Daily Archives: July 3, 2017

Volunteers with the Farmington Community Garden held a fundraiser Saturday to help move forward with the progress of the garden.

Garden Coordinator Melanie Montgomery said their fundraiser went very well. They held a rummage sale, seed swap and a lemonade stand.

Every person is walking away with something and that is great, said Montgomery. We have had a few people pay more than their total as a donation and we also had several people drop donations off. There was even one lady who dropped off a big bag of seeds for the garden. Another lady donated dried gourds.

Montgomery said they put this event together because they need funds to be able to buy the supplies to build the garden, which is located at Boyce and Perrine. She said last year they did really well, but have used those funds to buy the supplies for the garden.

We have had some supplies donated. The mulch was donated by Tall Timber Tree Service and the top soils was donated by CWC out of Perryville. Freedom waste also donated to the garden, Montgomery said. We are trying to build the rest of the garden. We have 12 more beds to build.

She explained there will be a childrens garden area and another area with fruit trees and berry bushes. They hope to have the garden complete by next year.

Its been moving along slowly because we have to work with what supplies we were able to buy, said Montgomery. Its been slow because we havent really had the funds to be able to buy the materials, so its taking us longer.

Montgomery said last year they had a hog roast and raised quite a bit of money, which allowed them to get the irrigation system. She stressed its really important they have that so its easier for everyone to water their beds.

Everybody really gets together and has helped build it, said Montgomery. Its really a community thing. Its all kinds of different people and it's great we can get together to so this. I want to thank everyone who has donated things and supported our events to make this possible for the community.

Brigitte Zettl, technical advisor for the garden,said the community designed the garden and she did the drafting.

We sat down together at the library and just voted on what we all wanted, said Zettl. I put it on paper and made it all fit to scale. We have a pretty strong core group of volunteers.

Zettl said to be honest, for the garden to move forward more quickly they need more help. They could use more people helping with fundraising events and especially building the garden.

Just coming on Saturdays putting the beds together, filling beds with soil and spreading mulch, said Zettl. The more the merrier and the faster we will have a beautiful garden here if more people come.

Zettl said there are people who have already bought some of the plots and they are $12 for a year to rent a plot.

You get one four by eight plot and you can do up to three per family, said Zettl. Actually we have quite a few still available and if you buy a plot this year, since the garden is still being built you can have the plot for free next year.

The page will come up and you can print off the application and send it in to the P.O. Box thats listed on the application, said Zettl. We usually have a garden meeting the first Friday of every month over at the Farmington Public Library and its at 6 p.m.

Zettl said that is great place to get more information and to meet everyone. She added this has been a really great opportunity for her and her daughter.

To do some character-building things together, helping to promote the garden and meet our neighbors, said Zettl. Building the garden together has been a wonderful thing for us to as family. It has been a real benefit to me to spend time together.

Read more:

Community Garden, a work in progress - Daily Journal Online

MUSCATINE Progress continues on Muscatine Power & Water's Fiber to the Home project. Expected to be completed in 2018, the project will provide faster internet and enhanced cable television services for customers of MP&W's Communications Utility by replacing traditional coaxial cable with fiber optic technology. On Tuesday, Tim Reed, director of utility service delivery, told the Board of Water, Electric, and Communications Trustees that 73,000 feet, or around 15 percent, of the new aerial wiring is in place, with 1,000 aerial drops completed, and 13,500 feet of new underground wiring is in place with 25 drops completed.

Reed said individual activations should begin in the fall.

"I hesitate to put a date on it because there are so many pieces that have to come together," Reed said.

During the meeting, the board authorized General Manager Sal LoBianco to enter into an agreement for competitive local exchange carrier switching services and operational support for the project. LoBianco said a five-year contract is being negotiated with ImOn Communications of Cedar Rapids to provide voice services.

"This will allow us to get into a business relationship with ImOn a little more quickly," LoBianco said.

All three utilities at Muscatine Power & Water continue to outperform the budget.

