text:
Often, you want to balance light intensity between two areas within a scene. This is important outdoors to allow more sky detail while properly exposing the foreground.
Exposing for the foreground will produce a washed-out, over-exposed sky. Exposing for the sky will leave the foreground dark, underexposed.
Color-Grad Neutral Density filters are part clear, part neutral density, with a smoothly graded transition between. A Color-Grad ND.9-to-clear is often best for balancing sky to foreground.
Neutral gray appearance drops exposure.


text:
- Passover
- Italian Charoset
- Easy Passover Soup with Frittata )"Dadini in Brodo")- (meat,GF,non-gebrokts)
- Tortino d'Azzima (Matza Pie) (Meat or Parve)
- Matzah Gnocchi (meat)
- Roman Lamb Roast (meat, GF)
- Timballo di Patate e Funghi (Potato and Mushroom Gateau) (dairy)
- Pesach Frittata with Spinach, Raisins and Pine Nuts (parve)
- Passover Carrot Cake (Parve, GF, non-gebrokts))
- Pistachio Amaretto Tart with Chocolate and Mixed Berries (Parve, GF, non-gebrokts)
- Lemon Almond Cake (Parve, GF, non-gebrokts)
- Almond Spinach Torta (Parve, GF, non-gebrokts)
- Chocolate Salami – Salame Cioccolato (parve)
- Zabaglione
Charoset is one of the symbolic foods that we eat during our Passover seder: its name comes from the Hebrew word cheres (חרס), which means "clay." Charoset is a dense fruit paste that represents the mortar used by the ancient Hebrew slaves in Egypt to make bricks. Because Passover celebrates freedom, a small amount of charoset is placed on the seder plate as a reminder that we were once slaves and we should not take our freedom for granted.
Let's start with the one I usually make for my Seder, a recipe from Padova (Padua), near Venice:
- 1 pound apple slices, peeled
- 3/4 pound boiled chestnuts, peeled
- 1/2 pound walnuts, shelled
- 1/2 pound pitted dates
- 1/2 pound dried apricots
- 1/2 pound raisins
- 2 small bananas
- 1 small seedless orange, only the zulp
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves (if liked)
Put everything in the blender and process until combined, but it shouldn't be too smooth..
Cook on a low flame for 15 minutes, stirring. Add some sweet wine or grape juice right before serving.
Charoset from Livorno (Leighorn), courtesy of my friend Lea,
(who also taught me how to make Tuscan Cous-Cous):
- 2 or 3 apples, depending on the size (peeled, cored and chopped)
- 1 pear (peeled, cored and chopped)
- 4 dates, chopped
- 2 dried figs, chopped
- 4 dried prunes, chopped
- 2/3 cup blanched almonds, whole or split in two
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (or blanched hazelnuts)
- 1/4 cup pistachios (or walnuts)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 cloves (if liked)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoons cinnamon, or to taste
Combine all ingredients except for the sugar and spices in a heavy or non-stick saucepan, add about 1/2 cup water and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. Add the sugar and spices, and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Charoset from Acqui Piemonte – very easy, it doesn't require cooking!
- 2/3 cup blanched almonds
- 6 pitted dates
- 1 matzah
- 1/2 a cup or more Marsala or sweet wine, or grape juice for a non-alcoholic version
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- cinnamon powder to taste
Coarsely grind the almonds, the dates, and the matzah. Combine with the sugar and add the wine or grape juice, adding the liquid slowly until the desired texture is desired. Place in a serving bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon.
A great matzah-free option if the first Seder has left you feeling stuffed like a Passover turkey and you need a break! You can also serve this at the seder as an alternative to your matzah balls for gluten-intolerant guests.
Ingredients (serves 6)
4 eggs
a tablespoon of chopped parsley
4 slices Hungarian salami, very finely chopped (optional)
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil or to taste
salt, and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (if liked)
3 quarts (or to taste) chicken or beef broth
In a bowl stir together the eggs, the parsley, salt, pepper, the salami, and the nutmeg. Heat some olive oil in a non-stick skillet, pour the mixture in, and once one side is cooked flip it over and cook the other side.
if you prefer and if the skillet is oven-proof, you can also cook the second side by broiling in the oven (if you are nervous about the flip!). Let it cool down and cut it into small cubes that you will place into a bowl and cover with steaming hot chicken or beef broth.
Instead of making a thicker frittata and cutting it into cubes, some people like to prepare very thin ones (crepe-like), and slice them thinly to resemble fettuccini.
This recipe participated in the Passover Potluck 2012: to see it click here:
(serves 4)
- 10 matzahs, broken into small pieces (or 2/3 lb matzo farfel) *** in Italy we use a thicker type of Matza that comes from France. If using the French matza about 6 should be enough. Use 10 or 11 standard "thin" matzahs.
- half a salami, coarsely chopped
- 3-4 spoonsfuls of matzah meal, plus more to dust the gnocchi
- 2 eggs
- Freshly chopped parsley
- A pinch of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
Soak the matzah in cold water or broth for about 4 hours till soft.
(if using European/French matzahs, which are thicker, 6-8 should be enough).
Drain it, squeeze it, and place it into a clean bowl; add the eggs, salt and pepper to taste, the parsley and nutmeg, the salami, and 3 or 4 tbsps. matzah meal. Combine all the ingredients well. The texture should be similar to a matzo ball mix: if it's too liquid and doesn't hold together, add a little more egg; if it's too dry and crumbly, add a little matzo meal.
In a second bowl place some more matzah meal. With a wet tablespoon or a wet ice-cream scooper (kept for non-dairy use), take some of the mixture and place it on top of the matzah meal; using your hands, or by shaking the bowl you should be able to cover this "gnocco" more or less evenly with matzah meal and to shape it into a ball (the size of a ping-pong ball, or smaller if you prefer).
Proceed with the rest of the mix and place the gnocchi on a piece of paper towel.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; drop in the gnocchi, and scoop them out as they raise to surface using a slotted skimmer.
Dress with a light tomato sauce or a "Bolognaise" meat sauce.
The Jewish community of Rome dates back to the second century BCE. Its history is known from several Latin and Greek sources, the Talmud, and inscriptions found in the catacombs.
"Rabbinical" Judaism, whose core thoughts are collected in the Babylonian Talmud, originated towards the end of the first century CE, after the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. Its center was the academy of Yavneh, which in theory was also in charge of the Jews in the Diaspora. We know from the Talmud that at the beginning of the 2nd century CE, a certain Rabbi Matthias was sent from Yavneh to Rome. However, the Romans did not always accept his authority: the Talmud reports that the leader of the Roman community, Theudas, refused Yavneh's instructions to modify the way the Passover lamb was butchered. We infer from these passages that in Judaea the ritual must have been changed after the destruction of the Temple. In most communities around the world, the custom of eating lamb at the seder was eventually abolished "until the Temple will be restored". However, because of Theudas's refusal to follow the dictates from Yavneh, the Roman community continued to prepare the Passover lamb as always (until even Yavneh gave in and accepted the difference).
To this day, Roman Jews (who are very proud to be neither Ashkenazic nor Sephardic) serve lamb at their Seder.
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
- 1 leg* of lamb or lamb shoulder ( about 3 to 4 pound)
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
- pieces of lemon peel, or chili peppers, or sun dried tomatoes, if liked
- 5 tablespoons dry white wine (pinot gris, riesling or chardonnay)
- extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
*Lamb shoulder is more widely available than leg, because of how labor intensive removing the sciatic nerve is (a requirement of Jewish dietary laws). One of the few kosher butchers in the US who carry lamb leg is Bisrakosher in NY (and their lamb is grass-fed).
