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Executive Leadership
Gary Winston
Gary Winston is recognized as a leading figure in the North American insurance industry. With his vision and entrepreneurial skills he co-founded CRU Group with his son Kyle in 2004. Recognizing the impact of climate change and the increase in catastrophic events, initially CRU provided catastrophe adjusters from Canada to U.S. insurers. As the need grew, Gary led the expansion of CRU Group so that today it provides a wide array of services throughout Canada and the U.S. to many major insurance companies.
Gary started his insurance career as the owner of a prominent Ontario insurance brokerage with multiple offices across the province and headquartered in Toronto. After its sale, Gary moved to claims as the Executive Vice President of a large international adjusting firm in Canada. In 2000, recognizing the opportunities of internet-based mediation, Gary moved to New York as Vice President of Cybersettle International, building a worldwide claims network. A visionary and strategic thinker, Gary brings 40 years of experience in all areas of the insurance industry to CRU.
Kyle Winston
Co-Founder and President
Kyle Winston worked in partnership with his father Gary Winston for a number of years before assuming the role of President of CRU Group in 2008. He has led the expansion of the firm from a small catastrophe claims adjusting company to a robust organization which now includes three national adjusting firms. The most recent acquisitions include Maltman International and (AIA Centers) an industry training company.
Kyle started as an adjuster and is trained in personal, commercial lines, property and general liability. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, and has a second degree in International Relations from Huron University College. As the "lighthouse keeper", Kyle has led CRU's businesses to achieve continuous growth and success across North America.
Seval Alkin CPA,CMA
Chief Financial Officer
Vice President of Shared Services
Seval Alkin is a highly accomplished, results-driven financial executive with over 30 years of experience in leadership roles in the financial services industry; including large international insurance companies, investment banking and small entrepreneurial businesses. Seval is a proven expert leader in strategic planning, controllership, operations management and analytics.
Seval is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. She completed her Bachelor of Business Management at Ryerson University and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD). Her board experience includes DAS Canada, a Munich Re Company for over 5 years, as well as a non-profit board.
David Repinski
U.S. Chief Executive Officer
David Repinski is a proven, visionary, client-focused claims industry executive. David's claims career began in 1991 and since then has held various loss adjusting, client-facing, and operational roles. David spent 28 years with the two (2) largest global loss adjusting firms, the majority of which was in senior level leadership roles as a member of their global leadership teams. Positions he has held include Chief Client Officer, Global Development Officer, U.S. CEO and CEO Americas. David resides in Dallas Texas and is based in our U.S. Headquarters there.
Skip McHardy
Chief Operational Officer – Catastrophe Response
After years in the Florida insurance market, Skip McHardy joined CRU Group in 2010 during their first major catastrophic event in Calgary, Alberta. Over the years, Skip has held key roles in CRU Group and has overseen the catastrophe planning and response for all clients in North America during a six-fold growth period. He has successfully implemented systems and lead CRU Group's unique programs which have brought best practice catastrophe models to U.S and Canadian carriers.
Varma Singh, CIP, CRM
Managing Director-Operations
Maltman International
Varma has over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. He specializes in Enterprise Risk Management, Reinsurance, Insurance Claims, Risk Management, and Operational Risk Management.
In addition, he has experience in handling a wide range of complex E&O, Professional liability &
Environmental claims for both the London & Canadian Insurance Markets
Well known for his management style which includes the effective and efficient operation, and performance of Claims teams while demonstrating leadership, knowledge and application of industry/claims processing metrics, standards of practice, policies and procedures, quality
improvement processes and the goals of the organization.
Tim Danbury
Managing Director-UK
Maltman International
Tim has spent over 20 years in the London market in the delegated authority space, with technical claims handling and claims operations experience gained at Coverholders, Third Party Administrators and Lloyd's Syndicates. Prior to joining CRU Group he was Deputy and subsequently promoted to Head of Claims of a Lloyd's Syndicate that specialized in binding authority / program business, where he was responsible for the operation of the claims function which included oversight of TPA's, Coverholders and other claims experts.
Tim resides in the U.K and works in the London Insurance Market. He joined CRU Group in May 2019 and utilizes his extensive knowledge of the Lloyd's and London Market to respond to our customers and their ever-changing needs.
Paula Shields Holladay
National Casualty Manager
Managing Director-U.S.
Maltman International
Paula has been in the insurance industry for over 35 years. She joined CRU Adjusters after owning and managing her own independent company for 12 years, specializing in General Liability, Trucking, and Auto Liability claim management.
She brings a wealth of experience within the Property-Casualty Claim industry to CRU. Paula started her career with Allstate Insurance Company, gaining experience in auto and property claims handling, she later gained extensive Commercial adjusting experience while working for various carriers such as Safeco, Gainsco MGA and Great West.
Jon Havens
Director of Training and Program Manager
AIA-Academy of Insurance Adjusting
Jon is a Graduate of Dallas Baptist University with a Bachelor of Science with a dual focus of Business Development and Biblical Studies. Before entering the insurance industry, he had secured over 10 years of experience in several construction fields. He also served as a damage control firefighter in the United States Navy for 4 years.
Jon entered the insurance industry during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 at a friend's request and discovered he enjoyed the challenge and helping people through claims handling. He now has over a decade of insurance claims experience. He has worked as both an independent catastrophe and an insurance carrier staff employee. He has extensive experience in home, personal property, additional living expenses, commercial buildings, business income, property liability, personal liability, and auto claims handling.


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Pineal region mass
Masses in the pineal region have a relatively broad differential because of the variety of cell types found in the region.
If large enough, the mass may compress the tectal plate and may cause a defect in up-gaze (Parinaud syndrome) or obstructive hydrocephalus, if the cerebral aqueduct is compressed.
Intrinsic pineal tissue masses also tend to cause upward displacement of the internal cerebral veins. This is in distinction to tentorial meningiomas which depress the cerebral veins.
Differential diagnosis
- pineal parenchymal tumors
germ cell tumors
- pineal germinoma: most common (~50% of all tumors)
- pineal embryonal carcinoma
- pineal choriocarcinoma
- pineal yolk sac carcinoma: endodermal sinus tumor
- pineal teratoma
- astrocytoma of the pineal gland
- pineal metastasis
- pineal cyst
- inclusion cysts (dermoid / epidermoid) 4
- meningioma near the pineal region
- other rare entities
If invasive, a tectal plate mass may be difficult to distinguish from a pineal mass.
Quiz questions
- 1. Smirniotopoulos JG, Rushing EJ, Mena H. Pineal region masses: differential diagnosis. Radiographics. 1992;12 (3): 577-96. Radiographics (abstract) - Pubmed citation
- 2. Hayashida Y, Hirai T, Korogi Y et-al. Pineal cystic germinoma with syncytiotrophoblastic giant cells mimicking MR imaging findings of a pineal cyst. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2004;25 (9): 1538-40. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol (full text) - Pubmed citation
- 3. Ganti SR, Hilal SK, Stein BM et-al. CT of pineal region tumors. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1986;146 (3): 451-8. AJR Am J Roentgenol (abstract) - Pubmed citation
- 4. Wolfgang Dähnert. Radiology Review Manual. (2011) ISBN: 9781609139438
- 5. Park JH, Hong YK. Primary malignant melanoma in the pineal region. (2014) Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society. 56 (6): 504-8. doi:10.3340/jkns.2014.56.6.504 - Pubmed
Related Radiopaedia articles
Pineal region masses
The pineal region is anatomically complex and plays host to a number of unique masses and tumors as well as potentially affected by many entities seen more frequently elsewhere in the brain.
General reading
- cystic non-neoplastic lesions
- pineal parenchymal tumors
- germ cell tumors
- tumors also encountered in the pineal region
- pineal gland metastases
- vascular lesions

