The 2017 legislative session reached the halfway point this week, marking a milestone for legislation as House bills move to the Senate for consideration and Senate bills crossover to the House.House Republicans made progress on our agenda priorities, including passing an honestly balanced budget and a long-term road funding plan. We also successfully moved bills supporting students and teachers, improving Indiana’s workforce, increasing public safety and attacking the state’s drug epidemic.Did you know? Nearly half of every dollar the state collects goes to fund education. This support continues in the House budget proposal, which increases the base funding for each K-12 student throughout the state. While maintaining our healthy reserves, we modestly increase the state’s investment in higher education and double state funding for Indiana’s high-quality, pre-K pilot program, which helps low-income children.The budget also includes pay increases for Indiana State Police and Conservation Officers, as well as increases in state income tax exemptions for military pensions and survivor benefits.In addition, we passed a comprehensive, responsible and sustainable plan to fund our state’s roads and bridges for the next generation. This conservative, user-based plan would ensure all taxes paid at the pump would be dedicated to funding infrastructure improvements for the first time in Indiana’s history. Click here to learn more.By law, session must conclude by April 29. I look forward to continuing the discussions on these and many other issues facing our state, while advocating for legislation benefiting our community. Please contact me if you have questions or comments at 317-232-9816 or [email protected] LinkEmail
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In-person commencement ceremonies cancelled for universities
ORONO – The University of Maine System will not be holding in-person commencement ceremonies at any of its universities this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The announcement was made Monday by University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy and the presidents of Maine’s public universities. In a statement, Malloy indicated that traditional commencement events would not be possible due to the pandemic and that instead, each university would develop its own celebration.UMaine System previously made the decision to transition to distance learning, beginning on March 23 when classes resumed. The University of Maine at Farmington commencement event was scheduled for May 9 this year.“All UMS universities and the Law School will be awarding degrees on schedule and recognizing the academic achievements of our graduating students,” said Malloy in a message to the UMaine community. “While traditional in-person commencement exercises are not possible during the pandemic, each university will determine an appropriate alternative celebration that balances the need to protect public health with the joyful recognition of our students’ academic aspirations and achievements.”Campus leaders will reach out to students, faculty and staff to coordinate planning of alternative commencement events. Plans are expected to be in place by the middle of April.
Devastation by degrees
In the past two decades, more than 20 percent of the polar ice caps have melted, parts of Greenland are fast disappearing, and the world’s oceans are increasingly acidic, threatening the life they sustain both in their waters and on their shores.The evidence is mounting that the world is warming at alarming rates, but a pending climate conference in Copenhagen next month, aimed at curbing the planet’s carbon emissions, is in danger of failing before it begins.Closer to home the climate change implications are equally bleak.“What global warming means is that [Massachusetts] just moved to North Carolina,’’ said Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s a pretty significant change in what it’s going to be like around here.”Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, delivered that grim message during a discussion this week (Nov. 2) that was part of the Harvard University Center for the Environment’s Green Conversations series.Lehner took part in a session with Daniel Schrag, director of Harvard’s Center for the Environment and professor of earth and planetary sciences and professor of environmental science and engineering, and Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology and associate professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health.“There’s no question the world is going to survive. The question is: Will human civilization as we know it survive?” said Lehner.But the news isn’t only bad. Lehner, whose nonprofit group is a major player on the nation’s environmental-advocacy stage, outlined a plan to curb global warming that includes government involvement as well as effective climate policies that mitigate costs and support new, cleaner technology.There is no “silver bullet” to the global warming crisis, said the executive director. The solutions involve better energy efficiency, cleaner fuel, better public transportation options, and increased use of wind and solar power. Limiting the use of carbon and making those who do it pay for an emissions allowance are also essential, he said.Another critical step involves the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which was approved by the U.S. House in June. But getting the bill through the Senate is likely to require 60 votes and a delicate balance of policy and politics, said Lehner, since many senators worry that new energy-efficiency policies will hurt industries in their home states.“We need to take their concerns seriously and devise a bill that both achieves our environmental goals but also addresses these concerns,” he noted.One such compromise would involve coal, which is currently responsible for half of the nation’s electrical supply and is a major factor in producing greenhouse gases. Carbon sequestration is a process that buries carbon pollution from coal deep underground instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. The technique meshes with new climate legislation, said Lehner, since it allows coal usage in a way that “won’t necessarily fry the planet.”Getting the bill through Congress before the climate meeting in Denmark next month will be an uphill battle, admitted Lehner.“Whether or not we will do it in time for Copenhagen, who knows? But hopefully we will do it in time to make a difference for all of you.”Lehner also answered critics who complain that China, a developing nation that is now the biggest producer of carbon emissions, has a responsibility to act ahead of the United States to stop climate change. Using a graph, he showed per-capita data revealing that the United States is still far ahead in terms of its own carbon emissions.He added that carbon dioxide lasts in the atmosphere for about a century.“Much of what’s up there is ours — it’s not China’s — so the effects that are already being caused are from the Western world, and from the United States.“It’s going to be a new energy world for the entire planet,” he added, “and, if it’s not, we are going to be in trouble.”
