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Speaker Ralston Announces North Georgia Office of the Center for Rural Prosperity & Innovation in EllijayNews July 24, 2019
(The following is a Press Release from the Office of David Ralston, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives.)
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) today announced that the Center for Rural Prosperity & Innovation has opened a North Georgia Office in Ellijay. The office is located in the Collaboration on River's Edge (CORE) Building, a workplace innovation space and initiative of the Greater Gilmer Community Foundation.
"I am proud to welcome the Center for Rural Prosperity & Innovation to Ellijay and look forward to the good work that will be done to further economic opportunity throughout rural Georgia," said Speaker David Ralston. "This center is a direct result of the work of the House Rural Development Council and our continuing efforts to ensure prosperity is accessible to all Georgians – regardless of zip code."
The center, also known as Georgia's Rural Center, has named Janet Cochran to lead the North Georgia Office. Cochran comes to the center with more than a decade of experience as a project manager with the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
"Finding ways to not only maintain but to multiply the economic and cultural vitality present in so many of north Georgia's small towns and rural communities relies heavily on relationships," said Dr. David Bridges, Georgia's Rural Center interim director, "and we know that our presence and personnel there will only improve our ability to facilitate positive outcomes. Janet brings a wealth of experience in managing economic development projects in this region of the state, and we're excited to have her join our team in this role at the North Georgia Office."
Headquartered at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, the Center for Rural Prosperity & Innovation serves as a central information and research hub for rural best practices, including community planning, industry-specific assistance and cooperative efforts with community partners. The center was proposed by the House Rural Development Council in 2017 and was created by House Bill 951, which was enacted in 2018.
"Promoting a strong business environment that enhances the quality of our community is not just the chamber's mission in words, it is behind everything we do. The opening of CORE and the Center for Rural Prosperity & Innovation is a cornerstone moment in that mission and one that we have worked tirelessly to support and create for many years. I join with our 650 members in celebrating," remarked John Marshall, Gilmer Chamber Chairman of the Board.
"As chairman of the Greater Gilmer Community Foundation it has been our goal as a private, citizen funded organization to help spur economic growth for our community and region. CORE being the home to the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation North Georgia office brings our vision to reality. We look forward to continuing to serve our communities for years to come," said Kent Sanford, Chairman of the Board.
"Working with Speaker of the House David Ralston and the House leadership to bring the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation North Georgia office to our community will have economic impact to the entire region. We look forward to continuing to work to insure the success of the center and all of our partners within CORE," remarked Lex Rainey, Greater Gilmer Joint Development Authority Chairman of the Board.
Located in Gilmer County, Ellijay is a thriving rural community in the North Georgia mountains, offering a unique blend of southern hospitality and natural beauty. The area leads Georgia in apple production and is a center for agribusiness and agritourism.
For more information about the Center for Rural Prosperity & Innovation, visit http://www.ruralga.org/.
Ralston visits MVE to read as part of Georgia Pre-K WeekBobcat's Corner, News October 5, 2018
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Mountain View Elementary (MVE) school hosted the Georgia Speaker of the House, Rep. David Ralston, on Thursday, October 4, as part of the Georgia Pre-k Week program.
Originally launched in 1992, Georgia Pre-K is a lottery-funded program serving four-year-olds in the state regardless of parental income. After almost losing the program to cuts in 2010, the Pre-K Week celebration was created to emphasize the importance of quality early childhood education by providing opportunities for leaders to engage with pre-k classrooms in their local communities.
Ralston's visit came to MVE in its second year of the return to pre-school classes at their location. Visiting both pre-k classrooms, he read Behind the Little Red Door in Katlin Johnston's class and Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons in Gina Brock's class.
Having previously visited Ellijay Primary school year's ago, his return to the new location is made possibly by Gilmer County's L4GA Grant providing supplemental literacy funds to the education system. A part of the grant, the "Birth-to-5 piece," is the major part of increasing literacy and putting books into the hands of kids at home. By extensions, educators hope to build the language skills and development for not only those children, but also to other younger children in the household as well.
Gilmer's Pre-K Director Katrina Kingsley told FYN this is usually an annual event to host lawmaker's in our schools and allow them firsthand knowledge of what's going on in these classrooms. Kingsley asserted the importance of programs like this as it not only educates lawmakers on our schools, but the grant and program allow pre-k teachers to affect even more students. Just as the body needs food and nourishment, Kingsley said these kids need "nourishment for the brain.
Check out more photos of the event at FYN's Facebook Page.
Chamber hosts Candidate Forum in EllijayElection 2018 May 4, 2018
ELLIJAY, Ga. – The Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce hosted a forum to meet the candidates in Gilmer's two major elections this year.
First, the Post 2 County Commissioner race saw candidates Karleen Ferguson, Woody Janssen, and Jerry Tuso speak about Gilmer specifically and their own lives and qualifications while 7th District State Representative candidates Rick Day, David Ralston, and Margaret Williamson spoke more generally on Gilmer's place in the state as a whole and their role as a representative.
Hosted by Gilmer Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paige Green and Board of Directors Chairman Trent Sanford, the event gave five minutes to each candidate to offer their words to citizens before allowing for time for citizens to mingle and speak face-to-face with them and ask their own questions.
The event kicked off with the candidates for Gilmer County Post 2 Commissioner.
First to speak was Jerry Tuso who offered a few words about his past as a retired air traffic controller and negotiating contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars over his 19 years in the position. As a past chairman of the Gilmer County GOP and eight years of involvement in the party, Tuso stated he has received great support throughout his time from people like Rita Otum and Stephen Aaron among many others. Tuso said he is running for Post 2 because he was raised and told that hard work and studying could make you something. Tuso continued saying, "It wasn't enough. My father told me, 'Son, that's not enough. You've got to be a servant as well.' So, during my entire working career, I have found ways that I can serve. And that's why I am running, to serve Gilmer County."
Next to speak was Karleen Ferguson. Ferguson has owned property with her husband in Gilmer County for 20 years, and in 2011, she became the Gilmer County Tourism and Events Coordinator. She noted it as the "funnest job in the world because I got to tell everyone that I knew how wonderful Gilmer County was and encourage them to come visit." However, Ferguson said she learned in that position the impact of tourism on Gilmer's community. She noted the Apple Festival's economic effect on hundreds of families in the county, including the apple growers, but also the families who volunteer and work to earn extra income for their own needs. She connected this with the growing agri-tourism area alongside maximizing the natural resources the county has to offer for both citizens and businesses. Ferguson went on to note the effect that commissioners can have on the economy noting the previous board of Charlie Paris, Dallas Miller, and Travis Crouch and their efforts to replace old systems and catching up their departments to maintain the county. She stated, "We are headed in the right direction, and my intention as your county commissioner is to continue the direction that these gentlemen have been leading us in. I am naturally a problem solver … I am a great team player. I have a passion to protect the history and culture of this community as we grow in a qualitative way."
The final candidate to speak was Woody Janssen. Living in the county for 12 years, he got out of his major corporate past in national accounts management to settle down locally in Ellijay, where he started a river tubing business. In business since 2009, Janssen said he has been affected by and benefited from what the Board of Commissioners and the Gilmer Chamber have accomplished. Growing out of the recession, he spoke about the growth of the county and his business' successes in bringing people to the county. It was something he said he wanted to continue in the county. Being so involved in the small business market, Janssen said he hoped to deregulate the county's small businesses to further expand their growth. Janssen said, "That's something I'd like to see happen, and I think I can help everybody out. Everybody has done a phenomenal job here locally. I'd like to see less regulation and let's utilize what we already have."
With that, the night's events turned towards the District 7 State Representative election.
First to speak was Rick Day. Running as a Democrat, Day said he hoped citizens were interested in finding out who he was as he came out of nowhere. Day told a story about a job he took on an oil field in central Texas. He said he showed up for work and ran into immediate troubles as the vast majority of his coworkers were Hispanic and did not speak English. Day continued his story saying he was working in his combat boots from his time in the military. The boots began melting in the chemicals. Day said he did not know what to do, feeling alone with boots melting and no way to reach out to family or friends. It was then that his coworkers bought him a new pair of boots simply saying, "Pay it forward."
It was a touching moment, said Day, who added he rides his motorcycle through our district and sees pockets of poverty, noting 51 percent of this district is employed, meaning that 49 percent are unemployed. With one half of the district "carrying the weight" for the other half, he could only ask how it could happen. Day said, "We are supposed to have leadership in Atlanta. For 10 years, the leadership has gone unchallenged. For 27 years, one person has had the power and authority to make this the number one district in the state … As beautiful as we are, behind the beauty, behind the cake of make-up, there is poverty. There is addiction. There is a quiet desperation."
It is the quiet desperation that Day said he wants to address. He wants to represent them and increase the economy and growth for all those in the county to answer the "quiet desperation." Day said the way he intends to pay for that growth and that answer is by adopting the Colorado approach by legalizing cannabis. Day likened the agricultural growth in our region with vineyards to a bridge, saying the next step with cannabis is a massive economic impact and job growth waiting to happen in our region.
Second to speak was Margaret Williamson. Williamson's background comes from engineering, marketing, and business administration. However, it was her time at home with her children and supporting her husband that Williamson said allowed her the time to become more active in volunteering in the community. This time in our community is what she said gives her the "pulse of the things that are going on in District 7." She told a story about visiting Abby's, a local business, for ice cream and frozen yogurt with her grandchildren. As she sat watching them pile as many sprinkles on their ice cream as they could, Williamson said she realized that was the biggest issue for them. She asked herself what their future in our district was?
She commended the Chamber of Commerce in their efforts as well as the agricultural community as the mainstays of our economy. Growing now into vineyards and tourism exemplifies the growth the community has seen. She also noted the commissioners' efforts in controlling and growing the economy under an annual $4.4 million debt from past irresponsibilities, a debt obligation stretching to 2032. Williamson said, "Our leadership claims that we are the number one state to do business in. So, let's capitalize on that here in our district. We have more than other parts of Georgia to offer."
Utilizing our resources, Williamson said we have enough to attract more of smaller, low impact businesses that offer better-paying jobs with advancement. She went on to note that she is running for the position to offer real representation from someone who cares, will work for the people, and will be honest about legislation and how it will affect the people. Williamson said she wants to change the office to be more present in the district besides just for "photo ops" as well as adding a weekly event in the district during session so that citizens can speak to her about legislation and concerns in the state.
The final candidate to speak was Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston. Ralston was born and raised in Gilmer County where he graduated high school. Ralston said it was the community's help that achieved his successes like $550,000 for the "long overdue completion" of the Clear Creek Ball Fields, $150,000 for the Gilmer County Playhouse, $310,000 for equipping the Gilmer Canning Plant, $250,000 for repairs and renovations to the Gilmer County Library, $283,000 in state funds for improvements to the River Park, and $1,2 million for expansion of the Gilmer County Water System.
Ralston went on to say, "Yes, that is your money, but it was your money that was not coming back to Gilmer County until the last few years. It was going to Atlanta, and it was going to south Georgia. And it was going all over the state, except here." He also noted that the state has reacted to the change and growth of new industries like wine as well as responses like the hiring of a "viticulturist" so that local wineries don't have to wait for a professional to come to Georgia from other states to "monitor the effects of weather and disease on grapes."
Ralston also noted the recent legislative session as the most successful in recent memory. The first cut to the state income tax in history, the ending of austerity cuts to local education in Georgia, and the first reform to Georgia's adoption law in 30 years were the major points that he utilized to exemplify that success. Ralston noted that despite the successes, there is more work to be done.
Congressman Doug Collins stops in Gilmer County to discuss national issuesNews, Politics February 26, 2018
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Congressman Doug Collins made a brief stop at the Republican Women of Gilmer County meeting Thursday, Feb. 22. Collins has served as a U.S. Representative for Georgia's 9th Congressional District since 2013.
Collins spoke to the crowd concerning on a number of issues currently being addressed in Washington D.C. and took several questions from audience members on a wide variety of subjects.
"We came through a year, last year, where our biggest failure overall was, frankly, healthcare," Collins stated, giving attendees an update on the happenings in our capital.
Feeling that the House did their job in trying to address some of the difficulties the nation faces when it comes to healthcare, Collins said that reform and change fell short due to the Senate.
"We did our job. We passed something to the Senate," Collins explained. "The Senate is just marred and not moving."
Collins has been a long time advocate to change rules that dictate the actions of the Senate. These regulations can and often do slow or completely stall progress from being made in our nation. In Congress, legislation can be passed by a simple majority vote.
The Senate, however, requires a supermajority of 60 votes for many pieces of legislation to pass rather than the 51 votes that would be required if the Senate went by simple majority vote.
"The 60 vote rule has got to go," Collins spoke straightforward about his feelings on the issue, "at least on appropriations."
According to Collins, the Senate currently has many pieces of legislation passed by Congress and has created a bottleneck in moving forward. Collins stated that of the bills currently sitting at the Senate waiting to be addressed, 85 to 90 percent of these bills were passed by Congress with fewer than five representatives voting against their moving forward.
In regards to healthcare, Collins said that there needs to be review and scrutiny of mandatory spending such as Medicaid. He stressed that he is not in favor of eliminating such programs but wants to slow the expansion.
"Medicaid was meant for the aged, blind, disabled and those who couldn't take care of themselves," Collins said, expressing his thoughts on this particular program. "You put a healthy able-bodied adult on Medicaid (and) what you do is you take healthcare away from the aged, blind, disabled and those who can't take care of themselves."
"That's just wrong. That's why we got to fix healthcare," Collins added.
Several questions concerning gun control and safety in public schools were asked in the wake of another mass shooting that took place last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