subset: commoncrawl


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Tokyo Ghoul… √A? Yeah, I'm just going to call it Tokyo Ghoul in the body of these posts from now on. Anyway, before I start talking about the latest series, I thought the original was decent. I'm just not sure I wanted to see the story continued because the show looked like it was devolving into a generic shounen towards the end of the previous series. Sure, the final episode turned things around… but the two weeks preceding it were pretty damn bad. So which Tokyo Ghoul are we going to see this time? The 75% that was good? Or the 25% that was an unmitigating disaster?
— I liked the previous OP better. I really dislike the new song. I also liked the execution of the duality motif in the first OP. It was a bit on the nose, but a lot more interesting to look at than the stop-motion-esque movements and psychedelic morphing flowers that we get in the latest OP.
— I do like the tighter focus, though. I've never cared for OPs where the cast of characters are paraded onscreen. The minor characters are not important, so I don't need to see them. Anyway, enough about OPs. They're really not that important in my eyes.
— Just as I say that, however, the scene that follows the OP just happens to involve some of those minor characters that I don't particularly care about. They just don't lend much to the series. This is a story about Ken's personal and psychological development. I don't really care about Amon or some new ghoul who's looking for the guy who took his arm.
— The story cuts to Touka and her brother, and that's okay. I don't mind the spotlight being on Touka so much. But a large problem with the last arc of the previous series was that it simply introduced and involved too many characters that I didn't care about. Take that Juuzou kid, for instance. Or any of the other CCG members. Or the Aogiri Tree people that I hardly even know nor want to know anything about. Or people who should be dead but somehow come back to life anyway.
— The thing is, these minor characters simply have no depth to them, and how can they? We only get thirteen episodes at twenty-ish minutes of runtime apiece. The story is better served just focusing on the trials and tribulations of a small cast of characters, and not this menagerie that suddenly turned up towards the end of the original series. There are even more characters I haven't mentioned, and that's the crux of the problem. I have no interest in talking about them, and I certainly do not have an interest in watching them.
— Action has never been the show's strong point. Its execution is pretty much textbook shounen. And this part definitely doesn't look very cool.
— There's something simultaneously abusive and incestuous about Touka's brother biting into her flesh. That's not to mention the fact that he's straddling her and going on and on about power. Ayato doesn't kill her, though. He shoots a bunch of sharp quills(?) at his own sister, but I doubt they would've killed her. It's all just torture. Up until this moment, the two siblings largely stayed out of each other's ways. I suspect he's hurting her now because he thinks this will scare and keep her away. Ayato also can't like Ken very much, because Touka basically put herself in danger's way in an attempt to save the protagonist.
— So when Ken finally shows up to save Touka from her brother's abuse, he turns it around on Ayato; he apparently knows the latter's secret, i.e. why Ayato joined Aogiri Tree in the first place: "It's for protection, right? What you hold most dear?" Right before he says this, Ken turns and watches a flock of birds fly off together. The Aogiri Tree are clearly a bunch of bad guys up to no good, but the story doesn't exactly paint the CCG as the protagonists of the story either. At the end of the day, the conflict here is nothing more than gang warfare tearing a city apart.
Humans and ghouls are at each other's throats, but they're more similar than they would like to admit. Hell, we see in this very episode alone how those CCG dorks would allow those weird suits to consume them in order to gain more fighting ability. In order to kill ghouls, they have to become ghoul-like. They have to wield quinques. So what's the difference between CCG and Aogiri Tree? It's really just two different gangs fighting for control of the city. People will flock to one gang or the other for protection, but that's all it is. No one here is actually righteous or moral.
Anyway, we all know Ayato joined Aogiri Tree because the organization is strong. It's like when any wayward youth joins a gang because he wants their protection. The implication here, however, is that he can somehow become strong himself, and as a result, he can turn around and protect Touka, the person that he "hold[s] most dear." This revelation infuriates Ayato, because he portrays himself as this "power rules everything" kind of guy, when at the end of the day, his actions are emotionally tied to his need to protect the one family member he has left. Having said that, I don't exactly see what he's done to protect her.
— Unfortunately, the encounter is cut short as the whole place comes crashing down.
— So after saving Touka, Ken hands her off to Nishiki, then walks away to stand in some debris. There, this waif-like Aogiri Tree member teleports around him. There's pretty much no dialogue to this scene. I'm not exactly sure what's happening here, but whatever did happen pretty much cemented his next decision.
— More characters, huh?
— He then returns to Touka, who tries to greet him as though everything is back to normal. But that's the thing: she and Anteiku came to rescue him, but they were too late. They failed. The old Ken died. This new Ken is certainly different in a lot of respects, but the most important one is that he won't be returning to Anteiku. In fact, he tells her that he'll be joining Aogiri Tree. Of course, I can't imagine him aligning himself with Aogiri Tree's philosophy, whatever it is. As such, I wonder what he's really after.
— Still, the Aogiri Tree members seem to welcome him with open arms… except Ayato, that is.
— Maybe he just wants to wear their sleek, new clothes. Still, he changed his outfit rather quickly, didn't he?
— Anyway, this first episode had a bunch of fighting that I just didn't care for. You don't have to remove the conflict between CCG and Aogiri Tree. You just don't have to draw it out for so long, or give these minor characters so much face time. The developments with Ken are interesting, and I can only hope that the story can stay focused from here on out. Let's not get too bogged down by the need to have a Noah's Ark of a cast.


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He's been absent for a little while, but Jay Garrick will return to The Flash in the near future.
John Wesley Shipp hasn't appeared as the character so far this season, making his most recent appearance in May's season 3 closer, 'Finish Line'.
But the actor told Digital Spy exclusively that there are plans afoot to bring Jay back.
"Yes, I believe I can say that," Shipp said. "I've not had it confirmed, but the answer to that is yes!"
Shipp has a long history with The Flash, having originally played Barry Allen in the early '90s series The Flash on CBS.
In a tip of the hat, he was later cast as Barry's father Henry Allen in the new series starring Grant Gustin. Henry was eventually killed off, but Shipp was then reintroduced as Jay Garrick, another speedster who is Henry's double from a parallel world. (Got it?)
Jay currently serves as the Flash of Earth 3 – but it sounds as though he'll be popping back to Earth 1 before long. Unless Team Flash pay him a visit?
Shipp was speaking to Digital Spy to promote the launch of Dawson's Creek on streaming service All4.
Having been involved in the Flash revival, Shipp – who played Dawson's dad Mitch Leery – told us that he wouldn't be averse to rebooting his other big '90s hit. "Having been involved in a highly successful reboot of a project that I was involved in, I would never say no to a Dawson's Creek revival categorically."
You can watch all six seasons of Dawson's Creek right now on All4.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment and tech news? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.


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A quick way to create a DomUI application is to use the "skeleton" application inside the DomUI repository. You can get it by checking out the "domui" repository and then copying all of the files under examples/skeleton to some new directoryThis will give you a basic DomUI application that you can then alter and extend to your needs.
The skeleton application is a mostly empty DomUI web application but with most important parts wired:
The skeleton app has three Maven subprojects to separate business code, UI code and web resources, and runs out of the box.The skeleton app will be updated when new possibilities appear, so you might find examples of new code there
For details on how to use it, go to the github page for the skeleton app which contains detailed instructions.


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The Super Rugby season is now well and truly past and the focus of attention across the Southern Hemisphere is now firmly on the inaugural Rugby Championship, but an issue that keeps popping into the forefront of my mind, and some of those rugby fans with which I regularly converse, is whether the rules for foreign importation of players in the Australian conference are too stringent and need reconsideration.
This issue arises because of the state of the game in Australia following the end of this year's competition. The facts are clear: in the Waratahs, Force and Rebels the Australian conference possesses three teams anchored at the tail of the Super Rugby standings.
Whilst the Rebels showed some competitive spirit in patches during the season (their victory over the Crusaders was a season highlight for not just Rebels fans but fans of the conference as a whole), the Waratahs had an extended losing streak unheard of in their history and the Force were, frankly, uncompetitive for the bulk of the season.
The position that the Australian conference holds presently, being the whipping boy of the other conferences, raises the question of how the conference can be strengthened and by extension leads us back to the international qualification rules.
Before we consider those rules, it is important to recognise that unlike the New Zealand and South African conferences the game of rugby is not a national pastime in Australia and is historically foreign to all but two of the geographical conferences, Queensland and New South Wales. Therefore, the development of teams in Melbourne and Perth brings with it special challenges not faced by the teams of the South African and New Zealand conferences. Simply, those areas have limited historical connection to the game of rugby and are in the development of the game as well as seeking to support a Super Rugby team.
Noting that historical disadvantage bequeathed to the "expansion" franchises as a result of the Australian Rugby Union's keenness to benefit from having more franchises in the game, due consideration must also be given to what flows from said expansion. Simply, there are not enough players of "first class" standard playing the game in Australia to make all five franchises competitive. This was evident when the Force were introduced in 2005 and took with them the cream of both the Queensland and New South Wales squads in order to field a team and again when the Rebels were introduced and we saw another re-distribution of player talent away from the traditional nurseries of rugby.
Surely then the obvious solution is to allow the importation of foreign players to bolster the ranks of the uncompetitive teams. It seems like an obvious answer but the rules would seem to restrain all but one team of benefiting from such rules. This is because whilst the Rebels benefit from being able to import ten foreign players, the "established" teams (Brumbies, Waratahs and Reds) are only allowed two such players and the Force three.
Why then are their limits placed on foreign imports when, on the face of the results of the last season, there is an obvious case for unrestrained importation? There would appear to be two principal reasons for this position:
- Limiting importation of players is said to foster the development of local competitions and lead to opportunities arising for younger players to come through the ranks unrestrained by a foreign player sitting ahead of them.
- The Australian conference is really a selection trial for the Wallabies team and therefore too many foreign imports with stifle the form of those looking for higher honours.
The latter argument is easy to dispel: if the Super Rugby competition was a selection trial for the Wallabies team then the team selected for the first round of the Rugby Championship this coming weekend would be vastly different. Indeed, there would not be eight players from a team that only won four games all season.
The former argument is more compelling but presents an interesting conundrum. It is obvious that it will be for the betterment of the game for the junior nurseries and third tier competitions of Victoria and Western Australia if the teams at the pinnacle of their systems are not overrun with imports. The conundrum that presents itself starkly in both States is that whilst those teams remain uncompetitive is there really any spur for young junior players to work through the ranks and make claim for a Rebels or Force jersey when they could try their hand at the preferred local past time of Australian Rules Football?
It seems trite to say but this really is the epitome of a the "chicken and the egg": on the one hand the preference of the ARU seems to be focused on the development of the game locally which has lead to, for example, the Force being generally uncompetitive whilst on the other hand to maintain the attraction of junior and third tier players for the game, the teams in Victoria and Western Australia MUST be competitive.
A subsidiary argument pressed in favour of limiting imports is that imports have been less than successful when they have moved to Australia. There is limited data here however the stellar performance of Gareth Delve aside there is some merit to this claim. That said, the quality of imported players is a matter for the recruitment managers and coaches of each individual conference. There being a bad bunch of import ought not sully the principal that some foreign imports are needed.
So where does this leave us? If one removes from consideration the Rebels franchise (ten foreign imports is surely enough), the real concern for next season is the Western Force. They have lost their talismanic captain, and the captain of Australia, in David Pocock to the Brumbies just one year after the loss of James O'Conner to the Rebels. Even when they had one of the best back rows in the Australian conference they struggled to win games and score points. It is surely obvious that the importation of some backline talent to bolster their ranks is desperately needed.
Certainly it seems to me that the arguments in favour of loosening up the limitations on the importation of foreign players far outweigh the imposition of the disadvantages alleged to flow from such a step, if only to assist in making those uncompetitive franchises competitive for next season. It is obvious that in order for the nurseries of rugby in the "minnow" states they need to have competitive teams at the pinnacle at the sport for their juniors to strive towards and without a player injection those teams are likely to remain uncompetitive.
It is worth noting that despite all that has gone above and my inclination to open up the opportunities for foreign importation of players, all of this hinges on foreign players actually wanting to travel half way around the world to play for a team that is uncompetitive. Maybe, we are faced again with another "chicken and the egg scenario".
This is one to which I have no easy answer whoever. All I can say is that all things considered rugby fans of whatever province you are from want the Australian conference to be competitive. If the importation of foreign players does not lead to this utopia, then serious questions need to be asked as to whether the Australian conference can support five teams. I truly hope that day does not come.