Preheat oven to 400 F:
Rinse the lamb, dry with paper towel, and make some small incisions into the meat with a small pointed knife. This technique has a not-so-kosher name, it's called "larding" the lamb 😉
Remove the leaves from 2 of the rosemary sprigs and cut the garlic cloves into 4 parts length-wise. Cut the lemon peel or sun dried tomatoes into pieces if using. Insert 3/4 of these rosemary needles, garlic and the lemon or tomato into the cuts. Combine the remaining 1/4 with about 1/2 cup oil and some pepper. Brush the lamb all over with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with 4-5 tablespoons dry white wine (or a mix of lemon and wine), and place in a roasting pan. Roast for about 1/2 hours or until cooked inside and golden-brown on the outside. In general, lamb should be roasted for about 25 minutes per pound, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the roast reads 150. Turn the lamb halfway through the cooking, and baste every 15 minutes with the herb/oil emulsion and the pan juices. Remove the lamb from the oven and allow it to rest covered for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- 2 lbs mushrooms
- extra-virgin olive oil
- fresh garlic
- thyme
- white wine
- 2 lbs potatoes
- 4 eggs
- 5 tablespoons grated parmigiano reggiano or grana padano
- 1/4 teaspoon
- nutmeg
- 3 ounces mozzarella
- 2 ounces smoked cheese
- butter
- matzah meal
- salt and pepper
First prepare the mushrooms. In a pan, heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, add 2-3 cloves of garlic. After a couple of minutes, add the sliced mushrooms, salt and pepper. After another 2-3 minutes add half a cup of dry white wine and let it absorb. Cook until soft, stirring, adding more salt and water if necessary.
In the meantime, boil the potatoes till soft. When they are still quite warm, peel them and mash them. Stir in the eggs, the grated parmigiano or grana, the nutmeg, and add salt and pepper to taste. Add a couple of tablespoons of milk if it still looks too dry or crumbly.
Grease a baking pan with the butter and dust with the matzah meal; pour in half of the potato mash. Add a layer of mushrooms and the sliced mozzarella and smoked cheese. Top with the rest of the potato mash. Sprinkle with a little more parmigiano and a few slivers of butter, and bake in a 350 F oven for about 30 minutes.
This dish is also delicious if you substitute other vegetables, similarly prepared, for the mushrooms (I love it with peas or zucchini), or if you skip the vegetables altogether and just indulge in a lot of cheese.
- 1 lb fresh spinach
- 4 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ an onion, finely chopped
- ½ a cup raisins, plumped in hot water and drained
- ½ a cup pine nuts
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp matzah meal
- a dash of cinnamon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Confectioner's sugar to sprinkle on top
This Venetian dish reflects its Spanish-Turkish origins in the merging of sweet and savory flavors. The combination of pine nuts and raisins appears in several Jewish Italian specialties, including a saffron risotto and several fish dishes.
Cook the spinach in a covered pot with 4-5 tablespoons of water and salt. Once it's soft, drain, squeeze, throw the water out, and set aside.
Heat the olive oil and add the chopped onion in a skillet.
After less than 5 minutes add the spinach, salt and pepper and a touch of cinnamon. Cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently.
In a bowl, mix the eggs with the raisins, the pine nuts, the matzah meal, the sugar, the cinnamon and a pinch of salt to the egg mixture. Add the cooked spinach (after letting it cool off) to the egg mixture.
Grease a frying pan with olive oil, and once it's hot pour in the mixture. Cook for a few minutes over medium heat, then flip over and cook the other side you're your pan is oven-proof you can also cook the second side under the broiler, avoiding the flip.
Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve as a side – or dessert, or even breakfast!
- 1.5 cups of granulated sugar
- 2.5 cups of ground almonds
- 9 ounces carrots, grated (use small organic carrots for a rich flavor)
- 6 eggs
- A pinch of salt
- Amaretto liqueur or 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
- butter, or parve margarine and matzah meal for greasing the pan
Did you think carrot cake was an American invention? Think again: in the Veneto region, Jews have had many versions of this dessert for centuries (and all without cheese frosting!).
Beat the yolks with the sugar, add the grated carrots, the almonds, salt, cinnamon and almond extractIn a separate clean bowl beat the egg whites till foamy.
Gradually fold the whites into the rest.
Pour the mixture in a greased pan dusted with matzah meal and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- 1 heaped cup (6 oz) blanched pistachios or almonds
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 large beaten egg white, or a little more as necessary
- 1/4 tbsp amaretto liqueur or almond extract
- matzah meal for dusting (GF matzah meal for a GF version)
- 8 oz high quality bittersweet chocolate, grated (or chocolate chips)
- 3 tablespoons almond or seed oil (or 1/2 stick margarine)
- 2 small baskets of fresh mixed berries
- a few tbsps of raspberry or blueberry preserve
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 inch springform pan with aluminum foil or parchment (you can also use a disposable aluminum pan). Grease the parchment and the sides of the pan with margarine or oil, and dust with matzah meal.
Grind the pistachios (or almonds), then add the sugar, almond extract and salt in a food processor. Add the egg and blend. Remove from the food processor and knead with your hands until the mix holds together (it will still be very crumbly), adding a spoonful or two more egg white if necessary. Press the dough onto the bottom of the pan with your fingers or knuckles.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and press it down quickly again with a ball of paper towel or the back of a spoon (it will be too hot to touch), trying to make it slightly concave . Put it back in the oven and bake for another 3-4 minutes Take out again, press down again, and allow it to cool down and harden.
Remove the parchment or aluminum lining, put the crust back into the pan. Melt the chocolate chips in a bain-marie (or in your microwave) without letting it boil or burn, and add the oil or margarine; stir until smooth, pour the mixture on top of the crust, and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. The crust and filling can be made several days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
A few hours before serving brush the chocolate top with a little preserve and arrange the fresh berries on top. Leave out of the fridge for at least one hour before serving to make it easier to cut, and use a sharp knife.
*** Tip: this type of crust can be hard to cut, so don't serve the cake in a delicate platter unless you pre-slice it!
- 1 ½ cup (7 oz) blanched almonds (for a more rustic texture, use unpeeled almonds)
- 2 medium organic lemons, juice and peel (if large use 1 1/2)
- ½ cup potato starch
- 1 ½ sticks parve Passover margarine, OR ½ cup oil
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 tablespoon kosher for Passover baking powder (if available)*
- Passover Confectioner's sugar (if not available see my recipe)
*kosher-for-passover baking powder can be hard to find, but this year my kosher supermarket carried two different brands. The baking powder will make this cake even fluffier, but if you can't find it the egg whites are enough to make it soft.
** to make kosher for Passover confectioner's sugar, just process 1 cup granulated sugar with 2 teaspoons potato starch for 3 minutes in your food processor.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grate the lemon zest and set it aside; squeeze the lemons and set the juice aside.
Combine the potato starch with the baking powder (if using) and sift, or pulse a few times in your food processor. Set aside in a large bowl.
Grind the almonds in your food processor (I never buy ground almonds, I find that the flavor and texture are too 'dry': it takes seconds to grind almonds in a food processor). Remove from the food processor and add to the bowl of potato starch.
