2011年7月31日 星期日

Many in Mackay have no home

A HOME is a luxury many can be accused of taking for granted, however, for the 2000 people in Mackay, who, have been identified as homeless it would be a dream come true.

Data collected in the last census shows the Mackay region’s homeless population was almost five times the national average and with new data to be recorded this month, many believe the situation won’t have changed and may, in fact, have worsened.

Homelessness Australia policy and research officer Travis Gilbert said this equated to 235 people per 10,000 without a permanent address, while the Queensland average was 69 per 10,000 and the national average 53 per 10,000.

Salvation Army Mackay call officer Lt Jeff Goodwin isn’t surprised by these figures.

“I know it’s a big problem... there isn’t a lot of accommodation for homeless people in Mackay at all,” Lt Goodwin said.

In Australia, homelessness covers a range of living conditions, including rough sleeping, living in cars or tents, homeless shelters, couch surfing, temporary accommodation with friends or relatives and boarding houses.

“Anyone who doesn’t have a home to call their own,” Mr Gilbert said.

In Mackay, 33% of people who were homeless were rough sleeping. The national average is about 16%.

Mr Gilbert said from the 2001 to 2006 census the rate of homelessness doubled in Mackay. Regional Social Development Centre manager Deborah Rae believes it has increased since then .

“There has been a huge increase in population since 2006 ,” Ms Rae said.

“We’ve also had a significant increase in costs such as housing and rent... which means that people can’t afford to spend as much on accommodation.”

Ms Rae said one of the biggest challenges was identifying the homeless.

Services available include Samaritan House and Lowana House for women, Ozcare Homeless Men’s Shelter, Youth Information Referral Service and Community Accommodation Support Agency.

A possible factor related to the region’s high level of homelessness is the soaring cost of living and a lack of affordable housing.

“Often people found themselves homeless due to circumstances beyond their control,” Lt Goodwin said.

While more temporary accommodation would help, Lt Goodwin said it would only be a band-aid and not a very good one at that.

More affordable housing, particularly in areas like this, where high wages and a lack of accommodation dictate house and rental costs, would be one step , Lt Goodwin said.

Business and community leaders are being challenged to experience being homeless for a night at the Bluewater Quay on August 7.

2011年7月27日 星期三

Eddie Cibrian adds to list of Great Pop Culture Moments in Bathtubs

Eddie Cibrian, star of NBC’s new fall drama The Playboy Club, is, one must admit, an excellent model for Charisma, a luxury home brand that includes bedding, robes, bath rugs, and towels. For the fall 2011 campaign, he was photographed in bed, of course, and while those shots are worth looking at (check them out here, along with a behind-the-scenes video in which Cibrian is half-naked but hearing compliments like, “Look at those sheets! Ohmygod!”), it’s the bathtub shots that make me happy. I love when male celebrities agree to be photographed in a bathtub because it always feels so random even if it isn’t. See: Colin Firth and David Boreanaz. Therefore, I’m adding Cibrian’s shoot to my list of Great Pop Culture Moments in Bathtubs, which, my editor Mike Bruno said I could blog “only if you include the ‘When Doves Cry’ video, which starts with doves opening double doors to a purple misty room containing Prince in a tub. As Morris Day would say, ‘So sexy!’” So, we have that. What else should be on this list? Other colleagues have nominated Fatal Attraction, Scarface, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Pretty Woman. Off the top of my head, my submissions would include:

• Bull Durham. As Annie would say to Crash, “Oh my.”

• Out of Sight. George Clooney looks great in that light.

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I just like how fresh Moaning Myrtle is. And let’s be honest, a bathroom is the WORST place to haunt, so she deserves moments like this.

• True Blood: Eric waits for Bill.

• The Vampire Diaries: This is the reason you build new sets.

• Would the The Money Pit Count?

2011年7月25日 星期一

For Red Lion man, farming becomes a 'way of life'

After pausing a minute to gaze at a patch of his farm washed away by a torrential downfall earlier this summer, Jonathan Darby went back to raking his soil into theoretically weatherproof mounds.