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Song of the Week: "Love Myself" by Olivia O'Brien
Olivia O'Brien's "Love Myself" is a stand-out anthemic ballad about teen angst and self-love.
In "Love Myself" O'Brien exposes her insecurities and anxiety for the world to hear, exclaiming that she needs to focus on self-discovery and self-love first and foremost in her life. At 19 years-old, there are a lot of questions about your identity left yet-unanswered, and O'Brien is impressively able to those emotions and experiences into a globally relatable song about teen angst that demonstrates wisdom beyond her years.
The purple-haired songstress has found early-yet-widespread success with her music across the entire soundscape of the industry, refusing to allow anyone to put her neatly into a bucketed genre. She's collaborated with everyone from gnash, to G-Eazy and Drew Love (THEY.), and has racked up over 1 billion streams globally in her young career.
Date City
March 31 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
April 1 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
3 St. Paul, MN Amsterdam Bar & Hall
4 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
5 Detroit, MI Shelter
6 Toronto, ON The Velvet Underground – SOLD OUT
9 New York, NY The Bowery Ballroom
10 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
11 Philadelphia, PA The Foundry at The Fillmore
13 Washington, DC Union Stage
15 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
16 Atlanta, GA The Loft
18 Austin, TX Stubb's Indoors
19 Houston, TX House of Blues/Bronze Peacock
20 Dallas, TX Club Dada
23 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
24 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre – SOLD OUT
25 Oakland, CA The New Parish


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Court battle: Toddler on life support who choked on popcorn
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RICHMOND, Va. – A 2-year-old Virginia girl who choked on a popcorn kernel in May has been on life support ever since. Now the family of Mirranda Grace Lawson is battling in the courts against a hospital that wants doctors conduct a brain death test on the toddler.
Doctors with the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System say they're certain Mirranda won't recover. They want to perform the test they believe will confirm she's brain dead.
But Lawson's parents have refused, saying they worry it will harm her. They believe she'll open her eyes again one day.
The Richmond Circuit Court ruled against the Lawsons last month, but the family is appealing to the Virginia Supreme Court.


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Auditions open for 'Rent' at Perry-Mansfield
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Auditions for Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp's production of "Rent" are open.
The six-week, residential program is part of Perry-Mansfield's pre-professional intensive theater camp for students entering 10th grade through the first year of college and interested in pursuing a career in the arts. Tuition to the program is $6,250.
The production will be the "school edition" of Jonathan Larson's 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.
The original script follows a group of impoverished artists in the East Village of Lower Manhattan as they work through crippling and art-inspiring issues of rising rent, homelessness, discrimination, changing relationships and failing health related to HIV/AIDS.
"(The school edition) is almost exactly the same as the original," said Naomi Vara, who is involved with recruitment for dance and theater students. "It's a little bit more accessible to students in terms of their acting and singing. And with the program being six weeks and residential, we're able to spend so much time with the kids and involve dialogue and education about the issues of the subjects in the show."
Vara noted the program will also incorporate speakers about the issues involved with the production.
"'Rent' is about community and individuals coming together and about love and hope," Vara said. "There are so many wonderful things that can come out of that story for teenagers who are going through change in their lives."
Auditions, either online or in person — held in several locations across the country — determine the group that will be part of the program. Once the 25 students accepted to the program arrive at Perry-Mansfield for camp June 15, auditions for specific roles of the production take place.
After an intensive period of classes during the day and rehearsals during evenings and weekends, the production opens on July 26 and 27 at Perry-Mansfield's Julie Harris Theater.
"There's going to be a lot of singing growth because the music is really challenging. There's a lot of fun dancing, and there will be so much learning in the storytelling and subject matter," Vara said. "It's a triple-threat show. I think the students are going to grow across the board in such a great way."
"I'd certainly encourage anyone interested to apply," Co-Executive Director of Perry-Mansfield Toni Quick said. "Auditioning provides experience."
Productions by pre-professional intensive dance/theater camps in past years have included "The Tempest," "Spring Awakening," "Music Man" and original works by Perry-Mansfield faculty.
Auditions for "Rent" will be on a rolling basis until the program's 25 spots are filled. Find more information at perry-mansfield.org.
Julia Ben-Asher is a contributing writer for Steamboat Pilot & Today.
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The Peace Education Center has been hosting the Alternative Holiday Sale for over 10 years. This event provides an excellent opportunity to support the local economy, local business, and the Peace Education Center. It is, in fact, the largest fundraiser that the PEC puts on; funding much of our programming throughout the year.
The Alternative Holiday Sale starts Friday, November 15, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and continues Saturday, November 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sale will be held again at Edgewood United Church, 469 Hagadorn Road in East Lansing.
2019 Vendor List:
To be announced soon!
Vendors : Click the image below for a copy of the Vendor Sign-Up sheet!
Please snail mail the form to the Peace Education Center or email it to firstname.lastname@example.com
2018's Alternative Holiday sale poster:
2017's Alternative Holiday Sale poster:


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Topsham St James power to victory against Woodbury & Newton St Cyres
PUBLISHED: 19:48 17 June 2019 | UPDATED: 19:48 17 June 2019
Topsham St James 1st XI returned to winning ways with a comprehensive and comfortable 148 run victory over Woodbury & Newton St Cyres.
Topsham skipper Edd Kirby lost another toss, making it four from four when calling this season, and the Saints were put in to bat on a soft green wicket.
Openers Sapwell and Aiden Pring got off to a positive start, with Sapwell in particular looking to take the initiative away from the bowlers, and 50 was reached without mishap against the new ball.
However, the momentum changed once Sapwell was stumped off young spinner Daniel Alford, and the impressive spin duo of Alford and Becca Silk continued to keep the runs down and pick up wickets.
With Mark Phillips and Bobby East having followed Sapwell back to the pavilion, opener Pring took it upon himself to see off the spinners and allow the lower order to attack in the last 10 overs.
By the time Pring was run out, he and Ross Treleaven had put on a vital 60 runs and the momentum was back with Topsham. Despite some questionable scoops and reverse sweeps, Treleaven then continued his fine form at Woodbury with the bat, as for the second season in a row he saw the innings through with a half century, ending on 60 not out from 81 balls. The Saints had posted an impressive 184-6 on a pitch that was playing fairly slow and low and was not the easiest to accelerate the score on.
Buoyed by seeing the batsmen do the business, skipper Kirby took it upon himself to open the bowling and it paid off first ball as Woodbury & NSC opener Shenan Grossberg nicked the first ball straight into the safe hands of second slip Charlie Penn.
Boosted by the early wicket, the saints bowlers stayed on the front foot.
Brian Jeary bowled another economical opening spell, whilst also picking up the wicket of the other opener in the second over. The next three batsmen were all bowled by Phillips, Treleaven and East, as the rotation of the quicks worked a treat for the Saints as the opposition were left languishing on 26-5 after 20 overs and with no hope of a comeback.
It was then the turn of the spin attack to take centre stage, with the leg-spin duo of Nick Crew and Jon Sapwell, supported by the off-spin of Matt Williams. Crew was the first to strike, as he rattled through the lower middle order, taking three wickets in one over. The last of these was a 'pearler' of a leg break that beat the batsman all ends up and came two balls after East had taken a one-handed catch at short cover.
The tail was cleaned up by Sapwell, who used his guile and flight to tempt the batsmen into playing at his leg-spin, leaving both ruing their decision as they nicked to slip in the thirtieth and final over.
The win takes Topsham St James to within striking distance of third spot in the division and they will look to take the confidence from this win into the game against bottom side Upottery 2nd XI this Saturday (June 22).
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When you have to celebrate your best friend's birthday, then you have to look for the best and creative option because you want to make your friend happy. If any of your best friend's birthday is coming up and you are planning to do some great things for him. So here are 7 great and unique gift ideas that will make your friend happy, you can choose the gift as per your budget or as per your friend's interest:
1. Birthday Cake in a Jar Gift
This is one of the ideas, bake a cake at home in a glass jar add all the favorite things of your friend, like chocolate, dry fruits, and many more things. This will be a precious gift to the birthday boy or a girl, along with this, wish your friend happy birthday with flowers and cake. Add some quote on the jar so that the jar can be used for a long time and he or she can remember it for a long time. Don't forget to add your message; it will add more value to your efforts.
2. Wine Wipes Compact
Wine wipe compact is a set of wine wipes which is very useful for a friend, as whenever he likes to clean his teeth stain, he can clean it. The wine lover friend definitely loves it, the set of wipe box consists of a convenient mirror so that it can be used anywhere. This will make him comfortable to clean a stain of teeth anywhere.
3. Best Friend wine Glass
Till a day, along with your friend you have spent a long time while sharing a wine or a cup of coffee. So one of the ideas is to give him or her gift of wine glass along with some quotes printed on it. Also, you can print a short story of both of you on the glass. Or you can add your entire party sharing friends name on every glass. It will be good to give a gift best friend wine glass.
4. Spa Gift Set
If you have to gift something which is very much useful for your female friend then a spa gift set is very much useful. Mix some different products in it that includes body wash, bubble bath, lotion, scrubs, etc… This will help her to use every weekend at home and make her body smooth and relax the muscles. There are lots of online websites available who are providing birthday gift delivery to your doorstep. You can also order such spa products from the website and surprise the birthday girl.
5. Travel Wallet
Maybe your friend is travel addicted and one likes to move from one place to other places. Then the best part is that you can give him or her gift of travel wallet. Travel wallet comes in many colors just pick any one color as per your friend's style. Your friend can manage all his/ her cards and valuable things which need when he/she travels.
6. Flower Bouquet
A flower is one of the oldest and the best gift for anyone, as each person likes flowers, it is best to gift flowers on the birthday. There are also a lot of people who can deliver it at your doorstep; you have to order online they will deliver it. There are some combinations of flowers which make the flower bouquet more beautiful, you can add the entire favorite flower in a bunch to make a bouquet.
7. Bedside Caddy
This is the best gift for your friend, whenever he or she wakes up, he or she will get each and everything near his/her bed. All the valuable things which need can be placed in such caddy. So she /he will not have to move somewhere to find the items. This will be the best birthday gift for a best friend which he or she will remember for a long time.
There are many more gifts are available but above are some unique ideas which are useful to gift on for best friend's birthday. There are lots of online websites are also available through which you can order birthday gifts to your best friend. No matter where you are but the birthday gift will be delivered on time.
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Common Council approves Oak Hills Master Plan
NORWALK — After debate among themselves and largely negative input from residents, Common Council approved late Tuesday night the Oak Hills Park Authority Master Plan.
"Until money is actually in place to execute the document, nothing can happen," said council President Douglas E. Hempstead, an at-large Republican, referring to capital dollars needed to implement the plan. Master plans "are guide posts to move forward."
The plan, approved by the Oak Hills Park Authority (OHPA) in June, calls for constructing a 36-bay, 270-yard driving range and Golf Learning Center off the 6th hole, and Nature Learning and Fitness Center behind the restaurant at Oak Hills Park at 165 Fillow St. in West Norwalk.
At-large Republican Richard J. Bonenfant lent his support to the plan and its proposed driving range.
"I think it will help your business an awful a lot," Bonenfant said. "It will help alleviate people's fears about hitting the ball."
Voting to approve the plan were Hempstead, Bonenfant and fellow Republicans Jerry E. Petrini, Glenn Iannoccone, Michelle A. Maggio and Shannon O'Toole Giandurco, as well as Democrats Bruce I. Kimmel and John Kydes.
Democrats Travis L. Simms, Sharon Stewart, Eloisa M. Melendez, Phaedrel L. Bowman and David A. Watts voted 'No.'
Republican David T. McCarthy and John Igneri were absent from the council meeting.
Watts, a District A Democrat, noted that the city had lent OHPA money before, to build the golf course restaurant.
He asked if approval of the master plan would constitute a conflict of interest given that Total Driving Range Solutions, the firm that prepared the plan on behalf OHPA, has expressed interest in building the driving range.
"Is there a conflict of interest with the master plan?" Watts asked.
Mario F. Coppola, head of the city's law department, said the company hasn't submitted a bid. He said the OHPA would take steps to make sure bidding is a "fair process."
Clyde J. Mount, OHPA chairman, said construction of the driving range "is probably a year and a half to two years away." He noted that the authority recently received a $1.5 million state grant for improvements to the park.
"It's probably going to take us two years to spend that money," Mount said. "I would be highly surprised if we asked for money over the next two years."
If the OHPA did ask for money, he said, it would be for a low-interest loan.
Petrini, a District D Republican and chairman of the council's Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee, said he believed that the OHPA is well on its way to being in the black financially.
During the public participation portion of the council meeting at City Hall, a dozen residents urged the council to reject, or at postpone action, on the plan. The group, including many neighbors of the park, have opposed the driving range from the start.
"Postpone approval of this master plan until such time that we have a financial analysis of this driving range. What is going to be the revenue? How many people are going to use it?" asked William M. Krummel, a West Norwalk resident and former councilman. "Not just a vague statement, but a detailed analysis of how this is going to be done."
William Wrenn, another West Norwalk resident and former councilman, said the plan contained some good elements. In general, however, he described it as flawed and over-focused upon golf.
"Give some more priority for other uses. Maybe you don't need a driving range," Wrenn said.
Fillow Street Paul Cantor opposed the plan on numerous grounds, including its premise.
"(The plan) is really just a request for additional taxpayer loans to construct a large driving range and upgrade the golf course," Cantor said.
Several speakers, however, lent their full support to approval of the plan.
"Oak Hills 10 years ago was doing 50,000 to 55,0000 rounds a year," said Tony Coppola. "This is an opportunity for the city of Norwalk to bring back those people who have left Oak Hills and gone elsewhere. … We have some of the best greens and fairways in the state of Connecticut and people are becoming aware of Oak Hills again."
Aron Karp, a golfer, said the document is "only a plan."
"It is about a vision going forward," Karp said. "It is about taking a facility and improving on it."
Implementation of the proposed driving range and other work called for in the master plan would hinge upon the Common Council in the future allocating capital dollars to build the individual projects.
Kimmel, chairman of the council's Finance/Claims Committee, has promised to address the plan's financial aspects next month in his committee.
"We plan to bring it up in November to discuss the financial projections," Kimmel said Monday. "We want to discuss the various assumptions that their math is based upon. We want to discuss their ability to carry some additional debt service. We want to discuss the restaurant and its prospects going forward."


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You're invited to join communities across Georgia in a conversation exploring how safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments are essential to the healthy development of all children.
April through June of 2018, over one hundred Civic Dinners will take place across Georgia with the aim of building a stronger social infrastructure among parents, families, and communities. The stories, ideas and feedback collected from these dinners will inform a statewide campaign led by the Prevention and Community Support Section of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.
Learn more and find all the helpful tools and resources about how to host and spread the word, here.
We hope you join us at the table.