In the same food processor, beat the egg yolks with the sugar and a pinch of salt until foamy.
Melt the margarine in your microwave or in a small skillet (if using oil, skip this step).
Combine the oil or melted margarine with the beaten yolks and sugar, then start incorporating the mix of almonds and starch gradually,; keep pulsing and add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Remove the batter from the food processor and pour back into the large bowl.
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a handheld electric whisk until they form stiff peaks (to make this easier, I add a couple of drops of white vinegar or lemon juice to the bowl). Incorporate the whites into the batter with a spatula, using delicate upward movements.
Pour into a 9" baking pan, lined with parchment and greased well (you can also dust it with matzo meal if you are not keeping gluten- or gebrokt-free). Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out almost clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack without removing from the pan.
Once cool, carefully remove from the baking pan and dust with confectioner's sugar.
My first encounter with this concept was in Giuliana Ascoli-Norsa's beautiful collection "La Cucina nella Tradizione Ebraica": I immediately loved it for its uniqueness, and because I was already partial to carrot cake. However, the original recipe used more than a pound of spinach and no potato starch or liqueur, and the result was disappointing. It wasn't until several decades later, after I moved to the US and tried zucchini muffins, that I remembered this unusual combination and decided to try my hand at it again. This time I emailed all my friends from Tuscany (the area where this Passover dessert is supposed to have originated) to see if they could offer any variations. Unfortunately the spinach cake turned out to be a sort of culinary chimera, a mythical dessert that everybody had heard about but nobody had tasted or knew how to make (on the other hand, I did gather top-notch instructions for spinach fritters, and a sweet spinach and ricotta tart). At this point, though, I had become obsessed and decided to bring out the big guns: for four days I baked two spinach cakes a day, tweaking and fine-tuning, until I was finally happy with the result. And here you go! You might still want to keep the main ingredient a secret if your kids are picky eaters: they'd probably rather think it's a colorant…
1 ½ cup (7 oz) blanched almonds
12 oz baby spinach (2 bags)
½ cup potato starch
½ cup almond or seed oil OR 1 ½ sticks parve Passover margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 eggs, separated
3 or 4 tablespoons kosher for Passover anise liqueur or amaretto
1 tablespoon kosher for Passover baking powder (if available)*
(for the icing)
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet parve chocolate (grated or chips)
3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar** (optional)
3/4 stick margarine
1/3 cup Passover almond milk or water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
(you can also skip the icing and sprinkle with cocoa powder and confectioner's sugar)
*kosher-for-passover baking powder can be hard to find, but this year my kosher supermarket carried two different brands. The baking powder will make this cake even fluffier, but if you can't find it the egg whites are enough to make it soft.
** Kosher for Passover Confectioner's sugar can be also hard to find, but it's easy to make by processing 1 cup of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon potato starch in your food processor for at least 3 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cook the spinach for 10 minutes in a covered pot with 4-5 tablespoons of water. Once it's soft, drain, squeeze, diwcard the liquid (I usually line a colander with cheesecloth or paper towel, place it in my sink and press the spinach down in it with a bowl.
Grind the almonds and the spinach together finely in your food processor (I never buy ground almonds, I find that the flavor and texture are too 'dry': it takes seconds to grind almonds in a food processor). Set aside and wipe the food processor, then place the egg yolks in it with the sugar and a pinch of salt and beat until foamy. Add the spinach and almond, and the liqueur, and keep pulsing until combined.
Melt the margarine in your microwave or in a small skillet (if using oil, it does not need heating), and add to the mix. Keep pulsing and slowly add the potato starch, sifted with the Passover baking powder (if using). Process until smooth.
Remove the batter from the food processor and pour back into the large bowl.
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a handheld electric whisk until they form stiff peaks (to make this easier, I add a couple of drops of white vinegar or lemon juice to the bowl). Incorporate the whites into the batter with a spatula, using delicate upward movements.
Pour into a 9" baking pan, lined with parchment and greased well (you can also dust it with matzo meal if you are not keeping gluten- or gebrokt-free). Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out almost clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack without removing from the pan.
Once cool, carefully remove from the baking pan and cover with chocolate icing, or simply dust with a mix of cocoa and confectioner's sugar.
To make the icing, Combine almond milk and sugar in a heavy saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, chocolate and softened margarine. Stir vigorously until combined and spread on the cake using a large spatula.
Decorate with rose petals or red berries, or cherries.
Obviously, this is not only for Pesach! Ask any Italian child and they will probably name chocolate salami as their favorite dessert, any time, anywhere.
- 4 tablespoons water (or oil, for a softer texture)
- 8 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate, grated (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)
- a few drops of vanilla or almond extract (you could also use a couple of tablespoons of a sweet liqueur such as Amaretto, but your kids will really want to eat this!)
- 1 cup shelled walnuts, or pistachios or hazelnuts
- 1 cup broken Passover cookies
- 2 tablespoons candied orange (optional)
Melt the chocolate with the sugar in your microwave or in a bain-marie. Add 4 tablespoons hot water and stir until smooth. Add the cookies, nuts, liqueur or extract, candied peel. Taste and add a couple of spoonfuls of honey if you would like it sweeter, and one or two more tablespoons hot water if it's hard to stir. Allow to cool. When it's lukewarm, shape it into a salami and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or aluminium foil. Let it rest in the refrigerators for at least 6 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, unwrap and cut into slices. For a softer texture, replace the water with almond or seed oil.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
In Oak Creek, Wis., a fence slashed with holes surrounds a barren 300-acre complex of buckling former factories where the soil and groundwater are polluted with arsenic and other chemicals.
Asbestos sprayed for almost six miles from a shuttered textile mill in Sprague, Connecticut when children trying to free a canoe set it on fire.
A toxic cocktail of volatile organic compounds, petroleum, hydrocarbons and metals lies along the banks of Massachusetts's Malden River.
Despite about $1.5 billion in federal grants and loans doled out by the Environmental Protection Agency over 19 years, hundreds of thousands of abandoned and polluted properties known as "brownfields" continue to mar communities across the country. Some sites are contaminating groundwater, while at others the toxins' impact on the communities are unknown.
The shortcomings are due to limited funds, a lack of federal oversight, seemingly endless waits for approvals and dense bureaucratic processes that make it difficult for poor and sparsely populated neighborhoods to compete against larger and middle-class communities that have the means to figure them out, an investigation by six nonprofit newsrooms has found.
In a written response, the EPA said its Brownfields Program "is not intended to address all of the brownfield sites in the U.S."
The agency defines a brownfield as "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant."
The stated goals of its Brownfields Program are to fund the cleanup of contamination, to improve the quality of life of blighted communities and to provide economic stimulus.
But an investigation by nonprofit newsrooms across the country, which was coordinated by the Investigative News Network, found problems in every community examined.
Among the findings:
- In Connecticut, only 19 brownfields properties have been completely cleaned up and certified since 1994, despite close to $60 million in brownfield-related grants and loans by the Environmental Protection Agency — including $12 million aimed directly at removing or containing pollutants — and millions more by the state. Even some projects with ready developers languish because of gaps in grant cycles.
- In Massachusetts, most of the clean-up funds have gone to former mill towns in suburban areas, where developers are eager to build, rather than to minority urban communities. Even more disconcerting, the "licensed site professionals" who monitor the cleanups are paid by developers, eliciting criticism about potential ethical conflicts and lack of oversight. The state only takes a closer look at sites if a problem is detected in paperwork — a rare occurrence, critics claim.
