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Nashville has long prided itself on having the largest number of churches per capita in the U.S. So it's appropriate that the city's studio business in the last decade is prefigured in the Bible. In the mid-1990s, Allen Sides and Gary Belz begat Ocean Way/Nashville, and Masterfonics begat The Tracking Room, and Reba begat Starstruck, and many major new facilities were born as country music rose in the pop charts.
At the turn of the century, however, the city flipped pages, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, and all hell broke loose. The worldwide business trend of consolidation began to affect Nashville. It started with the record labels, and several closed their doors. That, in turn, had impact on the studio base, which had benefited from the attention Nashville had received during country's golden years between 1990 and 1995 when more non-country artists than ever came to record in Nashville and its environs. The studio business, nonetheless, remained dependent on country for a primary source of clients and revenue. It wasn't long before consolidation began to cull the swollen number of Nashville facilities.
Some of the most prominent transactions provide a sense of scale. In 1997, as the first effects of label budget and roster cuts began to be felt, Nashville started to lose upper-tier studios. Sixteenth Avenue Sound, one of only two SSL G-Plus facilities in the city, shuttered that year. Closings continued for the next two years, with Nashville losing Music Mill and Zomba-owned Battery Studios.
In early 1999, a wave of mergers and acquisitions began and is only now beginning to slacken. Seventeen Grand bought the assets of Love Shack. Emerald Sound Studios purchased the assets of Masterfonics, which had sought bankruptcy protection the year before. Emerald owner Dale Moore also acquired the businesses of the Workstation and created a joint venture studio called the Parlor. Gary Belz purchased the SSL 9000 J-equipped East Iris Studios, not long after Moore had attempted to do the same. Lou Gonzales, owner of Quad Studios in New York City, bought the serendipitously named Quad Recording in Nashville.
These examples illustrate the forces and the strategies at work in Nashville at the moment and reflect the situation facing the studio industry at large.
EMERALD'S ISLEEmerald's tale is most complex. Since owner Moore returned to Nashville full-time after developing and selling a string of radio stations in Montana, he has dramatically changed the studio business landscape through a series of acquisitions. Moore bought a one-room facility from producers David Malloy and Even Stevens in 1985, and he had kept it out of the Nashville studio "arms race" of the mid-1990s. So when Moore sold his radio holdings, he had capital at a time when much of Nashville's studio owners were in debt. Moore's Emerald acquisitions now include eight studios in four buildings in a single city, and it's the largest studio complex in the Southeast, rivaling in size Ocean Way in Los Angeles, Chicago Recording Co. in Chicago and Hit Factory in New York City.
But perhaps more important than mere size, Moore and former Masterfonics partner and Emerald studio manager Milan Bogdan (who left Emerald earlier this year and is now working for Nashville/New York-based Quad Studios) oversaw functional and business expansions. Emerald has created new businesses within the organization, including a direct-to-satellite radio promotional service, a Webcasting service, a digital audio post-production venture, a talent agency, and a marketing division, which seeks to match corporate sponsorships with artists and record labels. Emerald has also introduced a tiered pricing structure in which unit costs for studio time decrease as the number of services used within the Emerald system increases.
"There was a tremendous opportunity in Nashville at that time, and there still is," says Moore. "We felt that the consolidation that was going on made sense from a business point of view. The city had been overbuilt. But the opportunity that we created was to acquire properties that would allow us to close the circle and offer a range of services within one company that clients used to have to go to several facilities for. An entire project-from tracking to overdubs to digital editing to mixing, mastering, video post-production and post-production business services like radio and Internet promotion and artist bookings-could be handled [in one enterprise]. And that brought economies of scale to the record-making process that were very appropriate for the way the record industry was going."
Moore refers to the fact that, while country music as a genre had taken a nosedive in recent years, the larger music industry was consolidating. Multibillion-dollar transactions, such as Seagram's acquisition of Universal and PolyGram, have been followed by huge cost-cutting exercises resulting in layoffs and album budget cuts. "What we were offering the record industry at that moment was just what it was looking for," Moore says.
Emerald has most recently focused on upgrading their technology. The studio installed Nashville's first Euphonix System 5 digital console in mid-March.
Moore acknowledges that he is taking a chance introducing such a radically new console platform to Nashville. The area tends to be staunchly conservative in terms of boards, because the nature of country music production tends to favor fast completion of projects, and engineers-who move daily between studios-want consoles they already know.
"That's the way it's always been in Nashville," says Moore. "I know-we took a chance by putting in an SSL E Series console back in 1985 when everyone here was working on Neves. And we now have to do the same thing as we did then: educate the engineering community here about the console and why we think we made the right decision."
Moore says he polled Nashville area producers and engineers about the console, which was introduced at the 1999 AES Show in New York City. He also had Euphonix put the console into the studio for a period of time prior to finalizing the sale so engineers could preview it in situ.
"When you put in a piece of equipment like this, you're selling to a group of people-record labels, artists, producers, engineers," Moore says. "The mixing engineer especially has considerable influence over where mixes get done. You want to get as many of them to check the console out as possible. So there's both a technical and a marketing decision that has to be made."
Moore also says he is hiring a dedicated assistant for the Euphonix room, and that Emerald employees will be trained by Euphonix. No rates have yet been set for the newly outfitted Mix Room at Emerald. Moore says, however, that he is likely to go with an introductory type of rate for the first several months, and he expects to increase that rate after the console gains some traction in the market.
THE SHIFTING STUDIO SCENEStarstruck Studios also beefed up its broadcast services in the last year. The facility, part of the multifaceted Starstruck Enterprises group owned by singer Reba McEntire and her manager/husband Narvel Blackstock, has two SSL 9000 J-equipped studios. But what started as a relatively small audio media promotional services two years ago expanded in 1999 to encompass video, and now both Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight take regular Nashville feeds from Starstruck, routed straight to Burbank, Calif., via satellite transmissions and fiber-optic connections.
Studio vice president Robert De La Garza declined to discuss rate comparisons between the studio and the broadcast operation, but did note that the margins on the broadcast services were higher than those in music. This year, the broadcast division, which De La Garza heads, has expanded its marketing efforts into the medical industry, corporate narrowcasts and book publishers sending authors on electronic media tours. "It's another service that we can offer clients who use the studio, because they'll need to promote the records they make here," he explains. Looking further ahead, De La Garza says that the studio has been wired for 75 ohms for high-definition broadcasts.
Other facilities in Nashville have realized that the business model is changing. Seventeen Grand has staked out a leading position in the Nashville and national market as a surround mixing facility, and the studio did a dozen surround projects in 1999. The facility also bought the midscale Love Shack facility in order to broaden its client base. "It's given us a more stable cash flow situation, because we can provide services for more clients," explains Seventeen Grand co-owner Jake Nicely. "Love Shack lets people come in at a lower rate level and start projects, or use the room for affordable overdubs, then come back to the main studio for mixing or surround work. It's a wider range of services people can access."
The same principle drove Sound Stage owner Ron Kerr to expand into the former Nightingale Studios. "That location gave us access to a new client type-the upper mid-level client," says Sound Stage studio manager Michael Koreiba. "It filled a hole in our range of services and also addressed a hole in the market. We've found that there are a lot of clients out there who are in the market for a good studio in the $800- to $1,200-a-day range."
That market niche, Koreiba continues, is a potentially large one. Its ranks have grown with both major-label, first-record artists who might have had larger budgets during country's headier days a few years ago, and by rock, Christian and alternative artists working on mid-career records.
Sound Stage also made other service moves, including the establishment a format transfer service, which Koreiba says is bringing work in on a national basis. The facility also formed a joint venture deal with engineer/mixer Chuck Ainlay: The partners have created a new studio called Back Stage, equipped with an SSL Axiom-MT digital console.
All agree that the studio industry is changing dramatically in the wake of new technologies and business models sparked by the Internet, and they concur that bigger seems to be better. The ability to provide new services within a vertical organization is a valid strategy for surviving in a changing landscape. "People have gotten used to running out to Wal-Mart when they need something. They can find everything they need there under one roof," says Koreiba. "That same concept is now being applied to the studio business. You just have to decide which services your market needs, and how many services you can supply and do it well without overstressing the business. And that might be the art of it right there."
Still, some of Nashville's changes are unique to the city, Nicely says. "[Nashville] still basically relies on what's in its backyard, and that's been country up till this point," he says. "But even if that continues to be the case, it's whatever country happens to be that could affect things. Right now, it's crossing over heavily into pop, with records like Faith Hill's 'This Kiss.'
"But more than what country becomes, when it was hot, it attracted a lot of people to Nashville, and some of them are having an effect on the city," Nicely continues. "People like [producer] Dann Huff, who produced Faith's record and who has another pop hit with Lonestar. People like him are part of the reason that country is crossing over the way it is right now. Dave Thoener, who won a Grammy this year [engineering for Carlos Santana's "Smooth"]. Adrian Belew lives in Mt. Juliet [a Nashville suburb], and we did part of the last King Crimson record here. Country music as we knew it growing up-the Don Williams and Conway Twitty country-will probably become a small niche market, like bluegrass. But the part that's becoming like pop music and the people who are leading it that way all use the facilities here."
THE NEW MIDDLE CLASSIf there has been significant activity in the upper tier of facilities, the same goes for the emerging middle class in Nashville's studio community. Antarctica, a Pro Tools-based recording studio that also offers graphics and Web page construction services, underscores how new business models are rising from the ashes of the old. The studio moved into the site of the former Sixteenth Avenue Sound, and owner John Trevethan says he purposely targeted a middle ground in the Nashville market precisely because there was so much consolidation activity above. "There's a lot of high-end competition here, but that made for opportunities in the middle level," he explains. "Also, the Pro Tools thing in Nashville had been mainly for editing. We created something new by making it a primary recording system. This is a level of the market that's really been overlooked."
Trevethan says he has no ambitions to grow into the bigger leagues. He notes that Nashville's music market has become more diverse and more technically oriented and is now less reliant on large consoles and big tracking rooms. "To quote Robert Fripp [who recently gave an online Webchat, hosted by Antarctica], the small mobile unit is the way to go in the future," says Trevethan.
New Yorkers "Void" Caprio and Keith Spacek saw the potential in Nashville's underground rock and pop scene, which has been oft-discovered but rarely leveraged with success. Caprio and Spacek decided to open a studio that could provide them with a base for developing productions with local bands and built most of the single-control-room facility themselves. The result, InterZone, has three sizable recording spaces with 12-foot ceilings and hardwood floors, and the equipment includes a Mackie 8-bus console and a vintage 3M 2-inch 24-track, along with three 20-bit Alesis ADATs.
Caprio believes InterZone can be a successful hybrid facility: It houses the partners' music production work and Caprio's music library productions, and it is available for hire at between $300 and $500 per day. InterZone has also built in several of the services that are becoming a hallmark of these kinds of facilities, including on-site CD-R duplication and Internet promotion.
IN THE BURGEONING 'BURBSThe other story in Nashville isn't in Nashville at all. It's in Williamson County, Tennessee's affluent suburb, about 16 miles from Music Row. Several facilities, old and new, have been thriving in Williamson County, partly because the neighborhood doesn't carry the implicit cultural connotations of country music the way Nashville does, and partly because many of country's success stories have moved to the South's affluent equivalent of Fairfield or Orange Counties.
In Franklin, the genteel, antebellum county seat of Williamson County, the landscape is now dotted with several facilities that are thriving. The most notable is Sound Kitchen, which has grown from two rooms in 1994 to six studios today, with two more under consideration by co-owners John and Dino Elefante. John is a successful Contemporary Christian recording artist and former lead singer with the band Kansas, and Dino is a prolific producer of Christian records and the senior vice president of Pamplin Records in Portland, Ore., and the pair had originally predicated the studios' revenues largely on their own work.
Dino says that's changed considerably in the intervening years. He also estimates that as much as 25% of the recording in the area is now being done in Williamson County at Sound Kitchen, Dark Horse, The Castle and a handful of other facilities that are near the upscale homes of producers and artists who don't want to drive to Music Row every day.
"We had a gut instinct about [the area]," says Dino. The Elefantes backed up that intuition with a business approach that focuses on proven and widely accepted equipment choices. The Sound Kitchen console complement includes new and pre-owned Neve VRs and SSL G-Plus desks, and the newest, largest room sports an API console. The Elefantes have also taken great pains to cultivate business relationships with area producers, offering them what Dino Elefante describes as "time shares" in the facility, an arrangement that guarantees availability and rates in return for consistent use. "It's a form of buying into a studio, but without the liability," Elefante explains. "It's a time-share mentality."
Franklin's other successful facilities include Dark Horse Recording, which is based at owner Robin Crow's home. Crow has a theory about why people record in the area: They work there because they live there.
Now that population makes up more than half the bookings for Dark Horse, and the studio has grown from a private single-room studio to a three-room facility. Much of its work comes from the still-growing Contemporary Christian recording market. Several Christian record labels have set up shop in the Maryland Farms office park in northern Williamson County, and artists and producers seem to like the suburban setting.
In addition, Crow says that, at the moment, two of his three studios are booked with clients from outside of Nashville. "To some degree, we're able to float above what's been going on closer to town," he says. "But there's a price for that-we never stop spending money on upgrades."
At the Castle Studios, owner Jozef Nuyens is more skeptical about the suburbs' ability to remain aloof from the developments on Music Row. "I don't think you can separate [Williamson County studios] from the Row," says Nuyens. "The business affects us all the same way. It's just that out here, we have a better image appeal than the Row. The studios aren't necessarily better, but the settings are. Overall, though, we've all been affected by what's been going on. I don't know that the mega-studios are going to change things all that much. The fluctuations in the business here are easing. When it's all said and done, things will be calmer but at a lower level than they were."
Nuyens has hedged against that by increasing his in-house production activity and pursuing music publishing interests. Last year, he concluded a joint venture with Warner Chappell Music.
THE FUTURENashville is churning. But most say it's for the better. For example, new Internet-based companies have cropped up such as Tappedinto.com, an online music venture co-developed by Preston Sullivan, the former Sixteenth Avenue Studios manager, and Judith Newby, former personal manager for Everly Brothers, Tom. T. Hall and Johnny Rodriguez. Tappedinto.com might prove to be the model for the future of multimedia in Nashville, a model in which music becomes a content source for the 144 URL channels Tappedinto.com operates. The company also creates marketing and sales packages for independent and major label artists and its own burgeoning roster of recording artists.
Tappedinto.com's audio arsenal is Spartan-a Mackie mixer, a few microphones, Real Audio for MP3 encoding and Adobe Premiere video editing software. But that's about all it takes, Sullivan says. The company can always use the studio resources of Nashville, which continue to become more affordable as consolidation continues, as well as Full Scale, a Seattle recording studio that is one of Tappedinto.com's partners.
Nashville has also become the North American headquarters for the sprawling School of Audio Engineering (SAE) empire. SAE took over the former Arista Records building just off Music Row, and the 14,000-square-foot facility is now the flagship for the school's invasion of U.S. shores, which began last year.
There is much that is unique in Nashville's situation. But there is just as much here that can be applied to the larger studio business picture. Although The Hit Factory's acquisition of Miami's Criteria has been a headline-maker, Emerald's business plan has been just as compelling, in a more complex and nuanced way. Perhaps the most important lesson of the last decade is the notion that, for the first time in its 50-plus years as a recording center, Nashville's developments in its studio infrastructure and the developments in country music may not be one and the same.