Worms Work Better.
Chemicals are routinely tested on lab mice before they’re placedon the market. A new technique used in a University of Georgialab may reduce the number of mice needed for testing.Phil Williams, an environmental health scientist with the UGACollege of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, uses microscopicworms called nematodes to determine the toxicity of chemicals.Worms Cost Less and Work Better”When new chemicals are developed, at some point, animaltesting is required,” Williams said. Using animals in testingrequires proper facilities and a lot of money.”Plus, many people don’t like mice, or any animals withfur, being used for these tests,” he saidThe nematode Williams uses, Caenorhabditis, is foundnaturally in the soil. Its nervous system functions much likethat of humans. “It can’t show everything in relation tohumans, but there’s a lot we can learn from it,” Williamssaid.Mice and rats, most commonly used for laboratory testing, aren’talways the best choices. “The closer biologically an animalis to a human, the more likely we can predict human reactions,”he said.Won’t Replace Higher Animals Williams is finding nematodes very effective in early stagesof toxicity testing. But he doesn’t expect them to replace otheranimals entirely.”At some point, higher animals are always going to haveto be used,” he said. “There are some things you justcan’t learn without using higher animals.Nematodes’ effectiveness in testing for toxicity could reducethe number of new chemicals tested.”A company could make a thousand new chemicals and couldnever afford to screen them all using higher animals,” hesaid. “Using the nematode, we can easily and quickly determinewhich new chemicals to continue testing.”For chemical testing, nematodes are still in the developmentstages. But on the environmental side, they’re much closer tobeing used outside the lab.Quicker Soil Tests In Less Soil”Sinceit’s a soil organism, I’ve use it to predict environmental affectsof chemical exposures,” Williams said. He also uses themwhen testing soil samples for toxicity.Earthworms are used for soil tests, too, but they require alarger soil sampling, and results take up to 14 days. The nematodetest uses just 3 grams of soil and gives results in 24 hours.”Earthworms require about 400 grams of soil for testing,”Williams said. “When you’re working with hazardous soil,you’d much rather work with just 3 grams.”Analytical soil tests are so advanced they can detect minuteamounts of chemicals on a site. But detection isn’t enough.”The biological effects to humans and animals aren’t answeredby these tests,” he said. “You have to use organismsto see what the biological effect will be.”In December, the American Society for Testing Materials plansto vote on adopting the use of nematodes for soil testing.Used For Food Science Testing TooNematodes may have other uses, too. Williams is working withUGA food scientists to detect food-borne pathogens. Nematodesappear to have great potential in detecting clostridium botulinum,the organism that causes botulism.”Botulism affects the nervous system, which makes thenematode a perfect testing specimen,” he said.Williams also uses nematodes to test new medical imaging agentsfor a pharmaceutical company. “These agents are taken internallyfor medical diagnostics and then traced through the body,”he said. “The company can chemically make these productsfairly easily, but screening and approval is a long process.”Nematodes can greatly streamline the screening.In the future, Williams sees nematodes greatly reducing thenumber of mice and rats used in laboratory testing.”You could release a chemical into the environment for20 to 30 years and then look back and see what the effects were,but that’s not ethical,” Williams said. “You could exposehumans to the chemicals, but we would never do that. So we haveto use animal models to try to help us predict effects.”