- In Wisconsin, which boasts a well-regarded program, the state brownfields chief says it will take decades to clean up the thousands of contaminated sites, whose ranks have grown during the recession.
What's more, the EPA doesn't know how many of these abandoned properties across the country exist, where they are or how many have been cleaned up. Its public database is riddled with errors and omissions, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism discovered.
High-ranking EPA officials declined interviews for this article. The agency ultimately supplied written responses, many of which did not address underlying questions or criticisms, but rather repeated that the agency "provides funding and technical assistance" to others who assess, clean and redevelop brownfield sites.
Justin Hollander, an associate professor in urban planning and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University and author of several books on brownfields, said the investigation's findings support what he's long thought: that the program's emphasis on developer-blessed projects is misguided.
"What we need is a new model," he said. "In cases where the money is spent and the site is remediated and rebuilt, that's a good thing but it happens to so few sites that most people who live near brownfields have not seen the benefits."
In national surveys by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and partly funded by the EPA, the most frequently reported impediment to brownfield redevelopment cited time and again has been a lack of cleanup funds.
The EPA reports that it denies two out of three requests for funding.
Lack of monitoring
Even in those cases where it has provided grants or loans for cleanups, the EPA does not know how well the contamination has been remediated.
That's because the EPA's brownfields program merely hands out grants and loans. The federal government has not established standards for Brownfields cleanups. The EPA does not even verify that the work was done, according to a 2011 report by its Office of Inspector General.
The Inspector General audited 35 cases and found that in none of them did the EPA require the documentation to prove that cleanups met environmental standards.
"This occurred because the Agency does not have management controls requiring EPA [staff] to conduct oversight" to even assure that the reports meet documentation requirements, according to the report. "Consequently, decisions about uses of redeveloped or reused brownfields properties may be based on improper assessments. Ultimately, threats to human health and the environment could go unrecognized."
The Inspector General also questioned EPA's ability to step in and do long-term oversight of land that's been cleaned, especially when states or the new owners aren't prepared to do the job themselves.
In a follow-up report, the Inspector General said the agency promised to start training recipients and its own staff to better conduct "due diligence" in these areas by the end of this year. The agency declined to address questions about the criticisms for this story.
EPA officials rely on states to set and enforce environmental standards in brownfields cleanups. Some increasingly cash-strapped states are relying on the developers themselves to hire consultants to verify the properties were cleaned up.
In Connecticut, for instance, licensed environmental contractors are the primary oversight for 80 percent of brownfields redevelopment projects; the state checks up on paper, but rarely in person. Massachusetts' Department of Environmental Protection previously inspected brownfields cleanups, but due to budget cuts it now mostly reviews paperwork filed by consultants hired by the developers.
Environmentalists in Connecticut worry that this system is "by and for" the contractors, said Roger Reynolds, senior attorney for the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
"Carrots and sticks have to be part of every incentive system," he said. "Hopefully, you can do 90 percent of it with carrots, but you've got to have the sticks."
Plastic vapor barriers and other soil containment measures are all that states require in some types of redevelopment.
But sometimes, such efforts fail or the science changes. New York's Department of Environmental Conservation decided to reopen hundreds of Superfund, brownfield, and other sites that had been remediated to investigate potential new threats from vapor intrusion, something that had not been considered at the time of the "cleanups." The reviews are ongoing, but the agency has already found mitigation will be necessary at more than 70 sites.
Investors in Michigan were horrified to learn that trichloroethylene remained in the soil under the condominium they'd purchased, which was built at the site of an abandoned factory, court records show. The soil had been covered up, rather than removed. "The site later turned out to be seriously contaminated," read an October 2011 ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals. (Frank and Tonya Alfieri successfully sued their real estate agent for failing to disclose the pollution.)
There can be real and serious consequences to communities that live with these contaminated properties.
An environmental report earlier this year found that pedestrians who frequently walk past a former chemical company site on the Brooklyn-Queens border in New York City may be exposing themselves to an increased risk of cancer.
"There are so many chemicals in our society, and having these highly toxic sites is clearly a hazard and needs to be taken care of," said Reynolds, of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
Program began in 1993
The EPA began its brownfields program with a $200,000 demonstration project to encourage redevelopment in Cleveland, Oh. in 1993, followed by two grants for the same amount to Richmond, Va. and Bridgeport, Conn. in 1994, according to EPA documents. By 1995, it had received more than 100 applications for cities competing for funds.
In a report to the Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health last October, program director David R. Lloyd said that in its history, the program has awarded about 2,000 grants for environmental testing, "made more than 24,500 acres ready for reuse," created more than 72,000 jobs and "leveraged more than $17.5 billion in economic development" through grants and low-interest revolving loans.
"EPA will continue to implement the Brownfields Program to protect human health and the environment, enhance public participation in local decision making, build safe and sustainable communities through public and private partnerships," he said, "and demonstrate that environmental cleanup can be accomplished in a way that promotes economic redevelopment."
The EPA Brownfields Program's budget must be approved by Congress. The $167 million appropriated last fiscal year went to grants for projects, grants to states, municipalities and tribes, loans and administrative overhead.
Developers and state and local officials said the grants are a valuable piece in the patchwork of federal and state funds they must pull together to pay for redevelopment in blighted areas. States have developed their own programs, some supplementing EPA funds with state or municipal money or special taxes.
But each EPA brownfields cleanup grant is so small – typically capped at $200,000 – that the program's ability to influence what kinds of projects go forward is limited. In many cases, the grants are a bonus or seed, depending on what point in the process they arrive. Since its inception, the EPA's brownfields program has funded fewer than 900 cleanups across the country, according to its latest report.
The agency is supposed to favor those communities that struggle the most.
Federal law states that in weighing grant proposals, among the factors the EPA should consider is "the extent to which a grant will meet the needs of a community that has an inability to draw on other sources of funding for environmental remediation and subsequent redevelopment of the area in which a brownfield site is located because of the small population or low income of the community."
In worksheets EPA officials use to evaluate grant applications, "community need" makes up 15 out of a maximum 107 points. How much sway a community's poverty level had in any individual grant is impossible to know because the agency won't provide the information publicly.
When asked by the Investigative News Network for score sheets through a public records request, the EPA produced documents that were so heavily redacted that they might as well have been blank. It said the narrative assessments by its staff are part of the "deliberative process" and thus not public record.
The agency did not answer questions about how many of its grants go to poor neighborhoods. It said it awards "nearly half" to communities with fewer than 100,000 residents.
Urban policy experts and state officials say that the EPA and state programs in effect function less as environmental protection programs than building programs. Projects must find willing developers, investors or other grants to show viability before the agency will award a cleanup grant.
"The brownfields projects, at the end of the day, are real estate transactions and real estate projects and if the development has no likelihood of success, that process will likely not result in a cleanup," said Graham Stevens, brownfields coordinator for Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Municipalities point out that one huge benefit of these redevelopments is that they return idle land to the tax rolls, generating revenue that ultimately benefits the communities.
Hollander, the Tufts University professor and author, said that the program will never clean up enough properties to make a significant difference because it's too expensive.
"The problem is just so massive that using the [developer-driven] model to deal with all the brownfields would bankrupt the federal government," he said.
Hollander said communities would be better served if federal money was spent creating parks, bird sanctuaries and other green spaces where plants can be used to clean up the soil, instead of multi-million dollar developments.