"This week was another tragedy of a very sick individual doing something very wrong and very twisted, using a gun," Collins, a supporter of the Second Amendment, explained of his thoughts on how these situations should be approached on a federal level. "A gun did not walk into that school and kill anybody."
Stressing the need for compassion for those on the opposite side of the political spectrum, Collins wants there to be meaningful discussion and meaningful answers to this problem. He fears that passing any "bumper sticker" legislation as a quick fix would only fail shortly after.
"Are there responsible ownership of guns? You better believe it. Do some people probably not need to own a gun? Yeah," Collins stated, proposing a look at circumstances in a realistic fashion.
While Collins does feel that certain agencies dropped the ball and should have to answer for and be held accountable to their mistakes, he also feels that first as a nation we need to uphold the laws that are currently in place.
Collins expressed these thoughts: "Explain to me how I can pass a law, that if they are ignoring it now, how does passing another law make it better?"
Collins was optimistic about certain directions the country is currently heading: "Our country is being portrayed as strong again."
"We are starting to see the economy start to take off again," Collins said, addressing the recent passing of the Tax Reform Act and the need for more employees in the workforce.
"We are trying to move what we know as Welfare to Work," Collins said, discussing current legislation being proposed in Congress. "We are trying to get people through bad times, you know when we need to help them, but it is now time to begin that transition off of the assistance programs into meaningful work."
Audience member, Noraye Hinds, brought up a key issue that is of concern to Republicans in the upcoming 2018 election year: "Hate is a motivator, and that is what is going to get the Democrats out to vote."
Collins agreed and said, "We've got a tough year coming."
Collins explained that on average, there is a loss of 32 seats held by the majority in the House in a mid-term election following a presidential election. Furthering concern for the Republicans, 26 of the seats up for election this year are in districts that Hillary Clinton won majority vote.
"If we lose 24 (seats), we lose the majority," Collins spoke frankly.
He spoke of specific seats that Democrats are targeting in Georgia. Representative Karen Handel of Georgia's 6th District and Congressman Rob Woodall of Georgia's 7th District could face tough elections as the demographics of their areas are changing.
Collins spoke exclusively with FetchYourNews (FYN) about concerns over losing control of the House.
In a controversial move Feb. 19, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a new map for the state's U.S. House of Representatives districts. The new map, aimed at removing what some in the state considered Republican gerrymandering, now seems to favor Democrats.
Collins told FYN, "This is very concerning. You're looking at worst case a 9-9 map. Best case a 10-8 map."
According to Collins there is not much that can be done to overturn the changes made in Pennsylvania. In order to be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court there must be proof of a violation of U.S. law, but since the state Supreme Court ruling was based on the Pennsylvania Constitution, it is unlikely that federal courts would get involved.
Collins told FYN, as of right now, there is not major concern that other states will follow suit in redistricting, and praised his home state of Georgia: "Georgia has some of the cleanest maps in the country."
"What I view as a good map," Collins said, further explaining his feelings on the district layout of Georgia, "Does it reflect the homogeneity of an area, does it reflect the population of an area and does it give everybody a chance? If it does that, then you're meeting most of the test."
Collins feels there are two key issues that might hurt Republicans in the upcoming elections. The first being that while Republicans have a good message, sometimes that message does not get portrayed clearly.
"Turn out is our problem," Collins expressed of the second and potentially more damaging issue. Collins urged those in attendance to be active in not only voting themselves but in spreading the word about candidates in the state of Georgia.
Collins thanked constitutes for electing him to his position and spoke candidly about his job: "At the end of the day, it's about helping people. It's about realizing where you come from."
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at email@example.com
Deal introduces updates to tax code legislationNews, Police & Government February 20, 2018
Gov. Nathan Deal, along with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston, today outlined updates to HB 918, which addresses state tax code. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Efstration, now combines the 2017 Internal Revenue Code (IRC) bill, HB 821, with 2018 IRC updates. It also addresses the state revenue projections resulting from the Federal Tax Act.
HB 918 would double the standard deduction for Georgia taxpayers for all filing statuses, effective Jan. 1, 2018. It would also reduce the income tax rate for individuals and businesses from 6 percent to 5.75 percent effective Jan. 1, 2019. Finally, the legislation includes a provision further reducing the tax rate to 5.5 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2020. This reduction would require approval of the General Assembly and signature of the governor in order to take effect.
The bill will also help our state be more competitive by eliminating the sales tax on jet fuel, which will encourage airlines to fly additional direct flights from Georgia to destinations around the globe.
"Taxpayers have already started to experience the positive effects of federal tax reform here in Georgia and throughout the country," said Deal. "Our state is also projected to benefit significantly in the coming years. The legislation presented today is a result of ongoing dialogue between House and Senate leadership and addresses Georgia's projected windfall while balancing the state's fiscal health and protecting our AAA bond rating.
"This bill keeps more of taxpayers' hard-earned money in their pockets by doubling the standard deduction and reducing income tax rates. It will save taxpayers more than $5 billion over the next five years. Doubling the standard deduction will also allow Georgia filers to take fuller advantage of the newly enhanced federal standard deduction. Further, these combined changes mark one of the biggest income tax cuts in state history, and does so in a fiscally responsible manner. The standard deduction was last increased in 1981. The individual rate was set at 6 percent in 1937 and has not changed since, while the corporate rate has also remained at 6 percent since 1969. I'm confident HB 918 will be passed by the General Assembly quickly and immediately transmitted to my desk. The sooner I sign this landmark reform legislation, the sooner taxpayers may file."
"This historic tax cut lowers Georgia's income tax rate for the first time ever, returning significant savings to millions of families across our state," said Cagle. "Most importantly, this framework sets the stage for continued reductions – building on the Trump administration's tax reform to allow Georgians to keep more of what they earn."
"I am committed to keeping the tax burden on Georgians as low as possible," said Ralston. "This measure is yet another example of the General Assembly working with Governor Deal to empower families to save more of their money. I appreciate the Governor's leadership and the cooperation between the House and the Senate in developing this income tax cut legislation. I look forward to it moving quickly through the legislative process."
David Ralston Talks Education and Politics in EllijayNews September 14, 2017
ELLIJAY, GA – Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston visited Ellijay on Wednesday, September 13, to speak with the Retired Teachers Association.
Before holding a regular meeting, the Association received Ralston with a lunch reception and a meet and greet with the members. As he began his remarks, Ralston noted he was returning to the capital the same day to continue working through Georgia's recovery of Hurricane Irma.
Taking a moment to recognize those involved, Ralston praised workers and volunteers who continue to clean up and restore Georgia in the aftermath. "I have never been prouder of the response that our state has had to what has been a tremendous storm. Hurricane Irma has really brought a lot of destruction to our state," said Ralston.
Ralston continued his remarks speaking on the state's budget. He said, "I tell people, there is only one thing we have to do every legislative session, and that's pass a budget. We have passed a balanced budget in Georgia with no tax increases for the seven years that I have been honored to hold this position."
Saying they had managed this in a conservative and responsible way, Ralston continued telling those in attendance the number one spending item in the budget every year is Education. According to the Speaker, last years $24.9 billion budget held 62% of new revenue budgeted for K-12 Education. This included $162 million for a 2% adjustment to state teachers salary.
The Teachers Retirement System (TRS), holding 218,000 active members and 118,000 retired members, was a focus of Ralston as he spoke about strengthening the system, protecting pensions against ideas of certain candidates for governor, and maintaining his "covenant" with teachers for their future and the future of their careers. Continuing in the financial aspect of education, Ralston commented, "I insist on a very strict actuarial study of what works and what don't, between what is sound and what is not."
The Speaker also talked of Georgia as a whole saying the state has added almost 600,00 new jobs in the private sector over the last 6 years. We are one of the fastest growing economies in the nation. Businesses are leaving other states in order to move here to Goergia. He continued, "We are now the number two state in the nation for the entertainment industry."
Taking a moment to recognize complaints on the film tax credit, Ralston noted the $60 million a year credit generates over $9 billion a year saying, "Sometimes we have to invest a little to gain a lot, and I think strategic investment is a good thing."
In an effort to spread the growth that Georgia is experiencing, he began speaking of the the challenges of rural Georgia. The Speaker spoke of a new two-year initiative called the 'Rural Development Council." The council's plan is to examine every component of rural Georgia's economy through education, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure, and more.
Ralston closed his comments thanking the teachers present for what the mean to the community and for the honor of representing the area in Atlanta.
However, before leaving, the Speaker took time to answer a few questions including one about the concept of Casino gambling in Atlanta saying, "I think the casino companies are a whole lot more interested in it than the members of the General Assembly."
He went on to say there were several issues at play such as the general question of "Do you favor the expansion of gambling?" But if yes, more questions arise of "How many do you allow in the state?" "Do you allow one big one and one small one?" Ralston went further to say the next issues then would be about the tax rate and the distribution of proceeds.
Governor Signs House Bill 146 in Gilmer Fire StationNews May 4, 2017
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal visited Fire House 1 in Gilmer County Thursday to officially sign House Bill 146 known as the "Firefigher's Cancer Insurance Bill."
Joined by several officials including Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Senator Steve Gooch, author of the bill Micah Gravley, District 67 Representative, opened the ceremony by speaking about the two year effort to bring the bill to this point. Gravley related his interactions with two firefighters, Frank Martinez and Brian Scutter, who he said were the honor of the Bill as they fought for and spoke with legislators to get the bill passed, as well as the appropriateness to have the signing in Scutter's home station in Gilmer County. Scutter was also mentioned by Speaker Ralston who said he had made a promise to Brian that he would give all that was in him to bring this day about. Turning to face Scutter, Ralston said, "I kept my promise."
Governor Nathan Deal, who originally vetoed last year's Bill 216 called the new House Bill 146 an "innovative and great solution to the situation." Deal said the Bill provides relief for firefighters by providing a different method for compensation and money for treatment and care for firefighters who contract cancers during their work. Gravley thanked the Governor for his support of, as he called it, a "better bill."
The sentiment was echoed by Speaker Ralston who said, "We have arrived at a better solution. By requiring a local government to provide insurance to our firefighters for certain types of cancer, the firefighter can skip the process of litigating a worker's comp claim. This will allow the firefighter to focus on getting better and recovery rather than having to worry about legal bills and depositions and hearings."
FYN caught up with Speaker Ralston and Governor Deal to ask them to elaborate on why the bill is better, comparative to last years Bill 216. The Speaker replied saying, "This uses a Health Insurance Model as opposed to a Workman's Comp model which means instead of having to make a claim and perhaps go through a court type process to get benefits and income, Firefighters in this case will file a claim just like health insurance."
Governor Deal also spoke on the insurance versus workman's comp comparison saying it was an awkward and "adversarial way of deciding whether or not compensation is owed." Deal went on to say the newer Bill is a much better solution "to provide insurance coverage that will define benefits and give some flexibility as to deciding the compensation that will be given to firefighters."
More than Senators and Congressman came to see Deal sign the Bill, though. Several representatives from neighboring and local emergency services attended the event including Gilmer's own Director of Public Safety Tony Pritchett who said the Bill "gives you a sense of protection… You can lay your head down and sleep better at night knowing that if you contract cancer because of the job, there's some protection that will take care of you and your family."
For more on the Signing of House Bill 146 watch the full ceremony below or find more Photos in our Album:
Election Results for Gilmer CountyElection, Politics May 24, 2016
The votes have tallied and the results delivered. While some races will receive their final decisions today, others are simply looking on to July for the next round. Meanwhile, citizens look for answers as they study tonight's results. In a remarkably low voter turn out, many of the races received over a third of their votes from absentee and mail in votes.
Check out the precincts here and the totals below.
(Click on images to enlarge)
7th District State Representative Candidates on FYN's Candidate DayElection, Politics May 23, 2016
Sam Snider and David Ralston speak on FYN's Candidate Day for the citizens on the eve of the election day.
Sam Snider 5/13/16Election, Politics May 14, 2016
Candidate for Georgia State House 7th District Representative Sam snider sits down with BKP to speak about citizens and legislation.
Paul Broun responds to Doug Collins Radio Attack AdElection, Featured, Featured Stories, Politics March 10, 2016
Congressman Doug Collins, Representative from the 9th District in Georgia, is wasting no time going after his opponent, Dr. Paul Broun, former Representative from the 10th District.
Broun, along with Roger Fitzpatrick, Bernie Fontaine, and Mike Scupin, has announced his candidacy challenging Collins in the 9th District congressional race. Collins has not acknowledged the other candidates but his campaign released a scorching radio ad about Paul Broun.
Below is part of the transcript from the ad posted by the AJC:
Collins: "I'm Doug Collins and I approve this message…."
Narrator: "Career politician Paul Broun. Former congressman Broun's hypocrisy is bad, but Paul Broun's repeated abuse of the taxpayers' money is even worse.
"Paul Broun claims to be an outsider. But Paul Broun's been on the ballot 12 times in 26 years for six different political positions. He's so desperate to further his political career, Broun's now campaigning for Congress in a district he doesn't even live in.
"While Paul Broun's hypocrisy knows no bounds, Broun's abuse of taxpayer's money is even worse. In Congress, Broun nearly bankrupted his office budget with an excessive amount of taxpayer-funded mail.And now, former congressman Paul Broun is under a federal criminal investigation into his use of taxpayer money to aid his failed U.S. Senate campaign.
"Career politician Paul Broun's hypocrisy is bad, but Paul Broun's abuse of the taxpayers' money is even worse."
Broun made the following statement to FetchYourNews.com concerning the attack radio ad from the Collins Campaign:
The ad is false! I'm a doctor, not a career politician. I have never misused government funds. I am not and have not to my knowledge ever been under a criminal investigation. I would expect a Southern Baptist preacher not to do this (ad). The last time I checked God's Ten Commandments are still in effect. The 9th says Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Maybe God told Mr Collins that The Big 10 don't apply to him or his campaign.
Since both Dr. Paul Broun and Congressman Doug Collins are Christians it will be interesting to see how much religious mud will be slung during this campaign.
Click to listen to Radio ad posted by AJC
GMFTO 2/23/16 State Rep Rick JasperseVideos February 23, 2016
BKP talks with State Representative Rick Jasperse about the Campus Safety Act and its role in protecting students.