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If you own a brand new Honda, chances are that you've been told about this cool new feature known as… Read more »
Tag Archives: CR-V
6 Cars That Will Be Keeping Their Resale Value For Years
Resale value. To a lot of car owners, it becomes a huge priority as soon as they drive the car… Read more »
Honda CR-V SR 1.6 i-DTEC 7 Day Diary
Here are my thoughts on the Honda CR-V SR 1.6 i-DTEC after my week-long test drive. I remember waiting for the Honda… Read more »
Before the Test Drive – Honda CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC SR Manual
With a pending test drive of the Honda CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC SR manual, here are my thoughts about the car before… Read more »


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Johnson Controls International (JCI) has rolled over in recent months and is testing its 200-day moving average line. It looks vulnerable to further declines. Let's examine the current state of the indicators and see what action we should take.
In this daily bar chart of JCI, above, we can see that prices made a peak in late November/early December. Prices made a recovery rally in January, but JCI failed to make a new high to maintain the uptrend. So far this month, prices have slipped lower and have both made a new low for the move down and they are testing the rising 200-day moving average line.
With the slope of the 50-day moving average line pointed down, a break of the 200-day average line has more gravity. The On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line rose with prices from early 2016 until November, but it has moved sideways since. The trend-following Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) oscillator is in bearish territory below the zero line.
In this limited weekly chart of JCI, above, we can see that prices are testing the rising 40-week moving average line. The OBV line on a weekly timeframe broke below its prior low signaling increased selling. The MACD oscillator has given a liquidate longs sell signal, but is still above the zero line.
Bottom line: the chart of JCI has weakened and a close below $40.50 is likely to prompt further selling as would a close below $39, the September/October lows.


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272 Jl Raya Lembang, Bandung, Indonesia Show on the map
- WiFi
- Car park
- Swimming pool
- Family
- Sports
Excellent location
Choose your room
With its wide range of facilities, the hotel is a perfect place to stay for travellers coming to Lemang for any purpose. This comfortably and conveniently designed hotel is tailored to satisfy all guests' needs. It blends expert service with state-of-the-art facilities to provide them a memorable stay.
The in-room amenities include complimentary bottled water, bathtub, balcony and television.
Check-in and check-out
Check-in starts at: 14:00
Check-out ends at: 12:00


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November 19th, 2019
Get the Right Support When Dealing with Child Custody
Your Child and Divorce
When a family is split, it can be devastating for the couple. The children also go through much anguish when a divorce occurs. Children do not always understand divorce, so it is the job of the parents to help their children to understand that the divorce has nothing to do with them. When the terms of the divorced are being agreed upon, parents do well to come to peaceful agreements. It is common for parents to arrange for 50/50 child custody.
What is 50/50 Custody?
According to Mr. Custody Coach, a 50/50 child custody arrangement, each parent is responsible for providing for the children while they are staying at their respective homes. This is considered to be an equal parenting solution. In several states, there is no exchange of money between the parents. In other states, the parent who earns the higher income is required to pay child support to the parent with the lower income. This child support model was created so that the child can benefit from the same style of living that they had grown accustomed to. While it can be difficult for 2 one-income households to maintain the same style of living that they had experienced while sharing expenses, the income-shares model of child custody does strive to equalize the parent's incomes. With this model, parents are able to enjoy equal time with their children, and they are both in charge of meeting the needs of their children to the best of their ability.
Why Austin Divorce Lawyers are helpful
If you are going through a divorce in Austin, you do well to seek the counsel of a divorce lawyer. Austin divorce lawyers are familiar with the murky waters that one must tread when going through a divorce. When you are going through a divorce, your emotions are involved. It is possible that you may agree to something that is not actually in your best interest or in the best interest of your children. Since that is the case, you want to get a professional involved who knows how to fight for your rights.
Give Your Children What They Need
When you got married, you were not planning to get a divorce. That is even more the case with your children. They never wanted their family to split. Since children are innocent victims in a divorce, you and your ex spouse must do everything in your power to give your children a sense of normalcy. With that in mind, heated divorce proceedings are not in your children's best interest. Instead of spending time in courts defending your case, work with a professional divorce lawyer such as Kirker Davis. Kirker Davis has been working as a divorce lawyer for several years, and he and his team have the experience and wisdom that is needed to handle your divorce in a speedy and efficient way.


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Pukka Budz: Offering High Quality Cannabis Products and Privacy
Although cannabis is still considered as an illegal drug in the United Kingdom, authorities are not that stringent when it comes to going after individuals who use it. Cannabis is enjoyed by people of varying age and different socio-economic backgrounds if you are to look at the population of users in the country.
Medical marijuana is already acknowledged in several cities and counties but there are only two varieties that are allowed. Though considered as an illegal drug, authorities in several areas in the country are not obsessed with going after people who grow their own supply, granting that they are not being "blatant" about it. There are several businesses that continue to market cannabis seed banks to continue meeting the demand for this illegal drug.
Pukka Budz is one of these companies that continue to offer marijuana seeds to 420 lovers. They have an array of Pukka Budz single seed that can blossom into a marijuana plant and provide high quality leaves.
The discreetness of any business is of utmost importance when transporting marijuana seeds. This is because sanctions are still imposed when any party is caught moving these products. Any company that engages in this business should always make use of a trusted courier to deliver their goods carefully. This is the reason why marijuana lovers continue to source their needs from a reliable company.
When it comes to marketing of cannabis seeds, Pukka Budz is one of the most reliable partners. As an established business, they have already attracted the attention of marijuana users around the world. The company continues to attract 420 lovers who are interested in growing their own supply of cannabis. Branded as one of the leaders in marketing cannabis seeds, the company carries a wide variety of cannabis seeds.
Part of the company's business strategy is to continue on carrying new Pukka Budz single seed to widen their variety of cannabis weeds. To ensure that the company remains discreet with their dealings, they only operate online. The systems that they use are highly protected and secure and are thus hard to crack by authorities. Other than the products they offer, Pukka Budz is very big with the privacy of their clients.
Pukka Budz consistently check their delivery options and methods to ensure the privacy of their clients and as part of their good business practices of the company. By so doing, they are able to deliver the goods safe and sound and in the quickest possible method. If you are looking for a reliable company that can provide you a wide variety of cannabis weeds then you can trust on the products and services offered by Pukka Budz to deliver the best cannabis seed banks for your own consumption.


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Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas are engaged
Sophie Turner may be wrapping up her time on Game of Thrones within the next year, but one piece of her next chapter just became quite clear: She's getting married.
The actress, who plays Sansa Stark on the hit HBO series, agreed to wed to pop star Joe Jonas, the singer revealed on Instagram. "She said yes," he wrote alongside an elegant image of both of their hands, hers clad in a stunning pear-shaped diamond engagement ring, with Turner tagged in the photo.
Turner, 21, also shared the image, writing, "I said yes.
Turner and Jonas, 28, have been dating since at least December 2016.
In July, the actress told Marie Claire she was "very happy" in her relationship with the DNCE frontman and opened up about the difficulties of being in such a public relationship.
"You do feel like you're living in a fishbowl," she said. "It's frustrating [that] it's the most mundane things that make the news — how boring!"
There's nothing "boring" about this news, though.
Among the first to offer felicitations to the happy couple was brother Nick Jonas, who tweeted, "Congratulations to my brother… and sister in law to be on your engagement. I love you both so much."
Also sharing congratulations were brother Kevin Jonas; his wife, Danielle Jonas; patriarch Kevin Jonas Sr.; and matriarch Denise Jonas.


