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11 Things You Should Never Say To a Caregiver

Some things simply shouldn’t be said.

When they come from people who don’t know what someone else is going through, even well-intentioned comments and questions can be frustrating and hurtful.

Cindy Laverty, caregiver coach, radio talk show host, and author of, “Caregiving: Eldercare Made Clear and Simple,” offers examples of phrases that can leave caregivers thinking, “Did she really just say that?”

  1. “Why are you having such a hard time being a caregiver?” Usually voiced by someone who has never been a caregiver for an elderly loved one, this question can be very difficult for a caregiver to hear. As Laverty points out, it effectively takes their role of providing care for a loved one, and diminishes it.
  2. “Gosh…we haven’t seen you in such a long time. Why don’t you get out more?” Though it probably comes from a place of love, Laverty points out that this can be an unproductive way to express concern for a friend or family member who is a caregiver. “The truth is that most caregivers do need to get out more, but this is an insensitive way of saying it,” she says.
  3. “You look really tired. Are you making sure to take care of yourself?” Caregivers generally have a good reason for looking tired and haggard—because they are. “The biggest issue for caregivers is that they tend to sacrifice personal care—it’s the first thing that goes,” Laverty says. Caregivers look tired because they are not getting enough sleep, they spend their nights worrying and making sure their loved one doesn’t wander. But, that doesn’t mean that they appreciate having that fact pointed out to them.
  4. “Caregiving seems like a burden. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your life for your mother’s.” Caregiving is hard. That’s why so many people, both caregivers and non-caregivers alike, refer to it as a ‘burden.’ But, according to Laverty, when a friend or family member likens caregiving to a burden, what they’re really telling the caregiver is that they aren’t handling the situation properly and that this isn’t what they should be doing with their life. “Caregivers get into their role because they started out as loving, caring people trying to do the right thing,” she says.
  5. “You need to get a ‘real’ life.” As the old saying goes, ‘you’re preaching to the choir.’ “Every caregiver understands that they need to get a life, have a plan, start making time for themselves,” Laverty says. But, telling a caregiver to ‘get a life’ is like telling them that what they’re doing now (caring for a loved one) doesn’t matter.
  6. “Why don’t you just put you mother in a nursing home? It would be better for everyone.” Laverty says that comments like this can make a caregiver feel like they’re not doing a good job taking care of their loved one. The reality is, a nursing home might not be financially feasible, or a caregiver may be trying to keep their loved one at home for as long as possible. Outsiders think they’re offering good advice, when they might really just (unintentionally) be making a caregiver feel guilty.
  7. “Why do you visit your dad so much? He doesn’t even know you.” If a caregiver is taking care of someone who has Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia and lives in a nursing home, people may ask why they bother to visit someone who doesn’t even remember who they are. “People need human contact and love, or they will just shrivel up and die,” Laverty says, “Caregivers shouldn’t feel stupid for going to visit someone who doesn’t recognize them outwardly. As long as they know who their loved one is, that’s all that should matter.”
  8. “Don’t feel guilty about…” When you’re a caregiver, “guilt just comes with the territory,” according to Laverty. Caregivers want to fix everything, to solve every problem, to ease every hurt, when the reality is that no one can do it all. When people tell a caregiver not to feel guilty about something, it can make things worse by bringing that guilt to the forefront of their mind.
  9. “Let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about something happy and fun.” When it comes to your average small talk scenario, caregivers generally don’t have a lot of “fun” things to contribute. Laverty says that people need to understand that people taking care of an elderly loved one need to talk about what’s going on. Friends and family members of caregivers should take the time to listen to what a caregiver has to say, no matter how ‘unpleasant,’ or ‘unhappy’ it is.
  10. “You must be so relieved that it’s over.” When their elderly loved one dies a caregiver is likely to be facing a bunch of mixed up emotions. Relief may be one of those feelings, but Laverty feels that it’s probably not productive to point this out to a person who has just lost a parent, spouse, or sibling. “If you diminish the event, you diminish the life and effort of the caregiver,” she says.
  11. “When are you going to get over it (a senior’s death) and move on?” Grief is an individual process. For some people, processing the death of a loved one will take some time. This is particularly true of caregivers, who’ve poured a significant amount of time and energy into taking care of the person who has just passed.

Tips for responding to callous comments

Conventional conversational courtesies tend to fly out the window when intense situations (like caregiving) and strong emotions collide.

Caregivers, according to Laverty, tend to have a heightened sensitivity. “Everything seems to affect you more than when you’re a normal person going to work and dealing with family, because you’re so on edge and trying to do a million things in a day,” she says.

It’s easy for stressed-out caregiver to take a well-intentioned comment or question the wrong way and snap at whoever said it. Laverty has a few general suggestions for caregivers:

  1. Respond calmly to whatever is said.
  2. If you’re hurt by someone’s question or comment, you can say “I know that you really care about me, but what you just said didn’t feel good, here’s why…”
  3. Use hurtful comments as a way to ask for help. For example, you could say: “I’d love to figure out how to, ‘get a life.’ As my friend, would you be willing to sit down and brainstorm ways to help me balance being a caregiver and having a ‘real’ life?”

Conversely, friends and family members bear some responsibility for expressing their concern in appropriate ways. Laverty’s advice: “Think before you say something stupid.”

Interactions between caregivers and their family and friends have the potential to be helpful and fulfilling for both parties. When in doubt, following the Golden Rule and treating someone how you would like to be treated always works best. As Laverty says, “We get these packages that say, ‘Handle with care.’ Why don’t we make efforts to apply that to each other?”

A former caregiver, Cindy Laverty is the Founder of The Care Company, and host of The Cindy Laverty Show, the nation’s only commercial radio program dedicated to the subject of CARE – how we care for ourselves, so we can better care for each other. Cindy has established herself as an advocate and coach for America’s family caregiver. For more information, visit her website.

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Neurology for Primary Care - 12 Credit Hours
La Fonda on the Plaza
Sep 06-08, 2019

Neurology for Primary Care

Physician Fee

$ 895

Non-Physician Fee

$ 795

Venue Information

La Fonda on the Plaza

Room starting at $239 per night*

*Hotel rates subject to change based on date and availability
100 East San Francisco St
Santa Fe
New Mexico  87501
☏  800-523-5002

Hotel Reservation Information

Please use one of the options below to book the negotiated conference rate.
Reservation Link Click here
Reservation Phone 800-523-5003
Group Code
Passport Required for US citizen?No
Airports Nearby Santa Fe Regional Airport(SAF)
Conference Note

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2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class E 300 Sedan

Highlighted Features

  • Navigation system

  • Automatic temperature control

  • Emergency communication system

  • Power moonroof

  • Premium audio system

  • Wireless phone connectivity

  • Front dual zone A/C

  • Rain sensing wipers

We're sorry, we cannot accept your information at this time. Please try again later or contact one of our representatives and they will gladly assist you over the phone.
  • Comments: Certified. Selenite Gray Metallic 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class E 300 Sport RWD 9-Speed Automatic I4

    One Owner, Clean Carfax, Local Trade, Non-Smoker, 19 AMG Twin 5-Spoke Wheels, Blind Spot Assist, Burmester Surround Sound System, Electric Trunk Closer, Hands-Free Access, Heated Front Seats, KEYLESS GO Comfort Package Code, KEYLESS GO , Navigation system: COMAND, NFC Wireless Charging, Parking Pilot, Perforated Front Brake Discs & Fr Brake Calipers, Premium 1 Package, Rear-View Camera, SiriusXM Radio, Sport Body Styling, Sport Interior, Sport Interior (P15), Sport Wheel Package.

    Recent Arrival! 22/30 City/Highway MPG

    Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned Details:

    * Transferable Warranty
    * Warranty Deductible: $0
    * Roadside Assistance
    * 150 Point Inspection
    * Includes Trip Interruption Reimbursement and 7 days/500 miles Exchange Privilege
    * Limited Warranty: 12 Month/Unlimited Mile beginning after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date
    * Vehicle History

    Thank you for choosing Fields Auto Group...as part of our unique level of service, all of our customers enjoy automatic enrollment in our Fields Matters Loyalty Program. This program offers you and your vehicle a wide array of exclusive amenities such as; Complimentary Car Washes, 10% off Accessories and Clothing, Internet Work Stations, Fields Gourmet Coffee Bar and Ice Cream, Free Service Loaners with Scheduled Appointments, Local Shuttle, Free Wi-Fi and much more. Please call or visit us for complete Fields Matters details!