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To be the most efficient & preferred integrated Poultry Company by our staff, consumers, customers, shareholders and communities.
To be the most efficient & preferred integrated Poultry Company by our staff, consumers, customers, shareholders and communities.
To be the most efficient & preferred integrated Poultry Company by our staff, consumers, customers, shareholders and communities.
Formerly known as AFGRI Poultry (Pty) Ltd, Daybreak Farms was acquired from AFGRI (Pty) Ltd on 01 April 2015. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) funded the acquisition of AFGRI Poultry by a broad-based black economic empowerment entity, the AFPO Consortium.
A set of values were rigorously assessed by Daybreak through company-wide workshop sessions with
Senior and Middle Management. Below are the final values that will underpin the company directive:
Our growth strategy and the six strategic objectives below represent what we believe are the attributes to drive Daybreak to be one of the best producing poultry in the market. These objectives are linked to the strategic initiatives and key performance indicators where relevant.
All staff members of AFGRI Poultry have been taken over to Daybreak Farms, and a new executive team was selected to drive Daybreak Farms forward in its future endeavours. The Daybreak Farms team is large and diverse, but united in a singular purpose – to provide quality, affordable poultry products to the South African market and beyond. Daybreak Farms employs approximately 3000 employees across its various plants.
Daybreak Farms has operational facilities in Sundra Gauteng, Delmas and Kinross in Mpumalanga, Bela Bela in Limpopo and investments in Howick in KZN. The company is also currently expanding its breeder farms, hatchery, feed mill and abattoirs.
Daybreak Farms is an integrated Poultry producer.
Our key activities in our chain consist of the following:
Hatching Operations
Broiler Operations
Animal Feed manufacturing
Two Abattoirs
Daybreak Farms' breeder arm of the business is situated in Bela-Bela in Limpopo and consists of the two main sectors: Breeder Farms and Hatchery.
Our Breeder farms operate on male and female parent stock chicks that are sourced from a grandparent operation and are then reared into laying to produce fertile hatching eggs. These eggs are then incubated at our Hatching facilities to produce day old broiler chicks that have maximum genetic growth potential, for use in the broiler operations.
Daybreak Farms has approximately 540 000 breeder birds (creating a market share of 5%) on the ground at any one time. These breeder birds are housed in 90 custom-built breeder houses and produce 1.3 million hatching eggs per week. The additional hatching egg requirement that enables the production of 1.8 million hatching eggs per week, is sourced through contract farmers and independent breeder farms, thus enabling Daybreak Farms to create further opportunities for emerging farmer development.
Daybreak Farms' hatchery facilities are state of the art, designed within industry standards using world-renowned Petersime incubators allowing us to produce day old broiler chicks up to 1.5 million per week
Daybreak poultry provides high quality, safe and nutritious poultry products to our consumers. Our products are well recognized household brands and form an integral part of many people's daily diets.We recognize and accept the responsibility this brings. That's why we provide foods of consistently high quality, adhering to the most stringent health and safety regulations. Our manufacturing facilities undergo frequent third party scrutiny and audits in line with international best practices and standards.We follow all applicable food manufacturing regulations and legal requirements. We also diligently adhere to the protection of consumer rights as governed by the Consumer Protection Act. Our product labelling is comprehensive, transparent and accurate, placing our consumers in a position to make informed decisions when purchasing our products.
Daybreak can deliver our fresh products to countries on the African continent, our fresh birds are versatile and value for money. This range is consists of the best cuts of chicken which we can supply whole or in portions that come individually wrapped.
Daybreak consistently works at providing the very best chickens to nourish families.We want everyone to be able to have a quality meal and we especially believe that all moms should be able to give their children a great start in life. We want everyone to be able to have a quality meal and we especially believe that all moms should be able to give their children a great start in life.
At Daybreak we believe in the importance of people, the power of you and I, to make a difference every day.
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Phoenix Hotel
Up until May, you could walk right into this Andy Warhol-inspired, avant-garde-arted Tenderloin oasis via the attached Bambuddha Lounge. But with Bambuddha now closed, things've gotten a little trickier -- there's only one way in and out and it's guarded by a not not attractive red head at the reception desk who's more than willing to check the hotel computer to see if your friend "Pedro" who was supposed to meet you at the pool is actually in the guest registry -- so to make things easier, here're the Top 5 most used hotel guest names: James, John, Robert, Michael, and William. That's right, suck it David.


