Mayor puts brakes on downtown Campbell River tax exemption bylaw

Council held off on adopting changes to the city?s downtown tax exemption bylaw Tuesday night on the advice of the mayor.

Currently, improvements on facilities located within a special commercial area in and around the St. Ann?s block are eligible for a commercial tax exemption of 50 per cent on building improvements for three years. The city wants to change that to increase the tax incentive to 100 per cent for five years to encourage development in the downtown core.

The exemption is triggered if renovations to an existing building cause the value of the building to increase. But Mayor Walter Jakeway said he was voting opposed to the changes because he believes the general tax exemption area which runs from Highway 19A near 5th Avenue to the south and to Roberts Reach and Highway 19A to the north, should be expanded.

?I believe the area being considered is too small,? Jakeway said. ?I believe it should be going from the Maritime Heritage Centre to the bridge (over the Campbell River in Campbellton).?

Jakeway also didn?t like the idea of passing all three readings of a bylaw amendment at the same meeting and he thought the exemption was too much.

?I believe the 100 per cent exemption is too high, it should be 70 per cent,? Jakeway said. ?I also have a problem approving a bylaw on the first time seeing it.?

Coun. Larry Samson agreed and made a motion to give only first and second reading of the bylaw change, which was subsequently approved by council. The bylaw likely will be up for third reading in two weeks. If approved, new and re-developed multi-family complexes, and new or re-developed commercial buildings within the downtown general tax exemption area would be eligible for the tax incentives.

A LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum or Gold-rated building located within the St. Ann?s block special commercial area would be eligible for the 100 per cent tax exemption for seven years.

?

Source: http://www.campbellrivermirror.com/news/215114111.html

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White House criticizes Russia for Snowden meeting

White House press secretary Jay Carney speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 12, 2013. Carney talked about the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, immigration reform, Edward Snowden and other issues. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

White House press secretary Jay Carney speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 12, 2013. Carney talked about the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, immigration reform, Edward Snowden and other issues. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House criticized Russia on Friday for allowing National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to meet with human rights activists, calling it a "propaganda platform" for the man who seeks to avoid prosecution for leaking classified information about secret U.S. electronic surveillance programs.

A Russian lawmaker who was among the officials who met privately with Snowden in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport on Friday said Snowden wants asylum in Russia and is willing to stop sharing the secrets in his possession in exchange for such a deal.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Russia should instead send Snowden back to the U.S. to face the felony charges that are pending against him.

"Providing a propaganda platform for Mr. Snowden runs counter to the Russian government's previous declarations of Russia's neutrality and that they have no control over his presence in the airport," Carney said. "It's also incompatible with Russian assurances that they do not want Mr. Snowden to further damage U.S. interests."

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki used similar language to express disappointment over the meeting.

"We are disappointed that Russian officials and agencies facilitated this meeting today by allowing these activists and representatives into the Moscow airport's transit zone to meet with Mr. Snowden despite the government's declarations of Russia's neutrality with respect to Mr. Snowden," Psaki said. "Our concern here is that he's been provided this opportunity to speak in a propaganda platform."

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Snowden, among other issues, during a telephone call on Friday, the White House said in a terse statement that provided no specifics of their conversation about the NSA leaker. Carney said the call was planned several days ago, suggesting that it was unrelated to Snowden's meeting with the activists.

Carney said Snowden is not a human rights activist or a dissident. "He is accused of leaking classified information, has been charged with three felony counts and should be returned to the United States," the spokesman said.

Carney also urged the Russian government to "afford human rights organizations the ability to do their work in Russia throughout Russia, not just at the Moscow transit lounge."

Snowden is believed to have been staying at the airport transit zone since June 23, when he arrived by air from Hong Kong. He fled to Hong Kong from the U.S. before his revelations were made public. Snowden had been expected to transfer in Moscow to a Cuba-bound flight, but he did not get on the plane.

He made an initial bid for asylum in Russia, but Putin said Snowden would have to agree to stop leaking the classified information in his possession before asylum would be considered. Snowden then withdrew his bid.

It was not immediately clear whether Russia would take Snowden up on his latest request for asylum. The Kremlin has signaled that it wants him out of the country. Granting asylum could further test U.S.-Russia relations.

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua recently offered Snowden asylum.

At the State Department, Psaki denied that the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, had telephoned a representative from Human Rights Watch. The anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, which has been assisting Snowden, said in a statement that McFaul called the Human Rights Watch representative on her way to the airport and asked her to relay a message to Snowden that he is not considered a whistle-blower and was wanted in the United States.

Psaki said a U.S. Embassy officer placed the call.

"Ambassador McFaul did not call any representative from Human Rights Watch," she said. "An embassy officer did call to explain our position ... but at no point did this official or any official from the U.S. government ask anyone to convey a message to Mr. Snowden."

Psaki confirmed, however, that U.S. officials have been in touch with individuals who attended the meeting.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-12-NSA%20Surveillance-Snowden-Obama/id-3ee59cadbbe847fbba007a7dd62de0f8

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Professional Paint Jobs Are Worth It | Absolute Comfort

If you are considering painting your house for the first time, or you are planning to paint over it, please consider hiring a professional from the Bazan Painting Co. for your next home improvement job.

If you have never attempted to paint a house before, it can be a tedious, painstaking, and sometimes dangerous job, that should not be taken lightly. Hiring a professional who has the right equipment and ladders, and a trained staff who knows what to do in every situation that may present itself, is always the right choice. Prevent accident, injury, using the wrong colors, or having to do it twice. Forget the fuss and hire a qualified professional from Bazan Painting Co. to come to your house and do the job right.