Making Tomatoes Safer
When vegetable farmers harvest crops, they often rely on postharvest washing to reduce any foodborne pathogens, but a new University of Georgia study shows promise in reducing these pathogens — as well as lowering labor costs — by applying sanitizers to produce while it is still in the fields.Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes are major causes of foodborne diseases and of public health concern in the U.S. Tomato-associated Salmonella outbreaks reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have increased in frequency and magnitude in recent years, and fresh produce accounted for 21% of E. coli outbreaks reported to the CDC over a 20-year span.Initially researchers were going to study the use of a nonchlorine-based sanitizer made of two food additives approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — levulinic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate — as a postharvest wash solution. However, at the suggestion of a producer involved in the study — Bill Brim of Lewis Taylor Farms in Tifton, Georgia — they designed the study using the solution in a preharvest spray, said Tong Zhao, associate research scientist with the Center for Food Safety on the UGA Griffin campus.While producers commonly use chlorine-based disinfectants — including chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide — to treat produce postharvest, the preharvest application of bactericides is not a common practice, Zhao said.Building on previous studies of levulinic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate that showed the combination substantially reduces both Salmonella and E. coli on romaine lettuce without adversely affecting lettuce quality, Zhao hoped to prove the combination’s effectiveness on reducing foodborne pathogens on tomato plants contaminated with Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes.In the field studies, the spray treatment significantly reduced the total bacterial population on the surface of tomatoes, determining that this preharvest treatment is a practical, labor-cost effective and environmentally friendly approach for the control and reduction of foodborne pathogens. The study was recently published in the journal Food Control.“This combination of chemicals had never been used for preharvest treatment,” said Zhao, who studied the combination 10 years ago as an alternative to chlorine treatment as a postharvest wash. “Free chlorine is easily neutralized by organic material, which is a big problem when you are using it to reduce pathogens.”In both laboratory and field tests, tomato plants were sprayed all over with a solution containing five strains of E. coli, five strains of Salmonella and five strains of Listeria specially grown for the study in the lab.To test the effectiveness of the chemicals in the lab as a preventative and as a treatment, tomato plants were separated into three equal groups then sprayed with the bacteria solution. The first group was treated with acidified chlorine as the positive control, the second with a treatment solution containing levulinic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate as the test group, and the third treated with tap water only as the negative control.For the three plots used for farm application testing, the positive and negative control groups were treated the same way, and a commercial product — Fit-L — was diluted according to the manufacturer’s description and used as the treatment solution. Before treatment studies on the farm, two concentrations of the treatment solution were tested for safety on tomato seedlings in the greenhouse.Results from the studies showed that the application, used either as a preventative or as a treatment, significantly reduced the populations of inoculated Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella and L. monocytogenes on tomato plants.“I have to express appreciation to the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association for funding this and other research that is of benefit to agricultural producers in the state,” Zhao said.In addition to being effective and affordable, preharvest treatment with levulinic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate to reduce pathogens also saves labor costs for producers who need workers to perform postharvest washing and drying of produce before packaging.“This method can easily be adopted using equipment that most farms are already using,” Zhao said. “Preharvest treatment is very effective, efficient and easy considering the amount of labor needed for postharvest washing.”For more information on the UGA Center for Food Safety, visit cfs.caes.uga.edu.