The Electric Utility was budgeted to post a deficit of $1,008,131 in May, but the actual loss was $467,510. Jerry Gowey, director of finance and administrative services, reported revenue of $7,383,000 in May was $555,000 more than budgeted. From January to May, a loss of $3,419,487 was budgeted, but the actual deficit was $1,676,283 with a cash balance of $46,227,000 and no debt.

The Water Utility was budgeted to post a loss of $27,898 in May, but the actual loss was $18,917. Gowey said May revenue of $527,000 was $6,707 better than budget. For the year to date through May, profit of $28,877 was budgeted, but actual profit of $154,816 has been posted with a cash balance of $461,000 and debt of $5.6 million. Of that, $5.5 million was to the Electric Utility and $100,000 was to Iowa's State Revolving Fund.

A profit of $147,459 was budgeted for the Communications Utility in May, but the actual profit was $210,103. Gowey said May revenue of $1,158,000 was $10,642 better than budget. For the year through May, a profit of $557,879 was budgeted, but actual profit of $918,967 was posted with a cash balance of $881,000 and debt of $9,044,000, all to the Electric Utility.

The board approved changes in its leadership, effective July 1. Board Chair Susan Eversmeyer, co-owner of River Rehabilitation, stepped down as board chair. Vice Chair Doyle Tubandt, president of Kent Corporation, will replace Eversmeyer. Keith Porter, president and CEO of Stanley Foundation, will be the new Vice Chair.

Gowey will continue as the Board Secretary.

Link:

Progress continues on Fiber to Home project - Muscatine Journal

Michael Symons, Townsquare Media

TRENTON The board that counts votes in the Assembly chamber stayed largely as it was on Sunday from where it was when the government shutdown began with one small difference, a vote moving from the abstention list to those voting in favor of the budget.

Assemblyman James Kennedy from Rahway said that while he knows it may take longer for some of his colleaguesto move on the budget he did what he believed was right, and was going back to where he originally stood on the budget.

Kennedy said after he first cast his vote he noticed the rest of the votes made what he described as a Christmas tree.

It was divided almost in thirds, he said. I believe there were 27 yes votes and 25 no votes and then 22 abstentions.

Christie OKd posters at government offices blaming speaker for shutdown. Is that legal?

After 30 minutes of seeing very little movement on the votes Kennedy said he changed his vote to abstain when he realized things were at a standstill.

The speaker asked me why I had changed my vote, and I told him that we need to go back and negotiate some sort of settlement, he said. The message I was sending to leadership was go back in the back room (and negotiate). It doesnt seem like were so far away from a settlement based on what everybody is saying. Theres gotta be something that makes this move.

Horizon in the conversation as shutdown continues, Sweeney says

When members of the assembly asked about the disparity in votes Kennedy said initially they were told that the divide was not related to Governor Chris Christies plans to overhaul the funding and governance of Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield, but rather to do with an issue of the governor looking for the newspapers or something else that had been previously talked about.

After a full day passed with little to no movement Kennedy said It became blatantly obvious that this was about Horizon, and nothing but Horizon.

I find it difficult to understand why youd shut down government over an issue thats not even in this particular budget, he said. So here we are. Hes down at a state park and nobody else is and the rest is history.

After two decades as the mayor of Rahway, Kennedy is at the end of his first term in Trenton, and said he has heard the concerns of his constituents.

Primarily we were hearing anger over the Horizon bill, he said. Theres a great number of people in New Jersey that are covered by them including myself and others.

While the Horizon bill has not yet been presented to the Assembly, Kennedy said he had heard enough talk about it among his colleagues to believe that a compromise could be reached.

Theres room for negotiation and it seems unconscionable to shut down government on Fourth of July weekend, he said.

Even as Kennedy moved to the yes column and there was talk of a second moving on Sunday as well Kennedy said he knows it could be a long process to get to a final resolution.

Im a realist. I think youll see a few more, but I dont see it reaching 41 that easily, he said. I wouldnt be surprised if I saw at the end of the frustration when the public is totally disgusted with the inaction that maybe the Rs come over and approve the budget.