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Several, actually.
But don't worry, they're MITUSA-certified. They're vintage. From eBay.
So yes, I'm killing the planet with fossil fuels used to deliver my new old clothes halfway across the country to my door. But I was DESPERATE! I need clothes! And if you're a 2x kind of guy, shopping vintage is exceptionally difficult. I need the wide reach of the interwebs to clothe myself.
I don't care if my new clothes are old. They'll be new to me, and at this point I'll take what I can get.


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By Ekta Chanana Last Updated:
The wedding bells are ringing the loudest in telly town. After Niti Taylor got engaged to the man of her life, Parikshit Bawa, another couple is soon going to join the 'engaged club'. We are talking about none other than Kundali Bhagya fame, Ruhi Chaturvedi. (Recommend Read: Niti Taylor Reveals Her Wedding Plans With Fiance, Parikshit, Talks About Their Filmy Love Story)
Ruhi Chaturvedi has been dating the man of her dreams, Shivendraa Om Saainiyol for over 13 years, and their love still looks as fresh as a dewdrop on a petal of a rose. Their Instagram feed is filled with cute social media PDA and in love-filled pictures. The couple has been best of friends, but it was their family, who thought of turning their friendship into a marriage. The couple is soon going to get engaged on August 17, 2019. And while we eagerly waiting for their D-day, the couple opened up about their filmy love story.
Recently, in a joint interview with The Times of India, Ruhi and Shivendraa revealed the details of their love story. Ruhi shared, "Shivendraa and I have been friends for 13 years, but the thought of marrying each other never crossed our minds till our families suggested it. My father met his father and things fell into place. So, despite knowing each other for so long, we are getting into an arranged marriage (smiles)." To this, Shivendraa added, "Our families thought that we would be perfect for each other. And I believe that parents know what is best for their children." (Also Read: Shweta Tiwari's Husband Abhinav Kohli Finally Reacts To The Accusations Against Him Of Abusing Palak)
Ruhi also shared her side of the story and how she fell in love, "I had a major crush on him when I had just met him. However, we fell madly in love after our parents decided to get us married. He is totally unlike me — calm, level-headed and simple. That's what I like the best about him."
On the other hand, Shivendraa could not stop praising his soon-to-be-Mrs, and said, "I fell in love with Ruhi because she is an adventurous person. She is also humble and fun to be with. Most importantly, I know that she will hold my hand through thick and thin."
The rumours of their engagement had started making rounds from last month. A source close to the couple had shared with an online portal, IWMBuzz, "Shivendraa and Ruhi have been good friends for a long time. And that was when the two families decided to get them married."
In an interview with Lehren, Ruhi had confirmed the news, and had stated, "We wanted to keep the news private, but I don't how it got leaked out. Our story is very filmy. Our fathers have been friends for so many years now and they thought kyun na iss dosti ko rishtedaari mein badal de (let's culminate friendship into marriage). We have practically seen each other growing up and even know each other's secrets. The engagement is going to happen next month on August 17. I have invited my Kundali Bhagya team for the engagement ceremony."
Talking about her wedding, the actress had revealed, "We haven't decided yet. We are still figuring out a date. The wedding will happen this year or maybe next year." (Don't Miss: Vidya Sinha Was Worried About Daughter Before She Died, Said, 'Meri Beti Janhavi Ka Kya Hoga?')
Well, we cannot wait to see their engagement pictures! What about you?
Love is one of the most beautiful human emotions that ever exist! Have you ever heard people saying- "Log kya kya nahi kar jaate hain pyaar mein!" and why wouldn't they? When two souls connect, all that you see are roses and butterflies! When you love someone dearly and that materialisesRead More


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Friday 3 November 2017.
World-wide, land slugs and snails are among the most successful of all land animals (bar insects), with far more species than both birds and mammals combined. This talk by Professor Robert Cameron will look at the features that make them so successful. Some have bizarre mating habits; the range of size, shape and ways of life among them is colossal; some can spend less than 5% of their lives being active. While some can be pests, others are endangered – snail species in particular have the highest rate of extinction of any group of animals.
Robert has worked on snails for the whole of his adult life and written more than a hundred papers on snails. He is the author of the recent Collins New Naturalist "Slugs and Snails", and of keys for identifying British species.
Please note that the recordings combine audio with a recording of the PowerPoint presentation as it was delivered and may open in a new browser tab or window, depending on your browser settings.