"When you look at the amount of money spent to subsidize the development of a shopping mall on a former brownfield, you can create a safer soil in hundreds of other locations that would be a better use of that money," he said.
Unknown number of brownfields
The EPA states that 450,000 to 1 million brownfields properties lie fallow across the country, a range it attributes to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. EPA officials said the agency doesn't "spend any time counting" polluted parcels.
Many communities have not inventoried their properties and the EPA said it doesn't know where they all are. Its public database contains about 17,000 records, generally only those that EPA has funded for assessments or cleanups, and the data are provided by the grant-seekers.
Since 1995, the EPA has awarded more than twice as much in grants for assessments than cleanups — $480 million compared to $158 million, according to Lloyd's 2011 testimony to a Senate subcommittee. It has given out an additional $400 million in loans, the agency said, but those must be paid back. It's also given $508 million directly to states and tribes over the years and handed out another $37 million for job training, the agency said.
Assessment and cleanup grants are capped at $200,000, with some room for exceptions.
"That's not enough money," said Jennifer Fencl, environmental services director for the East Central Iowa Council of Governments. The grants, she said, are "incredibly competitive because there are so many brownfields."
Furthermore, the application for funding is so cumbersome that some municipalities hire consultants or band together to form regional groups to compete for the limited funds.
"The grant application is extremely dense; it's incredible," said Chuck Betts, executive director of the Keokuk Chamber of Commerce in Iowa. "It will take at least a year to write."
Worse, communities often don't know the program exists, are bewildered by the application process or have had trouble attracting a developer, the investigation found.
Impoverished neighborhoods are naturally less appealing to developers — and, ironically, are more likely to be the site of particularly noxious sites to begin with, according to Dr. Daniel Farber, director of Northeastern University's Environmental Justice Research Collaborative.
"Generally, communities with less economic power are usually targeted for the disposal of hazardous waste" and other unwanted businesses, he said. Often, a business may abandon a poorer neighborhood, leaving behind a legacy of toxins and pollutants.
As a result, poor Americans are both more likely to live with polluted sites and less likely to be able to attract a means to turn them around, despite the existence of the brownfields program.
Dozens of severely polluted, low-income communities across the country have never received grants, a computer analysis of EPA data for the Investigative News Network by a Duke University professor showed.
By contrast, some savvy communities have had no problem getting repeated grants.
Coralville, Iowa, has a brownfields coordinator on staff working on its $40 million Iowa River Landing District development, which will ultimately include townhouses, hotels, a theater, an arena and medical clinic at the site of a former truck stop, warehouses and scrap yard.
The town of 19,000 residents is squarely middle class, situated near the University of Iowa, with 14 percent living below the poverty line, according to the 2010 census. Since 1999, Coralville has received $1.9 million in grants — the most of any city in the state — from the EPA to conduct 109 site assessments and seven cleanups.
"I always joke when we're hiring a new coordinator around grant-writing time that there's no pressure on you, but everyone before you has gotten the grant," City Engineer Dan Holderness said.
And the number of brownfields in America continues to grow.
In Massachusetts, officials said 1,200 new spots of contamination are discovered annually.
In a 2011 grant application for federal funding, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the recent recession has caused a "startling" number of plant closings.
It is, the report said, "an entirely new generation of brownfields."
Kate Golden, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism; MacKenzie Elmer, Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism; and Jake Mooney, City Limits contributed to this article.
Help support this work
Public Integrity doesn't have paywalls and doesn't accept advertising so that our investigative reporting can have the widest possible impact on addressing inequality in the U.S. Our work is possible thanks to support from people like you.


text:
Producers announced her selection Friday. DeGeneres hosted the show in 2007, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance.
This year's host, Seth MacFarlane, drew mixed reviews for an edgy performance. He had already taken himself out of the running for a return engagement next year.
The Oscars will be held March 2.


text:
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, in a joint motion with Supervisor Gloria Molina, today put forth a motion to stop the Clean Water, Clean Beaches initiative in its current form and work with stakeholders to develop a new measure that addresses the concerns voiced by the public over the last several months. The Board also asked for quarterly progress reports and a target election date of June or November 2014. He issued the following statement on its approval:
"While I have long supported efforts to ensure clean water and beaches, I have been against this measure from the beginning as it was not fair and transparent in content or process," said Supervisor Knabe. "We must start over. Unfortunately, our stormwater problem is exacerbated by the expensive, and often unrealistic, demands placed on us by the Regional Water Quality Control Board which increased the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) from two pollutants in the old permit to 33 pollutants, which would cost this region tens of billions of dollars to comply with in the next 20 years alone.
A regional, integrated approach to this issue is absolutely critical to develop an economically feasible solution. However, the current measure did not outline a specific list of projects. Voters have a right to know where their money is going. Also, it was a fee with no end date. I believe more accountability is necessary for voters to support this program. That is why I asked that our Department of Public Works continue its outreach to cities, school districts, non-profits and the business community, our job creators, to address their concerns about rate reductions and double-taxation issues on those already making efforts to capture and clean their storm water under existing State and Federal mandates.
Finally, should this Board in the future decide to move forward with a new Clean Water, Clean Beaches measure, it should be put before the voters in a general election ballot and not through a mail-in ballot, as was originally proposed. I appreciate the public taking the time to attend our board meetings and voice their concerns through the many messages and phone calls to our offices. The approval of today's motion shows that you were heard."


text:
Date: May 29, 2012
Equipment Used:
Location: Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota
Pictured (left to right):
Trophy Size: 27 inches
Trophy Species: Walleye
Story: This is the biggest walleye I've ever caught! I did release it to be caught another day. I was jigging in 18 feet of water, and guided by my best friend Jesse Takkinen. Thanks Jesse!
Mario Frasson
Leave a Reply
Commenting Policy - We encourage open expression of your thoughts and ideas. But there are a few rules:
No abusive comments, threats, or personal attacks. Use clean language. No discussion of illegal activity. Racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally hateful comments are not tolerated. Keep comments on topic. Please don't spam.
While we reserve the right to remove or modify comments at our sole discretion, the Sportsman's Guide does not bear any responsibility for user comments. The views expressed within the comment section do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of The Sportsman's Guide.


text:
Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly - 1994
- Animation
- Action
- Science Fiction
Jaga Bada, Mr. Satan's old sparring partner, has invited Satan to his personal island to hold a grudge match. Trunks and Goten decide to come for the adventure and Android #18 is following Satan for the money he owes her. Little do they know that Jaga Bada's scientist have found a way to resurrect Broly, the legendary Super Saiyan.


text:
One of the most critical needs in Florida's Reading First schools is to improve the effectiveness of interventions for struggling readers. For example, during the 2005-2006 school year, only 17% of first grade students who began the year at some level of risk for reading difficulties finished the year with grade level skills on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS®) measures. In second grade, the figure was only 9%, and in third grade it was 8%.
We will never teach all students to read if we are not more successful with the most academically challenged students. Teaching all students to read requires a school level system for early identification of 'at risk' students and a school level system for providing those students with the intensive interventions they need to become proficient readers.
This summary document highlights the main ideas from our complete report which describes what we have learned by visiting Reading First schools demonstrating success in reaching their struggling readers. Together, the summary and complete report serves as a "manual of ideas" for meeting some of the most difficult challenges faced by Reading First schools in working with their struggling readers. School leaders will find ideas described here that can be applied to help them successfully meet the unique challenges within their own schools.