    * Balance of comfort and performance makes it an appealing daily driver; solid fuel efficiency from the standard four-cylinder engine; plenty of room for adult-sized passengers in back; elegant design inside and out gives it a true luxury appearance. Source: Edmunds
    * Elegant interior and exterior design; excellent balance between agile handling and a comfortable ride; abundant safety equipment that is better executed than most; fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. Source: Edmunds
    * Balance of comfort and performance makes it an appealing daily driver; solid fuel efficiency from the standard four-cylinder engine; plenty of room for adult-sized passengers in back; a long list of advanced safety features are available; elegant design inside and out gives it a true luxury appearance. Source: Edmunds
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
  • Certified
  • Carfax One Owner

Detailed Specifications

Convenience Features

  • Tilt steering wheel
  • Air conditioning
  • Garage door transmitter: Homelink
  • Front beverage holders
  • Speed control
  • Illuminated entry
  • Telescoping steering wheel
  • Rear beverage holders
  • Power windows
  • Passenger door bin
  • Power moonroof
  • 1-touch down
  • Driver vanity mirror
  • Auto-dimming rearview mirror
  • Auto tilt-away steering wheel
  • Rear door bins
  • Front dual zone A/C
  • Steering wheel memory
  • Memory seat
  • Head restraints memory
  • Residual heat recirculation
  • Automatic temperature control
  • Remote keyless entry
  • Overhead console
  • Passenger vanity mirror
  • Driver door bin
  • Emergency communication system
  • 1-touch up
  • Navigation system: COMAND

Entertainment Features

  • Primary LCD size: 12.3"
  • Premium audio system: COMAND
  • Radio data system
  • Wireless phone connectivity: Bluetooth
  • Weather band radio
  • MP3 decoder
  • 1st row LCD monitors: 2
  • Steering wheel mounted audio controls

Seats and Trim

  • Genuine wood door panel insert
  • Power passenger seat
  • Front center armrest
  • Genuine wood console insert
  • Leather shift knob
  • Max seating capacity: 5
  • Rear seats: bench
  • Front seats: bucket
  • Genuine wood dashboard insert
  • Power driver seat
  • Power 4-way driver lumbar support
  • Rear seat center armrest
  • Split folding rear seat
  • Power 4-way passenger lumbar support

Specs and Dimensions

  • Compression ratio: 9.80 to 1
  • Engine horsepower: 241hp @ 5,500RPM
  • Front headroom: 963mm (37.9")
  • Rear legroom: 909mm (35.8")
  • Turning radius: 5.8m (19.0')
  • Exterior height: 1,468mm (57.8")
  • Front shoulder room: 1,468mm (57.8")
  • Wheelbase: 2,939mm (115.7")
  • Exterior body width: 1,872mm (73.7")
  • Engine bore x stroke: 83.1mm x 91.9mm (3.27" x 3.62")
  • Rear headroom: 970mm (38.2")
  • Front legroom: 1,049mm (41.3")
  • Interior maximum cargo volume: 371 L (13 cu.ft.)
  • Exterior length: 4,923mm (193.8")
  • Engine displacement: 2.0 L
  • Engine torque: 273 lb.-ft. @ 1,300RPM
  • Rear shoulder room: 1,445mm (56.9")
  • Interior cargo volume: 371 L (13 cu.ft.)

Body Exterior

  • Tailpipe finisher: chrome
  • Door mirrors: body-color
  • Auto-dimming door mirrors
  • Turn signal indicator mirrors
  • Power door mirrors
  • Bumpers: body-color
  • Heated door mirrors

  • Fuel economy city: 22mpg
  • Mode select transmission
  • Horsepower: 241hp @ 5,500RPM
  • Fuel economy highway: 30mpg
  • Transmission: 9 speed automatic
  • Variable valve control
  • Engine liters: 2.0
  • Manual-shift auto: TouchShift
  • Fuel tank capacity: 17.4gal.
  • Fuel economy combined: 25mpg
  • Cylinder configuration: I-4
  • Recommended fuel: Premium Unleaded
  • Engine location: front
  • Torque: 273 lb.-ft. @ 1,300RPM
  • Variable intake manifold
  • Number of valves: 16
  • Drive type: rear-wheel
  • Compressor: intercooled turbo

Safety and Security

  • Traction control
  • Knee airbag
  • Brake assist
  • Electronic stability
  • Adjustable head restraints: driver and passenger w/tilt
  • Occupant sensing airbag
  • Dual front impact airbags
  • Power adjustable front head restraints
  • Power adjustable rear head restraints
  • ABS brakes
  • Perimeter/approach lights
  • Security system
  • Dual front side impact airbags
  • Anti-whiplash front head restraints
  • 4 wheel disc brakes
  • Panic alarm
  • Overhead airbag
  • Ignition disable

  • Speed-sensing steering
  • Four wheel independent suspension
  • Rear anti-roll bar
  • Front anti-roll bar
  • Power steering
  • Sport suspension
  • Alloy wheels

Lighting, Visibility and Instrumentation

  • Forward collision: mitigation
  • Tachometer
  • Fully automatic headlights
  • Rear fog lights
  • Trip computer
  • Delay-off headlights
  • Display: digital/analog
  • Variably intermittent wipers
  • Rear window defroster
  • Low tire pressure warning
  • Outside temperature display
  • Rain sensing wipers
  • Front reading lights
  • Rear reading lights

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Manchester-based parking aggregator ParkVia provides car drivers with the facility to pre-book car parking spaces online. They work with more than 2000 car parks in over 40 countries worldwide. These are predominantly at airports, but also railway stations and ports. Clients include car parks themselves, for whom they market spaces to consumers worldwide, and airlines, including Ryanair, EasyJet, and IAG.

How was the deal introduced?

The team was originally introduced to the opportunity by KJG Chartered Accountants in a competitive auction process towards the end of 2017. Mercia was invited to proceed on an exclusive basis in early April 2018.

What did the company plan to use the initial funds for?

The investment of £4m provided a full exit for two of the three founder shareholders of ParkVia, and a partial realisation for the current MD. The transaction was an MBO at a sensible price for a highly scalable business. We backed an MD who remains motivated to grow the business and achieve an exit over the relatively short-term.

What progress has the company made since the first investment?

Since the investment there has been considerable focus on developing the team, and several executive team appointments have been made to support the MD, including a finance director, sales director and commercial director. Mercia has also appointed the former CEO of HolidayTaxis as non-executive chair.

With Mercia’s support, the company is also in the process of implementing a share options scheme to incentivise employees. A three-year plan is in preparation which reflects the changes to the business since the pre-investment plan and new customers that have been won, including IAG.

The Mercia Effect

What have we been able to do for this company as a result of our involvement?

Mercia has provided a longer-term approach to investment in the business and of course assistance to enable the MD to buy out his co-founders. We have also assisted with the development of the executive team and board through engagement with our Executive Search partner, along with other advisors as appropriate. We have been able to introduce the MD and team to Mercia portfolio companies that could potentially provide advice and assistance and have also made introductions to contacts who have provided support on an interim basis.


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2nd Annual Portland Radler Festival

Sat, Aug 11, 2018 from 12pm - 6pm

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At the 2nd Annual Portland Radler Festival there will be over 20 breweries/cideries that will be pouring Radlers. What is a Radler? It is an amazingly thirst quenching combination of beer and fruit soda. There may not be a better drink on a hot Portland summer day, and this just might be the most refreshing beer festival of the summer! The street will be tented for shade and there will be live music too! The Radler List and ticket sales will be announced soon!
Presale tickets are only $18, which includes festival mug and 10 tickets. $20 at the door for festival mug and 8 tickets, so buy early! The Portland Radler Festival is happening Saturday August 11, 2018 at StormBreaker Brewing on Historic Mississippi Avenue.

StormBreaker Brewing

832 N Beech St
Portland, OR 97227

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F.H. Steinbart's 100 Anniversary Beer Festival Presented by The Caputo Group

Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 12pm

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Celebrate 100 years of F.H. Steinbart's service to the brewing community by attending a commemorative beer festival.  Join 18 of your favorite local breweries and cideries, many of which Steinbart has helped along the way. The Festival will be a non-profit event to benefit the Oregon brewing community. All profits will be donated to The Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, which funds brewing education scholarships. $25 dollars gets you entry, commemorative glass and ten drink tokens.  Additional drink tickets are available at the fest along with a raffle and food carts.