Darby, of Hellam Township, didn't grow up wanting to be a farmer. But he now works on two farms and manages one of them, spending nearly all his time in agriculture.

Born and raised in Red Lion, the 35-year-old traveled for several years before moving back to Pennsylvania and has worked as a massage therapist and in kayak sales, touring and instruction.

Six years ago, he started working at the Goldfinch Farm in Wrightsville.

This year, he switched to doing that job part time in order to join Horn Farm's

newly started Incubator Farms Project, which prepares aspiring farmers to buy and work their own land.

As of last month, he also acts as farm manager of Horn Farm.

'Way of life': Darby said farming as a career grew out of his lifelong activism and belief in locally sourced produce.

"We're at a point in time in our culture where I think we need to approach a more local way of life," he said. "A lot of the agriculture around here isn't directly growing food for the table, which is a need that really needs to be met."

One of three farmers in the project, he works a plot just smaller than two acres for up to 14 hours a day.

He named it Sterling Farm after his grandfather, who spent his life working on a farm in York County.

He routinely starts working around 5 a.m. and said he never leaves the farm for more 24 hours at a time.

"I don't think that there's been a day in the last month that I haven't been out here for some purpose," he said.

He grows everything from tomatoes to sweet peas to arugula, using a number of farming techniques including companion planting -- putting together plants that benefit each other -- and no-till raised beds, where soil is raked into horizontal ridges to deal with rainfall and minimize the amount of tilling necessary.

How it's used: He said about half his produce goes directly to individuals through the Community Supported Agriculture program, in which people pay to receive a share of a farm's crops throughout the season.

Those interested in getting involved for next year can search for local programs on www.localharvest.org/csa/ or email sterlingfarmproduce@gmail.com.

Some of his customers take advantage of an option he offers by which they work on the farm in exchange for some of the produce. Others, including his children, ages 6 and 9, volunteer their time for free.

The other half of his yield is sold to local markets. He and the other workers at Horn Farm plan to open a produce stand outside of the farm's corn barn on Wednesdays and Saturdays sometime in early August.

Although it is only his first year, he said the farm has already proved profitable.

Beyond his own plot, he has also been working at Horn Farm's mission -- to encourage agriculture moving local. As farm manager, he is in charge of overseeing operations at the farm and organizing educational outreach.

"I really want to push the educational side to things here," he said. "I would love to see everyone growing their own foods until it makes my job obsolete."

2011年7月20日 星期三

Body Found in Downtown Dumpster Likely a Transient

Police say a body was discovered in a dumpster downtown Wednesday afternoon.

Springfield Police got the call around 12:45 p.m. about the body below the Martin Luther King Bridge at 602 E. Phelps.

A passerby walked into the crime lab and had the crime lab call 911 to report the finding.

Officers on scene say it appears to be transient who'd been dead at least a day before his body was discovered. Bedding and personal items were found inside the dumpster, indicating the man may have been living there.

Officers aren't sure if it's a heat-related death, but there are no obvious signs of foul play.

"It's not been linked to heat, but transients in the area are, when we contact them and are suffering from heat illness, taken to hospitals also advised to go to cooling centers that are open at the time, churches," says Officer Lee Walker.

The medical examiner has removed the body. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday in Columbia, Missouri.

Police have identified the man, but next of kin have not been notified.

2011年7月17日 星期日

Fickle Copa America quarterfinals yield surprising remaining quartet

The full moon shone bright and white over San Juan, its domination of the chill sky seeming a symbol of the lunacy that took over the Copa America this weekend. The tournament -- perhaps any tournament -- has never known a series of quarterfinals like it, as the three group-winners and the hosts all crashed out. The machinations of the schedulers, who had done everything in their power to ensure a third successive Brazil-Argentina final, are left looking a little silly.

Charles Reep, the British long-ball theorist, spoke a lot of nonsense, but one of his great insights was that there is an essential randomness to international competition. The three-week or monthlong span of a major tournament simply isn't long enough for luck to work itself out. For that matter, even a domestic-league season is too short to be influenced by random factors. James Walmsley, a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, hypothesizes that a season would have to be seven years long before it could be reasonably be considered "fair." Six games is nothing like enough.