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An environmental advocacy group is promoting a series of policy recommendations it says will make natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale safer for the environment and public health.
Erika Staaf, a clean-water advocate with PennEnvironment, told The Times-Tribune editorial board on Tuesday that the organization wants to see a host of changes, including more specific disclosure of the concentrations of chemicals used in the drilling process, better protection of pristine areas and water supplies, and stiff minimum penalties for drillers who pollute.
Ms. Staaf acknowledged that such rules will likely be adopted piecemeal through legislative or regulatory changes unless there is support to "pass comprehensive legislation that addresses a lot of these concerns."
The environmental group is particularly concerned with the large volumes of water necessary to break apart the shale and the currently inadequate options for treating the tainted water that returns to the surface, she said.
"We haven't seen one wastewater treatment plant that has proven that it can remove every single component of the drilling wastewater," she said.
The organization is promoting a proposed treatment standard developed by the Department of Environmental Protection that would limit the amount of highly salty drilling wastewater that is discharged into state rivers. Public hearings on that issue will be held today at 5 p.m. in the regional DEP office in Williamsport and at the Lehigh County Government Center in Allentown on Thursday.
PennEnvironment also wants to see a mandated minimum 1,000-foot buffer between a well site and a private drinking water source and a half-mile buffer between a gas well and any public drinking water supply, Ms. Staaf said. The group encourages allowing easy public access to records that show where water is being withdrawn from state rivers and the specific path the wastewater travels until it is treated or reused.
Ms. Staaf said her organization, like other state environmental groups, is seeking a more holistic approach to environmental considerations about drilling as natural gas production increases in Pennsylvania.
"What are the cumulative impacts of many wells next to one another on the local watershed, on the air quality, on the land?" she asked. "We know what one well does, but if we're never looking at a larger view of it, it's difficult to assess."
Contact the writer: email@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