Thank you to The Caputo Group, the Premiere Sponsor of the event, for their partnership in making the festival happen! Full list of sponsors and more details here: bit.ly/2zxhcWA

Special beers and ciders being poured by our friends at Baerlic Brewing / Breakside Brewery / Cider Riot! / Coalition Brewing / Great Notion Brewing / Ground Breaker Brewing / Hair of the Dog Brewing / Heater Allen Brewing / Hopworks Urban Brewing / Labrewatory Brewing / Laurelwood Brewing / Lucky Labrador Brewing / pFriem Family Brewers / Pono Brewing / Portland Cider Co. / Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider /Rosenstadt Brewery / Wayfinder Beer.

District East

2305 SE 9th Ave
Portland, OR 97214

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Brandy & Aaron

Brandy and Aaron have outgrown their single-level home. And with Brandy in a wheelchair, creating a function, accessible layout is essential for Brandy and Aaron to fall back in love with their home.

To create the open concept kitchen and their dream space, the Love It or List It Vancouver team removed walls, some existing cabinetry and a pantry. The result? More than enough space throughout the kitchen to accommodate Brandy and her wheelchair. Stunning features of this new kitchen include a farmhouse sink, lots of custom cabinetry and a pantry bar. It also has one of the largest islands every created on Love It or List It Vancouver, measuring 12 feet.


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Co-ops and Internships with Dr. Phil Gardner

Join Dr. Phil Gardner, Director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University to learn the benefits of co-ops and internships. Learn how to get started on your search for these types of experiential learning opportunities, and how the O’Brien Center can help!

The O’Brien Center for Student Success is pleased to host Dr. Philip D. Gardner, Director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University.

Dr. Gardner is a distinguished researcher and international speaker on the transition from college to work, early socialization and career progression in the workplace, workforce readiness, and other areas related to college student studies. MSU’s nationally recognized annual college labor market study is done under his direction each fall. He served as senior editor of the Journal of Cooperative Education and Internships. In the spring of 2009 Dr. Gardner served as a Fulbright specialist to New Zealand on work-integrated learning. Dr. Gardner has been with MSU for 28 years after receiving degrees from Whitman College (BA in Chemistry) and Michigan State University (Ph.D. in Resource & Development Economics/Public Policy).

The Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University was established in 1985 by an act of the Michigan legislature, the Institute was charged with collecting and analyzing information on the initial employment (upon graduation) for the college educated workforce from all four-year institutions within the state. Later two-year graduates from the State’s community college system were included in this responsibility. The Institute’s charge rose from concerns of a “brain drain” during and following the economic recession of the early 1980’s. In line with this work on graduate destinations, research was started on: the socialization experience of new college graduates in the workplace; learning strategies used to enhance workplace performance; impact of co-op and internships on transition outcomes; and recruiter practices, such as use of resumes and behavioral interviewing. A major project which has stimulated discussions and program initiatives is on the acquisition/development of complementary skills and competencies that are required in the work, in addition to disciplinary mastery. This work has evolved into examination of co-curricular activities that support social learning/community of practice.  The research readily identifiable with the Institute is “Recruiting Trends.” Michigan State University, for 30 years, conducts an annual survey of national employers seeking their intentions for hiring new college graduates. This study provides a snapshot of factors influencing the college labor market, as well as in-depth examination of key issues in college recruiting. For more information, visit

Dr. Gardner will host “Conversations with the faculty” on Monday, March 11th, noon-1:30 pm in Murray Lounge, as well as a special student session - open to the entire campus community - on Monday evening, 4-5 pm in the Rogers Center. The O’Brien Center will also host career and student success professionals, representing 18 institutions of higher education in New England on Tuesday, March 12th for a special segment on recruiting trends and hiring projections.

By Office of Communications
Previous Article Student Success Story: Brittany Rocheleau February 12
Next Article Student Success Story: Colin Cunniff April 16
Rogers Center for the Arts


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G-Clef Pen

Price: $34.00 Members: $30.60

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Handsomely fitted with a nickel-silver G-clef clip, this rollerball pen is finished in rich black lacquer with a cushioned grip, making it the perfect writing instrument for composing symphonies or shopping lists—and everything in between.

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Music Notes

Most Western music is based on a system of notation that evolved around 1600 out of earlier practices. The starting point for any opera is the full score, which contains all individual voices and instruments arranged in a specific order on the page. The written music—representing the sounds a composer creates in his head—then comes to life performed by singers onstage and played by the orchestra.

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Resources | Metropolitan Mortuary

We have compiled these resources to help you in your time of need. If you have further questions, you can visit our Frequently Asked Questions page, call us at (951) 683-5400, or contact us here. "A Life lived, is a Life worth being remembered"

  • Merchandise

    Metropolitan Mortuary is proud to offer our families the finest in cremation and burial products. We invite you to review our selection prior to meeting with a member of our staff for the arrangement conference.

    Read more
  • Helpful Links

    Helpful Links

    Here you will find different links to local businesses that provide helpful products and services.

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  • When a Death Occurs

    When a Death Occurs

    When a death occurs, the order in which things need to be done often depends on where the death occurred. That's why we suggest that you ask a friend for help - someone who is more able to think clearly, and give you the support you need.

    Read more
  • General Price Lists

    General Price Lists

    View all of our General Price List documents.

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  • Funeral Etiquette

    Funeral Etiquette

    Accepted customs of dress and behavior in a funeral have changed over time, but courtesy never goes out of style. Here's what we'd like you to know about funeral etiquette.

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  • Frequently Asked Questions

    Frequently Asked Questions

    You'll find the answers to some of the most common questions relating to the value of a funeral, or memorial service, the practices of funeral service and funeral home operation.

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With Ascentium Capital’s equipment leasing and financing programs, you’ll experience:

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  • Low-to-no upfront costs: Deferred payment and 100% financing options are available
  • Buying confidence: With our pre-approvals, companies know what they can afford to spend when shopping for equipment

Plus: ask about all-inclusive financing. The cost of new equipment goes beyond the sticker price and may also include shipping, taxes and other expenses. Ascentium’s 100% financing means financing these expenses assists in avoiding upfront costs.

If you have any questions regarding your financing needs pick up the phone and call for a no-obligation consultation and let Ascentium help you find the best solution for your needs.


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New American Awards Gala: We Are Family

Thursday, May 16, 2019 from 6:30 PM to 12:00 AM - English

Catholic Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Miami will present its annual New American Awards Gala, this year with the theme, "We Are Family," on Thursday, May 16, at The Rusty Pelican restaurant on Key Biscayne, beginning with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7:30 p.m.

2019 honorees:

  • Capó Family, founder, El Dorado Furniture
  • Angelo E. Gousse, MD, urological surgeon, urologist & family
  • Antilles Province of the Society of Jesus “Miami Belen Jesuit” (Religious Superior: Father Alberto García, S.J.)
  • Eric Yutzy, anchor & reporter, ABC 10 News, Emmy & Associated Press Award winner& family

The New American Awards recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals (families) with immigrant backgrounds who have significantly contributed to the community, to our country and to our identity as Americans.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, go to

Show more >>

The Annual Awards Gala is Catholic Legal Services' major fundraising event. Catholic Legal Services is a nationally recognized agency with an experienced team of attorneys and immigration professionals and whose mission is to provide professional legal services to those who come from foreign lands who lack sufficient means to obtain representation without regard to faith or national origin.

With your ongoing support, we will continue to provide legal services to immigrants who cannot afford private counsel. These services include representation before the Immigration Court (IC), Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Juvenile Court (JC).

More than 2,000 individuals seek the services of CLS each month including immigrants seeking to reunite with their families, many of whom were separated at the border; political and religious refugees seeking safety and security, many of whom have experienced persecution and torture; battered spouses and their children; and long-term residents of the United States with significant family and community ties who face deportation.

The Rusty Pelican
3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne, FL 33149 (Map)

Contact Information

Myriam Mezadieu


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Front Page » Communities » The Underline on a $100 million quest

The Underline on a $100 million quest

Written by on May 31, 2016
The Underline on a $100 million quest

The Underline, Miami’s soon-to-be 10-mile linear park and urban trail running along the land below the Metrorail, continues on its seemingly obstacle-free path to break ground early next year, with just under $8 million in funds secured.