The Reading First plan for success
- We must increase the quality, consistency, and reach of classroom instruction by providing systematic and explicit initial instruction, and by providing differentiated instruction delivered individually or in small groups. Small groups should be differentiated by:
- the frequency of meeting in small groups (3x/week, 5x/week)
- the size of the instructional group (3, 6, 8, students)
- the focus of instruction (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension)
- the format of the lesson (guided reading vs. skills-focused)
- We must administer timely and valid assessments to identify students lagging behind and monitor progress.
- We must provide intensive interventions for students who are lagging behind in development of critical reading skills.
Why we must work at the school level to provide effective interventions?
Children enter school with very diverse instructional needs. They differ in:
- their talent and their preparation for learning to read words accurately and fluently
- their oral language knowledge and abilities — vocabulary and world knowledge
- their abilities to manage their learning behaviors and their motivation to apply
- themselves to learning to read
- Some children may require instruction that is 4 or 5 times more powerful than the rest of the students.
- The classroom teacher, alone, may not be able to provide sufficiently powerful instruction to meet the needs of all students.
What do we know about the characteristics of effective interventions?
- They always increase the intensity of instruction. To increase intensity:
- increase instructional time
- decrease number of children in instructional group
- improve quality of instruction
- They always provide many more opportunities for re-teaching, review, and supervised practice.
- They are focused carefully on the most essential learning needs of the students.
- They provide instruction that is both explicit and systematic.
How was the information provided in this document collected?
- We visited and interviewed principals, teachers, and coaches at schools that were having the most success in providing effective interventions.
- We also visited schools that were having less success — in order to help identify more specifically some practices that were unique to the successful schools.
How were effective schools identified?
We first identified the Reading First schools from 2004-2005 that had the highest Index of Effectiveness
- The EI (Effectiveness of Intervention) Index indicates the percentage of students who began the year at some level of risk for reading difficulties, based on their DIBELS® performance, but who grew rapidly enough to meet grade level expectations by the end of the year as measured by the DIBELS® tests.
Once the schools with the highest EI percentiles were identified, four criteria were used to identify 10 schools for visits:
- An ECI index score above the 60th percentile. The ECI (Effectiveness of Core Instruction) Index indicates the percentage of students who began the year reading "at grade level" based on their DIBELS® performance, and who were still reading at grade level at the end of the year as measured by the DIBELS® tests.
- At least 50 students per grade level
- Percentage of minority students above the state Reading First average of 66%
- Percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch above the state Reading First average of 74%
Data on the top 10 schools meeting the effective school criteria
|EI Score
|EI %ile
|ECI Score
|ECI %ile
|% free and reduced lunch
|% minority
|# of kids in K-3
After visiting the ten high-performing schools and a few less successful schools, several common qualities among the successful schools emerged. These qualities were not observed as consistently or as clearly in the less successful schools. The following seven traits were areas of strength for the schools in the top percentiles for intervention effectiveness. Each area deserves careful consideration when implementing a school wideintervention system that will be able to meet the needs of struggling readers. Under each of these headings, wewill provide examples of specific practices implemented at successful schools.
Seven common traits observed in successful schools
- Strong Leadership
- Positive Belief and Teacher Dedication
- Data Utilization and Analysis
- Effective Scheduling
- Professional Development
- Scientifically Based Intervention Programs
- Parent Involvement
Indicators of common traits
Strong leadership
Characterized by extensive knowledge of:
- children
- reading programs
- data
- schedules
- teachers' needs
Leadership was provided by principals, reading coaches and/or literacy teams
- "Our leader not only has a mission for our school which is what we want to do, but she has a vision of how we are going to do it."
- Involved in every aspect of their school's reading program
- Mutual respect between teachers and principal
- Principal seen as "Captain" of the team working toward a common goal
- High expectations of teachers and students and accountability for meeting expectations
- "This is no longer a desk job. We are their instructional leaders."
Positive belief and teacher dedication
- Teachers at successful schools believed ALL their students could read, despite:
- language barriers
- limited support at home
- low socioeconomic status
- Teachers committed to extra hours to make sure they were able to meet the needs of ALL of their students.
- Teachers raised the bar, not lowered it.
- "We have high expectations for ourselves and our students."
- "It takes extra planning to meet the needs of all of our students."
- "We need to raise the bar for our students, not lower it."
- At one school, almost 100% of teachers were involved in teaching in the after school program.
Data utilization and analysis
Data meetings:
- held on a regular basis (bi-weekly/monthly)
- key characteristic — attendees were able to make school level decisions and could make changes — principal usually involved
- systems/worksheets used for structure
- data compiled from multiple sources
- Data meeting held during the school day
- substitutes are hired
- a schedule of rotation is created
- individual teachers meet with literacy team
- Data meeting held during the teacher's planning period
- no substitutes required
- a set time/day is established for the meeting
- grade level teachers meet with literacy team
Effective scheduling
Teachers wanted "more time!"
- An efficient schedule allows for:
- an uninterrupted period of time for reading instruction (90 minutes or more)
- specific times when intensive reading interventions will be provided
- the most efficient use of support staff to help provide intensive interventions
- a common planning time to facilitate grade-level meetings
Reading blocks
- All grades have reading at the same time
- The principal hires enough intervention teachers.
- The principal uses "special area" teachers to assist with reading instruction.
- The children move to homogeneously grouped classroom during the reading block.
- The reading blocks are staggered
- The principal rotates his intervention teachers.
- The reading coach is able to observe and model lessons in more classrooms during the reading block.
Intensive Interventions
- A 90 minute reading block and then 30-45 minutes of time scheduled outside of that block to deliver the interventions.
- An extended reading block of 105-120 minutes in which intensive intervention was included in the block of time designated for reading instruction.
Common planning time
- during "special area" time
- at the end of the day after students have left
Professional development
- It takes more knowledge and skill to teach students who struggle in learning to read than it does for students who find it easier to learn.
- Utilizing a combination of personnel to deliver professional development
- High teacher turn-over rate is something that needs to be addressed in the professional development plan.
- Keeping up with training new teachers can be time consuming for coaches.
- Training for 'Special Area' teachers
- Differentiated professional development for teachers
- "Mini workshops" provided by:
- district level personnel
- reading coaches
- publishers
- classroom teachers that have attended an outside district training
- Professional development provided:
- during common planning times
- after school
- Saturdays
- summer
Scientifically-based intervention programs
- Published Intervention Programs
- Materials drawn from several sources
- Computer-based programs
Using published intervention programs
- Pros
- having ready made materials
- professional development in the implementation of the program
- a predetermined scope and sequence
- research to support the use of the program (in some cases)
- Cons
- the cost
- a single program may not meet every child's needs — several different programs may be required
Using a variety of sources for intervention materials
- Pros
- the ability to match the materials to the child
- Cons
- takes a great deal of time to gather materials
- teachers need to have a solid understanding of what the data means at the student level
- not one set scope and sequence
Using computer-based intervention programs
- Programs used in schools targeted:
- one reading component (i.e. fluency)
- multiple reading components (i.e. phonemic awareness and phonics)
- ESOL population
- Were used during center rotation or throughout the day on a rotating basis
- Some programs generated reports daily or weekly
- Some programs altered the items presented to the children based on their performance on prior lessons
Parent involvement
- Make the parents feel welcome at the school
- Can be challenging when parents speak limited English
- Need to think "outside of the box" to plan a parent night
- provide food and babysitting
- offer two meeting times — one during the day and one in the evening
- bring the meeting to the communities
- "The first call you make to a parent should be concerning a positive behavior or action rather than
- Establish a relationship early in the school year.