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A quick apology in regards to the MP3 version of the podcast, a slight technical error meant it was missing the last thirty minutes! We have rectified the issue and you can now download either podcasts at our website or Itunes in full.
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- http://www.theasylum.cc - Lance's spoof movie, Pirates of Treasure Island
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Student groups FUSED and Generation Action hosted a healthcare town hall meeting Wednesday, Sept. 27, at the Joe Crowley Student Union. Club presidents Rocio Meza and Alese McMurtry said the goal of the town hall was to bring concerned citizens together with healthcare professionals and explore the future of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and health insurance for Nevadans.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday, Sept. 26 that no vote would be held on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Bill, a last-ditch effort by Republican senators to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, the proposal would have terminated ACA subsidies as of 2020 for low-income Americans' private insurance premiums and extra funding provided to states that extend Medicaid. The bill also would have weakened ACA language regarding protections for applicants with pre-existing conditions.
"The Graham-Cassidy-Heller Bill would have cost our state between $600 million and $2 billion more (than the Affordable Care Act) due to its extensive Medicaid cuts," said Heather Korbulic, executive director of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange.
Nevada Health Link, otherwise known as the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, connects people in the community without Medicaid or employer-based health insurance to qualified insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. The exchange has built an intuitive online marketplace where Nevadans can shop for, compare and purchase qualified coverage plans. It has been credited with lowering Nevada's uninsured rate in 2013 from 23 percent to about 10 percent in 2016.
"What I really want everybody in this room and beyond to know is that we've gone from a 90 day open enrollment period to 45 days," Korbulic said. "That's a huge shift and our state-based marketplace, HealthCare.gov, may be flooded with a halved open enrollment period."
The Market Stabilization Rule established on April 13, 2017, by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services amended the timing of the annual open enrollment period for 2018. The open enrollment period begins Nov. 1, 2017, and ends at midnight Dec. 15, 2017, a total of 45 days reduced from 90 days in years past. The only exception stipulated on HealthCare.gov is qualifying for a Special Enrollment Period: getting married, having a baby, or incidental loss of health coverage.
Jan Brizee, Elko-based ombudsman for the Nevada Office of Consumer Health Assistance spoke on her office's willingness to help all Nevadans regardless of income or age.
"One gentleman, a UNR student, had just switched to an employer-based plan and shortly after ended up in the emergency room," said Brizee. "Even though he had the same card number and policy number, that company would not carry that over and he received a five-hundred-dollar bill. I was able to file an appeal with him and we got that bill completely covered."
The OCHA also offers consumer help with healthcare applications and will assist Nevada Health Link in spreading the word about open enrollment.
"The large thing now is this open enrollment period," said Brizee. "We've got to get people in and signed up within those 45 days, but what I have seen since the change in administration is that HealthCare.gov is not being maintained like it had been before."
Isabel Youngs of Nevadans Together for Medicaid, a coalition of healthcare advocates in support of Medicaid expansion, cited Nevada's vast decline in uninsured children under ACA.
"Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and expansion of Medicaid, Nevada has had the largest percentage point decline in uninsured children in the entire country," said Youngs. "We've cut our rate of uninsured children from almost 15 percent in 2013 to 6.8 percent in 2016."
She added that Nevadans Together for Medicaid will shift its focus to the open enrollment period.
"There are clear attempts to sabotage open enrollment to healthcare packages, including deep cuts to navigator funding, shortening of the enrollment period and threats from the administration about cutting our cost-sharing reductions," said Youngs.
Gabriel Selbig can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.


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i picked up this book by donald miller last month after hearing about it for a couple of years and then being reminded of it when erin loechner referenced it in her post about slowing down. excellent read, by the way.
she mentioned a passage in it that said:
"People get stuck, thinking they are one kind of person, but they aren't … The human body essentially recreates itself every six months. Nearly every cell of hair and skin and bone dies and another is directed to its former place. You are not who you were in February."
so true, right? you can't get stuck on who you were, what you did or didn't do, the mistakes you made. everyday is a new day to be better, do better. we choose the person we are and want to be. it's not always easy, hell, i struggle with it daily and have most of my life, but it's a nice reminder to let go of the image we have in our mind of ourselves.
it's like my amazingly honest and smart friend tony told me (about me), "you have to forgive yourself for being stuck; stuck on who you were and the decisions you've made."
can't wait to read this book… anyone else read it?


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Losing our children to addiction and accidental overdose is beyond devastating. To know that their passing was preventable is enraging.
Opinion: Now is time for provincial leaders to commit to funding fight against addiction
Losing our children to addiction and accidental overdose is beyond devastating. To know that their passing was preventable is enraging.
B.C. is in the midst of an epidemic. More than 1,100 people have died since the province, facing skyrocketing opioid overdoses, declared a public health emergency a year ago. Despite that declaration, people continue to overdose and they continue die, each one of them someone's son or daughter or brother or sister or mother or father. Each preventable death is an unimaginable loss for a family. We must all mourn, and we must all be enraged.
As the death toll rises, we continue to treat substance use and addiction as though it were a crime. The police are quicker to respond to a drug-related phone call than a doctor is able to. Weeks to months waiting for care is the norm, and being turned away from emergency departments is the norm. When you're ready to enter treatment, a wait time of any length is a matter of life and death. Further, most treatment that is out there isn't evidence-based.
Not approaching substance use and addiction as the health issue it is has led not to a broken system of care, but the absence of a system all-together. This crisis has been years in the making, and we are now seeing the results of this failure. If we are to end the overdose and addiction epidemic, we must start investing in the building of that system of education and treatment.
Last month the federal government presented a solution to how we can fund badly needed substance-use treatment and prevention. Canada's plan to tax and regulate the adult use of cannabis will create a new source of revenue that can and must be invested by the province to address substance use.
It would be a wise investment, if not simply a humane one. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has found that for every dollar invested in substance-use treatment, $12 is saved. Adequately investing in substance-use treatment is cost-effective and life-saving. And it's simply the right thing to do.
We mustn't repeat the mistake we made through taxation of alcohol and tobacco with cannabis, with most funds for the former two directed into general revenue rather than treatment and prevention for the use of those substances. B.C. can begin to build the addiction health-care infrastructure we desperately need by investing 100 per cent of this new tax revenue to treat and prevent substance use.
In other jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, tax revenue generated has been earmarked for substance-use programs. Washington state, for instance, protects 15 per cent of tax revenue for cannabis-prevention programs among youth. They have already generated tens of millions of dollars from the sale of cannabis. Following this model makes good sense, so much sense that we should go even further. Imagine how a similar revenue stream in B.C. could change the course of the overdose epidemic.
In response to this proposal, our provincial leaders gave a range of unsatisfactory responses and non-responses. NDP Leader John Horgan refused to commit either way. The Green party evaded the question. Both have promised to create a new ministry to address addiction and mental health, the potential impact of which remains unclear. This isn't nearly enough.
The Liberals committed to investing the entirety of this new revenue stream in treatment and prevention for substance use. For that they should be applauded. However, it's troubling that they also promised to invest in law enforcement, an approach that, to date, has both failed to limit illicit drug supply and ultimately through prohibition created a toxic and deadly drug market. How much they intend to direct toward policing drug use isn't known.
In the middle of an election, now is the time to hold our elected officials accountable. Now is the time to demand their commitment to addressing this health crisis once and for all.
To our provincial leaders we say: No more committees, no more studies, no more delaying decisions. Commit to investing in substance-use treatment and prevention today — not because our votes depend on it, but because the lives of our loved ones depend on it.
Leslie McBain is co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm. Michelle Jansen is founder of the Brandon Jansen Foundation. Jennifer Woodside is founder of Voice of the Family. And Nichola Hall is founder of From Grief to Action.
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Current Location:GlobalChange Location
Home > People Finder > Andy Noble
1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2600Seattle, WA 98101United States
+1 206 521-0260
Andy Noble joined Cushman & Wakefield of Washington, Inc. in 2015 as an Associate Director of Valuation & Advisory's Multifamily Practice Group and he specializes in affordable housing properties.
Mr. Noble has been actively engaged in the valuation of real property since 2006, and has provided valuation and consultation services on a diverse range of property types including office, retail, industrial, multifamily residential and special purpose. He also has experience valuing going concerns. The majority of properties he has valued are located in the Puget Sound region.