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The 7th All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA™) in Partnership with CNBC Africa announced the winners of the West Africa leg at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos, Nigeria.
"Tonight is about celebrating these entrepreneurs and their great leadership. When one looks at the characteristics that is associated with leadership – such as vision, confidence, and determination – we all agree that these are often characteristics required for success. Coupled with this one also believes that truly effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills," notes Frederic Van de Vyver, ABN Group Executive Director.
The AABLA™ West Africa winners were announced as follows:
Young Business Leader of the Year Presented by Lancaster University Ghana
Alloysius Attah, Co-Founder and CEO of Farmerline
Business Woman of the Year
Oluwatoyin Sanni, Group CEO of United Capital Group
Entrepreneur of the Year
Mustapha Njie, CEO of TAF Africa Homes
Company of the Year
Guaranty Trust Bank
Business Leader of the Year
Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank
The winners will now go on to compete with Southern and East African winners in the AABLA™ Finale on November 30th in Sandton, which will be broadcast on CNBC Africa on December 7th.
The AABLA™ West Africa judging process was done in conjunction with Lagos Business School. The highlights of the West Africa AABLA™ will be broadcast on CNBC Africa on November 9th at 9pm CAT.


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Paris is a city of marvels and art lovers. Hence, there is no dearth in energetic bars overflowing with the music of all genres. You can easily visit some of these during your Paris tours and have your share of fun. Below are a few bars that conduct live music shows in Paris.
l'International was the first place in Paris that hosted new musical acts. The place usually conducts two or three sets every evening. The programs include French singers, electro, pop, hip-hop, rock, and folk. The best thing is that the shows are free to visitors. Situated near Rue Oberkampf, l'International is a fun gig bar to visit on your Paris tours.
Pop In
Considered as the center of Indie pop in Paris, this place is like a miniature London amidst Rue Amelot. This place is a favorite among the young generation for the possibility of great music and drinks. The bar plays popular tracks from Indie pop as well as the Beatles. The first floor houses a British Salon with a piano, and there are enough sofas here to relax sipping beers.
Les Trois Baudets
Les Trois Baudets is housed in a gigantic Art Deco building that has several glass facades. The building has an underground concert hall that can accommodate 250 people at once. The floor above this hall is the bar cum restaurant. If you are looking to explore the latest trends of French music, this is the place to be on your Paris tours. Different genres such as electro, popular song, rap, and rock can be experienced here; they also conduct occasional electro nights as well as hip-hop nights.
l'Espace B
Located close to the Parc de la Villette, l'Espace B is a bar with an Italian restaurant as well as a concert hall. The warm welcome at the bar is followed by a spacey room filled with surprises. They prioritize French and international acts while ensuring that the performers are of a certain standard. Hence, even the performances of the newcomers do not disappoint here.
Le Motel
Located nearby the famous Bastille fortress in Paris, this is a great place for hip-hop, electro, and pop-rock lovers. You can settle yourself down at one of the secondhand sofas here as the DJs start playing electrifying sets. The weekends usually see a packed bar. For a change, they conduct a quiz on pop music on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and alternating Sundays.


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Fendi FW19: A Heartfelt Tribute to Karl Lagerfeld
"The bond between Karl Lagerfeld and FENDI is fashion's longest love story, one that will continue to touch our lives for years to come. When we called just a few days before the show, his only thoughts were on the richness and beauty of the Collection. It's a true testament to his character. He shall so be missed." – Silvia Venturini Fendi
The space was abuzz with life. Chatters from the crowd filled the air as we made our way gingerly to our seats in the tightly packed show venue. It was a meaningful paradox to the otherwise sombre news that shook the fashion industry by storm. Creative genius Karl Lagerfeld had passed away. But as they say, the show must go on and Fendi honoured him with a heartfelt tribute like no other. FW19 is Karl Lagerfeld's last collection for Fendi and represents a lifetime of dedication and creation from 1965 until today. Traces of Karl's formidable influence was evident throughout – from the reintroduction of Karl's curling 'Karligraphy' FF monogram logo to a touching video of Karl at the end of the runway – his emanating presence was felt throughout. We highlight 5 key looks that we especially love from the collection below:


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My little guy and I recently came across a recipe for washable window paints at our local craft store and just had to try it. The process couldn't have been more simple! Head over to momtastic for all the details.
And look what I found on the web this week. Reader Fawnda over at Fireflies and Jellybeans tried out my Customized Baby Play Mat tutorial. Didn't she do a great job? Be sure to check out our pinterest page of reader projects for lots more MPMK-inspired goodies and have a great weekend!


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About this courseSkip About this course
In this course, Skype for Business: Infrastructure Advanced Configuration, you will learn how to monitor client connections to Skype for Business and how to archive content from Skype for Business conferences or instant message conversations. You will also learn how to deploy and manage the Persistent Chat feature. We will discuss the relationship between high availability and disaster recovery and how to plan for and deploy both. Finally, we examine how to prepare for and implement a hybrid deployment with Skype for Business Server on-premises and Skype for Business Online.
What you'll learnSkip What you'll learn
- Plan and deploy a hybrid Skype for Business Server environment
- Plan and implement high availability for all Skype for Business Server components
- Plan and implement disaster recovery for all Skype for Business Server components
- Plan and deploy monitoring and archiving
- Plan and deploy Persistent Chat
Meet your instructors
Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain$99 USD
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Receive an instructor-signed certificate with the institution's logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects
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Add the certificate to your CV or resume, or post it directly on LinkedIn
Proven Motivator
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Support our Mission
EdX, a non-profit, relies on verified certificates to help fund free education for everyone globally


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Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa gives key cabinet jobs to military figures
Zimbabwe's new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has named his cabinet, appointing senior military figures to high-profile positions.
Critics have said that it has dashed hopes of change in the country.
Mr Mnangagwa was inaugurated as president last week. He took over from Robert Mugabe who had been in power for 37 years.
Mr Mugabe stepped down after the army took control of the country, following a power struggle in the ruling party.
Thousands of people celebrated Mr Mugabe's resignation as they hoped the failed economy would improve.
Some had hoped that President Mnangagwa would appoint members of the opposition to his cabinet, to form a transitional government until elections next year but this did not happen.
What has been the reaction?
The appointments led government critic Tendai Biti to suggest that Zimbabweans were "wrong" to have hoped for change."Up until now, we had given the putsch the benefit of the doubt. We did so in the genuine, perhaps naive view that the country could actually move forward. We craved change, peace & stability in our country. How wrong we were," he said.
Wilf Mbanga, a Zimbabwean journalist who lives in exile in South Africa, told the BBC that the new minister of agriculture Perence Shiri "was not known for his love of democracy".
A minister who served in Mr Mugabe's government, Jonathan Moyo, said the changes meant that Zanu-PF, the party which has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, was "dead" and the military was now in charge.
Newspaper owner Trevor Ncube said the cabinet was "very disappointing".
"Largely the same people that caused this crisis have been recycled. The honeymoon comes to an end and reality dawns. His concern seems to have been rewarding those who brought him to power and Zanu-PF unity," he said.
Who are the most controversial new cabinet members?
Sibusiso Moyo, the general who became the face of the recent military takeover, is the new foreign minister.
In his announcement, he was at pains to deny that the military takeover was a coup so some will criticise his promotion to the cabinet.
He holds a PhD in International Relations and at one point was the leader of the elite military unit, known as the "green berets squad".
The head of Zimbabwe's air force, Perence Shiri, was named the minister of agriculture and land affairs.
He is notorious for having led the military operation against those seen as opponents of Mr Mugabe in Matabeleland in the early 1980s.
The operation, led by the North-Korean trained Fifth Brigade of the army, resulted in the killing of an estimated 20,000 civilians.
As lands minister, he will presumably be in charge of Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme.
This saw the seizure of thousands of farms owned by the white minority which had previously been in charge of the country. Critics say this wrecked Zimbabwe's once thriving economy and led millions of Zimbabweans to leave the country to find work.
Source: BBC


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Liquid Loft have confirmed their return to Croatia for the 35th Dance Week Festival. This year we will be seeing them perform Candy's Camouflage.
Candy's Camouflage is based on the practice of autocorpography, a self-embodiment that is as much self-surveying and -definition as it is self-publication. The dark shadows of the real bodies mix with the decolourised, silver tinted images cast onto the background wall. A dark eroticism is at play in this piece, a form of libidinal autonomy: Three human bodies, bathed in cool light, relating themselves to one another.
Catch Candy's Camouflage at ZKM, June 7th 2018.