You might be thinking that it is just a small task that can easily be handled in a day. Well, that day may turn into another day, and maybe even another day if you do it yourself. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about painting a house. The right way is to hire a professional and the wrong way is to attempt it yourself, which may cost you countless hours of fuss.

So if you are in the market for a new coat of paint on your house, then please do not hesitate to call Bazan Painting Co. for any and all of your home painting needs. We have all the right equipment and years of experience doing this exact same thing. We know how to achieve satisfactory results every time, and we have the best crew that you can find who will get the job done right with no fuss or muss.

Finding the right painter is not always easy, you must rely on what you know. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us with any and all of your painting needs, we can handle any size task from small to large, and we get it done the way you tell us to do it, with the right colors, and the right equipment, with no flaws on your outside painted exterior.

Have confidence that you have found the right painter for the job, and remember, we do this everyday, so we can get it done correctly in an efficient manner. We have a long history of success painting houses and other buildings and we would love to have you as one of our clients. We treat each client with the same courtesy as we would any other. Have confidence that you have found the right painter for exactly the situation you had in mind. Call us for your everyday painting needs. Do not Hesitate! Thank you.

Source: http://absolute-comfort.net/professional-paint-jobs-are-worth-it/

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Snapshot: Sharknado! + FDA limits arsenic in apple juice

Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor

Atlanta Weather

*Partly cloudy skies are forecast for Atlanta on Friday. Slight chance for a shower. High: 86.

Click here to view a seven-day forecast by Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.

Today?s Talkers

*Apple juice arsenic. The Food and Drug Administration is setting a new limit on the level of arsenic allowed in apple juice, after more than a year of public pressure from consumer groups worried about the contaminant's effects on children, reports NBCNews.com

*"Sharknado," the wildly absurd sci-fi movie that premiered Thursday on SyFy, has set social media abuzz. Comments reveal a general theme - that "Sharknado" is simply awful. That, however, is its charm.

- BuzzFeed.com posted a piece titled, ?The Best/Worst Lines of Sharkado.? Click here to view it.

- Movieweb.com described "Sharknado" this way - A shark-filled tornado tears through and torments a group of unsuspecting victims in what can only be described as the worst disaster in American history. It may be too much for you to watch!

- A reporter in Columbus, Ga., noted the buzz on Twitter and picked her 15 favorite reactions for a piece in the Ledger-Enquier. Click here to view the story and tweets.

Click here to read more about the movie on iMDB.com

Click here to see a trailer on Movieweb.com.

*McGraw era ends at McGraw Hill. Harold "Terry" McGraw is stepping down as chief executive officer and president of McGraw Hill Financial Inc. the company said Thursday, ushering in a new era for the company started by his great-grandfather more than a century ago, reports The Wall Street Journal.

McGraw will continue to hold his position as chairman, the company said.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/07/snapshot-sharknado-fda-limits.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search

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Pixar-Inspired Animation Explains the NSA Perfectly

The NSA is creepy as hell. Luckily, the Internet found a way to make the whole spying-on-you clusterdiddle fun with a poignant animation that channels the playful Pixar Lamp of yore. Adorbz.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/rNwy992ESJY/pixar-inspired-animation-explains-the-nsa-perfectly-755320033

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Dinosaurs, diets and ecological niches: Study shows recipe for success

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A new scientific study answers a long-standing question in palaeontology -- how numerous species of large, plant-eating dinosaurs could co-exist successfully over geological time. Results from the largest study of dinosaurs recovered from Alberta's Dinosaur Park Formation suggest that niche partitioning was at play: adaptations in skulls and jaws allowed for distinct groups of herbivores to specialize in eating specific types of vegetation, thereby avoiding competition for valuable food sources.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/gJSbNTwlr-U/130710183640.htm

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Climate change threatens nation's energy, DOE report warns

Climate change and extreme weather are disrupting?the ways we generate, distribute, and consume energy, according to a report released Thursday by the US Department of Energy.?It's part of a growing acknowledgement among officials for a need to adapt to the planet's changing climate.

By David J. Unger,?Correspondent / July 11, 2013

One World Trade Center and large portions of lower Manhattan and Hoboken, N.J., are seen without power from Jersey City, N.J., last October the morning after a powerful storm that started out as Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the East Coast. A new report from the US Department of Energy outlines climate change risks to the nation's energy system.

Charles Sykes/AP/File

Enlarge

A nuclear plant shuts down when high temperatures overheat its reactor. A drought-stricken city bans the use of its increasingly scarce water in hydraulic fracturing. More than 8 million customers lose power when winds topple utility poles and a storm surge floods transformers and underground power lines.

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Why It Matters

Environment: The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events has largely increased in recent years.

Energy: Natural disasters can cripple the production, distribution, and consumption of energy resources.

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Extreme weather and a changing climate are disrupting the ways we generate, distribute, and consume energy, according to a report released Thursday by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

That's not exactly breaking news to anyone who's ever suffered through a blackout in the midst of a storm, but the government report details the extent of energy's vulnerability to weather, from the light bulbs in your kitchen all the way to rigs drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It's part of a growing recognition among local, state, and federal officials for a need to plan for and adapt to the planet's changing climate.

"When you think about any individual circumstance, it's not a surprise," Jonathan Pershing, who led the development of the DOE report, said in a phone interview.?"What was a surprise was putting it all together and seeing how large and pervasive the damage is."?

Higher air and water temperatures, scarcer water resources, and more intense and frequent storms routinely disrupt modern energy infrastructure, according to the report. That includes high-profile failures like the outages in the wake of superstorm Sandy, but the report also points to less-visible, more pervasive ways in which energy is vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change.?