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This week, a serial entrepreneur comfortable in one market seeks suggestions on how to break into others. — Dan Beyers
The entrepreneur
Now on his sixth education technology start-up, Christopher Etesse definitely qualifies as a serial entrepreneurial. He built his first venture while earning a master's degree in computer science at the University of Kentucky. After grad school he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for Thompson Educational Publishing, where he built that company's first learning management system, which was acquired by Pearson Education. Next Etesse joined then-start-up Blackboard, where he spent the next eight years.
He eventually left to start a new company, then joined another start-up that was bought by Blackboard. "I found myself back for a second tour of duty," he says, where he focused on solutions to cut costs in higher education while increasing student outcomes at the same time. In spring 2016, Etesse saw a new opportunity.
George Mason University runs a popular computer game design program that also includes a large community program for middle-school and high-school students and military veterans. When the program directors couldn't find nearly enough qualified teachers to teach the almost 100 courses they offer to the diverse age groups and aptitudes across the programs, they launched a company to create their own solution. Etesse came on board to help the new Manassas, Va.-based company, Scriyb, commercialize a product that allows a teacher to educate hundreds of students simultaneously in small cohorts.
The pitch
Christopher Etesse, chief executive, Scriyb
"Scriyb is trying to solve the shortage of workforce and training instructors. At the heart of our software is an engine of algorithms and artificial intelligence machine learning that allows the scarce teacher or expert to teach hundreds of students at one time. Our software creates ideal small cohorts of students, based on game theory. We group similar students together the way a teacher would in a classroom to help the groups learn and progress together. Our algorithms also use social and psychological personality theory to match the students in virtual subgroups that encourages social engagement and peer-to-peer learning. We also provide experts and curriculum as part of our solution.
"For example, in Prince William County Public Schools in Virginia, they had one cybersecurity teacher and 90,000 students. They couldn't find 12 cybersecurity teachers to put in all the high schools. But Scriyb allows that one teacher to live-stream – similar to Facebook Live or Periscope – across four high schools to teach virtually. The teacher can also bring in guest experts. The students can remain in their individual physical high schools. Scriyb also archives all of the teaching sessions to create libraries of curriculum.
"We are currently working with K-12 school districts, higher education, and a lot of corporations and government agencies that are looking to offer training for employees. Our initial hypothesis was that Scriyb would have the best fit in higher education, where we thought the teacher/expert shortage was greatest. But we are actually seeing that this expert/training shortage is greatest in K-12 education and corporations and government. What advice do you have for a serial entrepreneurial such as myself with a long history in one market who now finds himself with a product and a company with the greatest opportunity in a bigger workforce and training market?
The advice
Liz Sara, board chair of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
"It seems like Scriyb's capabilities 'under the hood' are very complex and sophisticated. In looking at your various target markets, I would encourage you to take a step back and think about each of those targets – which are very different with very different needs – and understand where your sophisticated technology best solves the biggest pain point. Each of your markets differs greatly and the needs/pains will be different.
"Take your team off-site to take a good hard look at your target markets. Really assess the market segments that you know well and those that you are finding the best fit. In a thorough investigation, you might find that there is no real competitor in some of the markets that you outlined and you'd be best focusing there. Understand whether certain market segments can leverage the power of your platform to do things that will help propel them in overcoming a problem in a manner or timeframe that a lower-level tool could not. If your technology is a chainsaw, find the targets that need a chainsaw, not a steak knife.
" In the education vertical, I encourage you to also explore strategic relationships with other education technology and publishing companies that could make sense for you. Then you don't have to knock on every door and they can bring you in as part of their offerings."
The reaction
"I agree that it's always good to have a quarterly off-site and really drill down with the team. We'll be thinking about our targets and the right partners in these markets that could propel us even further and faster.
"We are already exploring various partnerships in government space, but there is a real opportunity to do so in the K-12 space to broaden our reach. A potential strategic relationship could help an existing company use our platform, network and experts to explore a new revenue stream."
Looking for some advice on a new business, or need help fixing an existing one? The Washington Post and the experts at the University of Maryland's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business are ready to assist. Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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STEPHEN Kelly has admitted that he now feels at home with Blues.
The right-back was unconvincing in his early performances after a #750,000 transfer from Spurs.
Manager Steve Bruce even left him out of the team and used Damien Johnson, then Olivier Tebily, in his position at one point.
But Kelly has now come into his own and emerged as a reliable, highly impressive performer for the Championship table-toppers.
"It is difficult coming to a new team and settling in," said the Ireland international. "At the start of the season we chopped and changed a lot more as well.
"In the last two months the same team has played more or less every week and there's consistency there. We all know one another, we know how to react to each other's games and that's helped us a lot.
"We have a good understanding now across the back and with Maik Taylor."
Kelly and the defence's role was redefined after that infamous Norwich City loss. Instead of bombing on, the full-backs have become more reserved and sat in to help the centre-halves.
"I do feel like I have been playing well," said Kelly. "My main focus is to defend and do my job for the team and if I can get forward, I will get forward.
"In this league I think keeping clean sheets is the main thing because we are certainly capable of scoring goals."
Kelly pointed to the trouble defences have had containing Gary McSheffrey, Nicklas Bendtner and Cameron Jerome.
"Look at McSheffrey, he's got 12 from midfield, that's brilliant. Bendtner is always capable of scoring or doing something. Jerome hasn't quite hit his form in front of goal, but he is doing really well for the team and you know it's 'there' about to come.
"Even with Larsson, he's another one who can create or get a goal. I think we always look a threat. It's just a matter of keeping it tight at the other end."
Kelly said although Jerome had not found the back of the net as regularly as his co-forwards, he was still a valuable team player.
"It's difficult if you are a centre-forward and you are not scoring. But the team is winning and he is playing a big part. His work rate and attitude is fantastic. He's a big lad and he's been putting himself about and causing teams problems.
"He is creating opportunities for other lads to get on the ball. He's chipping in."


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Although this is my birthday week when I should be indulging in relaxation and excess chocolate, I can't stop thinking about the horrendous seven-hour hearing to "investigate" Planned Parenthood this past week in the Missouri Capitol. But mostly, I can't stop thinking about women who would be hurt if the Missouri GOP have their way.
Our legislature during the interim has zero interest in addressing our exploding gun violence, or kids back to school in woefully inadequate schools, or even how to make our male legislators stop sexually harassing women in the Capitol, particularly young interns.
What is deemed most urgent by the Missouri GOP leadership is jumping on the national Crazy Toons bandwagon, joining other red states in launching their own investigation/witch hunt.
Never mind that the undercover sting videos of Planned Parenthood, which sparked these investigations, continue to be proven bogus.
Never mind that officials in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts and South Dakota have spent thousands of state dollars and have concluded there was no evidence of any wrongdoing in their states by Planned Parenthood. Never mind that the Center for Medical Progress, responsible for the videos, is widely known as an anti-abortion group on a mission to annihilate Planned Parenthood.
Never mind that there are no Missouri lawmakers who are obstetricians or, heaven forbid, real gynecologists.
And certainly never mind these facts:
Fact #1 -- Per Missouri's constitution amended by voters in 2006, embryonic stem cell research is legal.
Fact #2 -- Planned Parenthood in Missouri along with numerous affiliates throughout the country, do NOT offer patients the option to donate fetal tissue.
Fact #3 -- Fetal tissue cell research has produced life-saving medical treatments and vaccines many of us count on.
Fact #4 -- Only three percent of Planned Parenthood health services, even in Missouri, involve abortion.
Fact #5 -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have found no violations of fetal tissue laws after the deceptively-edited videos.
The Missouri House hearing was a disaster. No agenda was given to us committee members except for a jumble of abortion statute links. The hearing began with the joint chairs asking what we all wanted to address. It was then that I wanted to stand up and scream.
The first hour and a half consisted of a summary reading of the bogus video transcript, followed by Children and Families Chair Rep. Diane Franklin citing a incredibly long list of abortion statutes. It had to have been hair pulling agonizing for anyone following along online on the House's live video stream. GOP Rep. Sue Allen asked that the department directors who would be testifying later if they could be "sworn in" so "we could know they were telling the truth." Never mind that we legislators never take that oath. Then we broke early for a two and half hour lunch.
So, why were taxpayers funding this circus? Why were we holding a third interim hearing on Planned Parenthood? Just for our per diem and mileage check for the day?
Then my "aha" moment. Our session beginning in January coincides with the 2016 presidential election when we have contested Missouri gubernatorial and attorney general races (many of those candidates currently serve in the legislature). They must find a "women's" wedge issue to motivate their Tea Party base. Duh.
At 2 p.m. the action resumed. Various state department directors answered questions ranging from surgical center licensing to federal Medicaid Planned Parenthood reimbursements to what happens to aborted fetal tissue after being delivered to private pathology labs.
Questions asked by the committee ranged from, "How do we know anyone is doing their job?" to "How to we know tissue is not being sold?" and to my absolute favorite, "How do we know if pathology labs aren't selling baby body parts?"
Mentioning "baby body parts" became a favorite sport or an at-home drinking game as my conservative colleagues tried to outdo each other in their comments.
Almost every question asked of the directors was found either in the links provided to us or directly online. I know this because I easily found the answers on my laptop during the hearing.
Finally, late in the day, after the chairs tried hard to deny his testimony but I insisted, Dr. Ed Weisbart, who has actually treated pregnant women and delivered babies, spoke. His patience for sitting quietly up to this point should be commended.
He blasted the committee: "That video ... was clearly produced by an organization which was created to produce videos like that. It was done with false identifications, it was based on lies and badly edited to create a message that would then justify having hearings of this nature, and you guys are taking advantage of the material they gave you. There is no evidence that any of those things is going on... This could clearly be defined as a witch hunt or a fishing expedition."
As you can imagine, the committee did not like an actual physician with medical expertise testifying and were fairly hostile to him. Certainly, not a physician who cares about reproductive healthcare that all women, of every zip code, need and deserve.
To conclude the day, the chairs also allowed two local abortion clinic protestors to testify. Really.
The result of the all day hearing? Before adjourning, the chairs called for yet one more hearing, making a total of four Missouri taxpayer funded Planned Parenthood witch hunts this summer. Stay tuned -- maybe there will be more.
This is the Missouri legislature, elected by few voters but making big decisions, spending your tax dollars and treating women like... well, crap.