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Since 2002 Perimeter Institute has been recording seminars, conference talks, public outreach events such as talks from top scientists using video cameras installed in our lecture theatres. Perimeter now has 7 formal presentation spaces for its many scientific conferences, seminars, workshops and educational outreach activities, all with advanced audio-visual technical capabilities.
Recordings of events in these areas are all available and On-Demand from this Video Library and on Perimeter Institute Recorded Seminar Archive (PIRSA). PIRSA is a permanent, free, searchable, and citable archive of recorded seminars from relevant bodies in physics. This resource has been partially modelled after Cornell University's arXiv.org.
Accessibly by anyone with internet, Perimeter aims to share the power and wonder of science with this free library.
Dual gravitational charges (DGCs) have been originally computed in the first-order formalism by means of covariant phase space methods using tetrad variables. I show i) why DGCs do not arise using the metric variables and ii) how they can be set to zero by exploiting the freedom to add exact 3-forms to the symplectic potential.
Without exploiting that freedom, DGCs can be understood as Hamiltonian charges associated to the Kosmann variation. I then discuss the implications of this observation for asymptotic symmetries and comment about subleading contributions thereof.
High-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains an unsolved problem because the cuprates start off their lives as Mott insulators in which no organizing principle such a Fermi surface can be invoked to treat the electron interactions. Consequently, it would be advantageous to solve even a toy model that exhibits both Mottness and superconductivity. In 1992 Hatsugai and Khomoto wrote down a momentum-space model for a Mott insulator which is safe to say was largely overlooked, their paper garnering just 21 citations (6 due to our group). I will show exactly[1] that this model w
Universal relationships between asymptotic symmetries, QFT soft theorems, and low energy observables have reinvigorated attempts at flat space holography. In this talk, I will review recent advances in the celestial holography proposal, where the 4d S-matrix is reconsidered as a 2d correlator on the celestial sphere at null infinity.
Abstract: TBD
The new gravitational-wave signal GW190521in LIGO and Virgo marks the first observational detection of the elusive intermediate-mass black holes. The detection also confirms there exist a new class of black holes in the mass gap predicted by the pair-instability supernovae theory. In this talk, I will discuss the process that went behind inferring the astrophysical properties of this historic discovery. I would briefly address the alternative scenarios we looked into for a possible exotic origin of this signal, including any violation of General Relativity.
The remarkable experimental advances made it possible to create highly tunable quantum systems of ultracold atoms and trapped ions. These platforms proved to be uniquely suited for probing non-equilibrium behavior of interacting quantum systems. From statistical mechanics, we expect that a non-equilibrium system will thermalize, settling to a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. Surprisingly, there are classes of systems which do not follow this expectation. I will give examples of systems which avoid thermalization, thanks to disorder-induced localization and quantum scarring.
I will discuss the recent Hamiltonian derivation of dual BMS charges at null infinity using the first order formalism. More generally, I will discuss how this idea can be used to classify asymptotic charges in gravity.
We present a quantum architecture based on a linear chain of trapped 171Yb+ ions with individual laser beam addressing and readout. The collective modes of motion in the chain are used to efficiently produce entangling gates between any qubit pair. In combination with a classical software stack, this becomes in effect an arbitrarily programmable and fully connected quantum computer. The system compares favorably to commercially available alternatives [2].
Discriminating between unknown objects in a given set is a fundamental task in experimental science. Suppose you are given a quantum system which is in one of two given states with equal probability. Determining the actual state of the system amounts to doing a measurement on it which would allow you to discriminate between the two possible states. It is known that unless the two states are mutually orthogonal, perfect discrimination is possible only if you are given arbitrarily many identical copies of the state.


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Journal of a Cardboard Genius
When my son, Dylan, was in second grade, every book he was reading seemed to involve impertinent, mischievous boys, and potty humour. A LOT of potty humour. I was glad that he loved to read, and his giggles told me that he was greatly entertained, but I began to think that broadening his horizons wouldn't be a bad thing.
When I popped by my local children's bookstore in search of inspiration, I explained what I was looking for. The sales clerk knew instantly.
"Something with characters who are smart, and not smart-alecky?" she asked. Yes, that was it. She pulled Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius, by Frank Asch, from the shelf. It's the first of a three-part series.
It was perfect.
The Cardboard Genius is a young boy named Alex, who considers himself the smartest human being on Earth. He builds amazing gadgets from ordinary household items. His preferred material of choice, cardboard, is "the least appreciated, most underrated building material ever invented."
Alex decides to construct a spaceship so he can blast off to another planet. He has to get away from his annoying brother, Jonathan. What child can't relate to this scenario?
It's no easy feat to journey through space, however, and Alex needs all kinds of equipment to make the trip a success. The book includes sketches of his designs. He builds an oxygen generator with a shoebox, forks and rubber bands. His innovative spacesuit design uses a snowsuit, helmet, and tubing from a vacuum. He also needs a micro blaster to protect himself from danger, and a duplicator, because "I'd still want a dozen or so me's around".
Readers will delight in the fact that these creations are actually put to use, thanks to Alex's incredible imagination. What I loved most is how Alex's ingenuity inspired the same from Dylan. After reading Star Jumper, Dylan gathered aluminum foil, straws, wire, and an old toy clock, and built his own radar dish. He deviated a little bit from Alex's blueprint, but that's what creativity is about, isn't it?
Star Jumper was written in 2006 but it is very relevant today. Educators are emphasizing the importance of encouraging kids to freely design, innovate and create. Dylan's school recently hosted a Cardboard Challenge. Makerspaces are growing in popularity, and there's never been a greater focus on the need for the next generation to develop STEM skills.
The Journal of a Cardboard Genius series is an excellent way to inspire kids to look at ordinary items from a new perspective, and to develop creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Plus, it's simply fun to read.
Age 7+
Books in series: 3
Journal of a Cardboard Genius #1: Star Jumper
Journal of a Cardboard Genius #2: Gravity Buster
Journal of a Cardboard Genius #3: Time Twister
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about us
Two kids, two cats, and a house full of books. We share our favourite picks for young readers.
December 2018


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This Window
This Window
(AP) - Attorney and regional circuit court Judge Thomas
"Tom" Chapman of Chillicothe was appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District,
by Gov. Mike Parson last Thursday. Chapman will succeed Judge James E. Welsh, who retired in March.
"Judge Chapman is a distinguished jurist whose rural perspective, I believe, will add additional balance to the
court," Parson stated in a news release confirming the appointment.
"I have high confidence that he will continue to be a fair arbiter of the law, faithfully interpret the
law as written, and reasonably consider decisions made at the trial level in his own
A native of Chillicothe and son of local
residents Don and Nan Chapman, Tom Chapman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College. There, he majored in political science and graduated as Valedictorian of the Class of 1988. Chapman graduated
from the University of Virginia School of Law in May 1991. During law school, he was
a member of Phi Delta Phi and was an editorial board member of The Journal of Law & Politics.
After graduating from law school, Chapman practiced law in a Chillicothe firm with his father and other partners for 19 years before becoming a circuit judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit, Division 1, in 2011. He was elected as the presiding judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit in 2012. Judge Chapman is a member of the Missouri Circuit Judge Association, the Livingston County Bar Association, and the Missouri Bar. He also serves as a member of the Chillicothe Area Arts Council Board, the Chillicothe Rotary Club, and the Chillicothe Elks Lodge 656, among many others.
"I greatly appreciate the work of the appellate judicial commission in submitting such a strong panel of
qualified candidates, which made choosing especially
difficult," the governor noted.
NOTE: Judge
Chapman resigned his Circuit Judge position on Tuesday,
September 4, 2018. Both the Democrat and Republican judicial committees have an opportunity to meet and nominate a candidate for the November ballot. The deadline is September 18. At this time (September 6, 2018), no one
had officially filed with the Secretary of State.
the Oath of Office
Wednesday, January 5,
C-T Photo / Drew Van Dyke
January 1, 2011
Newly-elected 43rd Circuit Court Judge Tom Chapman (center) was sworn into office Saturday morning,
January 1, 2011, to the loud cheers of a full house of his supporters in the circuit courtroom of the Livingston County Courthouse.
Wife, Lindy (left), held the Bible that Chapman swore his oath on during the ceremony. The Bible used was one that had belonged to
Chapman's great-grandfather, Lewis Chapman, who had been an attorney in Livingston County during the 1870s. The oath was administered by Daren L. Adkins, associate circuit court judge of Daviess County.
Chapman proceeded to thank his supporters then invited them over to his house to watch football and celebrate.
Several county officials were sworn into office on Friday, Dec. 31, 2010, including James
Valbracht, Brent Elliott, Sherry Parks, Adam Warren, Kelly Christopher, and Eva Danner.
to Top
County Courthouse
700 Webster Street
Chillicothe, MO 64601