Even if the budget is approved Kennedy said he and his colleagues are aware there could be consequences if the Horizon bill is not approved as well.

Budget impasse leads to NJ government shutdown heres whats open & closed

Everybody knows the results of that. Its going to be a slash and burn approach instead of realistically looking at this without punishing people whose opinion is different than others, he said. Thats the sad part of government today.

At a time when partisan politics is at a boiling point at all levels of government Kennedy, a Democrat, said he is a team player to a point, but when its irrational Im not.

Theres a lot of Republicans that are like that. Theres a lot of Democrats that are like that. And there needs to be some common sense here, he said. This budget should be approved. Ive talked to colleagues on both sides of the aisle that say hey, this is as good of a budget as were going to carve. They should approve it.

Whenthe shutdown comes to an end and the government reopens Kennedy said there will still be plenty of work for the legislature to do.

Then you go back to governing, he said. Its last weeks news and therell be new issues to deal with. Its not like the state isnt suffering from important things to deal with.

Christie has called for a special session of both houses of the legislature for 10 a.m. on Monday morning to address the shutdown and budget standstill.

More From New Jersey 101.5

Subscribe to New Jersey 101.5 FM on

Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 orAdam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com

More:

Small progress in budget standstill as one NJ assemblyman changes vote - New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio

Another summer, another affirmative action lawsuit.

Edward Blum, the legal strategist and conservative activist who orchestrated the Fisher v. University of Texas lawsuit, is seeking to sue the University over concerns regarding the admissions process once more. Blum argues this time using the Texas Constitution that UT cannot consider applicants differently because of race and ethnicity.

Blums lawsuit, filed in support of white and Asian plaintiffs who felt disadvantaged by the policy, makes the same denunciation of affirmative action as in the previous Fisher v. University of Texas case. This isnt an issue of whether or not certain groups, including Asian applicants, have a right to feel wronged this is a matter of repeatedly attacking a necessary protection and offering nothing constructive in its place.

Blum, a Texas Ex, isnt a lawyer, but nonetheless has a knack for ushering cases into the federal arena. A seasoned strategist, Blums current mission is to reconstruct the Universitys admissions processes so that they adhere to one interpretation of Texas Equal Rights Amendment (1972). That is, disable the consideration of race when reviewing the 25 percent of students who are not admitted automatically to the University, a process he feels violates the amendments equality protection.

The lawsuits goal of eliminating a system which protects one population black and Hispanic applicants but sporadically hinders another in the eyes of his nonprofit, Students for Fair Admissions, is tantamount to simply shifting the burden of inequality. We need to be constructive instead of targeting already disadvantaged populations when tackling the staggeringly tricky issue of discrimination.

Disabling Texas use of affirmative action is a mistake that will only benefit the select members of Blums nonprofit, students who decry a perceived inequity in admissions when white and Asian students are stacked up against students of other races.

To those who feel wronged by the system, consider the inherent advantage in being white, in being male and white, or even the advantage in being poor and white instead of poor and black or Hispanic. Consider the gradation of discrimination experienced by Asians: Some Asians benefit from affirmative action, while others are less advantaged. Changing the demographics wont alter the far-reaching, and harmful, precedent Blums case hopes to set.

Affirmative action provides Texans with greater opportunity to succeed. Top universities, including Harvard University, Brown University and The University of Chicago, stand firmly in support of affirmative action. Fortune 500 companies support affirmative action. The growth of the UT student body agrees with affirmative action: Diversity increased once the measure was readopted in 2005.

The legal battle over equality in university admissions will not end once the new suit has been filed and resolved. This is a contentious issue with no obvious resolution. Affirmative action is a strong step in the right direction. While I might be counted among those who benefit from a ruling in Blums favor, I know that we must continue to protect diversity in our student body with every instrument available.

We have to stand firmly against discrimination. In the face of pressure to alter admissions processes, we must use affirmative action as a tool to level the playing field for all Texans.

Emily Severe is a Business Honors junior from Round Rock, Texas.

More:

With new affirmative action case, no progress - UT The Daily Texan