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Vibrant Restaurant Interior Design At Kandivali, Mumbai - 6
The vibrant design of this restaurant has compact furnishing, attractive decor, and a striking colour scheme for creating the perfect ambiance for a restaurant. Looking for a similar design for your commercial space? Contact us today!
- 1000-2500 Sq.ft.
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text: greauxpete 0 Report post Posted May 17, 2016 (edited) I am trying to decide where to mount a kicker motor bracket for a 9.9 yamaha 2 stroke. Currently, the tow eye and trim tabs are in the way. It looks like I will also need a spacer block to move the kicker bracket away from the transom. Questions: 1. Does anyone see a strength issue with bolting the kicker bracket at this location on the transom? 2. I am hesitant to remove the tow eyes on the transom, but one side will need to Be removed to mount the kicker bracket. Anyone see any issues with this? Edited May 18, 2016 by greauxpete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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The annual Diversity Lottery 2017 opens today, October 1, 2015and closes November 3, 2015.
The application requires that you upload a photo of yourself that meets a very specific set of dimensions, including where your chin and forehead are positioned. They have this amazing tool (that is so extremely hard to find) to make sure your photo is correct, ensuring your application won't be denied on that basis. This tool is your application's best friend.
- Apply ASAP, you get a one month window and that time flies, seriously.
- Make sure you have all the information you need before starting your application.
- Use the photo crop tool to ensure your photo is perfect.
- Apply only ONCE.
- Save the confirmation number and keep it somewhere safe. You'll need it come May when it's time to check if you were selected.


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CIEE Summer Study Abroad
Tenafly High School is a partner school with the Council for International Educational Exchange (CIEE). CIEE offers both merit and need-based scholarships to students in grades 9-11 to study for 4 weeks in one of many locations throughout the globe. Visit the link to hear from students who received CIEE scholarships in the summer of 2018.
Applications for summer 2019 are due on November 30th! See the CIEE website at
Welcome to the World Language department of Tenafly High School! Students at THS study French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. All students are encouraged to reach their highest proficiency in their language of study as they aim to understand global cultures.
Faculty News
THS welcomes a new faculty member this year in the World Language department. Ms. Kirin Hart will teach Spanish I CPB, Spanish II CPA, and Spanish III CPA. Ms. Hart comes to THS with several years of teaching Spanish at both the high school and middle school levels.
2018 Advanced Placement Scores
Tenafly High School is proud to announce the Advanced Placement results for the May 2018 exams. 100% of all students who took the AP World Language exams achieved a score of '3' or higher. 100% of students who took the AP Japanese test scored a '5' and 82% of students who took the AP Spanish test scored a '5'. The average scores in each language were: French: 4.4, Italian: 4.5, Japanese: 5.0, Spanish: 4.8, and Chinese: 4.0. THS celebrates the rigor that is offered in these sequences and thanks the teachers for their hard work and dedication, which result in excellent scores.
**NJ Seal of Biliteracy Pilot Assessment Information for Junior and Seniors**
Seniors who wish to achieve the NJ Seal of Biliteracy may take the assessment in December 2018. The assessment will take place during unit lunch. More information will follow in the coming months. 11th graders will have the opportunity to sit for the assessment in February 2019. Students should see their World Language teacher for information.
Important Questions:
1. What is the NJ Seal of Biliteracy?
NJ Seal of Biliteracy is a distinction that students achieve by demonstrating that they are able to speak, read, listen and write in two or more languages at a high level of proficiency.
2. What is the purpose of the NJ Seal of Biliteracy?
The Seal of Biliteracy seeks to:
3. What are the requirements to gain the NJ Seal of Biliteracy?
- Encourage students to study languages
- Certify attainment of biliteracy
- Provide employers with a method of identifying people with language and biliteracy skills
- Provide universities with a method to recognize and award academic credit to applicants seeking admission
- Prepare students with 21st century skills
- Recognize and promote second language instruction in public schools
- Strengthen intergroup relationships, affirm the value of diversity, and honor the multiple cultures and language of a community
In order for students to be eligible to receive the Seal of Biliteracy, they must meet certain criteria:
- Students must demonstrate a proficiency level of Intermediate Mid in a World Language.
- Students must demonstrate proficiency in English by meeting State high school graduation requirements in English or its alternatives, including through State ELA assessments.
4. When will the pilot assessment take place and what assessment will students take?
Students will take the STAMP 4S assessment over 4 lunch periods in December and February.
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standard for World Languages:
7.1 World Languages All students will be able to use a world language in addition to English to engage in meaningful conversation, to understand and interpret spoken and written language, and to present information, concepts, and ideas, while also gaining an understanding of the perspectives of other cultures. Through language study, they will make connections with other content areas, compare the language and culture studied with their own, and participate in home and global communities.
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Events for June 11, 2019
Events Search and Views Navigation
Rocket Mortgage Sports Zone
The Sports Zone is back at Cadillac Square Park! Rocket Mortgage Sports Zone is free and open to the public daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Reservations are also available. Click here to learn more about how you can make a reservation. Contact info: (248) 845-8273 or email at firstname.lastname@example.com. Rental Fees are as… Read More Rocket Mortgage Sports ZoneFind out more »
9:00 am
Tuesday Market at Eastern Market
Every summer, Eastern Market hosts "Tuesday Market" from June 4th until September 24th. The focus of the Tuesday Market is health and wellness. My family and I love attending the Tuesday Market because it's not too crowded making it perfect for walking around with our little kids. Special features at the Tuesday Market include: Farmers Market… Read More Tuesday Market at Eastern MarketFind out more »


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A Few Of Our Favorites
Photography The images used in the creation of this site have been generously donated by the talented Ace Fanning Photography. Thank you very much!
Tax and Payroll GTM Payroll Services provides household employers with payroll processing, tax compliance, as well as different insurance offerings for you and your nanny. We help you manage all of the administrative tasks associated with being a household employer, offering you an unparalleled level of customer service and support.


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If you're in the market for a new (or nearly new) performance hatch, the latest SEAT Ibiza 1.8TSI Cupra offers serious value.
As more of these hit the second-hand market, they'll be hot on the scene for years and Eibach have just launched a load of stuff to push that awesome
little chassis even further.
A comprehensive selection includes reasonably priced (£170) Pro-Kit lowering springs, a super-stiff 22mm front ARB, a Pro-Spacer kit and even a range of camber shims.
There's even a full-on set of award-winning Pro-Street-S coilovers!
Priced from £20 (CAMBER SHIMS)
For more info see Eibach
Tagged In: EibachModified SEAT IbizaTuned SEAT Ibiza


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The recent workplace scandals seem to have jumped onto the front pages with a great deal of fanfare. Many long held secrets are secrets no longer. After the requisite heads roll and people are fired or suspended and an investigation has been conducted and reported on, the damage done will still reverberate. There are a lot of executives who think that something 'like this' would never happen in their organization – until it does.
If your workplace encourages employees to be accountable and report what they reasonably believe to be illegal or unethical behavior, you may work in an ethical culture. You know that you don't work in a culture of misconduct when every employee feels accountable to take responsibility to prevent or report misconduct and to protect the workforce, customers and the public from improper actions done by or on behalf of the company. If you want to create and sustain that kind of workplace culture, you need to create a "culture of accountability."
Not only should there be training for all managers to permit and encourage open dialogue and a review of the reporting process of any apparent misconduct – the performance review and HR disciplinary practices should assure that all employees are protected from any form of retaliation.
While federal and state laws make it illegal to retaliate against an employee who reports misconduct, it can happen anyway and often does. Some employees who report misconduct or what they think might be misconduct can receive hostile reactions from co-workers even though that behavior isn't approved of by the employer. Revealing misconduct on the part of someone who is liked or talented and opening the organization up for unflattering press is rarely greeted with applause.
If you see that an employee who reported alleged misconduct is being:
- Verbally abused by someone at work
- Intimidated physically at work
- Given the cold-shoulder by co-workers
- Left out of decisions and work assignments by managers
- Threatened with possible job loss, demotion, denial of promotion or raise
- Relocated or reassigned without warning or reason
- Had their pay or number of work hours cut
- Assigned undesirable work consistently
it may be a sign that your culture actually fosters misconduct.
Companies who are eager to crush that kind of culture work hard to encourage reporting, and protect the reporter.


text: The Owl Club (map) 109 Church St Roseville, CA, 95678 United States ✚ gCal ✚ iCal Triple Rock in Berkeley has been a staple for the beer drinker's diet. We've got four kegs of their brew, including some hard to come by beer. Check 'em out at The Owl Club.


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Roasted Peanuts
Accidentally bought raw peanuts and it let us experiment with roasting our own at home. Turned out it's easy and it makes the house smell really good. Roast a single layer of raw shelled peanuts on a flat pan or cookie sheet in a preheated oven (350'F) for 25-30 minutes. (Unshelled peanuts will take only 15-20 minutes.) Sprinkle with kosher salt if desired. Enjoy!


