comdkringel@montner.com

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Secure Technology Alliance Webinar to Explore Challenges to Robust Growth of the Mobile Driver's License Ecosystem - GlobeNewswire

Check out virtual Hempfest protestival, live this weekend – The Leaf Online

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In a normal year, the worlds largest annual cannabis event would have taken place in August, on the Seattle waterfront, drawing 100,000+ attendees and featuring multiple stages and hundreds of vendors.

This year, the 2020 Seattle Hempfest has moved on-line with a two day livestreamed event this weekend, featuring panel discussions and musical guests from all over America and beyond.

The theme of this years event is The Green Renaissance. Its organizers present an argument that the cannabis / hemp plant offers more solutions to humanitys growing problems than any other single renewable, natural resource. Legalization is one step, actualization is the journey ahead.

From renewable energy and safe, compassionate medicine to sustainable construction practices and nutritious food products, the cannabis plant is the one natural resource that can play a role in practically every issue we face as we experience the devastation wrought by climate change, says Seattle Hempfest executive director Vivian McPeak.

Our panel discussions are jam packed with educational content from the nations leading experts.

The two day virtual event will feature panel discussions all day both days on one channel, and music performances, guest speakers, and keynote presentations on the other channel.

Travel guru Rick Steves will be making a presentation about ongoing efforts to expand cannabis legalization, and TV personality Jason Gann from the Wilfred series will be speaking about cannabis and its use for spiritual development.

Musical acts from Japan, Ukraine, and Chile will perform, as well as Grammy Award winning acts Rickie Lee Jones and Bone, Thugs N Harmony. In addition musical guests from all across America will be performing at Seattles MOB Studios, or livestreamed from other regions, and pre-recorded video including Nirvana producer Jack Endinos band, Beyond Captain Orca.

On the educational channel, panel topics will include: Pediatric medicine and cannabis use, Race and inequity within cannabis, positive masculinity within the cannabis community, Hemp Construction: US Innovations & Supplies in Critical Times, Hemp & Regenerative Agriculture: How to Heal the Soil While Healing the World, Cannabis and hemp as food, Prisoner Advocacy, Cannabis, Entheogens, and Public Spiritual Health, and more.

Hemp is superior for super capacity batteries, being more efficient than graphene for hemp fiber battery storage.

Hemp-crete concrete is carbon negative, non-toxic to the environment, mold and mildew resistant, and many times lighter than gypsum based concrete. Hemp -board composite aids carbon sequestration by reducing the consumption of tree wood. Hemp wood is currently used for flooring, furniture, accent walls, and countertops. And while it takes 50 100 years for an oak tree to reach maturation, it only takes hemp 120 days to be a harvestable, useful resource.

Stores already stock hemp foods rich in protein and omega fatty acids such as hemp milk, hemp flour, and hemp oil. Cannabis is a crop that be grow on infertile soil preserving fertile, farmable soils for other food crops. Cannabis has been used as medicine for millennia, and is a safer recreational substance than alcohol or tobacco.

Surprisingly, cannabis represents a multifaceted gateway to a more sustainable future, says McPeak.

To learn more, be sure to join online this weekend.

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Check out virtual Hempfest protestival, live this weekend - The Leaf Online

How and Where To Play Blackjack With Bitcoin – Newswire

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The iconic and wildly popular card game called Blackjack is a great deal to play using Bitcoin. Let us discuss game types, differences and benefits of BTC Blackjack.

(Newswire.net -- October 7, 2020) -- According to Wikipedia, Blackjack is one of the most popular banking games in the world, which means it is played by a huge amount of gamblers from all over the world. Blackjack is a comparison card game played by two and more players including a game dealer. Each player competes with a dealer and does not compete against each other. This game requires a non-less 52 cards deck.

Bitcoin blackjack is a relatively new type of this card game which popularity grows super-fast the same as other crypto casino games popularity. The rules are similar to a classic game type but depositing and withdrawal are provided using a Bitcoin wallet.

There are several common rules, which will help you to make a choice on the safe to play Bitcoin blackjack casino:

License pay attention to this part as reliable casinos show their licenses in public being proud to be legally operating gambling platforms.

Reputation a number of years in the industry, as well as the rating among other gamblers, will say a lot about the platform.

Reviews carefully read the reviews left by other players to be sure you made the right choice.

Customer support a trustworthy Bitcoin blackjack casino will be ready to help its customers 24/7 via online live chat or email.

Bonuses good casinos offer not only welcome bonuses for new players, but loyalty programs for loyal customers as well.

No need to say https://7bitcasino.com/ meets all the mentioned requirements and can be named the best place to play Bitcoin Blackjack.

A shortlist of Bitcoin blackjack types consists of such categories as live Blackjack, Multiplayer, and Multi-hand.

Live Bitcoin Blackjack will require from a gambler an ability to build a viral game strategy. Better, choose this variant being a skilled player. Alternatively, go to an offline casino, which also uses Bitcoins.

Multiplayer Bitcoin Blackjack is a great example of a game type that gives a lot of winning opportunities and has low risks compared to Live Blackjack. Multiplayer Blackjack is more interesting because of an opportunity to play in real-time with other gamblers.

Multi-Hand Bitcoin Blackjack. The big plus of this game category is an opportunity to play more than one hand during a round. On the other side, the speed of the game will be very fast and in that case more challenging. Not recommended for beginners.

Summing up we need to consider there are plenty of Bitcoin Blackjack advantages, such as:

Payments are secured and provided safely because of a decentralized financial control system, which is the main whip-hand of blockchain technology.

A big number of online casinos and plenty of game categories to choose.

Playing can be provided completely anonymously.

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How and Where To Play Blackjack With Bitcoin - Newswire