Often, of course, the better teams do prevail, but sometimes there are weekends like this. Colombia missed a penalty and hit the post but lost 2-0 to Peru. Argentina was thwarted repeatedly by the brilliance of Nestor Muslera, the Uruguay goalkeeper, but lost on penalties. In Paraguay's Justo Villar, Brazil also met a goalkeeper in sensational form, and Fred had a header cleared off the line; it too, lost on penalties. By the time it came to Sunday evening's game in San Juan, the pattern was well established.

Venezuela is dogged, but frustrating, both to watch and, you imagine, to play against. Tomas Rincon and Franklin Lucena have been two of the players of the tournament, mopping up at the back of the midfield. It has technically gifted attacking midfielders and forwards in Cesar Gonzalez, Juan Arango, Nicolas Fedor and Giancarlo Maldonado, but it does spend an awful lot of time looking for free kicks. There were 31 in the first 45 minutes against Chile -- evidence both of tactical fouling and tactical being fouled.

It doesn't make for much of a spectacle, but it was effective partly because Chile kept dumbly conceding free kicks. First Arango crossed for Oswaldo Vizcarrando to capitalize on some slack marking and head Venezuela into the lead. Then, after Chile had twice hit the woodwork before finally equalizing, Gabriel Cichero forced the ball over the line after a right-wing free kick had caused havoc in the box. Venezuela has never previously reached the last four of the Copa America; the only negative on a night that will live on in its football history was the late red card shown to Rincon, presumably for clipping Jorge Valdivia with a flailing arm.

In the last four Venezuela will meet Paraguay. Gerardo Martino had opted for a much more attacking approach in this tournament than he had at the World Cup, but at the back of the midfield he left out Nestor Ortigoza, a ferocious tackler with a deft touch, for the more defensive Victor Caceres. He would probably argue the decision was vindicated, both by the result and the number of interceptions Caceres made, but it did mean that Paraguay offered far less of a threat to Brazil than it had in the group game between the two, in which Brazil was fortunate to plunder a last-minute equalizer through Fred.

Brazil will question itself. Mano Menezes was supposed to offer a return to the thrilling days of the past, to approach the altar of joga bonito. Observing how often Brazil's opponents seemed cowed simply by facing the yellow shorts, Rob Smyth once noted that "the greatest trick Brazil ever pulled was to convince the world it existed," but it may be that when it is not intimidating opponents, the mythical style becomes a burden to itself. After all, Dunga, to whom Menezes was supposed to be an antidote, won a Copa America and the Confederations Cup before (unfortunate) defeat in the World Cup quarterfinals.

In this tournament, Brazil toiled, struggling to get the balance right between attack and defense. On the two occasions it kept clean sheets, it failed to score; both times it did score -- two against Paraguay in the group and four against Ecuador, it let in two. That is a simplistic way of looking at things, and it had the better of the stalemates in the opening game against Venezuela and the quarterfinal, but then it was fortunate to get away with a draw in the group game against Paraguay.

Neymar and Ganso, the two great prospects brought in to the senior side in preparation for the 2014 World Cup, were inconsistent, showing flashes of talent but too often fading from games, something that calls into question the whole notion of using the Copa as preparation for the World Cup. Bedding in young players is a fine idea in theory, but three years is a long time in football, and Neymar and Ganso are both still young: what if it turns out in a couple of years that they are not the right young players to be promoting? What if exposure too soon damages them?

2011年7月13日 星期三

Animal Island: Proper bedding for a guinea pig

Q: It seems that my 8-year-old son may be having an allergic reaction to the guinea pig we got six months ago. I have read that the allergen may be more the bedding than the pet itself. Any suggestion for hypoallergenic bedding? We love this little guy, and he has been a very welcome addition to our household.