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Reed Springs remodeling | are you looking to remodel your home?
Are you looking to remodel your home? Well look no further than J.Givich Reed Springs remodeling. We have the best remodeling teams in the area and we guarantee it with our hundred percent customer satisfaction guarantee. None of the competition in the area comes close to the superior remodeling that we do. But that's not all we do we also build new houses for those wanting to finally build that dream home. so come on down to our location in Reed's springs to find out more and set up an appointment!
Our company is based on a set of core values that no other has we are solely focused on the happiness of our clients and that drive is more than a paycheck ever could. We would rather provide to the bests service and products that fits your budget rather than make your money like the other construction companies do by avoiding cutting corners to save for their customers. We have flexible choices and are committed to excellence. Always stay in close contact with our customers to ensure that they are not confused about any of the process that come with homebuilding or remodeling. We will also have you know that safety is our main concern besides getting your project done on time and at or below your preset budget. There is no better contractor out there than J.Givich Reed Springs remodeling.
So here's a little about our remodeling. We stay very very close contact with our homeowners make sure that as we are building or remodeling that this job is getting done as close to our customers preference as physically possible. We can remodel any part of your house and if there's a part of your house that doesn't exist we got that covered too. We do add on's and room expansions here at J.Givich Reed Springs remodeling. We can do anything from adding deck or patio to your backyard or adding a whole second-story or basement to your house. We can do as little or as much as you want to with your remodel wanting a fancy new patio to show off to your friends barbecue night at your place. We can incorporate underground lights in your sidewalks and patio as well as built in benches and bars and also awnings and covered areas for those rainy days. And if you'd like we can also install TVs for you to make the perfect place to hangout with your friends and family.
If you're looking to do a little more than just remodel home or if you're tired of the same old living space and want to start over. We can build that dream home that you have always wanted as well. We will wow you with our updated techniques and the new technology we use to build your home. We can make your house look anyway you wanted to whether you're looking for a more modern home with a futuristic touch or something a little more vintage looking from the early 19th century. Whatever it is you desire it'll be new and functional not to mention beautiful. And don't be scared about the homebuilding process will be there to walk you through every step of the way or our name is J.Givich construction!
We look forward to seeing you when we work with you on your next project. visit our website at JGivichConstruction.com or gives a call at her number (417) 332-7303 and we will get you your free estimate today! Take a look and browse our photo gallery and testimonials while you're on a website to see some of our magnificent work we have done for previous clients.
Reed Springs remodeling | Have you been trying to find that fresh look for your home?
Have you been trying to find that fresh look for your home? J.Givich Reed Springs remodeling is here for you! With the best remodeling teams in the area they guarantee you will not be disappointed with their hundred percent satisfaction guarantee they have in place for their customers. You will find no better contractor's that give you a bigger bang for your buck than J.Givich construction. Their dedication to excellence goes above and beyond that of other contractors in the area. You can't go wrong with J.Givich.
The J.Givich Reed Springs remodeling company is completely dedicated to its customers, there's nothing they won't do to make a customer happy. In fact they for over 35 years now their excellent customer service dedication to excellence. The company has a strong sense of moral values instilled by its owner James Givich. Which includes honesty, commitment, compassion, and excellence. These values are incorporated into their everyday work. They also have a large focus on safety so that their employees can go back to their homes and family every day without fear of becoming injured this helps raise the morale of their employees and thus affects the progress and quality of their work.
Let's get into remodeling. We all know remodeling by yourself can be more than a hassle sometimes. Whether it's a big job or a small job J.Givich Reed Springs remodeling has you covered. Any time J.Givich does a remodeling job they always outshine any of the competition. Using only the best materials and staying within your budget range, there surely isn't any better choice you could make but J.Givich construction. So whether it is outdoor indoor projects such as a carport or new deck overlooking the Ozarks. Or if you want to remodel your kitchen with new cabinets and appliances get the flooring redone, J.Givich will do it for you. As long a job for a home there's nothing they can't build. With many affordable options, they work hard to stay on budget and even save you money if possible when building for you.
Everybody wants to design their own home but finding a way to build your dream home is always been a struggle for most people. Because there are a whole bunch of legal processes and a lot of planning and money that goes to building a new house. First, you have to find land to build on, sign all the paperwork which can be confusing, then comes building the infrastructure for the house followed by the exterior. After that you have to fill the house with plumbing, electrical work, insulation, drywall, and air-conditioning systems, etc. during all this by yourself is nearly impossible ups was important that you find the right contracting company for your personal needs.
J.Givich construction has everything you could need in a contracting company they've got the experience, the passion, all they need is you. so visit their website at JGivichConstruction.com or call their number at (417) 332-7303 today for your free estimate.