- Interpreters at meetings
- Parent nights at school
- Parents can ask questions about curriculum
- Parents can learn activities they could use at home
- Send notices home in multiple languages
- Have babysitting services and food at night meetings
- Parent liaisons visit the homes
Concluding thoughts and resources
- Schools need to consider aspects of each of the seven traits to be successful.
- The traits are intertwined in producing success. Strong leadership at the school level is critical for the success of school level systems.
- To make this complex system work, knowledgeable leaders and dedicated teachers need to work together to establish a school culture focused on high standards and confidence that goals can be achieved.
Any of the seven traits mentioned above when considered in isolation will not make a school successful. All ofthe successful schools were good exemplars of several of these traits. It is critical that as a school works to build an effective intervention program, it considers aspects of each of the seven traits. It is difficult to say one trait is more important than any other or to discuss them as separate items because they are so intertwined. For example, professional development and belief systems may not seem as important as getting the schedule setor picking the best programs, but even if the schedule allows for the best student: teacher ratio, and a strongresearch based program is available to support instruction, success is not guaranteed.
The program needs to be implemented with fidelity and skill, and the teacher needs to believe that all of his/her children can learn to read. It is important to have the time scheduled for small group instruction using a research-based program, but it is equally important to have teachers who understand how to use the program effectively and make adjustments to instruction based on student need.
To facilitate knowing what to teach, the teacher will have to interpret data on a regular basis, and this same data will need to be the basis for school-level decisions about allocation of resources and scheduling. In order to manage this complex system, leaders must be knowledgeable about the children, the teachers, and the nature of effective instruction. Strong leaders need to inspire high standards and confidence that goals can be achieved to allow for the integration and implementation of the components of an effective school wide intervention program.
Free resources for schools, principals, and teachers
- Teaching All Students to Read: Practices for Reading First Schools with Strong Intervention Outcomes
- Find 300 independent student learning activities for K-3 classrooms
A principal's action plan outline for building a successful school-wide intervention system
|Common Traits of
Successful Schools
|Specific Feature
|Observable Result
Successful Principals will…
|Strong Leadership
Strong Vision
Recognize and identify
Maintain basic
Data interpretation
Recognize and identify
Provide, clearly explain,
Determine and establish:
Determine and establish:
|Positive Belief
|Beliefs about
success with
all students
and teacher
|High expectations
|Data Analysis
|Ongoing data
and utilization
|Data structures,
and mobilization
Attend monthly grade-level datameetings:
Scaffold teachers and staff to:
|Effective Scheduling
|Flexible use of time, staff, and
Arrange for:
|On-going and Follow-up
Recognize and establish:
|Scientifically Based
Intervention Programs
|Differentiated materials
for more precise lesson
A set scope and
sequence focusing
on a specific reading
Different components
of reading addressed
|Parent Involvement
|Initiative in
Flexible and
Partnership perspective
Establish structures to:
Crawford, E.C. and Torgesen, J.K. (2006). Teaching All Students to Read: Practices for Reading First Schools with Strong Intervention Outcomes, Summary Document. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Center for Reading Research. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED495466.pdf


text:
Thanks for the tip -_-
Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some great articles on having fun without spending money, ways to start a conversation, and how to save on groceries.
7 Ways to Have Fun Without Spending Money — Have fun for free (and make a positive contribution to society) by doing community service. [Thousandaire]
20 Ways to Start a Conversation and Build Into a Connection — Build your conversations into connections by making sure to listen. [The Simple Dollar]
How to Save on Groceries, With & Without Coupons — Save on groceries by utilizing your freezer. [Bargaineering]
Making Money on eBay: 10 Tips for Super Star Selling — Be a successful eBay seller by embellishing truthfully. [Grad Money Matters]
How to Find the Best Rental Apartment — Find the best apartment by viewing potential rentals and keeping notes. [Canadian Finance Blog]
Great Ways To Use Leftover Easter Accessories and Candy — Not sure what to do with your leftover Easter candy? Donate it to a local soup kitchen. [Parenting Squad]
6 Budget-Friendly Baby Shower Tips — Keep your baby shower budget-friendly by keeping a manageable guest list. [Financial Highway]
4 Ideas to Create Multiple Income Streams Online — Use blogging and informational products to create multiple income streams online. [Rich Credit Debt Loan]
Seven steps to managing health costs in retirement — Manage your health costs when you retire by shopping the plans each year. [RetirementRevised]
5 Steps to Prepare Your Finances for a Natural Disaster — Make sure your finances are disaster ready by having copies of your data. [Don't Quit Your Day Job]
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


text:
(KCPW News) Salt Lake City leaders want to know where you get your food. As part of the city's Community Food Assessment, it's launching an online survey aimed at bolstering access to local food by identifying the barriers that prevent residents from getting it. Mayor Ralph Becker notes that starting after World War II, some of the city's best agricultural land was taken over by development, inhibiting access to locally grown products.
"Most of us have heard the statistic now that the average grocery store item in this country travels over 1,500 miles, and we know that's not the best way for us to make sure that we have good healthy food and reduce our impact on the environment," he says.
The city has also rolled out a Community Food Production Mapping Tool, which homeowners can use to estimate how much food their individual properties can grow by entering their address online.
Kevin Bell, the city's geographic information system engineer, says the average residential lot in Salt Lake City is 0.17 acres.
"…giving about 2,800 square feet for garden space if you were to utilize all of it. That means that you could grow about four months of food on the typical lot," he explained.
Bell says the city will also soon release a tool showing homeowners how much sunlight their land gets each month.
How do you feel about this topic?
Is there anything else you think we should know? We'd like to hear your thoughts. Send us your feedback using the form below.


text:
Reliving A Concert for Life
Watching last night's star-studded American Idol telethon took me back fifteen years. A Concert for Life "" The Freddie Mercury Tribute "" took place in London's Wembley Stadium on April 20, 1992. I was twelve and had been a Queen fan for roughly two months, dating back to the theatrical release of Wayne's World.
I have trouble gaging this AIDS benefit's cultural significance. My memory may be skewed by the fact I recorded the concert (VHS); that well-worn tape likely still looms in my parents' basement. The reviews were mixed. The Times of London put it this way: "Def Leppard led a rally call of 'Let's Get Rocked,' which seemed blissfully unaware that anything as unpleasant as AIDS might impinge on a man's urgent need for casual sex."
From a trivia perspective, this concert marked the only time David Bowie ever performed "Under Pressure" live with Queen (well, 3/4ths of Queen). And it was bassist John Deacon's last full concert with the band. Annie Lennox is the only person to sing at A Concert for Life and last night's Idol Gives Back, though Seal and Bono were both involved in both events (and I could be missing somebody else -- let me know).
What follows are a handful of clips I found on YouTube.
David Bowie, Annie Lennox & Queen singing "Under Pressure."
Elton John, Axl Rose & Queen singing "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Axl Rose & Queen singing "We Will Rock You."
Liza Minnelli leads a rendition of "We Are The Champions."
More clips can be found at YesButNoButYes.