But with a total cost estimated at $100 million, how to fill in the entire financial path remains far from clear. Organizers say they are exploring many options.

A special taxing district might be among them.

The Underline master plan was designed by James Corner Field Operations, an urban design and landscape architecture practice based in New York City that led the design and construction of Manhattan’s 23-city-block-long elevated public spaces called the High Line.

“There’s no project moving at this speed, not only in this country but the whole world. We have such a big need and that’s why people are putting it together,” said Meg Daly, president and CEO of Friends of The Underline, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

HR&A Advisors, an urban development consulting firm based in New York, assembled the economic impact study, completed last December.

The study revolves around appreciation of real estate values, incremental taxes derived from an increase in real estate values, job creation and economic contribution, Ms. Daly said.

Real estate value was evaluated, she said, by looking at properties directly adjacent to the corridor and other analytics of properties as far as one-third of a mile from the corridor in each direction.

“Similar signature linear parks across the country indicate that the value of nearby residential and commercial properties increases by about 3%-5% with the creation of nearby open space, with the greatest impact occurring on properties directly adjacent to the park,” said Maria Nardi, chief of planning and design excellence for Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces.

“The closer you get to green space, the higher the appreciation of your property value,” she said, with a 25% bump for properties directly adjacent to the corridor and 5% for the farthest ones.

However, the Underline isn’t asking or expecting property owners to help fund the project, Ms. Daly said.

“We’re not going to people and businesses along this corridor and asking them to write a check,” she said. “What we’re hoping they will do are support and become advocates for it and say ‘we’re really excited about building out a beautiful vision.’”

HR&A Advisors’ Economic Benefits of The Underline forecasts $300 million-$485 million in incremental assessed value for existing properties and $6 million-$10 million new annual tax revenue for Miami-Dade County and the cities of Miami, Coral Gables and South Miami.

The project is a Metropolitan Planning Organization priority in its five-year work plan. With the economic impact study and maintenance plan complete, construction documents are under way and expected to be completed this fall, with construction planned to begin on the first of six phases, Brickell Backyard, early next year.

The project is forecast to have $170 million in total economic output during construction, creating 1,000 jobs then and $50 million in economic activity every year following completion, with more than 400 permanent jobs during operations.

Parks like the $14 million-a-mile Atlanta BeltLine or $35 million-a-mile Chicago 606 are great examples of trails that were funded through multiple partnerships, Ms. Nardi said.

The Underline will cost about $10 million a mile, according to Ms. Daly.

“Funds for the underline are coming from the public and private sector,” Ms. Nardi said.

Those include:

•$3.25 million from Miami-Dade County.

•$1 million from the City of Miami.

•$1 million from the Florida Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program grant for the Brickell Promenade.

•$2 million from the State of Florida’s 2015 Transportation and Economic Development budget.

•$300,000 from private donors.

•$250,000 from the Knight Cities Challenge.

Sponsored by Florida Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, the project has a $2 million placeholder in the Transportation and Economic Development budget of a requested $5 million, Ms. Daly said. The Knight Foundation awarded the project $250,000 for an outdoor gym in Brickell through the Knight Cities Challenge.

Ms. Daly said it’s too early to tell whether to look into creating special taxing districts, a mechanism wherein property owners elect to pay special assessments levied on their properties in order to receive public services or improvements that couldn’t otherwise conveniently be provided.

The trail would provide health, social, economic, improved mobility, and environmental benefits, Ms. Nardi said.

“The Underline would encourage healthy lifestyles with greater access to a linear park and trail for biking, walking, running, encouraging people to bike to work, shop and play instead of drive to work and increase transit ridership,” Ms. Nardi said.

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, an organization that converts abandoned railroad tracks into biking, hiking and walking trails, stated that visitors spend $1.59 million a year along the Virginia Creeper Trail in Southwest Virginia, providing an estimated 27 new full time jobs.

“We’re exploring all options. For a big vision to be implemented you have to be very creative,” she said. “These sorts of projects have been very successfully implemented in other communities… We’re trying to transform the way we move here, packaged up with a beautiful green ribbon of a park space.”

5 Responses to The Underline on a $100 million quest

  1. Agustin Bunuel

    June 1, 2016 at 12:37 am

    This is a really bad idea.
    US1 is a parking lot during rush hours and a speed way during the rest of the day. Adding a park will endanger lives. How long until a child runs on to the street or a car barrels through whatever fencing they erect.
    Please reconsider. Expand the road. Add an express lane with exits on Bird, Sunset and Kendall.

    • Design Thinking

      June 1, 2016 at 4:07 pm

      I can’t dispute the traffick on US1, but I also can’t dispute the worth of improving the utility of existing green space. Express lanes would increase the speed of traffick along a retail/pedestrian district. Not sure that addresses the risk to children. It may likely increase the risk.

      • Agustin Bunuel

        June 1, 2016 at 9:11 pm

        US1 is not a retail/pedestrian district. The need to improve the congestion supercedes “green” space.

  2. Carlitos

    June 2, 2016 at 11:57 am

    I hope and believe they will landscape with native plants some attracting birds and butterflies, focus on an impermeable barrier for cars gone array, and possibly include jumps for mountain bikes, a straight track per say. Great idea! Also think the Metrorail need expand west with various east-west extensions because buses move only as fast as traffic. Let’s make our city better.

  3. Agustin Bunuel

    June 8, 2016 at 12:05 am

    We’re doomed


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The Air You Breathe is Killing You, According to the WHO

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the air we breathe is as carcinogenic as cigarette smoke. The WHO announced Thursday that air pollution is officially classified as a Group 1 carcinogen. In layman's terms: the air you're breathing is killing you.

According to the Deputy Head of International Agency for Research of Cancer (IARC) Dana Loomis, the agency was tasked with evaluating the quality of today's air. The group reviewed thousands of studies on air's composition, and after examining decades worth of data, the IARC announced that both air pollution and "particulate matter" are now Group 1 carcinogens. Loomis explained in a statement, "The results from the reviewed studies point in the same direction: the risk of developing lung cancer is significantly increased in people exposed to air pollution." The IARC also cited a data from 2010 showing 223,000 deaths due to lung cancer were caused by air pollution.

The IARC has noted that air quality differs based on region. High exposure to air pollution is found in Asia, South Asia, eastern North America, some areas of Central America and Mexico, as well as North Africa. However, the Group 1 ranking is not limited to specific geographic zones. All breathable air is classified as equally cancer-causing.

There is, importantly, a significant lag between one's exposure to pollution and the development of cancer. According to Dr. Christopher Wild, director of IARC, "Often we're looking at two, three, or four decades once an exposure is introduced before there is sufficient impact on the burden of cancer in the population."


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Shop Home > Upgrades

<!-- 004 -->Upgrade ISIS v2 to Vision for Mac

Upgrade ISIS v2 to Vision for Mac

Upgrade your ISIS v2 system to Vision for Mac

Quantity:  at  £125.00  each

This product must be downloaded usng a link we will supply to you by email once you have purchased.

A Product key will also be supplied by email so that you can acitvate Vision for Mac via the internet. Regular internet access is required thereafter to ensure the validity of the Vision license.

Nothing is physically shipped with your purchase of this product.

All books previously ordered with your ISIS v2 will carry forward into Vision except Repertorium Unversale which is now discontinued.

It is not possible to transfer any data backed up in ISIS v2 to Vision for Mac

It is a condition of purchasing this upgrade that you return your ISIS v2 hardware dongle within 14 days to :

Miccant Ltd, 14 Mulberry Close, West Bridgford, Nottongham. NG2 7SS.

If you do not return the dongle within this time frame this will indicate that you wish to retain the use of your ISIS v2 system and we will therefore bill you for an additional license.

(Code : UPGVISION09)


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International Women's Day – interview with Jo Davis, Regional Senior Director, GVA

This International Women's Day on 8 March 2017, we spoke to some of our female clients working in the property and construction sector to find out why they love working in the industry and uncover what their roles entail day-to-day.

Tell us a bit about your job

I have the privilege of running the Bristol Office of GVA Property Consultants – and heading up the Planning, Development and Regeneration team across the South West and Wales region.  At GVA we advise on all property matters dealing with projects across the South West. We act on a series of high profile projects including the disposal of Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in the middle of Bath city centre. I advise clients on commercial planning matters, including the redevelopment of Redcliff Quarter and Temple Circus in Bristol City Centre and 1500 new homes at Locking Parklands in Weston-super-Mare. I also have a range of public sector clients across the region.