A: I've noticed that most of my clients who keep guinea pigs put a great deal of bedding two or three inches in the cage and then change it only once a week. All this bedding being kicked around by a guinea pig all week long creates a dusty mess, and dumping it out once a week is hard to do without it getting all over the house.

I just spread a few sheets of newspaper on the bottom of my guinea pig cages and then put a sprinkle of bedding on top like sprinkling cheese on top of spaghetti. Every day, I just roll up the used newspaper and bedding into a long cigar and throw it out, then put a fresh sheet of paper with a new sprinkle of bedding. It literally takes only a minute to do this, and the cage is clean and dust-free.

There are many bedding products you can use. I have found that Aspen Wood Bedding and the natural-colored Care Fresh Bedding seem to be the most free of dust.


Q: Yesterday I saw what I thought was a blue jay flopping around on the ground in distress. As I walked closer, I noticed it was not hurt but sitting on the ground with its feathers all fluffed up and picking up something in its beak and then rubbing it all over its plumage.

I just sat there, watching, for a couple of minutes, then the bird stopped, shook out its feathers and flew off. When I got to the spot where the bird had been sitting, I saw that it was an ant hill with lots of busy ants. Am I correct in assuming the bird was rubbing its feathers with ants? Why would it do this?

A: You saw a natural bird behavior that is rarely witnessed. Scientists call this anting. It is an aspect of avian feather maintenance that is imperfectly understood. We do know that ants secrete formic acid. It seems logical that the bird is rubbing the ants throughout its feathers to coat them with the formic acid, thus killing feather lice or other parasites in the plumage. It is one of those mysteries of nature, an instinctive behavior that birds do not need to be taught.


Q: At our vacation house, my son found quite a few little red salamanders crawling in the woods after a rainstorm. We brought five of them back to Long Island and set them up in a terrarium with leaves and moss collected from the area around our house. A pet store sold us pelleted food for newts and salamanders. We sprinkled some in the terrarium, but they just ignore it. Is there something else we can offer them that they might like better?

A: The salamanders you found are the juvenile form of the Eastern newt. As adults, they live in lakes and ponds, but as soon as the tadpoles develop legs and can walk, they leave the pond where they were born and live a terrestrial life in the moist forests, hiding under leaf litter, where they eat very small termites and other live prey. In this life stage, they are called red efts.

The adult newts that live in the water will eat the pellets you bought, but the little red juveniles will not. They need live food. About the only commercially bred insects you can buy for them are wingless fruit flies.

Your life will be a lot easier and the newts will be a lot happier if you just take them back up to the area where you found them and turn them loose. There are very few salamanders native to the United States that can be successfully kept in captivity. They should always be appreciated in their natural environment but left strictly alone.

2011年7月11日 星期一

The Yorkshire Linen Company Introduces New Bedding Lines For Summer

The Yorkshire Linen Company has recently added to its range of bedding products through the introduction of a number of new lines. Following the hottest spring in the UK since records began, the company has created several new and beautiful designs to help keep their customers feel cooler during the hot summer months.

With temperatures remaining relatively high there is a feeling amongst weather forecasters that this summer could prove to be a hot one; leaving many seeking a haven from the heat. The most common place that we tend to seek sanctuary is the bedroom and the bedding that we opt for can play a huge role in creating a cool and relaxed atmosphere. Going for darker shades that we associate with warmth can be a mistake during warmer spells and leave the bedroom feeling oppressive.

Through the use of carefully chosen shades and the incorporation of floral patterns, The Yorkshire Linen Company has provided several designs that serve to continue the summer vibe, whilst bringing down the temperature of the bedroom. The understated Saskia Green bedding with its beautiful appliqué embroidered flowers on an ivory background offers cool tones that will leave you feeling refreshed. If you are looking to make a bold statement in your bedding set then you might want to consider the new Tulip Plum pattern, which features a contemporary tulip design with purple and pink heads on an aubergine background.

In addition to the new range of bedding items on offer, The Yorkshire Linen Company has also introduced a selection of curtains and voile panels to add the perfect finishing touches to your bedroom decor. Available in a spectrum of colours the lightweight drapes serve to block some of the Sun’s rays without completely shutting out the joy of the summer weather; allowing the breeze from your open window to gently cool you.