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Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini
UltraStudio 4K Mini is a portable Thunderbolt 3 capture and playback solution packed with the latest broadcast technology! You get 12G‑SDI, HDMI 2.0 and analog connections for broadcast quality 8, 10 and 12‑bit high dynamic range capture in all formats from SD up to 4K DCI at 60 frames per second. Plus, the built in SD card reader lets you mount camera media directly on your computer so you can start editing immediately!
Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini
Professional Capture andPlayback for Thunderbolt 3 Computers!
Now you can connect Thunderbolt 3 computers to any kind of video equipment for building high performance edit workstations, archiving from old broadcast decks, outputting broadcast graphics and even live streaming! Simply connect to the Thunderbolt 3 port to get a wide range of video and audio connections that operate in all SD, HD, Ultra HD and 4K DCI formats up to 60 frames per second! Connections include SDI, HDMI and analog video and audio with broadcast quality 10‑bit YUV and 12-bit RGB in Apple ProRes and uncompressed file formats. UltraStudio is designed to work with popular video software on Mac, Windows and Linux such as DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and many more.
Whether you're working on-set or in post production, UltraStudio gives you broadcast and digital cinema quality capture and playback that can be used for any workflow. UltraStudio is perfect for everything from editing, color and visual effects to live capture and on-set monitoring during production. There are even models with 12G-SDI and support for the latest HDR formats to ensure high end colorists get everything they need for monitoring to broadcast displays, HDR televisions or the latest digital cinema projectors. UltraStudio can even be used to feed SDI fill and key from RGB graphics directly from a computer to a live production switcher for amazing live broadcast graphics keying.
SDI Video Inputs
SDI Video Outputs
2 x program out, 1 x loop out.
SDI Rates
270Mb, 1.5G, 3G, 6G, 12G.
Analog Video Inputs
Component YUV or Composite NTSC/PAL. Component is switchable between SD and HD.
Analog Audio Inputs
2 channels of professional balanced analog audio with 1/4 inch Jack connectors.
Analog Audio Outputs
2 channels of professional balanced analog audio with 1/4 inch Jack connectors.
SDI Audio Inputs
16 Channels embedded in SD/HD/2K/UHD/4K.
SDI Audio Outputs
16 Channels embedded in SD/HD/2K/UHD/4K.
HDMI 2.0b Video Inputs
HDMI 2.0b Video Outputs
HDMI Audio Inputs
8 Channels embedded in SD/HD/UHD/4K.
HDMI Audio Outputs
8 Channels embedded in SD/HD/UHD/4K.
Mic Input
1 x XLR microphone input. 48V Phantom Power switchable via software control.
Sync Input
Tri-Sync or Black Burst.
Device Control
Sony™ compatible RS-422 deck control port. Serial ports TxRx direction reversible under software control.
1 x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (up to 5 Gb/s).
SD Card Reader
UHS-I and UHS-II compatible.
Computer Interface
Thunderbolt™ 3 (Mac OS, Windows and Linux) with 45W host charging capability.
Specifications subject to change without notice. Features description and technical specification from Blackmagic
Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini is featured in our Live streaming from anywhere guide here.


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Nikolai "Saint" Brinner
Brinner and Associates freelance lawfirm
Still exists, still is running, still taking clients, still paying bail, handling divorces, adoptions, criminal charges the works.
Still looking to hire lawyers.
Business as usual.
There was a brief slowdown due to the death in my family and illness but otherwise still open for business.