text:
I recently posted The Best (and Worst) Education News of 2011, and thought I'd take a stab at some prognostication for 2012.
I think I batted close to 50% in last year's predictions — that can't be that much worse than those made by professional pundits.
Feel free to add your own predictions in the comments section — and don't hesitate to include "wishful thinking!"
Here are my Education-Related Predictions For 2012:
1. Proponents of what is typically called "school reform" — expansion of charter schools and teacher merit pay, primarily evaluating teachers by student test scores, erosion of seniority rights — will emphasize expanding their agenda through three major avenues: Teach For America will use their new $50 million grant from the federal government to enter multiple new districts, KIPP Charter Schools will do the same with their new $25.5 million grant from The Walton Family Foundation, and, in California at least, charter operators will build on their recent push to have county Boards of Education's approve charter applications over school district objections.
2. Notwithstanding recent court decisions in New York City, efforts to publish teacher ratings by test scores in local newspapers will "peter out." Newspapers will shy away from publicizing this misleading data after seeing the backlash received by The Los Angeles Times after they pioneered this ethically questionable practice. In addition, since more districts are unfortunately including student test scores in teacher evaluations, the practice of making "job reviews" public will becoming increasingly questionable legally.
3. There will be a surge of interest in the concept of Social Emotional Learning (SEL), the idea of explicitly helping students learn about and develop character traits like self-control and perseverance. Unfortunately, that interest will be combined with a strong desire to test and grade, and much of its potential effectiveness will be lost.
4. Here in California, Governor Brown and his allies will be successful in convincing proponents of other tax initiatives to focus on supporting his ballot drive. His plan to increase taxes would result in billions more for schools, and will pass handily. That success will inspire similar efforts in other states during following years.
5. As the 2012 President election nears, and the polls show a Romney/Obama contest as a nail-biter, the Obama Administration will offer a "fall surprise" to teachers by offering states waivers to No Child Left Behind requirements that don't have the "poison pills" of rules and costs that their present waiver hold. The tactic will work, and larger numbers of educators will actively campaign for the President in the election's final months.
6. The awful and inaccurate teacher evaluations in New York, Tennessee and Florida will force states to go much more slowly in implementing ones that include student test scores as a sizable percentage of the ranking. Unfortunately, the momentum for these types of evaluations will only be slowed, not stopped.
7. At the same time the momentum for awful teacher evaluations is slowed, there will be a renewed interest in using Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) as an evaluation and professional development strategy. Districts that expand the use of this process, which treats educators as professionals, will find increasing success for students, their families, and educators alike.
8. Michelle Rhee will continue her decline in public credibility and relevance. Her work with some of the most conservative, and anti-teacher, Republicans has made her a contagion among many Democrats. And, as her Republican allies falter in their own success and popularity across the country, she is incredibly trying to build a base here in California — unsuccessfully.
9. Strategies to use technology as a transformative tool in education will take a backseat as for-profit online learning charlatans and the Khan Academy take up the tech money and the media space.
10. As I did last year, I'm borrowing this last one from Bill Ivey, a colleague in the Teacher Leaders Network. He predicts that "Each and every school day will bring tens of thousands of reasons to celebrate in schools across the country." That sure sounds good to me…
Please share your reactions, and your own predictions!
Also, check out predictions from these other bloggers:
How Teachers Will Rock the News in 2012 by Barnett Berry
Ten Edu-Stories We'll Be Reading in 2012 by Rick Hess


text:
A new multicenter study involving UCLA and the RAND Corp. has found that perceived racial or ethnic discrimination is not an uncommon experience among fifth-grade students and that it may have a negative effect on their mental health.
Study results show that 15 percent of children surveyed reported experiencing what they perceived as discrimination and that the vast majority of these encounters occurred at school. The study also found that children who reported feeling discrimination were more likely to have symptoms of one or more of four different mental health disorders: depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder.
The study will be published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health and is currently available online by subscription.
Racial and ethnic discrimination and their effect on mental health have been studied in adults and adolescents, but less is known about the effects of perceived discrimination on children's mental health.
"It was surprising to see positive associations between perceived racial and ethnic discrimination in the children and symptoms of all four examined mental health conditions," said lead author Dr. Tumani R. Coker, clinical instructor of pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and an associate natural scientist at RAND. "Parents, clinicians and teachers should be aware that children may experience racial and ethnic discrimination in and out of school and that there may be detrimental effects on their mental health."
Researchers analyzed data from a 2004-06 study of 5,147 fifth-graders and their parents from public schools in Los Angeles, Houston and Birmingham, Ala.
The study found that a greater percentage of African American children (20 percent), Hispanic children (15 percent) and children identified as "other" (15 percent) reported perceived racial or ethnic discrimination than white children (7 percent).
The strongest and most consistent association of discrimination with mental health symptoms involved symptoms of depression in African American, Hispanic and "other" children reporting discrimination. This association was not significant for whites.
Other findings included:
- Among Hispanic children, those who reported perceived discrimination were more likely to have symptoms of each of the four mental health conditions.
- Among African American children, those who reported perceived discrimination were more likely to have symptoms of depression and conduct disorder.
- Among white children, those who reported perceived discrimination were more likely to have symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder.
"It is concerning that children this young are already reporting that they have faced racial or ethnic discrimination," said senior author Dr. Mark A. Schuster, William Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School. "We need to examine what they are experiencing and how to address this issue."
The next stages of research will examine if racial and ethnic discrimination precede the symptoms of mental health conditions and also will look at the mechanisms by which discrimination might lead to poor mental health outcomes and how these mechanisms might differ by race and mental health condition.
"Many parents have discussions about school with their child's health care provider during regular check-ups," Coker said. "Because most children in our study with perceived racial or ethnic discrimination reported that it occurred at school, clinicians could address the topic as part of these school-related discussions."


text:
Escripts Marketing is fully registered with the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland.
You can verify the registration by going to the RQIA web site and downloading the Independent Clinics spreadsheet
What does this mean?
This means that Escripts Marketing is registered and inspected by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in line with the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) Order 2003 and the Independent Healthcare Regulations 2005 necessary for an Independent Medical Agency.
What does the RQIA check?
Our service is registered and inspected by Northern Ireland's healthcare regulator. It also means we are regulated/inspected on an ongoing basis, to ensure compliance with the relevant regulations and standards.
What does this mean for the customer?
It should give you further peace of mind that we are a reputable company to deal with and that your medical care is being handled safely and professionally.
Want more information about the RQIA?
For more information on the RQIA please visit their website http://www.rqia.org.uk
Uniclinix is owned by Escripts Marketing Ltd and is an Independent Medical Agency registered with the RQIA. It is legally responsible for all the clinical aspects of the Uniclinix Service including, but not limited to, the competence of the doctors, the appropriateness of the service, the quality of the customer care and the integrity of the systems and services offered.
A requirement of Escripts Marketing's patient healthcare responsibilities is the Statement of Purpose which outlines the aims and objectives of Escripts Marketing Ltd, the kinds of healthcare services it provides and its legal status. A further requirement for regulatory compliance is a Patient Guide for all patients receiving any medical consultation from Escripts including a clearly worded Terms and Conditions and Complaints Procedure.
To view the full Statement of Purpose please click here
To view the entire Patient Guide please here
Terms and Conditions | Privacy policy | Contact
PharmaDoctor© 2023 PharmaDoctor.clinic is owned and operated by eScripts Marketing Limited.