2011年7月6日 星期三

Jilted woman stabbed, shot and beat millionaire to death

Onetime pilot Catherine Marie Pileggi, apparently enraged by a potential breakup with a self-made Fort Lauderdale multimillionaire and also blaming him for the death of a sister during a vacation years earlier, took brutal revenge, investigators say.

Pileggi is accused of shooting Ronald C. Vinci in the head, stabbing him in the chest, slitting his throat, wrapping him in bedding and plastic bags – and then plotted to drop his body in the ocean. She was held without bond Wednesday.

“This is a brutal, brutal murder," police spokesman Detective Travis Mandell said. "I can’t imagine someone else doing this to another human being."

According to the arrest affidavit, Pileggi told one of Vinci’s friends: “I messed him up bad.’’

The admission was made to Spencer Gordon, who discovered the body at a mansion the couple shared in the upscale Tarpon River neighborhood, according to the arrest affidavit released by Fort Lauderdale police. Gordon had been called by the couple’s handyman the morning of June 28.

Vinci, 70, whose riches came from successful car dealerships, had and on-and-off relationship with Pileggi, 54, for two decades. The dead rich man is now a central figure in a bizarre family drama that also involves his lover’s late sister, Angela Pileggi Silverstein. She died suddenly at the age of 45, possibly from a drug overdose, while on a Caribbean cruise with the couple in December 2009.

Eight months earlier, Silverstein herself was a witness in another mysterious murder case, that of record producer Phil Spector, who was convicted that year of killing an actress in his California home.

In April 2009, Silverstein testified against a third Pileggi sister, Melissa Grosvenor, who claimed she had had a relationship with Spector. Grosvenor testified at trial that the eccentric producer had once threatened her with a gun, a charge that Silverstein, with a flourish, discredited on the witness stand, painting her sister as a fame-seeker.

“She was bragging about going on Court TV!” Silverstein said in court about her estranged sister. Spector is serving 19 years in prison for the death of the actress, Lana Clarkson.

Now it’s Catherine Pileggi who faces murder charges.

Vinci had made millions with a string of Honda dealerships in Southern California before moving to Fort Lauderdale.

Pileggi’s family said the pair met through their shared love of flying.

But after 20 years, Vinci apparently was ready to move on. According to the police report, “it was revealed through witness statements that Mr. Vinci had attempted to end his live-in relationship with Ms. Pileggi with negative results.’’

Pileggi responded by going to another Vinci home, on Nurmi Drive, on June 24, where she got two of his guns, and returned to the Tarpon Bend home, according to an arrest affidavit.

Neighbors in their Fort Lauderdale neighborhood said they heard a pop on June 27. The next day, police cars arrived on their street.

According to the arrest affidavit, Peliggi killed Vinci, called the couple’s handyman, Reynaldo Silva, on June 28 and claimed that her partner died from a fall in their recently-purchased $2.9 million mansion.

She explained that Vinci wanted to be buried at sea and asked Silva to help her hoist the body inside a large blue container then transport it to Vinci’s boat and take it out to be dumped in the Atlantic.

Palmers donates bedding plants in Auckland’s CBD

Pockets of Palmers pansies and primula’s are peeping out from new flowerbeds in Auckland’s CBD – but the planting drive isn’t just about looking pretty.

Palmers donated more than 2500 punnets of purple and white bedding plants as part of the Beautify Your City campaign, which kicked off its third phase this week.

The flowers have been planted in six temporary flowerbeds in spots that had become targets for the illegal dumping of rubbish, fats and oils.

“The idea is that the plants will dissuade dumpers,” says Palmers General Manager Garry Stone. “It’s a similar concept to painting murals on spots that are targets for graffiti. It’s designed to gently encourage people to respect their city – even the seemingly forsaken nooks and crannies. And, of course, the flowers will also brighten up the CBD for everyone to enjoy.”