Australian Solar Installations Set Record in 2017
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Bloomberg:Australia, one of the world’s biggest users of rooftop solar panels, likely added the most new capacity on record last year as electricity users sought to ease escalating power bills.A preliminary estimate by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator of 1.05 gigawatts installed last year would be a record for the country, the government body said in an emailed statement Friday. While subsidies and generous feed-in tariffs helped boost growth earlier this decade, last year’s gains were driven by users seeking to sidestep a surge in the cost of electricity and a push by vendors into the commercial sector, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.“We are on track to have had the biggest year yet for installed small-scale solar capacity” in 2017, according to the regulator statement. “What we have seen is that homeowners and businesses continue to embrace solar panel systems, which is driving increased levels of capacity across Australia.”The shift to solar may have quickened as power prices spiked last year on tight supplies of coal and gas, which fuel the bulk of generation capacity on the national electricity market. BNEF estimates the cost of solar systems for residential customers has declined 44 percent since 2012.“The payback period for residential solar is now as low as it was in 2012, when super-generous feed-in tariffs and subsidies drove a massive boom in installations,” said BNEF’s Sydney-based analyst Annabel Wilton.Rooftop solar will account for as much as 24 percent of Australia’s electricity by 2040, according to BNEF’s 2017 New Energy Outlook. When combined with small-scale batteries and demand response initiatives, up to 45 percent of the country’s total power capacity will be located on owners’ properties—known as behind-the-meter-capacity—by 2040.More: Surging Power Bills Spark Rush for Household Solar in Australia Australian Solar Installations Set Record in 2017
Disciplinary details
Florida Bar programs designed to help lawyers avoid mistakes that could land them in the grievance system appear to be working, as the number of lawyers disciplined has declined in recent years. Despite that decline, the Bar with the one exception of the Board of Dentistry continues to discipline a higher percentage of its members than professions regulated under the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Department of Health, according to 1999-2000 fiscal year figures. And the Bar does it in a system that is much more open to public involvement than both DBPR and Department of Health. A comparison of Bar grievance statistics and those from other professions shows that, as a whole, the Bar was almost twice as likely to discipline one of its members. “What is abundantly clear is that The Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court take regulatory responsibility very seriously,” said Bar President Herman Russomanno. “The Florida Bar’s regulatory system is highly rated among other states, and we have again confirmed that it is highly effective in Florida.” The disciplinary rate for lawyers is 0.64 percent, while the disciplinary rate is 0.06 percent for certified public accountants, 0.56 for contractors, 0.33 percent for engineers, 0.31 for Realtors, 0.32 percent for doctors, 0.45 for nurses, and 1.15 for dentists (see chart). While the number of lawyers has steadily increased from 56,379 in 1996-97 to 61,014 in 1999-2000, the number of final orders in disciplinary cases in that time frame has decreased from 428 to 391. In 1996-97, there were 36 disbarments, 127 suspensions, 66 public reprimands, 36 disciplinary resignations, 88 admonishments, and 71 probations of 428 total final orders (with four injunctions). In 1999-00, with 4,635 more total members of the Bar, 35 lawyers were disbarred, 132 were suspended, 43 were publicly reprimanded, 30 resigned, 57 were admonished, and 93 were placed on probation, out of 391 final total orders (with one injunction). “I hear the rumor that lawyers are doing better, which is great for the citizens of Florida. Instead of just disciplining lawyers, what we’re trying to do is equip them to be better lawyers with our diversionary programs,” said Tony Boggs, director of the Bar’s Legal Division. Those diversionary programs include grievance mediation, fee arbitration for resolving clients’ fee disputes, ethics school, and a new program launched this month called the Attorney and Consumer Assistance Program. The ACAP program will feature full-time lawyers and staff personnel available to speak directly to consumers about problems with their lawyers and, hopefully, resolve those problems faster and avoid going through the full-blown grievance process. “It’s modeled after what we think is the best of the best, and should diminish the number of grievances,” Boggs said. “When people call The Florida Bar and say they have a problem with a lawyer, before ACAP, all we could do is give them information on disciplinary procedures and give them pamphlets so they could make a decision on their own whether there was enough of a problem for them to file a grievance,” Boggs explained. “Now, with ACAP, we will have staff people available to speak to them to determine whether they have a gripe or a disciplinary complaint. We will find out what is the nature of the problem and determine whether it can be resolved without filing a grievance,” he said. For example, the problem may simply be: “My lawyer won’t return my phone calls.” ACAP will help forge a speedy resolution between the parties. And that, Boggs said, will be not only good for the frustrated client, but for the attorney who will have an opportunity to settle problems without the full force of The Florida Bar getting involved. In addition, the Bar provides regulatory and professional activities that include a continuing education program with ethics requirements, lawyer speciality and certification programs, consumer education programs, and a security fund to reimburse clients who have lost money through a lawyer’s wrongful taking. “Even House Speaker Tom Feeney recognizes the excellent work the Bar does, saying `The Florida Bar has done a remarkably good job of disciplining its errant members.’ [The Florida Bar News, March 1],” Russomanno said. “Gov. Jeb Bush should also be pleased that the Bar is the ideal of a `privitized’ government function, with no economic cost to taxpayers,” Russomanno said. Besides prosecuting lawyers who violate rules, the Bar actively protects the citizens of Florida against the unlicensed practice of law. Currently, public members make up 45 percent of the unlicensed practice of law and fee arbitration committees. The Bar’s diversionary programs are more extensive than those for other professions. Professionals regulated by DBPR, for example, may receive a letter of guidance, but the department is issuing fewer of those than in the past, said spokeswoman Lonnie Parizek. In a prepared statement in the DBPR annual report, Secretary Cynthia Henderson said: “Our philosophy for licensing is that we, the state, must work proactively to ensure that the professions and businesses we license provide a reliably high quality of service. It is our goal to enhance the perceived value of a Florida license, among our licensees and those they serve. We believe that this can be accomplished through continuing education of our licensees and their customers, our citizens and visitors.” The only profession in Florida with a greater disciplinary rate than lawyers at 0.64 percent (391 actions for 61,014 lawyers) are dentists. Of 10,317 dentists licensed to practice in Florida, there were 119 actions, giving dentists a 1.15 disciplinary rate for 1999-00 fiscal year. Diversionary programs for dentists entail simply a letter of guidance from the Board of Dentistry, which “tells dentists they have stepped over the line and here’s how to avoid doing it again,” said Tallahassee dentist Richard Chichetti, president of the Florida Dental Association who served on the regulatory Board of Dentistry from 1986 to 1994. Such letters of guidance, he said, are for infractions of a lesser nature. If a dentist’s problem involves drug or alcohol abuse, the board diverts them to the Physician Recovery Network, Chichetti said, “because sometimes an addicted dentist may be doing everything ethically right and needs help.” From his perspective of serving on the board of dentistry for eight years, Chichetti said, “We took discipline very seriously. Dentists don’t want those practicing who are unethical or above the law. When you have one bad guy, it reflects on all of us.” The code of ethics of the Florida Dental Association, he said, “in many instances, holds practitioners to an even higher standard than what the law reads.” For example, there is no law that says a dentist can’t sell toothbrushes or dental devices to patients and not disclose that the dentist shares in the profit, or that the same products are available cheaper somewhere else. But the ethical code of the FDA does spell out that dentists must disclose that information to their patients. Unlike other professions, The Florida Bar’s disciplinary arm is an open and participatory process at all levels, with a high level of public involvement in the oversight of attorneys. Public members compose at least one-third of local grievance committees, and investigations are subject to scrutiny at every stage. In regulatory matters handled by other agencies, after a consumer files a complaint, he or she is largely left out of the process, may not attend probable cause hearings and, if no probable cause is found, may not access any records related to the complaint. contrast, the Bar shows copies of a lawyer’s response to the complaining consumer, who may attend grievance committee hearings when the lawyer is present. After a case is closed, the records except for confidential client matters become public even if no probable cause is found. No other regulatory body in Florida will confirm that a specific complaint has been filed against a professional until probable cause has been found. The Florida Bar will confirm receipt of complaints and that a complaint is under investigation. “The Bar continues to improve and expand its function to ensure that the legal profession in Florida exhibits the highest principles of duty and service to the public, their clients,” Russomanno said. March 15, 2001 Regular News Disciplinary details
ABA YLD cranks up hurricane relief effort
ABA YLD cranks up hurricane relief effort September 15, 2005 Regular News As the eyes of the nation remain focused on the hurricane-ravaged southeastern United States, the ABA is ready to assist those impacted by Hurricane Katrina.ABA President Michael S. Greco is enlisting the ABA Young Lawyers Division and lawyers from several ABA sections to assist hurricane victims in the coming days and weeks. The lawyers will assist with insurance claims, home repair contracts, wills and other documents, and related issues.The ABA has provided pro bono assistance to storm victims since 1978, when the ABA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed to utilize the ABA Young Lawyers Division in staffing a toll-free hotline open to disaster victims.The ABA has established a Web page at www.abanet.org/katrina to assist in relief efforts that will be continually updated as more information and resources are announced. Use this page to volunteer to provide legal assistance, find information on making donations, and receive guidance on how to most effectively help victims.