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Tips that Will Help You in Getting More Sleep Time
For the body to be at peace, the mind requires being at peace too. The body appears to be fatigued because the brain is also stressed by different situations. Sleep is a sure way through which you can have your brain relaxed. This will ensure that your body is also rested. There are those people who don't even waste a second for sleep to catch them but for others, it is a struggle to get to sleep throughout the night comfortably. Insomnia is the condition in which humans fail to get adequate sleep or no sleep at all and this at times can be caused by things within our ability. From the section below, you will learn of some things that we require looking at so as to have enough sleep.
One of the major causes of lack of sleep at night is the condition of our beds and bedroom. Our bedrooms and the beds in them should be comfortable and if they don't feel comfortable anymore, then getting to sleep through the entire night will be a problem as you will read here!. If you have a bed that is not comfortable, it will be impossible to sleep fulltime. A bed that is uneven and will have bumps on it will stress your body and you will constantly wake up at night because of the discomfort as this website elaborates For your bedroom, you should have soothing colors that will relax your brain and make you feel relaxed.
The things that you do at night before you sleep also contribute greatly to the time that you will have to sleep at night. It is important to be involved in activities that ensure that you will sleep better just before bedtime as you can discover more here. Things that you can be involved in prior to bed can be taking a warm bath, switching all your devices and getting to eat the right food. Foods that are high in proteins are good to eat before going to bed and avoiding those that have caffeine in them. If you take foods that are good in protein, you will have a lot of the energy generated by the body taken to digest this and this will leave your brain relaxed and hence you will get sleepy.
The noisy surroundings can be sources of sleep distraction for most people. Noise might be a trouble for those who live in noisy neighborhoods and those who live near busy roads. One thing that you can try to do and that which has been proven to work is by listening to the white sound of our radio devices such as the FM radio and the TV set. The sound kind of irritates and this with time masks the other sounds around and you get to sleep.


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Essential Physics
The Physics textbook of today AND tomorrow!
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Materials Testing System
Hands-on investigation of compression, tension, buckling, bending, shearing and more.
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Essential Chemistry
The Chemistry textbook of today AND tomorrow!
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Wireless CO2 Sensor
The simplest, most cost effective and versatile sensor for measuring carbon dioxide gas levels.
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Wireless Weather Sensor w/ GPS
When "where" matters. Coordinate atmospheric measurements with location/GIS data.
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17 simultaneous measurements to analyze trends
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Wireless Sensor Bundle
Our new low cost sensors don't require an interface and connect directly to Mac® & Windows® computers, iPads®, iPhones®, Android® Tablets & phones and Chromebooks™.
New for 2019!
See our growing line of Wireless Sensors
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Have innovative lab ideas you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you!
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Sorry, this product has been discontinued.
Suggested Replacement(s) are:
Launch your students into an instant exploration of their environment! Our Temperature/Sound Level/Light Sensor allows students to conduct all three measurements simultaneously and continuously. Add an optional Stainless Steel Temperature Probe and you can conduct water studies and other applications as well.
PASPORT Skin/Surface Temperature Probe (PS-2131)
Features flat contact area with wide measurable range allowing students to measure a variety of surfaces. For use with PASPORT and ScienceWorkshop Interfaces.
PASPORT Fast Response Temperature Probe (3 pack) (PS-2135)
Allows students to see changes in temperature they could never see before. For use with PASPORT and ScienceWorkshop Interfaces.
PASPORT Stainless Steel Temperature Probe (PS-2153)
Is a versatile probe with wide temperature range. For use with PASPORT and ScienceWorkshop Interfaces.
To use this product you need a PASCO interface.
New to probeware or have questions about sensors or interfaces? Contact Teacher and Technical Support. We're here to help!
SPARKvue software or PASCO Capstone software may be used. PASCO Capstone is available for Mac and Windows. SPARKvue is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and Chromebooks.
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Today's Message
What do Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the Christmas Shepherds all have in common? 3 words! All 4 were visited and commanded: "Do not be afraid." It is hard to live today and not have apprehension, concern, or alarm for what is happening in our nation and around the world. What might God have to say to you this Christmas season that would help you navigate the challenges of this time and circumstances in your life?
Today's Scriptures | Matthew 1.18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Click here for additional resources.
If you would like to join us in worshiping the Lord through financial giving to the ministries of Faith Community please click here.
Stop by the Welcome Table to receive your free gift, pick a charity, and to find out more information.


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Church Leadership
Congregational Care
Schedule an Event
Performances include concerts, musical services, musical selections in services and children's musical events.
04-13-14 Concert-The complete work by Dan Forrest performed by the Chancel Choir and Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Matthew Webb on Palm Sunday.
04-13-14 Concert - The complete work by Dan Forrest performed by the Chancel…


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OKLAHOMA CITY - April is known as 'Earth Month,' which is a time to remember to be kind to the environment.
Every year, OKC Beautiful partners with the City of Oklahoma City for a month-long city clean up effort.
"We provide all of the materials, from trash bags to gloves to pickers and everything you need to help make your event successful," Kristen Milburn, program director with OKC Beautiful, said.
During Oklahoma City's 'LitterBlitz' event last year, volunteers picked up more than 180,000 pounds of trash from city streets.
OKC Beautiful believes cleaning the city is not just aesthetically pleasing, but also financially responsible.
"Cities that are clean are where people want to build businesses. That's where you want to raise your families and we know those things aren't only important to business owners but citizens as well," Milburn said.
It's part of a larger effort called the 'Great American Cleanup,' a three-month long event asking the community to come together and pick up trash.
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful coordinates it and has more than 400 events every year.
In 2017, GAC in Oklahoma collected 4,859,916 pounds of trash. They had 46,383 volunteers, which saves the state $8.4 million in cleanup costs, according to Keep Oklahoma Beautiful.
OKC Beautiful's event is one of them.
"We know that a lot of litter is not intentional. It comes flying out of trash trucks or trailer beds and we know the wind in Oklahoma can get crazy, so it spreads all over the place," Milburn said.
OKC Beautiful says litter has decreased 61% since the 1960s, but there's still a long way to go.
In fact, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation says it spends $5 million a year picking up trash from the highways and interstates.
"That includes our maintenance crew picking up litter, combined with the volunteer hours that go in to picking up the litter," said Madeline Miller, with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said.
One of the biggest culprits?
"A lot of the big issues are debris in the roadway. We get tons of calls on that about debris flying out of truck beds simply because it wasn't strapped down correctly," Miller said.
That's why the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will also host its 30th annual Trash-Off event on April 21 to help curb litter around the state.
To volunteer, visit the Litterblitz website or call (405) 286-9141.


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This 2.5 Acre lot has beautiful mountain views, a flat building envelope and as a bonus, the well is already in. In addition Moondance subdivision offers over 13 Acres of open space with access to the South Fork of the West Fork of the Gallatin River. Enjoy the close amenities with the trail to Ousel Falls or the Big Sky Town Center at the front of the lot and the Skyline bus stop across the road - entertainment, restaurants, hiking, biking, skiing and so much more.
View Virtual Tour Return To All Listings Get More Information
Listing Agent: Margaret Biggerstaff
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text: Humanities › Literature Prospero: A Character Analysis Share Flipboard Email Print Gordon Anthony - Stringer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Literature Shakespeare Comedies Shakespeare's Life and World Studying Tragedies Sonnets Best Sellers Classic Literature Plays & Drama Poetry Quotations Short Stories Children's Books by Lee Jamieson Lee Jamieson has a M.A. in theater studies and is the author of numerous books. He lectured for six years on theater studies at Stratford-upon-Avon College in the U.K. Updated September 18, 2018 The Tempest includes elements of both tragedy and comedy. It was written around 1610 and it's generally considered Shakespeare's final play as well as the last of his romance plays. The story is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, schemes to restore his daughter Miranda to her proper place using manipulation and illusion. He conjures up a storm--the aptly named tempest--to lure his power-hungry brother Antonio and the conspiring King Alonso to the island. Prospero from The Tempest is the rightful Duke of Milan and father to Miranda who he loves. In the plot, he was supplanted by his brother and sent on a boat to his death but survived by landing on the island. Power and control are dominant themes in the play. Many of the characters are locked into a power struggle for their freedom and for control of the island, forcing some characters (both good and evil) to abuse their power. Prospero's Power Prospero possesses magical powers and is able to conjure spirits and nymphs to perform tasks. With Ariel's help, he conjures the tempest at the start of the play. Prospero is quite a foreboding character, dealing out punishments, treating his servants with contempt and raising questions about his morality and fairness. Both Ariel and Caliban want to be free of their master which suggests he is not easy to work for. Ariel and Caliban represent the two sides of Prospero's personality – he can be kind and generous but there is also a darker side to him. Prospero is accused by Caliban of stealing his island and thus seizing power like his brother. Prospero's power in the Tempest is knowledge and his beloved books demonstrate this as they inform his magic. Prospero's Forgiveness Having been wronged by many of the characters, he graciously forgives them. Prospero's desire to rule the island reflects his brother Antonio's desire to rule Milan – they go about realizing their desire in similar ways, but Prospero absolves himself at the end of the play by setting Ariel free. Even given Prospero's shortcomings as a man, he is pivotal to The Tempest's narrative. Prospero almost single-handedly drives the play's plot forward with spells, schemes, spells, and manipulations which all work in tandem as part of his grand plan to achieve the play's ending. Many critics and readers alike interpret Prospero as a surrogate for Shakespeare, letting the audience vicariously explore the ambiguities of the creative process. Prospero's Final Speech In Prospero's final speech, he compares himself to a playwright by asking the audience to applaud, turning the play's final scene into a touching celebration of art, creativity, and humanity. In the final two acts, we come to embrace Prospero as a more likable and sympathetic character. Here, Prospero's love for Miranda, his ability to forgive his enemies, and the true happy ending he schemes to create all coalesce to mitigate the undesirable actions he undertook along the way. Though Prospero can sometimes be seen as autocratic, ultimately he enables the audience to share his understanding of the world. Continue Reading