What does a typical weekday entail?

I tend to head for the office for 7am catching up on emails and reports before the day starts.  The main part of the day is taken up with client and project meetings.  I am incredibly fortunate − the nature of the projects I work on means that my working day is never the same.  In addition to negotiating on development projects I am involved in driving the GVA Bristol business forward and working with an incredibly talented team to motivate and assist to ensure as a business we maintain excellence for our clients.

Who do you consider to be a female role-model of yours?

I take inspiration from many people – in the property world you don’t get more inspirational than Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid – if ever there was a can-do attitude, Zaha had it.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

Be yourself, ask questions and if it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t.

What is one thing on your bucket list?

Getting my half marathon time down to 1hour 50

Where is the best place you have travelled to?

Any and every location which requires skis as footwear. There is something about being in the snow-covered mountains which is inspirational and stress-busting in equal measures.  And of course the beer always tastes better at higher attitude!

What has been your proudest moment in the last five years?

Most of my proudest moments come from being a mum − cheesy but true.  But professionally being asked to take on the role on the GVA Executive Board and championing the company’s inclusion strategy is right up there too.

Jo Davis is Regional Senior Director of GVA.

Please follow the links to read further interviews with Sara Parker Sales Director, West Region for Barratt David Wilson Homes and Penny Cameron of Stanhope plc.


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GamblingGrowing up, my dad was a huge country music fan. I refused to appreciate this style of music for no other reason than it was what my parents liked. But one song I vividly remember was the Gambler by Kenny Rogers.

The refrain from that song always plays in my mind when it it comes to addressing e-discovery preservation obligations: “You got to know when to hold ’em …”

Having worked with lawyers and business organizations to address e-discovery challenges since 2001, it is easy to appreciate the feeling that “knowing when to hold ’em,” i.e., when should a “litigation hold” be implemented in response to an employment discrimination claim, is analogous to hitting a moving target in the dark.

This is because there are multiple instances along a preservation time-line of “when” the duty to preserve may arise. Examples include:

  • When an employee files an internal complaint of discrimination or harassment?
  • When a rejected applicant sends a letter threatening a claim for failing to hire the applicant?
  • When the employer launches an internal investigation?
  • When an EEOC charge is filed? And what happens if the EEOC issues a Dismissal of the charge, but the charging party still has the statutory 90 days to file a federal suit? Is the employer now obligated to continue the preservation during this 90 day period or risk sanctions?

Additionally, an employer’s obligations to preserve information may range from the complaining employee and his or her supervisor, a department, or the entire company.

Further, it is important to emphasize that individual plaintiffs must carefully comply with preservation obligations because Michigan courts have dismissed claims for failing to do so. Gillett v. Mich. Farm Bureau (Dec. 22, 2009) (Plaintiff’s sexual harassment claim dismissed after plaintiff admitted deleting e-mails from a personal account after filing suit).

Additional Thoughts on Getting the Litigation Hold Right – Reasonable Anticipation

The remainder of the Gambler’s refrain explains that one also has to “know when to walk away and know when to run.” Unfortunately, employers and employment attorneys do not have the option to walk or run away when e-discovery preservation goes wrong in litigation (which happens more than it should).

It is, therefore, important to focus on the “what” should be preserved and “when” preservation is required. The general rule for when this hold must be implemented is when litigation is “reasonably anticipated.” But there is no bright-line rule as to when a party crosses this threshold. Therefore, determining whether a party should reasonably anticipate litigation is a fact-intensive inquiry.

Once that threshold is crossed, however, there is almost always more value in taking a conservative view as to “when” a litigation hold must be implemented as well as what must be preserved. Additionally, experienced counsel should be able to work with in-house counsel and management to implement a defensible, yet cost-effective preservation plan.

Two remaining considerations when it comes to implementing the hold:

  • The litigation hold notice should be issued to all record custodians/employees reasonably likely to have information relevant to a claim. Also, these “key players” may include outside vendors; and
  • An employer should cautiously work with its legal counsel to determine if the employer’s IT professionals should actually carry out the litigation hold process for electronic data (e.g., databases, e-mail accounts, computers, cell phones PDAs, or on flash drives) as well as with regard to taking control of backup tapes and stopping any automatic overwriting of electronic data of such preservation should be conducted by a retained expert/technology trial consultant.

The litigation hold process should be created in collaboration with management, IT professionals, and experienced legal counsel. If you have questions about litigation hold practices, the attorneys of E-Business Counsel have worked with business clients and employers to minimize legal risks and defense costs in addressing preservation obligations and the litigation hold process in broad range of litigation matters, including employment law claims, product liability, and complex commercial litigation.


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December BOG Meeting (Date Correction)

The December Board of Governors Meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 21st, 2015. It will begin at 5:00pm at the offices of Meier Architecture-Engineering at 8697 Gage Boulevard in Kennewick, WA. All members are welcome to attend. If you want to attend the meeting via conference call, please contact Derek Archer at prior to the meeting to get a call-in phone number.

Click Here For Meeting Agendas and Minutes

Please note that there was an error in the most recent newsletter that was sent out, as well as on this website. The December BOG Meeting date was incorrectly listed as December 30th, but is scheduled for December 21st (earlier than normal) due to the Christmas holiday. We apologize for any confusion.


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Nonpoint Source Pollution & Stormwater Runoff

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is defined as pollution that comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and man-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water. If we all do our individual parts in reducing nonpoint source pollution, together we can greatly improve the conditions of our lakes, rivers, and wetlands.

10 Ways to Prevent Nonpoint Source Pollution

  • Use fertilizers sparingly
  • Regularly inspect and pump your septic system
  • Never dump anything into a storm drain
  • Replant disturbed soil as soon as possible
  • Regularly maintain your automobile to prevent fluid leaks
  • Dispose of hazardous waste properly
  • Direct roof drains away from bare surfaces and bare soil
  • If you must wash your car at home, wash it on the lawn to encourage infiltration and use low phosphate detergents in small amounts
  • Pick up after your pets
  • Clean up spills of vehicle fluids and household chemicals promptly and properly

Helpful Resources

For more information on pollution prevention, go to EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) website.


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MIDDLETOWN >> The genesis of a zany new art show was a 65-year-old photographer’s frustration at air-brushed magazine ads starring a 50-something talk show host that make her appear decades younger.

Mills, 65, a marriage and family therapist who runs Broad Street Counseling and has dabbled in photography since taking a course in college, was miffed after seeing Ellen Degeneres, a spokeswoman for Cover Girl’s Simply Ageless foundation, on television and in print.

“‘Hey, wrinkle face!’ That’s what people might say if you use a liquid foundation that settles into your lines and wrinkles and make you look like an apricot — or a prune,’” Degeneres, 56, says in the TV spot.

“I became angry after seeing ads and photographs of Ellen Degeneres that had been doctored, making her look about 22,” Mills said.

When Degeneres was a judge on American Idol, Mills said, “she looked like a regular person with a chicken neck, bags under her eyes and bad skin.

“That was kind of the beginning,” Mills said, thinking it would be fun to showcase people’s true selves, warts and all.

So as Mill’s library exhibit date approached, she brainstormed what subjects she’d use for inspiration.

“Librarians are very private people,” she thought, and on a lark mentioned her idea of shooting these civil servants in their element to library exhibit coordinator Susan Honer, who then broached the subject during the staff’s lunch break.

“‘That won’t happen,’” Mills recalls Honer saying, “‘but if you do anything, make me unrecognizable.’”

Once the idea was a go, Mills approached 40 employees, from security guards to pages and librarians, asking to photograph them and then altered their appearance with Photoshop, a digital editing program she’s been experimenting with for a while.

“I sidled up to them and said it would be OK. Suddenly, people were interested,” she said.

One was particularly so. “‘Make me ugly,’” Mills said circulation assistant Christy Billings told her.

You see, Billings used to be 60 pounds heavier and now regularly runs road races.

One employee of Asian descent, Mills said, told her, “‘make me have green eyes, freckles and red hair.’” Another with pale skin asked for a dark complexion and another woman wanted to be “transformed” into a man.