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This article is about the Autobot subgroup from the live-action film continuity. For the Autobot subgroup from Generation One, see Omnibot (G1).
- The Omnibots are an Autobot subgroup from the Revenge of the Fallen portion of the live-action film continuity family.
The Omnibots are a unit soldiers, transforming into powerful muscle cars. They are very fierce. There are three different types of Omnibots, there is the scout 1, the scout 2 and the warrior. The Omnibot scouts are quite fast, but their weapons don't do much damage. While the warrior is slow but it's weapons are very powerful.
Revenge of the Fallen: The Game
The three different types of Omnibots serve as Autobot drones which players can battle on the Decepticon campaign.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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Stewart EFI's deep roots in American manufacturing spread out into the South and China, with OEM parts for automotive, security, medical, electronics, aerospace, and industrial, among others.
By Mark Langlois, Senior Editor
How is Stewart EFI, an 80-year-old precision metal stamping company, able to provide millions of parts from factories in Connecticut and Texas when other companies are shipping those quantities of work to China?
John D. Labas, vice president of sales and marketing at Stewart EFI, believes that quality is the answer.
"You see those people out there?" Labas asked, looking at the shop floor during a tour of the company's headquarters in Thomaston, Connecticut. The sprawling factory in the Naugatuck River valley comprises a series of interconnected units, each section echoing with either slow, heavy thumps of 200-ton stamping machines or the tap, tap, tap, tap, tap of lighter stamping equipment. "They're a team of highly skilled, experienced tool makers, technicians, and engineers focused on precision, high quality, and efficient production. What you don't see out there is unskilled labor."
Stewart EFI's skilled workforce manufactures value-added precision stamped metal parts, including deep drawn, progressive die, and slide-formed metal components, while also providing wire forms, automated and secondary assemblies, plating, and metal finishing services. All of Stewart EFI's facilities are ISO 9001 and TS 16949 certified, and the company has recently received quality awards from 3M, Denso, and General Motors, said Labas, who credits the awards to the company's "robust systems" and the "people who diligently monitor them." He calls Stewart EFI's employees its "greatest single asset."
"The technical skills of our toolmakers, machinists, design engineers, manufacturing engineers, quality technicians, and manufacturing supervisors are unsurpassed. They are the key to our ability to consistently supply technically challenging, tightly toleranced components at high volumes to some of the most demanding and respected international companies," he told D2P. Because people with these skills are becoming increasingly difficult to find, Stewart EFI instituted a fully accredited apprenticeship program to train those with the desire to enter manufacturing and learn the toolmaking and machinist trades.
Craftsmen-Like Detail Cherished by Next Generation
Inside the company's sprawling 104,000-square-foot headquarters are tool and die rooms with clear windows attached to each stamping area. Inside the shop's tool and die rooms, journeymen tool makers use and covet worn Gerstner oak tool chests with polished brass hardware, relics of a bygone age that are still manufactured for journeymen in Dayton, Ohio.
"We have an apprenticeship program, and that's the first thing they want (a Gerstner tool chest) when they graduate," Labas said. Eight students are currently enrolled in the state-certified program. "A young person gets out of the program and, with overtime, can earn an annual wage as good as or better than many college graduates. That's without any college debt. You're talking about a 24- or 25-year-old with the ability to buy a house. There is also renewed interest in manufacturing when we go to the local high schools or to UConn or Central [Connecticut State University]."
Stewart EFI has been in the stamping business since 1936, using its core processes—deep drawing, progressive die stamping, and slide forming—to make parts for numerous industries. The company provides parts to Tier 1, Tier 2, and aftermarket automotive suppliers for use in air bags, body and exterior components, brakes, electronics, emission controls, engine management, fuel handling, and fuel injection. The company also makes parts for use in infotainment, instrumentation, interiors, safety, and suspension applications, among others. In addition to automotive, Stewart also stamps parts for industries that include electrical, electronics, medical and dental, batteries, HVAC, appliances, and others.
Stewart EFI's main manufacturing facility and headquarters in Thomaston, Connecticut, are supplemented by manufacturing plants in El Paso, Texas, and a joint venture in Hangzhou, China. The Stewart Stamping Corp., founded during the Great Depression as a stamping firm in the Bronx, New York, merged with Eyelets for Industry, in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1999, to become Stewart EFI. Today, Stewart EFI employs 250 people in its three U.S. facilities, with 10 engineers and over 50 tool and die makers. Both companies were founded by entrepreneurial and skilled toolmakers in hopes of growing a thriving business.
Looking For New Opportunities from Existing Parts
"At our multiple locations, we have over 60 deep draw transfer presses, including U.S. Baird, Waterbury Farrel, Asahi Seiki, and Minster, with up to 200-ton capacity," said Labas. "This equipment allows us to make parts up to 5.75 inches (146mm) in depth with a maximum blank size of 8 inches (203mm)."
Stewart EFI specializes in what it calls "conversion opportunities," where it will offer a prospective customer a more efficient, less expensive method of manufacturing its part while ensuring high quality.
Critical to this effort is the engineering support that Stewart EFI offers its customers. Although they cannot tell their customers how to design their products, Stewart can impart its knowledge of metal stamping and how to minimize cost, improve quality, and provide a part better suited to their subsequent manufacturing process, Labas said.
"We offer the opportunity for our customers to convert components made in other, more expensive processes—such as machining, casting, forging, and fine blanking—into stamped components with significant cost savings," he explained. "Our engineers work collaboratively with our customers' engineers to assess if the conversion to the stamping process requires part design changes to achieve the cost savings opportunity."
"We're always looking for these types of conversion opportunities," he added during the factory visit. "Our sales force is out in the field: They're sales engineers, they have a technical background, and if they see something and it's evident that it could be drawn, they say, 'I think we can make these. How are you making that now? Can I get a drawing? Can I get some samples?'"
Procurement and engineering departments always want less expensive parts. They are willing to share the information to lower costs, Labas said. For example, a former supplier to one of Stewart EFI's customers welded a part together and, in a second process, machined two holes into the part. Taking advantage of a conversion opportunity, Stewart now stamps and side-pierces the medical surgical piece in one step in a standing order of 5 million parts a year. The part is a tube about 4.25 inches long and about 7/16 inch in diameter.
"It's a housing for a surgical, medical device," Labas said. The actual part and the OEM it's made for are protected by non-disclosure agreements.
"In this case, because it's such a severe deep draw in stainless steel, you're putting a lot of internal stress into the material. As part of our finishing operation, we basically stress-relieve the part. We stabilize the function. There is engineering involved in doing that and working with the engineers at the device manufacturer around dimensions to make sure all thicknesses are ideal," Labas said. "We make sure that functionally, it is completely adequate for their needs. It is also cosmetically nicer because you don't have the welded seam.
"What we were able to accomplish was to change it from a different manufacturing method, a costlier manufacturing method, and produce it nearly complete right off of one press without the expensive secondary operations," Labas added.
Stewart EFI uses its deep draw stamping process to shape the tube from a round disk of stainless steel. The press draws in the stainless-steel strip in a series of operations within the press, while maintaining the side wall thickness to +/- 0.002 inch over the entire length of the tube. It starts about 0.0093 inch thick, and after being drawn into shape eight times, the finished part is about 0.0083 inch thick. From there, the flange and the bottom are cut off and two holes are punched and shaped. The part is then cleaned, bead blasted, passivated, and coated. It is matte finished to keep it from reflecting light or shining in the operating room. All the tooling for this part was designed, developed, and built in house in the company's Thomaston, Connecticut facility.
"There are some obstacles to this," he continued. "You're changing the manufacturing process, and is that going to be suitable for the integrity of the device? There may be dimensional changes because you're doing it in a different fashion," he said, and that means working with the customer and proving the concept to the customer.
Three Main Stamping Techniques
On its website, Stewart EFI describes progressive die stamping as a cutting and forming process. The process uses "a 'die' that contains a series of stamping stations to perform simultaneous operations on sheet metal that has been supplied on coiled strip. The final metal work piece is developed as the strip of metal is processed through the stamping die. This transformation is performed incrementally, or progressively, by a series of stations that cut and form the material into the desired shape." (www.stewartefi.com/precision-metal-stamping/progressive-die-stampings)
Deep draw stamping is said to represent "the manufacturing of components in a cold formed environment through a succession of press operations from a flat, pre-cut metal blank. The various forms produced may be cylindrical with straight or tapered sidewalls, but many different approaches have been used over the years for other shapes and styles of parts." (www.stewartefi.com/precision-metal-stamping/deep-drawn-components)
Stewart EFI can save costly secondary operations by incorporating a number of different processes in the press during the manufacturing of parts. These processes include beading, bulging, coining, debossing, embossing, extruding, and knurling, as well as letting, reverse draws, side piercing, step draws, tapping, and threading.
The company describes its third main process, slide-form stamping, as "a metal stamping process that combines the progressive die process with additional forming stations in a self-contained specialized piece of equipment." Because the company can produce progressive die and slide-formed components, it says that its engineers and toolmakers "will design and build the tools and dies using the process that is best suited" to give customers "the highest quality part at the lowest total cost." (http://www.stewartefi.com/precision-metal-stamping/slide-formed-components)
"In our stamping process, we routinely work in tolerances as tight as 0.0005 of an inch on lengths, outer and inner diameters, hole sizes and wall thicknesses, on materials as thin as 0.003 of an inch, the average thickness of a human hair in a variety of metals," said Labas. "Our goal is to achieve all this while running at ever higher speeds in cost efficient mass quantities with zero defects, and our quality record is measured in ever decreasing parts per million."
Quality is Modern Manufacturing's Key
He said that years ago, job shops used to talk about "AQL," or acceptable quality level, referring to how many defective parts were allowed per thousand or 10,000, or 100,000 parts delivered. A level of 1.5 percent meant that in a batch of 100,000 parts, 1.5 percent defective (1,500) might be acceptable. If a batch had more than the AQL, the batch would be rejected. Labas said, "Now it's parts per million, and everyone wants 100 percent perfect, and we're measuring in parts per million."
One part Stewart produced in November, an EKG stud, was being stamped out at a rate of 800 strokes per minute with five studs stamped per stroke. That works out to a customer order of roughly 600 million per year. "You do the math," Labas said.
Stewart opened an 11,000-square-foot addition to its Thomaston facility in 2015, part of an approximately $6 million investment in added space and equipment that includes new stamping machines. "Much of the new equipment investment was made to allow us to make larger deep-drawn parts for our expanding customer base," said Labas in an emailed response. New ideas are evolving at a faster rate than ever before in history, Labas added, and he expects that trend to keep accelerating.
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To succeed with digital transformation requires more than technology. There has to be a cultural and workplace environment that encourages, and harnesses, creative solutions. Argentine software and IT outsourcing giant Globant, which has operations throughout Latin America, has found a nice fit in Bogotá, Colombia.
"We've been in Colombia for eight years, and now have 1,500 employees in Bogotá, and another 1,000 in Medellin," said Andrés Giolito, Globant's Colombia Country Manager, during a sit-down interview at Globant's well-appointed Bogotá facility. "In total, the company has about 9,700 employees."
That means that over 25% of Globant's workforce is in Colombia.
"I would say that Colombia is the market with our biggest, fastest-growing opportunities," Giolito said. "Here we have technological connectivity that allows for non-stop contact with the world, which is essential given that most of our clients are Fortune 500, and in the US."
Our conversation continued as we strolled the floor. People were walking around, talking, working on various applications. It was a lively and stimulating environment. Facebook and YouTube were visible on the occasional screen, which came as a surprise.
"We don't block social media," says Giolito. "It's about productivity. With us, if someone gets bored with a project, they can change. Or we give them the option of working from another country for three months."
Though the building itself was operating at the highest levels of security, once on the floor the vibe was both relaxed and dynamic. As a company, Globant certainly deserves credit for supporting a creative environment, but this approach also appears to be well-suited to the culture in Colombia, and perhaps more specifically, to the capital city, Bogotá.
"There are a lot of bilingual schools in Bogotá, and the university-level English is very good," Giolito says. "We'll train people out of university, as we have an emphasis on new tech, such as AI and machine learning. We're looking for candidates with a basis in math, logic, and statistics. After internal courses and tests, we can determine the best fit."
Giolito also spoke at length about the importance of economic stability, something that is no doubt on Globant's mind, given Argentina's recent struggles. This message was mirrored by private and public sector speakers during Bogotá's Foreign Investment Summit, which was held in the capital city on August 14, 2019.
"We're the only country in Latin America that has never defaulted on its foreign debt," Paola Garcia, VP, Investment, for ProColombia, told Nearshore Americas during a break in the event. "Colombia's GDP will grow 3.5% this year. We are the 32nd largest economy in the world, and the 4th largest in Latin America."
ProColombia, a government agency that's been around for 25 years, boosts tourism, non-traditional exports, and foreign investment. Garcia's pitch included highlighting the fact that Colombia has low barriers for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and that it recently joined the OECD as the organization's 37th member.
The macroeconomic argument is legitimate, as is the observation that the Colombian time-zone is well-aligned to American clients, with Bogotá's new airport now number one in cargo for Latin America, and number three in passenger traffic. However, the most powerful advantage, particularly for a company like Globant that delivers high-value services, appears to be Colombia's confident, open culture, in which productivity is encouraged with positive incentives, rather than negativity and discipline.
"Our overall company turnover is 1.5%," says Giolito. "And in Colombia for us it is actually lower, at 1.2%.
This kind of stability – of labor as well as within the political and economic sphere – is critical for a company like Globant, which has been on a tear in 2019.
In January of this year, Globant acquired Avanxo, a cloud-services provider with its head office in Houston and a presence in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina. When making the announcement, Martin Migoya, Globant CEO and Co-founder, stated that in picking up Avanxo's 400 employees Globant had "found an amazing team that complements our model."
However, it appears unlikely that Globant will physically integrate the Avanxo workforce with those of the parent company. Avanxo, which has a large presence on Bogotá, has 310 cloud specialists. These professionals help maintain Avanxo's status as an Advanced Consulting and MSP Certified Partner for Amazon Web Services, as well as a Platinum Consulting Partner for Salesforce. Such specialized cloud-services professionals will likely remain where they are, as they might not adapt well to Globant's fluid environment.
This August Globant also announced that it had acquired Belatrix Software, which has been around for almost two decades, with offices in the United States and Spain. The purchase adds 600 IT professionals in areas such as digital transformation, agile, and product development. At the time, Alex Robbio, Belatrix President and co-founder, made it clear that the added value to Belatrix was to "bring a new service offering to our clients in areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning."
These are the kinds of workers who would be more likely to blend in at a campus like the one in Bogotá.
"Belatrix is a good fit for us given their expertise in finance, payment, healthcare, and retail," said Giolito. "They have about 150 engineers in Colombia, with another 450 in Peru and Argentina."
Given these acquisitions, and Globant's 30% growth rate in Colombia, it would appear that Globant is fast becoming one of Latin America's ITO powerhouses. It now has a presence in 17 countries, and works with companies like Google, Southwest Airlines, Electronic Arts (EA), and BBVA. A member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord (2019), Globant has been featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT and Stanford, and has twice been named a Worldwide Leader of Digital Strategy Consulting Services by IDC MarketScape.
The view from the floor of Globant's operations in Bogotá would suggest that these accolades are no accident. Digital transformation requires a high level of collaboration and autonomy, and, given that creativity cannot be legislated or disciplined, the only way to deliver on these seemingly contradictory goals is by treating employees with a high level of trust and respect. To do that, you have to build the right work environment, and then let it work for you – in Bogotá, and around the world.