It’s the second time in the last year that Palmers has donated plants for the beautification initiative, which was developed by the Heart of the City business group and the Auckland City Council.

“We’re delighted to be involved,” says Garry. “We here at Palmers are great believers in the power of plants. This project channels that power into a good cause. It really is beauty with a purpose.”

To reinforce the campaign, the council provided every business in the CBD a rubbish bag printed with purple pansies, instead of the usual red bag.

Businesses have also received an information pack about rubbish and recycling.
The campaign began in November last year, when Palmers donated its first round of plants. Council statistics suggest that the initial planting project worked, in conjunction with the wider campaign. The number of rubbish bags dumped illegally in the city fell from 1273 in November 2009 to 381 bags in November 2010. The numbers continued to improve – in February this year only 121 bags were found dumped – though the council says the record has slipped since then.
“We hope this new project will reinforce the strong message that the plants conveyed in November. With an influx of visitors expected in the next few months, the timing couldn’t be better for a reminder to take pride in our city,” says Garry.

Pileggi is accused of shooting Ronald C

Onetime pilot Catherine Marie Pileggi, apparently enraged by a potential breakup with a self-made Fort Lauderdale multimillionaire and also blaming him for the death of a sister during a vacation years earlier, took brutal revenge, investigators say.

Pileggi is accused of shooting Ronald C. Vinci in the head, stabbing him in the chest, slitting his throat, wrapping him in bedding and plastic bags – and then plotted to drop his body in the ocean. She was held without bond Wednesday.

“This is a brutal, brutal murder," police spokesman Detective Travis Mandell said. "I can’t imagine someone else doing this to another human being."

According to the arrest affidavit, Pileggi told one of Vinci’s friends: “I messed him up bad.’’

The admission was made to Spencer Gordon, who discovered the body at a mansion the couple shared in the upscale Tarpon River neighborhood, according to the arrest affidavit released by Fort Lauderdale police. Gordon had been called by the couple’s handyman the morning of June 28.

Vinci, 70, whose riches came from successful car dealerships, had and on-and-off relationship with Pileggi, 54, for two decades. The dead rich man is now a central figure in a bizarre family drama that also involves his lover’s late sister, Angela Pileggi Silverstein. She died suddenly at the age of 45, possibly from a drug overdose, while on a Caribbean cruise with the couple in December 2009.

Eight months earlier, Silverstein herself was a witness in another mysterious murder case, that of record producer Phil Spector, who was convicted that year of killing an actress in his California home.

In April 2009, Silverstein testified against a third Pileggi sister, Melissa Grosvenor, who claimed she had had a relationship with Spector. Grosvenor testified at trial that the eccentric producer had once threatened her with a gun, a charge that Silverstein, with a flourish, discredited on the witness stand, painting her sister as a fame-seeker.

“She was bragging about going on Court TV!” Silverstein said in court about her estranged sister. Spector is serving 19 years in prison for the death of the actress, Lana Clarkson.

Now it’s Catherine Pileggi who faces murder charges.

Vinci had made millions with a string of Honda dealerships in Southern California before moving to Fort Lauderdale.

Pileggi’s family said the pair met through their shared love of flying.

But after 20 years, Vinci apparently was ready to move on. According to the police report, “it was revealed through witness statements that Mr. Vinci had attempted to end his live-in relationship with Ms. Pileggi with negative results.’’

Pileggi responded by going to another Vinci home, on Nurmi Drive, on June 24, where she got two of his guns, and returned to the Tarpon Bend home, according to an arrest affidavit.

Neighbors in their Fort Lauderdale neighborhood said they heard a pop on June 27. The next day, police cars arrived on their street.

According to the arrest affidavit, Peliggi killed Vinci, called the couple’s handyman, Reynaldo Silva, on June 28 and claimed that her partner died from a fall in their recently-purchased $2.9 million mansion.

She explained that Vinci wanted to be buried at sea and asked Silva to help her hoist the body inside a large blue container then transport it to Vinci’s boat and take it out to be dumped in the Atlantic.