Some have green beards, blue lips, yellow hair and black mustaches; others’ photographs are inverted, making them look like a negative, over-saturated with color, or swirled.

Thus, “Perfect or Perfectly Natural?” was born.

“Marilyn Mills photographed some of the Russell Library staff to have fun and also make some serious points,” reads the library’s explanation of the show. “She is alarmed at the extent to which digital editing is used to transform many celebrities’ natural appearances into ideal, flawless people. This concept inspired her to create portraits of real people at Russell Library and then experiment with their looks. As Marilyn started altering her library models, she began to see the staff as naturally gorgeous.”

It’s been very well-received by staff and the public.

“I think her exhibit is unique and makes a great point about appearances, especially in this digital age,” said Suzanne Elliot, community services librarian.

About half of the portraits are hung in the lobby, on the floor where those subjects are most often working. Twenty more will soon go on the walls upstairs in the reference department.

“It’s really fun to see them look at them,” Mills said.


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The parents of an American aid worker taken hostage by the Islamic State released a video Saturday pleading with their son’s captors to show mercy and free the young man.

Peter Kassig’s family said he was in the region doing humanitarian work when he disappeared a year ago near the city of Raqqah in eastern Syria.

“We implore those who are holding you to show mercy and use their power to let you go,” said Kassig’s mother, Paula, holding a picture of their 26-year-old son.

The Islamic State revealed for the first time in a separate video Friday that it was holding Kassig, a former U.S. Army Ranger who served in Iraq in 2007.

In the same video, a militant dubbed “Jihadi John,” beheaded a British hostage named Alan Henning, a taxi driver from Manchester. The militant then threatened to kill Kassig, a Muslim convert, because of U.S. bombing of Islamic State targets in Syria.

Henning was the fourth Western hostage the Islamic State has executed, deaths portrayed in a series of gruesome videos that the group began distributing in August.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called Henning’s death “absolutely abhorrent. It is senseless. It is completely unforgivable.”

He called the Islamic State “repulsive and “barbaric.”

In three earlier videos, the same militant appears to have decapitated American journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley as well as British aid worker David Haines. The group is also holding British journalist John Cantlie and an American woman who traveled to Syria for humanitarian purposes.

Kassig’s family, speaking from their home in Indianapolis, said the United States’ decision to attack the Islamic State is beyond their control.

“We asked our government to change its actions, but like our son, we have no more control over the U.S. government than you have over the break of dawn,” Ed Kassig said. “We implore his captors to show mercy and use their power to let our son go.”

A former hostage, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Kassig had been abused by his captors like other Westerners held by the Islamic State.

Kassig is a native of Indiana who founded SERA (Special Emergency Response and Assistance), an aid group helping Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country.

Beginning in 2012, Kassig delivered food and medical supplies and provided medical care to wounded civilians inside Syria, the family said.


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Teaching Assertiveness to Counter Meanness

A MiddleWeb Blog

Take a minute and think of the character traits you want to help your students develop. When I asked friends they offered a good assortment including kind, happy, helpful, hard-working, intelligent, friendly and more.

A Google search pulled up the “six pillars” of character education (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, citizenship, and caring).

But a trait I think of as among the most important was not found anywhere. That trait, as you probably surmised from the title of this piece, is assertion. Teaching students to be assertive in a kind, honest, and forthright manner is as important as teaching them the traits mentioned above.

When Kids Are Mean

Recently I wrote about the problems and solutions for “helicopter parenting.” It is a topic that that also fits in this post because, if parents consistently step in to solve problems for their children, children cannot learn to solve them independently. I want to help my students become strong problem-solvers. I want them to feel empowered to stand up for themselves in situations where others are unkind to them.

Kids can be mean to each other, friends can fight, and arguments between classmates are as much a part of daily school life as reading, writing, and arithmetic. I want to distinguish this everyday meanness from bullying. The term “bullying” is used quite liberally and that’s not good for anybody. Bullying is more than just being mean. It is one-way aggressive behavior that is repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim.

While I think it’s important to clarify and use the right terms, in both the case of kids being mean and in instances of downright bullying, teaching children to be assertive can help. We should teach our kids to stand up for themselves and others and to not be passive victims.

Be Assertive!

Students thrive when they feel in control of their lives and teaching them to make choices and solve problems is a life-long gift we can give them. I truly believe that teaching students to be “tough” is an integral part of loving and nurturing them. As I have noted in a previous Heart of the School post, teaching students to be assertive is a core value that I am passionate about. I want the students in my care to have a sense of self-efficacy and thus a central role in ensuring their own happiness and health.

At my K-5 school we work with children on developing C.A.R.E.S. character traits (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control). When it comes to stopping mean behavior and even bullying, being assertive is especially critical throughout the middle grades and beyond.

We define assertion as using your words to stand up for yourself and others. To teach students to be assertive when others are being mean, we use the Stop, Walk, & Talk Method (depicted in the chart below). Students know that when someone is being disrespectful they should:

  1. Hold up their hand and firmly but politely tell that person to “STOP!” as they name the behavior. For example, “Stop! John, do not take my ball from me.”
  2. If that doesn’t work, they try saying, “Stop! I asked you to stop taking my ball!” as they WALK away.
  3. If that still doesn’t work, they know it is time to get help and TALK to a teacher or another trusted adult.

Unfortunately, in my experience children of all ages often skip the Stop and Walk steps and go straight to Talk. When that happens, we work with students to role play being more assertive. One of us pretends to be disrespectful or mean and the other uses the Stop, Walk, & Talk method. Then we reverse roles. Giving students active practice using the method can help them build the confidence they will need to use it in a real problem situation.

Assertive? Yes! Tattletale? No!

When students skip right to “talk,” it can also be helpful to work with them to identify the difference between tattling and reporting a problem that an adult should know about. Try using the chart below to teach your students when to tell (report) and when to solve the problem themselves rather than tattle.
Every teacher I know is fatigued by the number of students who rush to tell on their classmates for line-cutting, for accidentally bumping them, for looking at them sideways (or “mean-mugging”), or other small intentional or unintentional offenses. Most of the time, these are problems that students must learn to handle themselves without physical or verbal aggression.

The Tools They Need
(not Playground Justice)

In school, just as in the adult world, our days will never be completely free of conflict and friction. There are “mean people” out there and students will encounter them. Sometimes the message students get from home and popular culture (books, television, movies, etc.) is that standing up for themselves means fighting back – to give as good as they got. In my day, we called it “playground justice.” That doesn’t work.

On the other hand, sometimes at school students are told to just ignore mean behaviors. That doesn’t work either.

Teaching students to be assertive using the strategies above gives them lifelong skills to help ensure that they don’t overreact or underreact to problems with peers. Instead, the strategies help them see themselves as deserving of respect and give them a sense that they have the power and the tools needed to confront meanness and even bullying.

Rita Platt

Rita Platt (@ritaplatt) is a National Board Certified Teacher and a self-proclaimed #edudork with master’s degrees in reading, library, and leadership. Her experience includes teaching learners in remote Alaskan villages, inner cities, and rural communities. She currently is a school principal, teaches graduate courses for the Professional Development Institute and writes for We Teach We Learn.

2 Responses

  1. Bion Shelden says:

    Thank you for providing a much-needed change in our handling of conflict between children. Approaches like this are clearly a step in the right direction, away from the creation of helpless young adults that we have been generating.

    • Rita Platt says:

      You are so welcome! Thank you for the comment. It is my NUMBER ONE goal as a principal to help students feel a sense of self-efficacy.

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Little Black Stone tied by Tim Flagler

Little Black Stone

This pattern was developed by Johnny Utah and in the featured video is tied by Tim Flagler of Tight Line Productions.  The application of CDC for the body and the consruction of the wing is different from the more common versions.  Follow the video to see how the body and wing are constructed.

  • Hook:                    1x dry fly hook in size 16
  • Thread:                 8/0 (70 denier) black
  • Body:                    natural gray CDC feather wrapped around the hook
  • Wing:                    dark partridge or hen breast feather
  • Hackle:                 grizzly (clip the bottom fibers off the finished fly)

To watch a video of Tim tying this pattern click on the following link:


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Have a Question? Fill Out A Contact Form
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Bolts and Cap Screws

There are few pieces of hardware more versatile and frequently-needed as bolts. There are a ton of different kinds of bolts, and depending on your project, you may need any one or several of them. At Midland Hardware, we have a huge selection of bolts of all types. Plus, we keep our prices low so you can stock up. We also have nuts to match the bolts, in their own category.

