text:
Bell: Durham skyline shouldn't be preservation board's concern
The Historic Preservation Commission may have approved plans for a new downtown skyscraper this week, but its handling of the case nonetheless appears to have bothered two key elected officials.
Mayor Bill Bell and City Councilman Eugene Brown attended Tuesday's commission hearing and two days later told colleagues they had concerns.
Bell said the hearing illustrated the need for the council to "come together and have a transparent, open discussion of what we'd like to see happen in the city in terms of physical developments."
The hearing on the proposed 26-story City Center tower at one pointed threatened to veer toward a discussion "about the way projects like this affect the skyline," Bell said.
But the mayor regards policy issues like that as the province of elected officials. "That's ultimately a decision the City Council makes," he said.
Bell added that he's also concerned about the possible delays in the approval process for major projects.
He picked up on a comment from local architect and developer Scott Harmon, who in a message posted to a couple of email lists that city officials monitor said "everyone was surprised that the project was approved without a continuance."
Durham's land-use rules give administrators and the commission up to six months to act on "certificate of appropriateness" applications like the one Colorado-based Austin Lawrence Partners sought for the tower.
If they miss the six-month deadline, the certificate is approved by default. Tuesday's commission vote came about five weeks after Austin Lawrence submitted its application.
Nonetheless, Bell thought Harmon's comment merited a reminder to all concerned that the council expects "a timely, expeditious decision process, not taking away from the fact we expect a lot of due diligence to be done."
Brown backed the mayor's comments and said he thinks the preservation commission has contributed to the demise of at least one potential downtown redevelopment project.
Inherently, it's "very difficult for a preservation commission to delve into new construction," he said.
The issues Bell raised "are salient, and are not only of time but of control," Brown said.
Tuesday's commission vote produced a 6-1 approval of the planned tower, the dissent coming from member Andrew Sprouse, who planners say had qualms about the building's height.
At a planned 296 feet, City Center would just lose out to the 300-foot Durham Centre for the title of downtown's tallest building.
The project site is across Corcoran Street from the SunTrust tower, a 202-foot structure that dates from 1937.
Austin Lawrence's plan does have critics. Objections have included its potential to overshadow the SunTrust tower, styling that some consider generic and the likelihood that the apartments placed on the building's upper floors will cater to the well-to-do.
One critic, landscape planner Marcia McNally, wrote City Manager Tom Bonfield on Thursday to say City Center's developers are settling when they should instead be demanding "great design."
"To be relieved that this building as proposed doesn't look like 'The Pickle' isn't enough," McNally said, alluding to the city's tallest building, the South Square area's 356-foot University Tower.
She added that "word on the street is that the Durham community needs to bury criticism, that we somehow can't afford to offend the developers because this project is important for Durham."
Bell appeared familiar with the gist of that criticism as he spoke during Thursday's council work session.
He made a point of saying that because Durham has become "a place that people want to be," the council "can be a lot more selective" when it comes to deciding what projects to throw its weight behind.
But the mayor clearly regarded the council as the most appropriate venue for policy debate.
Council members over the years have made it clear they'll keep a close watch on key redevelopment proposals in and near downtown, to the point a couple times of firing warning shots at advisory boards they thought had stepped out line.
The most notable recipient of such attention has been the Durham Planning Commission, which in 2006 and 2010 voiced qualms about private and public projects in the Rolling Hills area that the council favored.


text:
Financial FAQs
We are seeing faster economic growth in the fourth quarter, even after the upward revision of Q3 GDP growth to 2.7 percent from 2.0 percent. The reason? The 146,000 jump in November payroll jobs, soaring retail sales, and the Fed's determination to maintain QE3 with $45 Billion per month in bond purchases for several more years, if necessary, to boost employment.
This is in spite of Hurricane Sandy that shut down much of the east coast. We can therefore expect that Q4 growth might exceed 3 percent, putting us back on the path to a more normal growth pattern.
Retail sales is leading the growth. Motor vehicle sales rebounded 1.4 percent after a 1.9 percent decrease in October. Earlier in the month, unit new motor vehicle sales pointed to an even stronger increase but the Commerce Department's sample size is not as good and all Personal Consumption Expenditure spending may be even stronger.
Graph: Econoday
And industrial production rebounded in November with notable help from Hurricane Sandy and a boost in auto assemblies, up 1.1 percent, following a decline of 0.7 percent in October (originally down 0.4 percent). The market consensus was for a 0.3 percent gain. Capacity utilization for total industry rose to 78.4 percent from 77.7 percent in October.
The bottom line is that manufacturing has seen sharp swings over the last two months due to Hurricane Sandy. But net for the period, this sector is still soft. The clearly positive news is that consumers are out shopping for new cars, which is good news for manufacturing. It suggests that while consumers are in a bad mood about the pending fiscal cliff, potential tax increases, they are spending despite survey recorded glum views, said Econoday .
And inflation is falling. Year-on-year, overall CPI inflation came in at 1.8 percent versus 2.2 percent in October (seasonally adjusted). The core rate eased to 1.9 percent in November from 2.0 percent the prior month.
Lastly, the Federal Reserve just announced a new policy at its last FOMC meeting of the year. It voted to continue with QE3, the $45 Billion in securities' purchases per month until either the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent from its current 7.7 percent, and/or inflation tops 2.5 percent per year.
Since it looks like inflation has been subdued, and the Fed believes it will take until 2016 to bring down the unemployment rate to its new target, the Fed could maintain easy credit for several more years, which is the best of all conditions for economic growth to continue.