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Kyle Dean Massey is an American actor best know for his work on Broadway in "Next to Normal," "Wicked," "Xanadu," and "Altar Boyz." Kyle Dean was raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas, a town 60 miles northwest of Memphis, TN. He started taking dance classes at age 6 after seeing his older sister perform in a local production of "The Nutcracker." Although he spent almost all of his adolescent years singing in school choirs and studying the piano, it wasn't until his sophomore year of high school that he did his first musical. He has now performed in over 60 productions.
In addition to his stage work, Kyle Dean has been seen on the screen in "Up All Night" (NBC), "Hart of Dixie" (CW), "Cupid" (ABC), "Sex And the City 2" (HBO Films) and the upcoming film "The Contest." He has also performed on "Good Morning America," "The CBS Early Show," "Regis & Kelly," & "The 62nd Annual Tony Awards." While starring in "Next to Normal," Kyle Dean was the star of his own popular web-blog series, Normal Life, on Broadway.com.
Along with performing 8 shows a week, Kyle Dean serves as a masterclass instructor & panel contributor for several different organizations including Camp Broadway, Broadway Artists Alliance, Broadway Connection, VIP Tours of New York & the Missouri Fine Arts Academy.
Kyle Dean is a passionate supporter of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, The Trevor Project and various human rights groups. He frequently performs in charity concerts at various venues across New York City including Joe's Pub, Ars Nova & The Laurie Beechman Theatre.
Currently, Kyle Dean is back on Broadway in the Tony Award winning musical "Wicked" as "Fiyero." He also enjoyed a guest spot on the second season of "PZAZZ 101," a new web series centered around "Mary Shennanbargger," a former performer turned teacher, who helps Broadway's best and brightest find their footing on the Great White Way. "Mary" knows everything there is to know about entertainment and she's ready to share the wealth. Pull up a chair, grab a Werther's and get ready to say "Wow!"
"PZAZZ 101" has new episodes every Wednesday! Tune in at http://www.PZAZZ101.com and follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!
For more on Kyle Dean be sure to visit http://www.kyledeanmassey.com and follow him on Twitter and YouTube!
1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer? Seeing my older sister perform in our local production of the "Nutcracker" is what first sparked my interest to be onstage. After watching her perform in the show I knew that I wanted to be up there as well. My parents enrolled me in dance classes right after that. I was maybe five or six years old.
2. Who haven't you worked with that you would like to? Bartlett Sher. I think he's a great director and I'd love to get the chance to work with him on something in the future.
3. What made you want to be on the web series PZAZZ 101? Obviously to get a free lesson with Mary! Her rates are normally outrageously high!
4. What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing the show? I hope people come away with the knowledge that the end of your career could be just around the corner...but that's nothing a little Vaseline can't fix.
5. What have you enjoyed most about being on the series? What have you learned from working with Mary Shennanbargger? I am a huge fan of Mary's accompanist James...getting to work with him was very cool. And what have I learned from Mary? Gosh...what haven't Iearned? I'm just so grateful I can watch her lessons online over and over and over.
6. What do you like about filming a web series over starring in a theatrical stage show? Crafty...duh. I am a huge fan of any working situation where there is a table of free food.
7. My first introduction to you was in "Next To Normal." Looking back, what did you enjoy most about that show? You are currently back in "Wicked." What is the best part about starring in this show? What made you want to go back to it? I loved that "Next to Normal" was an abnormal musical. It was unlike any show I've ever done before. Even though it was practically sung-through, I loved that it felt more like a play than a traditional musical. "Wicked," on the other hand, is pretty much the opposite of an intimate musical. It's big, and flashy and it's so much fun to do. Everyone at that show is like family to me and it has been such a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of it. It's totally gratifying to be a part of a show that people love so much.
8. What have you learned about yourself from being a performer? That there's pretty much nothing a Pain-Aid can't fix.
9. What's the best advice you've ever received? Get a gym membership.
10. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? Dolly Parton


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Can you believe we're almost at the end of 2018? What a Year of the Bird it's been for Audubon and our feathered friends, with both victories and losses in Florida and the nation.
On the "victory" side, you can join the National Audubon Society's 119th Christmas Bird Count, and annual event, here in St. Lucie County on December 22nd by contacting Ed Bowes, Citizen Science Chair, at firstname.lastname@example.com, to join the team. You don't need to be an expert birder, and you'll be contributing to science which has been helping birds for 119 years!
And, it's that time again…a gentle reminder that chapter dues are coming up for renewal. Many members join through the National Audubon Society, which helps fund the chapter of their primary residence.
However, local chapters offer memberships as well. Why have national and local memberships? Florida has many part-time residents who participate in our programs, so we need everyone's support to fund the work we do here with a chapter-specific membership. Will you consider chapter membership to support the work this chapter does on the Treasure Coast? CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.
We wish to acknowledge and thank the tireless work of our Webmaster, Mary Dodge, for conducting extensive research and then migrating all our information to a new and updated website. It took many hours, much patience, and several work-arounds to make this possible, and we hope you like what you see so far. Thank you, Mary!
Migrating birds are arriving and making themselves seen and heard. Get those binoculars handy and hit the trails, folks!
--Eva Ries


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DOGS SIGHTING ALERT! N HARDING STREET AND W WATERWAY BLVD! 1 BLACK AND WHITE PITTIE and 1 HUSKY!
Location Information:
N Harding Street and W Waterway Blvd, Businesses, Indianapolis, Marion County
Contact Information:
(317) 777-3885
Sighted Pet Information:
08/07/2017 – 1:30 pm
Two dogs running together. One was a black and white pit mix. Other was a husky mix.


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Initiatives That Transform
Donate Life Rose Parade Float
In 2001, a transplant recipient suggested thanking donors and showcasing what they made possible by entering an organ donation-themed float in the Rose Parade. Coming at a time when nearly half of donation opportunities were declined, the celebratory, nationally televised platform was an opportunity to reposition the cause from being associated with death to an affirmation of life. Given the fragmented regional and national community, having a fraction of the required budget, and neither dedicated staff nor volunteers, we were starting from scratch.
Strategic Approach
We started by founding a committee to solicit seed funding, create a sponsorship framework, and set creative direction. Within 26 months, we had enlisted 55 partners, established an operations and public relations infrastructure, onboarded 22 float riders, and debuted in the Rose Parade. The following ten years were marked by continuous evolution that added a number of components—dedicated roses, floragraph (memorial portraits of deceased donors), and living donor walkers—that greatly expanded the number of participating organizations, geographic reach, and media coverage.
By its eleventh year, the Donate Life Rose Parade Float campaign annually involved 140 sponsors, 2,000 participants and volunteers, 1,200 hospital CEOs, 60 media events, 500 media stories and a $1.1 million budget. The initiative contributed to a 24-point regional and a 20-point national rise in organ donation rates and an enrollment of 11 million and 60 million designated donors in California and nationwide, respectively. The Donate Life float's genesis, evolution and institution is chronicled in Bryan's book Hope Blooms: Organ Donation, the Rose Parade, and our Journey to Save Lives.