Specialized types of bolts can be very hard to find at your local hardware store, so we're sure to keep them in stock and available to you so you never have to give up on a project. Midland Hardware has it all, and all less than retail price.

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Old Wines and Young

No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.--Luke 5-39

Modern society loves new things. The latest smartphone, the current fashion, the new movie release, we all want to be up to date and fresh.

But fresh isn't always better. On the other hand, it isn't necessarily worse. Fresh is just 'fresh' and quality comes from other sources than mere newness or novelty. Pop culture has a clichéd attitude about wine age, with mawkish devotion to ancient vintages, and rich-but-foolish people pay fortunes for very old bottles of wine (which are not infrequently counterfeit). Aged and mature isn't always a positive quality: after all, it might just mean that something has been lousy for a really long time!

One thing that home winemakers get that their civilian counterparts rarely experience is the flavour of very young wine, and the zesty freshness that it brings. In the commercial world only Beaujolais Nouveau and some niche traditional wines (Strohwein in Germany, for one) are ever drank less than a year old.

Home winemakers, with their exposure to Vandergrift's First Law (Consumption will rise to meet all available sources of wine) often drink their bottles less than six or eight weeks after the yeast was pitched. Sadly, some of them feel like they're missing out because they don't have a cellar full of wines that have been ageing and improving for many years (they don't stop, they just fret about it)

I say relax! Here's something the local wine merchant won't publicise: very few wines under $50 taste better after more than a year in the bottle. People don't pay stupid money for vintage wine because it somehow got divinely better after fifty or a hundred years in the cellar--they buy it because after five decades most of it's gone, so the remaining bottles are rare and the price has gone up. At best, a 50 year-old bottle of wine might be acceptably drinkable as a historical curiosity, but it won't be a magical flavor experience--and that's if it's been stored in perfect conditions, and not in the hall closet under the galoshes and tennis rackets.

If you have a decent cellaring situation (dark, cool, steady temperature below 70F with decent humidity) your Master Vintner wines are going to age and improve for a year or so, especially the reds, which need just a bit of time for the tannins to integrate and round out with the fruit. Whites smooth out as well, although not quite as dramatically as reds do.

But it's just as fun to drink fresh, zippy, young wines, bursting with juiciness and fruitiness that will remind you of why you drink wine in the first place: it tastes good! Last summer I was asked if I had any wine for a garden party. The only thing I had on hand was a Master Vintner Moscato that had just finished clearing, and was only six weeks old. I didn't even bottle it, but rather racked it into a keg and served it on draft to the party goers.

It was a huge hit, and I got more compliments on that batch of wine than I have in years, which might just prove two things: 1) people love free wine, or 2) drink your wine when you want to--it's going to be delicious fun no matter how old it is.

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Martine honey accepted at the Culinary College of France.

The application of Martine honeys has been validated unanimously by the founding chefs at the Culinary College of France.

Founded by 15 French chefs (including Alain Ducasse, Yannick Alleno and Frederic Anton), the College Culinaire de France is dedicated to promoting the quality of food in France and around the world. It contributes to the influence of the French gastronomic culture and economy. It supports, promotes and develops the heritage and future of traditional culinary heritage. It encourages the exploration and appreciation of all culinary cultures of the world.

The Culinary College of France is the institution of reference of the French gastronomic culture based on the values and the practices of the trade which are derived from it.

This validation places Martine honeys among the best artisans of France.

Martine profile at CCF.

Miel Martine awarded with a special mention at the French Innovation Corner (ISM fair Cologne)

Miel Martine was honored at the French Innovation Corner (ISM fair, the biggest snacking fair) with a special mention for a unique traceability step up the independent organization Link to the press release (in German)

Miel Martine begins the conquest of the Middle East market

Honey Martine was present at the Specialty Food Show in Dubai. On this occasion, Michel Pikhanov, Director Sales & Marketing was interviewed by Hotel News ME. Link to the article and the video.

Press launch

Discover the press launch of Miel Martine at Mandel 6 in Paris:

Our E-shop is active

Order your jar of honey right now.


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Obama Commutes Sentence of Chelsea Manning

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, center, is escorted into a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., in November.

President Barack Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who leaked information to the website WikiLeaks, the White House announced Tuesday.

Manning, 29, is imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas as part of a 35-year sentence she received in August 2013 after pleading guilty to multiple charges under the Espionage Act. She will now be freed May 17 rather than in 2045, according to a release from the White House.

Manning was among 209 inmates whose sentences were shortened by Obama. The president also pardoned another 64 people facing crimes, including retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators about discussing the Iranian nuclear program with reporters.

"With 209 commutations and 64 pardons, @POTUS just gave 273 Americans a second chance," stated the White House Twitter account.

Manning's attorney, David Coombs, didn't immediately return a call requesting comment.

"After this case, I had to tell Chelsea: 'I've represented murderers. I've represented rapists. I've represented child molesters. And none of them received 35 years,' " Coombs recently told NBC News.

Edward Snowden, who was notably missing from the list and whose own high-profile leak case some say played a role in Manning's sentencing, recently tweeted on the matter, "Mr. President, if you grant only one act of clemency as you exit the White House, please: free Chelsea Manning. You alone can save her life."

Manning, who was from Oklahoma City and previously known as Bradley, has sought to undergo gender reassignment surgery in prison. She attempted suicide twice last year -- once in July, and again in October while in solitary confinement -- and also underwent a hunger strike.

She became a lightning rod for controversy after her 2010 arrest while serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. She faced 20 charges for illegally passing several hundred thousand documents, including military and diplomatic cables, to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks.

Specifically, Manning's crimes included one charge of wrongful and wanton publication to the internet intelligence belonging to the United States; five charges of stealing, purloining or knowingly converting U.S. government records; six charges of willful communication of information relating to the national defense; one charge of willful communication of information in unlawful possession; one charge of willful communication of information relating to the national defense by exceeding authorized access to a U.S. government computer; one charge of willful communication of information relating to the national defense obtained by accessing a U.S. government computer; and five charges of failure to obey order or regulation, according to the White House.

Manning's supporters have called her a hero, her detractors a traitor.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, blasted Obama's decision. "This is outrageous," he said, The Washington Examiner reported. "Chelsea Mannings treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation's most sensitive secrets."

Rep. William "Mac" Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, also criticized the decision.

"Inmate Manning was convicted of multiple acts of espionage against the United States and other serious military misconduct," he said in a statement. "These actions potentially put our country and fellow soldiers at serious risk. The president's commutation of Manning's sentence sends a terrible message to the world that the penalties for damaging our security can be swayed by politics."

Even Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, an Obama appointee, disagreed with the move, NBC News reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

Some Military.com readers said they weren't surprised by the presidential action.

"It wasn't unexpected," Tom Butz, an Army veteran of Vietnam who retired from the service in 1988, said in a telephone interview. "And, in fact, my brother and I have a bet on whether he's going to commute or pardon Snowden too."

Butz added, "I find it ironic that the Democrats themselves are fussing and screaming about the Russian hack [of the presidential election] and here you have an American citizen who gave all this stuff to WikiLeaks at the peril of our soldiers in the field and there doesn't seem to be any outcry … It's kind of speaking out of both sides of the mouth."

-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.

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Ophra - Luxury Orchid Planter.

Luxury Planter in a willow basket, or glass dish, surrounded with moss. Contains three - two stem phalenopsis orchids. Available in white, shades of pink and on  occasion a soft yellow. The Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family.

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The Drive Of Your Life.

Your Mode On The Road.

Driving Modes

Choose between the efficient GREEN mode that optimises fuel delivery or SPORT mode for more responsive steering, faster acceleration and a throaty engine growl. Or there’s MID mode on hand for a happy motoring medium.

7/8-speed Steptronic Transmission (Optional).

Gearbox & Engine

The MINI Cooper S model boasts an optional 7-speed Steptronic sport automatic transmission that shifts to the next gear while the previous one is still active, improving acceleration.

The John Cooper Works model offers an optional 8-speed Steptronic automatic transmission for a sportier drive. The extra gears reduce the number of revs at high speed, while Steptronic lets you choose between automatic ease or manual thrill.