Harlan Green © 2012

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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The Trustees of Georgian Court University
to each and all it may concern
a Greeting in the Lord
we declare to those present that
(student's name)
having duly fulfilled the prerequisites is awarded the degree of(this section has your particular degree, see below for translation)and we have accorded all the rights
and privileges pertaining to this degree.
Furthermore, we confirm this, having affixed to the
Diploma, the seal of the University and the signature of the President.
Conferred at the University in Lakewood in the State of New Jersey, on the (date) of the month
of (month) in this (year) of our Lord.
Bachelor of Arts
Tuesday, Aug 4Graduate Information Sessions
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text:
Wayne Laugesen
|Wayne Laugesen
|Wayne Laugesen
|Writer, pundit, editor
|United States
|Public policy/philosophy
|Literary movement
|Notable awards
|Investigative Reporters and Editors Top 100 Investigations; Distinguished Commentary, Society for Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi)
|Dede Laugesen
Wayne Laugesen is an American columnist, video producer, gun rights advocate and editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette, procured in 2012 by conservative Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz. Laugesen writes for the National Catholic Register, Faith & Family magazine, is a former editor of Soldier of Fortune, Boulder Weekly, and was managing editor of the former "Consumers' Research" national magazine in Washington, D.C.
Laugesen, who considers himself a conservative libertarian, has criticized ambitious urban planners for creating elite environments that exclude minorities and the poor.[1] His work became the topic of a journalistic ethics debate[2] in 2004, when he smashed historic windows from a Boulder, Colo., home in protest of historic preservation orders by the Boulder City Council—an act that led media critic Michael Roberts to coin the phrase "commando journalism".[3]
As assistant editor of Soldier of Fortune in the 1990s, Laugesen helped obtain guns and training for women in a Boulder neighborhood that was stalked by a serial rapist.[4] He brought an obscure vice principal to the forefront by giving him Soldier of Fortune's annual Humanitarian Award for using a handgun to stop a school massacre in Pearl, Miss.[5]
Laugesen stirred controversy among Soldier of Fortune's conservative readership with a cover story that criticized modern police for exceeding their authority and violating the rights of citizens.[6] Timothy McVeigh, four years after perpetrating the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, was asked by reporters to "describe his motivations" for his lethal actions. McVeigh mailed a copy of the March 1999 Soldier of Fortune article along with a letter to Fox News reporter Rita Cosby.[6]
As the National Catholic Register's correspondent covering the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops when the Catholic sexual abuse scandal emerged, Laugesen is often cited for research that has put the problem in context by comparing abuse statistics of Catholic institutions with those of other religious and secular organizations.[7]
Though preferring to be seen as a social conservative, Laugesen defends illegal immigrants and has been critical of the war on drugs. His drug war research often appears on web sites hosted by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws[8] and other organizations devoted to drug legalization. Laugesen's research into the DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) has led to articles[9] that have been used in campaigns to get DARE out of public and private schools.
Though Laugesen often defends Israel and Judaism, he was accused of anti-semitism in a 2008 article in the Independent, an alternative newsweekly that intercepted an e-mail conversation between Laugesen and an official of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that fights against military efforts to establish religion.[10] Other media reported on the controversy[11] and the allegations were quickly refuted.[12]
A defender of religious liberty, Laugesen has become a frequent topic of criticism by atheist leader PZ Myers[13] who is best known for desecrating the Catholic Eucharist.[14] Dozens of other well-known atheist activists have come out against Laugesen,[15] including the atheist expert of About.com.[16]
Laugesen has stirred controversy in Colorado and the mostly-conservative Christian city of Colorado Springs by advocating for Mosques, inviting them to build in Colorado. Conversely, Laugesen has defended the controversial Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Tim Tebow against attacks from the secular media.[17]
Laugesen has won numerous national and regional journalism awards, including Top 100 Investigations from Investigative Reporters and Editors, for exposing police brutality against minorities, and the Society for Professional Journalists' top award for commentary in Colorado.
Video producer[edit]
Laugesen and his wife, Dede,[18] are co-producers of Holy Baby! and Holy Baby! 2, a popular set of multilingual prayer videos for Catholic children that have been referred to as the Catholic Baby Einstein.[19] The videos are broadcast internationally on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), and on New Evangelization Television (NET) in New York. Three cartoon characters from the videos—Baby Scholastica, Baby Bosco and his puppy Gregio—are sold internationally as plush toys in Catholic and non-Catholic Christian bookstores.
Laugesen, a Philadelphia native, explains that his philosophy was heavily influenced by his "hippie" mother,[20] the sudden death of his father, and his conservative stepfather.
- ^ Boulder Weekly
- ^ Poynter Institute
- ^ Westword
- ^ Boulder Weekly
- ^ "Making our schools safe: the Virginia Tech shooting rampage highlights the vulnerability of our schools to gun violence, but the answer to the problem is not more gun-control laws," The Free Library, Roger D. McGrath, Ph.D.
- ^ a b Fox News
- ^ CBS News/National Review Online
- ^ Independent
- ^ [1]
- ^ Boulder Weekly
- ^ Scienceblogs; Pharyngula
- ^ RichardDawkins.net
- ^ About.com
- ^ Westword
- ^ Catholic Mom
- ^ Spirit Hit
- ^ The Gazette
External links[edit]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wayne Laugesen.