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10 Ways to Save This Valentine's Day
Need help figuring out a way to celebrate Valentine's Day that doesn't involve cashing in your kid's college fund?
Don't worry. We got you covered. Here are ten great ways that you and your bae can have a romantic Valentine's Day on the cheap!
1. Give Your Partner a Break From Parenting
Raising kids is a pretty exhausting experience. So why not give your spouse the gift of getting away from their parental duties—if even just for a few short hours?
"For busy parents, romance isn't always about sex, so skip the negligee and give a gift they can really use," says Ann Willets from Mommy's Time Out Wine. As a great gift for moms, she suggests "a coupon for a foot rub or a relaxing day without the kids." And for the dads out there, she sat that "it might be a certificate for a day on a fishing boat with friends or taking the kids out so he can watch a game without any interruptions."
Willets also points outs that any of these gifts would pair well with a bottle of Mommy's Time Out Delicious Red or Dad's Day Off Chianti. We couldn't agree more!
2. Give the Gift of Service!
If you're looking to have a romantic, heartfelt time with a partner, why not spend time giving back to your community together? Accord to dating and relationship expert Hunt Ethridge, "One of the things that keeps relationships strong and fresh is creating new memories. And when you can do good things as well, it only adds to the strength."
Etheridge suggests that couples "go volunteering together. Soup kitchens always need help. Or you can help build a home with Habitat for Humanity if you are good with your hands." And it doesn't have to be through an official not-for-profit organization either.
"It can also be something as simple and fun as planting flower seeds all over town," says Etheridge. "You can't help but feel good and enjoy yourself after a productive day of helping others."
3. When it Comes to Babysitters, Be Early or Be Creative
If you're thinking about getting a babysitter so that you and your spouse can enjoy a romantic night on the town, just remember that everyone else is probably thinking the same thing.
"Don't wait for the last-minute to arrange a sitter if you're planning a night out," says Willets. "They're in high demand on Valentine's Day." Waiting until the last minute could be like trying to catch an Uber during rush hour: you can get one, but you'll have to pay extra.
If you're still having trouble finding a babysitter, then Willets suggests you "set up a babysitting cooperative with other parents in your neighborhood. Each couple or parent can volunteer one evening a month to watch the kiddies. This "no cost" option ensures you get at least one night a month to keep the romance alive!
Of course, this does mean that someone is going to get stuck watching the kids on Valentine's Day itself. But that's easily taken care of. Just make a V-day shift worth two or three additional shifts from other parents in return. That way, whoever chooses Valentine's Day duty will get extra kid-free time for their troubles.
4. Act Like Kids Again
"Everyone is into nostalgia these days, imagining a 'better' or 'simpler' time," says Ethridge. He suggests that you and your partner "embrace the wistfulness by planning a Saturday morning cartoon date."
"Grab your favorite sugary cereal (mine used to be Cookie Crisp) and your PJs, and head on over to their house," he says. "Watch old cartoons and kid shows, whether that's old Bugs Bunny, Smurfs, My Little Pony, Pokemon or Power Rangers."
And the date doesn't have to be just sugar highs and cartoons, either. "Talk about being a kid," says Ethridge. "What did you want to be when you grew up? Who was your favorite teacher? Did you have a schoolyard crush on anyone? For a few hours, you can escape the everyday rat race and revel in the fun that life brings."
5. Play Spy!
"Turn a boring walk into daring daylight espionage!" says Ethridge. "Everyone fantasizes about being a spy. So go and try it out!"
Here's how it works, according to Ethridge:
"Find somebody you don't know or just pick someone on the street and tail them as close as possible for as long as possible. Make up stories about who this person is and the things they've done in their life. Don't let the mark see you or you lose the game!"
But that's not all! Ethridge adds that "once you've been spotted or you lose your quarry, eat at the closest food place. Whether it's a convenience store hot-dog or hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint, it'll make for a memorable meal."
(This might be Ethridge's most out—there idea, but that's what also makes it our favorite.)
6. Enjoy a Night of Your City's Freebies
"Most cities offer a multitude of free fun that you may not even know about," says Justin Lavelle, Chief Communications Officer for PeopleLooker.com. "Do a little research and plan to tap into a few of them."
Some of the activities he lists include enjoying "a carefree and inexpensive evening of karaoke, darts, pool, or trivia night at your local pub." He also suggests "challenging each other at Monopoly at a board game cafe, check out a free improv night of up-and-coming talent, take a free yoga class, go to a local jazz club or find a movie or concert in the park!"
7. Get the Kids Involved
If you're unable to get a babysitter, then you may as well celebrate Valentine's day in a way that the whole family can enjoy.
Willets says, "If you can't manage a night without the kids, find ways to include them." They can "help to set a pretty table, make a special treat and create their own cards."
When you're a parent, it's important to make time for your spouse, but modeling good behavior for your kids is also critical. "This is a great time to show the kids how to express their love for each member of the family, as well as to set an example of how mom and dad love and appreciate one another," says Willets.
8. Take an Architecture Tour
"Those of us that are lucky enough to be in places with old buildings can see the artistry and talent and their attention to detail," Justin Lavelle says. "Take an architectural tour of your town or one nearby. "Learn the local history of any of the buildings. See if you can find the coolest one in town, and fantasize about what you would do if you lived there."
Lavelle suggests that you can also try this DIY. "Drop the kids off at grandma's house, grab a Starbucks, bring along your favorite or romantic music, then treat yourselves to a little tour of your city," he says. "Drive by historical sights, visit your favorite neighborhoods, find homes you both love, and swing by your childhood home or the spot of your first date (if possible)."
He also mentions that you could "cap off the night with a trip to the ice cream shop or grab a dessert to share at a favorite restaurant."
9. Relive Your First Date!
This is another great idea from Justin Lavelle. "Whether your first date was a long time ago or just a couple of years, try and recreate your first date from the very beginning," he says.
"Did he pick you up? If so, have him pick you up for your date even if it's at your shared home," says Lavelle. "Did you attend a high school basketball game together? See if you can catch one together at the local high school. They're either free or only cost a couple of bucks. If your first date was a movie, catch a matinee together—they're cheaper than evening movies."
"Maybe you went roller skating? That's right, pay for your skate rentals and go have a laugh like you haven't had in a while," he says, adding "just don't break anything!"
10. Be a Seat Filler and See Shows for Less
Here's a great idea for escaping the Valentine's Day rat race altogether. Give your spouse or partner the gift of an On The List (OTL) Seat Filler Membership.
Network members can get free tickets to shows and plays across your local area (just make sure to check their website to see what areas they cover). For the cost of your very affordable monthly dues, you get invited to attend shows that still have tickets available.
According to Lu Ann Wall from World Wide Seats, a select provider for OTL, "Seat Filler Membership Gifts provide the gift recipient with all-inclusive access to reserve tickets to shows as they pop up. Members also bring their guest(s), as they can reserve 2-4 comp tickets to each event they're interested in attending."
"Not only is it fun to see what pops up and be introduced to some new entertainment," she adds, "but to be able to reserve tickets without paying for them is the icing on the cake!"
Instead of only one date on Valentine's Day, a Seat Filler Membership would be giving your partner the spouse of many dates to come!
Visit SeatFillerNetwork.com to learn more.
Hunt Ethridge is an award-winning dating and relationship expert with over a decade of experience helping people become the best, most dateable versions of themselves. While the focus of his coaching is on making someone empirically more dateable, the lessons learned translate very easily into personal and professional lives. The emphasis is on confidence building, leadership, image & style, conversation skills, reconnecting with fun and more. To read his advice articles, go to HuntForAdvice.com.
Justin Lavelle is the Chief Communications Officer for PeopleLooker.com. PeopleLooker is a leading source of online background checks and contact information. It helps people discover, understand and use public data in their everyday lives and can provide peace of mind by offering a fast, easy and affordable way to do background checks. PeopleLooker allows individuals to find more information about people, phone numbers, email addresses and property records.
OTL (On the List), now with 21 U.S. locations and London (13 of them managed by WW Seats and the others by Audience Resources), encourages members to unplug and be social again by introducing them to amazing local entertainment. Despite the online membership and reservation system, a few team members (well… actually 4 out of 5) are self-proclaimed "technophobes" but have acquired and mastered new skills, all in the pursuit of offering fun "offline" activities.
Ann Willets is the PR representative for Mommy's Time Out Wine, as well as a mother and grandmother.
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3D Imaging Processors
As amazing as VR/AR is, the technology that powers it looks like a small indistinct computer chip that only engineers can appreciate. The story we created for Inuitive is about the technology being the cornerstone of creation. Much like how Jack's magic bean in Jack and the Beanstalk led him to a fantasy world, so does this small chip open the door for engineers to create endless virtual worlds.
Our goal is not just to tell Inuitive's story, but to also position the brand as a category leader, one whose technology is embedded in augmented reality, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, drones, robots and autonomous cars.
Inuitive designs powerful multi-core processors that serve as vision processors in the areas of augmented reality and virtual reality, including drones, robots and autonomous cars. Its latest offering, the NU4000, makes smart devices even smarter by fusing advanced artificial intelligence with 3D imaging, computer vision and deep learning capabilities.
Marketing Objectives
- Create global business opportunities
- Generate awareness and interest
- Gain a foothold in the multi-core processor category
- Set apart from the competition
- Position the brand as a category leader in its own right
- Position Inuitive's processor as the core component, the cornerstone for all XR creations, enabling innovators and engineers to create magnificent technologies and products
- Develop the brand identity as the leader of the XR processor category, synonymous with endless creation ability and technological brilliance, while being easily understood.
- Target both decision makers and engineers with a top-down and bottom-up strategy
- Demonstrate that this processor can implemented within a variety of markets, across multiple verticals
"Working with SAGE took our marketing quality across all aspects from the middle ages straight to the 21st century."- Gur Dror, VP Business Development
- Naming processes and iconic messaging
- Manage trade show appearances - messaging, presentations, speaking opportunities and print collateral
- Messaging and content: use cases, professional articles, white papers
- Thought leadership and PR
- Product capabilities demonstration through photo and video
- Inuitive won the "Startup to Watch" award at the AWE Conference
- Presenting comprehensive and consistent set of sales enablement tools
- Inuitive has earned exposure in professional magazines and outlets
- Big AR/VR players are showing interest in Inuitive's technology
Other Stories
Mobile advertising solutions (Ad Tech)
Mobile advertising solutions
YouAppi struggled with product messaging and positioning prior to SAGE beginning marketing activities. SAGE's objective was to differentiate YouAppi from their competitors in the Ad Tech industry. SAGE built a brand-new website, marketing strategy and branding for YouAppi.
Knowledge Management
KMS Lighthouse:
Knowledge Management Platform
SAGE provided lead generation, lead nurturing, and drove visitors to the website through a targeted campaign. The "Happy Agent, Happy Customer" campaign aligned the messaging needed to reach the target market and drive sales.
Patient Centric Proton Therapy
It was challenging for P-Cure to differentiate themselves from the technological giants in their category. From brand development to strategy and implementation, SAGE worked hand in hand with P-Cure, truly serving as their external CMO, taking them to new heights as a healthcare industry giant.


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Customers are sick and tired of being phone right on dinner time, stopped in the street when they are running late, or having cards thrust in front of them as they check out of a hotel and asked to complete yet another survey.
We are well and truly over the novelty of completing surveys and the main reason for this is………
"Nobody acts on the information we provide and actually does something about the issues we have raised".
Here is the message from two of New Zealand's top business advisors….
"Stop continually annoying your customers by asking them to complete surveys unless you are totally committed to acting on the results"
Ray Sleeman and Chris Bell have pooled their knowledge, expertise and resources to develop the "Customer Experience Tracker"
The Customer Experience Tracker is a toolkit that allows businesses to easily gain an accurate evaluation of how their customers feel about their current customer experience performance and how employees feel about their workplace. It includes an ongoing strategic approach to continual improvement, greater customer loyalty and word of mouth recommendation, a reduction in operating costs, increases in employee engagement that results in improved productivity and ultimately a more profitable and valuable business.
The ability to benchmark within an industry has always been difficult (especially for tourism), resulting in businesses not really knowing how they are performing. The Customer Experience Tracker will change that. Not only will a business be able to easily establish their own score, they will be able to compare that score against their competitors and other sectors. The benchmarking ability will help to raise the performance of an industry's customer experience resulting in benefits for all those participating businesses.
One major difference between Customer Experience Tracker and other business improvement plans is that a vital part of the programme is a strategy that necessitates the continual improvement of a businesses customer experience, against the score.
This discipline of continually looking for ways to add greater value to the customer experience becomes a part of a business's DNA. All customer feedback is acted on and where possible this will be communicated to customers who have provided the feedback.
Its part of a programme called the "Generator" designed to capitalise on customer feedback and the creativity of all employees
Businesses that commit to the Customer Experience Tracker are committing to not only listening to feedback from employees and customers, but where possible finding a way to act on this feedback and ideas by using a system that in some cases involves everyone in the organisation.
There is nothing more powerful that a business can do to grow employee and customer loyalty than to act on their feedback and recognise those that have contributed.
Next time you are asked to give feedback or complete a survey, you ask the first question…"is this part of The Customer Experience Tracker programme"?
For further information firstname.lastname@example.com mb 027 2792360 www.customerexperiences.co.nz


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"A rare and mesmerizing musical mind [and] a voice that seems to have few limits" – Los Angeles Times
A national treasure in his homeland of South Africa—where he is known simply and definitively as "The Voice"—Vusi Mahlasela was a powerful, rallying figure in the struggle against apartheid and continues to serve as a worldwide messenger of peace, dignity, and compassion. Anchored by Mahlasela's soaring, plaintive vocals, and bolstered by a red-hot band, his concerts are occasions of infectious grooves and unbridled joy. In the words of Nobel Prize-winning South African novelist Nadine Gordimer: "Vusi sings as a bird does, in total response to being alive."
Performances at Sixth & I are made possible by the generous support of the Abramson Family Foundation.