The optional Start/Stop function makes driving more economical - reducing fuel consumption, noise and emissions. You can also opt for the Steptronic sport transmission, where the gears’ gradation reduces the engine's rev interval between shifts, giving you the ultimate power boost.


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BBC sports presenter Clare Balding is battling thyroid cancer.

Clare, 38, has already had two operations and will have radioactive iodine treatment in July.

She had an operation to remove a cyst from her throat in April then another to remove her thyroid gland.

"So far there have been no real side effects," said Clare. "I've been wheezing slightly but other than that I feel fine. My main worry is my voice because that is what I do." Clare said her civil partner Alice Arnold, whom she married in 2006, had been "very calm and supportive".

Clare has had to pull out of presenting the rugby league Challenge Cup quarter finals tomorrow, but has already chosen what she will wear at Epsom for the Derby next week.

"It helps me to be very practical about it," she said. "The doctors say it won't kill me, so it won't. If I worry it will just make it worse."


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A film crew member has allegedly been 'stabbed in the throat' on the set of the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic 'The Witches'.

The incident took place next door to the popular studio tour 'The Making of Harry Potter'.

Police say one man has been arrested on suspicion of intent to do grievous bodily harm after a second man was rushed to hospital with a neck injury at noon today from the Warner Bros complex in Leavesden, Hertfordshire.

It is understood the stabbing took place on the set of 'The Witches' which will star Anne Hathaway, Chris Rock and Octavia Spencer.

A spokesperson for Warner Bros. said: "I can confirm that there was an isolated workplace incident at the Warner Bros studio production facility and the police are now handling the matter.

The site is also home to the Harry Potter studio tour

The insider said: "I couldn’t believe I was there for it. It’s not something you expect to be close to."

It is alleged the incident took place in M Stage - a 3250m2 hangar which is minutes walk from the Harry Potter tourist attraction.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Constabulary said: "Police were called at around 12.35pm today to reports of an incident at Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden.

"One man sustained a neck injury and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

"A second man was arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and is currently in police custody.

The Warner Bros film site in Leavesden

"It is believed the men are known to each other. Enquiries are continuing at this time to establish the circumstances around what happened."

Films made at the studio's 80-hectare Leavesden complex include Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the Harry Potter series, Sweeney Todd and The Dark Knight.

Warner Bros. said in a statement: “The Chief Fire Officer has confirmed that the fire which occurred on one of our sound stages, being used by the television production Avenue 5, has been fully extinguished. Our principal concern is always people’s safety and we would like to thank Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Services for all their hard work in containing the situation. All productions were able to continue working and the Studio Tour was unaffected.”

Armando Iannucci said: “On behalf of the entire cast and crew of Avenue 5, I want to thank the firefighters who’ve been working tirelessly throughout the night to keep everyone and everything safe. I send my thoughts to the residents in the area who were disturbed by the night’s events. It was a beautiful set but everyone’s safety is the main priority. The season is near completion and everyone is determined to carry on."

HBO said: “The fire at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden has affected one of the sets of HBO’s Avenue 5. Production continues as the producers and writers assess the best plan to complete filming of the final two episodes of the series. We echo Armando Iannucci’s praise for the firefighters who brought this situation to a safe conclusion.”


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Record Store Day Special: 5 Amazing Ambient / Experimental Records

Every now and then you need to give yourself some time to relax and go into a introspective mood. For this reason we prepared a special ambient & experimental record selection, in our stocks for the Record Store Day, Saturday 21st of April, when we’ll open the terrace for the first time this year for a nice little event to enjoy the sunny spring days in Bucharest. Details here

Hit the artworks below to listen to audio samples.

Heavenly Music Corporation – Lunar Phase

Ethereal Logic – Tales From An Extraordinary Trip

Lenta – Jyoti

Skymn – Biker Scene

Tom Szirtes – Barely Breathing

April 18, 2018 by


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Edson: The Funniest Baseball All-Star Game Ever

Every July, at this time of the year, baseball hosts its annual All-Star game.

Of the four major sports, baseball’s all-star game is by far the best. Why? Because the players actually try to hit, play defense and pitch.

In my mind, the other all-star games are a joke… where little or no defense is played and the players are half-hearted in their efforts.

Which brings me to the funniest all-star game I ever saw.

Actually, it started off very seriously, but later turned out to be one of the biggest laughs – and misunderstandings – that ever happened in our family.

Growing up, my brother and I joined our neighbors to play baseball and Whiffleball (a plastic baseball) in our backyard. As we got older, we played in the Chain-O-Lakes Little League. The playing ages were 8-to-14.

One of the early thrills of my life was getting selected to an all-star game the first year I was eligible, age eight. My brother was two years older and he made it, also.

The problem was, we were facing a pitcher from Acme who was unhittable. He was so big and threw so hard, no one could get a hit off him.

So I had my strategy all figured out. I had pretty good speed, so I was going to lay a bunt down the third base line and leg it out for a hit. I’d be celebrated by the neighborhood gang, I figured.

First, however, my brother had to bat before I did. He had purchased a new Timex watch a couple days earlier and decided – despite my dad’s protests – to wear it during the game.

So on the third pitch he faced, my brother got hit on his left wrist by a fastball from the Acme ace. My brother went down in a heap, grabbing his wrist. When he glanced up at the injury, he started crying uncontrollably.

My parents rushed down to the field, our younger sisters in tow.

“Oh my gosh, I’ll bet his wrist is broken,” said my mom. “We better get him to the doctor!”

They started running to the car with him as I stepped into the batter’s box. I love my brother, but geez, this was my first all-star game at-bat.

Seconds later, before I could face a pitch, they raced back to get me. I left the game without facing a pitch.

On the way to the doctor’s office, my brother stopped crying long enough to announce he felt terrible about the pitch hitting his new Timex watch and breaking it.

“Well, what about your wrist?” my dad asked.

“Oh, my wrist is fine. I’m just sad about my watch,” said my brother, drying off his tears.

After two or three awkward seconds, the rest of the family burst into laughter.

“Maybe we should turn around and make sure Nicky gets to bat,” said one of my sisters.

We all laughed at that, too.

My folks were so relieved that his wrist wasn’t broken, they decided on a good Plan B.

We would stop by the Dairy Queen and everyone would get an ice cream cone.

When you’re a kid in the early 1960s, it doesn’t get much better than that. So the six of us celebrated our good fortune together.

Years later, I can look back at that all-star game as the funniest one I’ve ever been part of.

Nick Edson is a retired Hall of Fame columnist and sportswriter. He worked 25 years at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, 18 as sports editor. He is a two-time president of the Associated Press Sports Editors Association and a member of the Michigan Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Categories: Baseball


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DULUTH - How tough was Minnesota pheasant hunting for last weekend's season opener? Here's a sampling of reports.

From a Marshall-area hunter: Total bust. Six hunters, six dogs, two days, one bird. Private land.

From a Madison-area hunter: Four hunters, four dogs, one missed rooster. Public land or walk-in areas.

From a Sauk Center hunter: Two hunters, good dogs, two days, one rooster shot, one rooster missed.

"It's a corn conundrum," said Anthony Hauck, director of public relations for Pheasants Forever, and a Minnesota native.

As of Oct. 15, just 7 percent of the state's corn had been harvested, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and until much of the corn is down, that's where many of the birds will be, Hauck said.

The corn harvest was two weeks behind the 2016 pace and 22 days behind the average harvest pace, according to the USDA.

For starters, the state's pheasant population index was down 26 percent from last year, 32 percent below the 10-year average and 62 percent below the long-term average. Throw in the corn conundrum, and it made for a tough opener.

"I haven't heard too many great reports," Hauck said.

He knew of a hunter in the Pipestone area who hunted only the "golden hour" - the last hour before sunset, "and really laid into them," Hauck said.

That's the best strategy, he said, when so many birds are in the corn.

"Roosters are tough to chase down except for that last hour of the day," Hauck said. "They're grass-nesting birds. They're going to return to roost in the grass or the edge of cattails. They may be feeding in the corn during the day, but they're on a tight schedule that last hour of the day."

Trouble is, it's hard for most hunters to restrict themselves to that little hunting, especially on opening weekend.

Of course, the golden-hour strategy works throughout pheasant season as well.

Weather was expected to be good over the past several days, and farmers likely have made progress harvesting both soybeans and corn.

"I wouldn't let an opening weekend without seeing a lot sour it just yet," Hauck said.