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Garcinia Cambogia Pill Egimi South Korea: Dr. Oz Recommends for Weight Loss
Dr. Oz advises Garcinia Cambogia extremely extremely, and it's very easy to see why. Garcinia Cambogia has actually been acquiring a great deal of interest from the media and from blog writers lately in Egimi South Korea.
Garcinia Cambogia is being promoted as one of the most highly effective supplement readily available for aiding individuals in Egimi South Korea to drop weight effectively and permanently. It promises to do all this with entirely natural, completely secure elements, and without inducing the customer to experience any kind of side effects.
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Dr. Oz Advises Garcinia cambogia extract for Weight Loss
A great many items and health ideas are featured on Dr. Oz's enormously preferred tv program. A few of them obtain his referral, and a few of them do not.
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Utilizing HCA as its primary substance, Garcinia cambogia extract is both a fatty tissue burner and a hunger suppressant. Folks in Egimi South Korea are going to burn fatty tissue, constructing leaner muscle in the deal, but you're going to likewise do a whole lot more.
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Exactly how Did Garcinia Cambogia Get So Popular in Egimi South Korea?
2 years ago this fruit was a mainly not known fruit utilized by the citizens of South East Asia. After some clinical studies and a professional trial, plus a well-known medical professional's endorsement, the roadway to popularity began. But I'm being successful of myself.
Regarding a year ago Dr. Oz provided Garcinia cambogia extract extract to the globe. All of us know Dr. Oz– he's the MOVIE doctor whose mission is to help folks live a healthier life. No wonder Garcinia cambogia made its launching on this show.
Exactly what I have actually picked up from this show is as follows: there was a professional test performed just before the launch and it passed with flying suggestions. All the participants took care of to reduce weight without any type of side effects, and they didn't also need to make changes to their diet plan or physical exercise routine.
The primary visitor on the show was Dr. Chen, that discussed what Garcinia Cambogia is and how it works. Besides that, two arbitrary individuals from the audience volunteered to try the extract. The outcomes were amazing to claim the least.
The two females who tested it handled to lose between 5-7 pounds in simply one week. Better yet, they didn't do an extreme eleventh hour diet plan or exercise at the gym. They lived their regular lives and took care of to lose a number of weight– safely and naturally.
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There have been a lots of good evaluations on Garcinia cambogia extract Extract. From wellness professionals to blog owners, everybody seems to be stating the exact same thing about Garcinia Cambogia. If you're serious about slimming down, and you're wheelsed of using items that just don't work, this could be the remedy you have actually sought all along.
Dr. Oz is one favorable customer out of numerous others, however when you once again consider his track record, it's a recommendation that brings a significant level of integrity. Rather than buying around for items with unverified track records, discover on your own just what Garcinia Cambogia can do for people in Egimi South Korea.
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Supplementation is generally ideal for anyone getting into bodybuilding as well as those who simply want to gain an edge in their workouts. But with so many choices available, one could easily become confused by all the types and their doses. So, what's a beginner to do? Well, learning the essentials for getting started then experimenting with others later on would help.
First, a caveat: The term supplement can be defined as 'in addition to'. As such, it shouldn't be taken that supplements are meant to replace diet. Adhering to a balanced, healthy diet with plenty of carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats and fiber is absolutely crucial. Without a solid nutritional foundation in place, you will not attain your goals any quicker.
Whey Protein
This has been established as the cornerstone to any supplementation plan. Being a fast acting protein that's absorbed quickly thanks to the small molecular composition, whey protein is mostly used in pre and post-workout supplements. It is readily availed to starving muscle cells, especially when one takes it after intense training. It's abundant with amino acids, especially the BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) like valine and isoleucine. These are vital in protein synthesis, which is the process involved in building new muscle tissue.
Fish Oil
Although this may appear superfluous, its benefits are vital and long term to a fit body. But these benefits aren't specific; the main advantage is the reduction of inflammation in muscle tissue. Inflammation has been pointed out as the cause of a myriad of health issues, including heart disease. As far as bodybuilding is concerned, it inhibits proper recovery and utilization of macro and micronutrients. Fish oil contains plenty of omega-3 fatty acids which could help boost performance during workout.
This is another supplement that most people see as boring and unnecessary. The benefits of certain amounts of vital micronutrients prove essential for fitness. These are essential for numerous bodily processes and maintaining overall balance. For instance, zinc is used in muscle repair while magnesium helps the body recover properly during rest. A simple multivitamin/mineral supplement will work just fine in most cases. Your best bet would be one with the most essential vitamins and minerals.
When and How Much?
For multivitamins, the dose should be taken at night so that the body gets the rest it needs to recover. With Fish oil, a moderate supplementation plan is advisable since it serves as a preventative agent rather than a performance enhancer. Taking excess amounts could lead to a higher risk of stroke. For whey protein, the prime times are post-workout and whenever consuming an entire meal proves daunting. People who train in the morning could take whey protein after waking up because it digests quickly.


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Support real school choice
Now that school is back in session, the question of school choice has once again been raised. On the surface, it seems like an obvious question: should parents be allowed to choose which school their children attends? On the surface, it seems like the answer is obvious: YES!Continue Reading


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This comprehensive piece gives a 360 degree approach on adoption - from the processes involved to talking to your child about being adopted.
By Christine Machado
Christine Fernandes was six years old when her world was shattered. "My cousin and I were playing and jumping about on the bed one day. I don't remember what happened, but somehow she made me cry, and I told her that I would tell my mother," she recalls. "That's when she told me she's not your mother. You're adopted!"
Christine ran out of the room, confused and devastated. But her father managed to catch up with her and console her. Even though her parents explained everything to her, thoughts continued to plague her mind. "Parents mean the world to a child. I began to wonder, why the woman who had given birth to me threw me out," she confesses.
It was a difficult period for her but she managed to ride through it. She is the darling of her adoptive parents and she loves them as much. "The attitude towards adoption is changing now. But during the 80s, it wasn't so. If you were adopted, you were considered the black sheep of the family, someone who didn't belong. I am glad times are changing." Now, in her thirties, Christine, who lives in Goa, has long since adjusted and accepted the fact of her adoption.
In contrast, Milind Naik, from Mumbai was about 12 years old when his parents broke the news to him. "It didn't really bother me at that time, but as I grew older, thoughts did come to my head. On occasions, I did wonder about my real parents, but didn't do much about it," he says, adding that he slowly realised that he was in fact lucky, and that everything happened for the best.
The fear of the adopted child searching for his or her roots, and the society's judgements, haunts many adoptive parents, who decide it is best not to reveal to the child that he is adopted. Shankar S of Sudatta Adoptive Families Support Group, believes this is a risky approach. "No relationship can be healthy with a continuous fear of being found out. If we value our relationship with our child, we need to tell him he is adopted."
He illustrates the two alternative patterns that parents employ when they adopt, as given by sociologist H. David Kirk. "In one pattern, we adopters seem to reject the idea of a difference between biological parenthood and our own. This is identified as R/D behaviour (Rejection of Difference). In the second pattern, adopters identify themselves as atypical parents and accept the differences that adoption brings. This is referred to as A/D behaviour (Acknowledgement of Difference)."
"Kirk reasoned that parents identified with R/D behaviour typically approach the task of revealing adoption with fear – neither wanting to hurt the child's feelings nor to undermine the child's trust in them. When we parents create 'social distance' between ourselves and our child, it is unhealthy for the relationship," says Shankar.
On the other hand, those exhibiting A/D behavior are comfortable with the fact that the children have 2 sets of parents, the biological parents and the adoptive ones. They see no threat and have no fear in revealing the truth to their children. They encourage the children to express their sadness and fears, and readily answer any questions they may have.
A good time to start talking to your child is when she begins to ask questions about 'where babies come from'. It can be as early as when she is in preschool.
Christine, who also has a younger adopted brother, started guiding him from the beginning to avoid a similar harsh experience like hers. "Children should be told about their adoption either by their parents or older siblings at a young age, before others do. Parents will be able to break it to the child gently, unlike others who can be brutal in their approach," she states.
Shreemathi Srinivas, mother of an adopted daughter, and former secretary of the Voluntary Coordinating Agency for Adoption, Chennai, advises that the process of telling should be an ongoing discussion and not just a one-time event. "I used to tell my daughter stories of Andal (the only female avatar of the 12 Alvar saints of South India) and how she was found as a baby lying under a Tulasi plant," she explains.
Thanks to good exposure to the concept of adoption right from the start, Shreemathi's daughter could adjust easily. "It is not good to wait a long time before telling the child; one should never make an issue of it or say it out of anger. Parents need to be confident and secure before telling the child," she adds.
Vidya Shankar, founding member of a leading support group, insists that such announcements should include the immediate family and other significant family members who interact with the child. "At every age, the understanding of a child is different. The parents should have a strong conviction that they are doing the right thing and that it will in no way affect their relationship with the child," she says, adding, "If you leave it for the teen years to broach the subject with your child, there are factors like education, hormones and peers that also step in."
Adoptive parents can get guidance from support groups through counselling sessions. Sudatta Adoptive Families Support Group is one such group that was started in 1994 to facilitate sharing and learning for adoptive families and to help children feel comfortable.
It presently has branches in Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Mysore, Mangalore, Pune and Delhi. There are around 450 families across India that are connected with this group, and there are 50 experts worldwide who provide aid and advice.
Vidya believes that it is good to be part of a network as it helps the child and the family. "In those regions where there is currently no support group, parents should ideally get together and crystallise as one. It has been proven that when parents get together to support each other in adoption, it is very beneficial," she says. She also cautions that parents should not adopt unless they have time to spend with the child. "It is a slow bond and forming an attachment takes time," she explains.
So, if you are among those who have been waiting to make that announcement, wait no longer! Start the process right now and in a few days/months/years, you will realise you made the right decision.
We talked about the announcement process but how about the adoption process itself? Here are a few guidelines to help you out…
According to the law, a child can be given in adoption –
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