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After a developer learns about your API—maybe by searching online, or maybe by organization mandate—the first thing they'll always do is look for your documentation. Before webinars, sample applications, hackathons, or training, your documentation is the first and best opportunity to win your customers to your API.
What makes good documentation? Technical references are the bare essentials, but the more material you can sustainably provide, the better experience your potential and existing customers will have. This then leads to:
So what's ideal? We've broken it down into three key categories of documentation: Product & Context, Technical Reference, and Tutorials & Cookbooks.
If you treat your APIs as a product, supported and maintained by your API program teams, then you should prepare materials that "sell" the APIs as a product. This is true for all audiences of your API program. External developers choose your offering rather than a competitor's; internal developers choose your tools rather than building yet another copy of the same system.
Most of the time, this documentation should be written by your API Product Owner, because their expertise lies in defining and articulating value, and working with customers to solve their problems.
Value Proposition and Marketing Content
First, write a sentence that hooks your audience with the single greatest benefit they'll get from your platform. That could be making money, or simplifying a complex technology, or reaching a greater audience. Additional marketing content can include examples of how others have used your APIs, transparent pricing and/or feature availability information, comparisons to other solutions, and potentially a high level roadmap (especially for internal audiences).
Credibility-Boosting and/or Core Asset Context
One Apigee customer's APIs feature agriculture-specific weather and modeling data, and the company's value proposition lies in the unique approach to data processing and global availability. The "About Our Data" content they created served both as a differentiator to other weather data sources available, and explained the basic science of how the data was derived to answer any credibility questions before they arose.
Onboarding Overview and How to Get Help
Once you've hooked your audience, they will immediately want to play with the API. Provide a very clear "Get Started" page that details the process for getting an API key especially if your process is manual or requires special pre-approval. And ultimately, no matter how good your documentation, your customers will always have questions; provide an obvious "Help" page that connects to or describes your preferred support channels.
The most important piece of documentation—and probably the simplest to create—describes all the ins and outs of your API endpoints. Rarely are two, beautifully RESTful APIs built with exactly the same assumptions, behaviors, or configuration; providing even the basic details of your API—like what HTTP status codes to look for or how authentication works—can endear your product to your audience.
Every API is built with certain assumptions in mind, and getting your audience on the same page prevents a lot of confusion. Since most of these details are likely documented in your own standards playbook, creating a customer-facing version of it should be straightforward. A page of design conventions should include:
Publishing your design conventions, along with setting expectations around deprecation and versioning, can mitigate customer concerns or panic when the time comes to make API changes.
Detailed Technical Reference
Be sure that every endpoint, every parameter, and every payload is described for your developers, especially if there are any caveats, usage and formatting requirements, or downstream impacts. If an API has special HTTP Headers or Status Codes that aren't described as conventions, then include that information as well. Detail is essential here as much as anywhere else, so find a balance between reference data and more verbose context.
This material can be written by a technical writer or even a technical product manager or developer evangelist, but the best practice is to create reference material following the OpenAPI specification at the same time you're building your API proxies or target services. Then, not only is your documentation tied to your source code branching and versioning strategy, but you can also automatically generate visually appealing, executable documentation through tools like SmartDocs or Swagger UI.
Your customers may or may not already know much about your data, domain, or even how to use RESTful APIs. This third category of documentation seeks to build a stronger relationship with your audience by helping them improve their craft, as well as improve their understanding of your API's complexities.
While it may feel remedial to provide basic tutorials on topics like RESTful APIs or parsing JSON, this type of content—or at least linking to third party sources—can accelerate your customers' progress. But more than the basics, if there is any concept or topic that would benefit your developers' understanding of your domain, then you should include it as a topical tutorial. For example, the Ag-Tech Apigee customer referenced earlier included tutorials on certain scientific concepts, which their customers use to build more relevant interfaces.
Some APIs expose complex domains or systems. These might require multiple API calls to accomplish a task (e.g., new account setup, portfolio management, etc), there may be very specific data formatting requirements, or there could be dependencies across other domains. In these cases, you should provide simplified step-by-step recipes that a developer can follow to achieve a given task.
These how-to guides typically include an ordered list of steps, each with a sample API call, for example:
If you can provide a working, copy-and-pastable example of the recipe, that's even better.
Finally, across all three categories there are certain best practices for how you write your documentation. No one really likes reading formal specifications; plus you should never assume your audience is made up of computer scientists or even formally trained programmers. Write in a friendly, human, jargon-free voice. Reference the readily available guidelines for Writing for the Web. If it starts to sound like a "for Dummies" book, that's a good thing.
Assume your audience has never worked in your domain before; you don't have to teach a university course on the topic but provide enough background or example code that they can jump start in spite of their lack of context.
And apart from domain knowledge, plainly describe the important facets of your technology. Explain the purpose for each endpoint in its description, including when they would—or should not—use it. Warn them about edge cases or known bugs that might trip them up, because they will find them anyway.
While creating comprehensive documentation will take extra time at the launch of your program, it pays dividends several times over if you do it well. Time and again, we've seen documentation be the make or break factor when it comes to choosing an API. Giving your customers everything they need at their fingertips will keep your team focused on building new value. And building trust with your developers endears them to you for their current project, for any future project, and at a future employer where they'll need your services again.


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A person living unconstrained by society, due to an overwhelming radical self-love and expression of who they innately are.
Free Spirit Chiropractic welcomes families to enjoy a radiant and natural way to achieve optimal health and well-being. We honor that all individuals are unique and perfect in their own way. We view every person that walks through our doors with clear eyes. In our space, you will not be judged regardless of look, the background you may have, or the labels put on you. We look past the physical veil; recognize and honor the divine light you truly are. Free Spirit Chiropractic invites you to embrace, love, and express your most authentic self.
Free Spirit Chiropractic is here to bring a unique and vibrant alternative to the Tulsa community. Our practice is a tribe of open-minded, heart-centered people, who are dedicated to living life full out. We look forward to you joining our space of love!


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Improve the environment and create economic development and job creation opportunities in the State of Maryland by constructing creative and innovative sustainable materials management projects and activities through voluntary public-private collaboration.
Design and implement materials management initiatives and projects for Maryland that will: foster new materials management businesses in Maryland, conserve natural resources, meet climate change goals for 2030 and beyond, and embrace new and more effective measures of success.
Implement Governor Hogan's Executive Order 01.01.2017.13 as it pertains to the building of partnerships for sustainable materials management utilizing a backbone organization called Sustainable Materials Management Maryland or SM3 as a collaborative and advisory framework for change.
SM³ supporters include: Bowie State University, BTS Bioenergy, Choice Hotels, Eurofins TestAmerica, Kurtz Brothers, Mobile Fluid Recovery, Northrup Grumman, Re4ormed Organics, Ritchie Land Reclamation, Smithfield Foods, University of Maryland, Washington College, Waste Management.
State and country government organizations collaborating with SM³ include: Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Department of Commerce, Maryland Energy Administration, Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Department of Agriculture, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Calvert County, Carroll County, Cecil County, Frederick County, Harford County, Howard County, Maryland Environmental Service, Montgomery County, Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, Prince Georges County, St. Mary's County, Washington County.
Steve Hellem, Co-Leader, SM³
Tom Murray, Co-Leader, SM³
Phone: (202) 688-3095
1200 G Street NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005
Copyright Sustainable Materials Management Maryland (SM³) 2019


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Drawing upon years of experience with tuning BMWs, Hamann brings us its improved interpretation of the M Coupe.
Hamann begins by throwing the factory engine restrictions out the window, instantly raising the stock car's top speed to nearly 170 mph from 155. Then an extra 15 hp and 20 lb ft of torque are unleashed by reprogramming the stock computer.
Throttle response is increased with the help of a high-performance exhaust manifold, high-flow catalytic converters and a performance exhaust.
Handling is also addressed, with progressive springs that lower the car's ride height by 25 mm (0.9 inch) and body stiffening courtesy of a two-part front strut-tower bar.
The exterior has been outfitted with a new aero kit that includes front and rear spoilers, side skirts and a rear diffuser. Benefits are not only visual, but, the company claims, functional, providing more downforce and cooling capabilities.