ABA YLD cranks up hurricane relief effort
Šibenik has announced a public tender for a cable car that would connect Šibenik fortresses
The aim of preparing the above documentation is to identify possible infrastructural and organizational solutions, and to select the optimal solution for the construction of a cable car in the area of the city of Šibenik. RELATED NEWS: The cable car that connects the Šibenik fortresses is no longer just a dream, but a reality. reality. Of course, the city of Šibenik still has a lot of work to do, but we are actively working on the realization of this large project, which is the first prerequisite for success, which will round off and put an end to the story of the revitalization of phenomenal Šibenik fortresses. The City of Šibenik has been preparing the ground for the implementation of the project of the public cable car system, which would connect all Šibenik fortresses. Well-known Croatian architect Nikola Bašić (author of Greetings to the Sun and the Sea Organ in Zadar) updated the idea of building a cable car and escalator called “Šibenik Vertical” a few years ago. I hope Mr. Basic to apply for the announced public tender, so let a better idea and project win. 
The estimated value of the procurement is HRK 180.000,00 without VAT, and the deadline for submission of bids is June 17, 2019. Find out more details about the procurement for the development of the preliminary design for the Šibenik cable car HERE The subject of the procurement is the development of three conceptual solutions, one of which will be selected by the Client for the development of the conceptual design, and all other architectural documentation required to obtain a location permit for the cable car that connects Fortress of St. Mihovil, the fortress of St. Ivana and the city district of Šubićevac. FORTRESS OF ST. NIKOLE IN ŠIBENIK OPENS ON JUNE 15
Letters to the Editor for Thursday, Sep. 26
Round Lake came alive with artistryBravo to the Malta League of Arts for the fantastic art event held in Round Lake on Sept. 14 and 15.The entire historic village came alive with a variety of art workshops, photo exhibits and art opportunities for participants of all ages and all levels of talent.The young, the old and everyone in between had an equal chance to be artistic.The local residents observed and enjoyed watching the groups of artists paint, draw, photograph or design a monotype print of the area homes. Many of these homeowners were thrilled to purchase the finished original works. The entire day was colorful with imagination and creativity, and the end result was enjoyed by everyone who came.Sponsored by the Malta League of Arts and carried out by energized volunteers, generous sponsors, extremely talents art teachers including Peter Huntoon, Kevin Kuhne, Carolyn Justice and other master artists, this third annual plein air festival in Historic Round Lake was a huge success. It must not be missed next year. For more information check out Maltaleagueofarts.org.Madeline SickoClifton ParkMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusEDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?EDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homes In reaction to the Sept. 23 article about two young people arrested for publicly spraying swastikas, do these young people understand the meaning of the swastika symbol?Do they understand the history of that World War II time period? I am not sure they realize the magnitude of their actions.Personally, I lived through WWII with family involved in the Army, nurses who went into the death camps at the end of the war to help survivors and have many family and friends who are Jewish.Apparently, the meaning and symbolism of the swastika has changed since then.Did I miss something?Do these young people even understand the powerful historical significance of this symbol?Maybe their time would be better spent in school studying history.Mary Jean Millman ClelandCaroga Lake Categories: Letters to the Editor, OpinionVandals don’t know meaning of swastika