Bridgeport is the absolute worst destination for a summer vacation out of 80 cities ranked by a leading personal finance and lifestyle site, due mostly to the high cost of accomodations, food, gas and other expenses.
Stamford and Norwalk are lumped together with the Park City in last place, and New Haven and Milford combined for 79th place. The analysis of 13 factors including airfare costs, number of attractions and leisure opportunities was released Wednesday morning by WalletHub.com
The analysis included the country’s largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas, groupings used by the U.S. Census. On a day when the state Legislature is expected to approve higher taxes, no Connecticut location fared well.
Neither did Albany, N.Y. or many other Northeast destinations, mainly because of high costs.
But Bridgeport and lower Fairfield County scored the worst on “the highest costs and hassles of getting there,” and next to last for its attractions, despite having the state’s only zoo, the nationally known Barnum Museum and the newly reopened Pleasure Beach and boardwalk.
The Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford MSA ranked 73rd out of 80 destinations.
Even Baltimore, the scene of recent riots and soaring crime, ranked higher, 33rd in the country as a vacation destimation. Las Vegas was the top-ranked city with Orlando, Fla. second. Raleigh, N.C. was statistically in the middle, 40 out of 80.
“In order to identify the best and most budget-friendly summer travel destinations, WalletHub ranked the 80 most populated MSAs based on five equally weighted dimensions, including Costs Hassles of Getting There, Local Costs, Attractions, Weather Conditions and Parks Recreation,”said spokesman John S. Kiernan. “We then identified 13 key metrics that are relevant to those dimensions.”
Our summer weather didn’t help the rankings of area cities either. Bridgeport was ranked 75th for mildness of climate, and, somewhat inexplicably, Stamford is 88th out of 100 cities ranked on climate.
Americans of all ages — but Baby Boomers and Traditionalists especially — plan to travel and increase their travel spending this summer compared with the same time in 2014, according to travel and tourism research firm D.K. Shifflet Associates.
Millenials will spend an average of $2,300 on their summer vacations, about $500 less than the $2,788 budget of the average American traveler, according to the Shifflet study.
NORWICH, N.Y., June 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The facts don’t lie – Americans are in need of a break. Chobani, America’s #1 Greek Yogurt brand, found that many Americans don’t take daily breaks[1]. Today, Chobani is inviting America to press pause and take a break with “National Break You Make Day” – a celebration for finding small moments of enjoyment each day.
The celebration is a simple one. On June 3, Chobani is asking Americans to step back, breathe and take a moment for themselves. To celebrate those who do, fans who share their #BreakYouMake moments on social media can get rewarded for their good break behavior with free Chobani Flip to help fuel future break times.
Chobani’s National Break You Make Day is the latest iteration of the brand’s LOVE THIS LIFE™ campaign, exemplifying Chobani’s credo of loving…
Chobani’s National Break You Make Day is the latest iteration of the brand’s LOVE THIS LIFE™ campaign, exemplifying Chobani’s credo of loving…
Chobani Flip features tasty Greek Yogurt paired with exciting, inspired, natural mix-ins. Beginning this month, fans can enjoy a delicious snack…
Chobani Flip features tasty Greek Yogurt paired with exciting, inspired, natural mix-ins. Beginning this month, fans can enjoy a delicious snack…
Chobani Flip features tasty Greek Yogurt paired with exciting, inspired, natural mix-ins. Beginning this month, fans can enjoy a delicious snack…
Today, Chobani is inviting America to press pause and take a break with “National Break You Make Day” – a celebration for finding small…
The facts don’t lie – Americans are in need of a break. Chobani, America’s #1 Greek Yogurt brand, found that many Americans don’t take…
“Everyone’s really busy and the pace of life seems to be getting faster and faster, so it’s increasingly hard to find a few minutes to clear your mind and refuel, and that inspired us to encourage people to take a break with a naturally delicious, satisfying Chobani Flip,” said Peter McGuinness, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for Chobani. “Simple, natural, everyday moments, like taking time for yourself, are important and we’re having a bit of fun in asking America to join us in taking a flip break in the latest phase of our love this life campaign.”
Chobani Flip features Greek Yogurt paired with crunchy, natural mix-ins, such as key lime crumble, Salted Caramel Crunch and Almond Coco Loco – coconut yogurt with dark chocolate and honey roasted almonds. Beginning this month, fans can enjoy a delicious snack break with new members of the Flip family including:
Peanut Butter Dream: Vanilla low-fat yogurt with a delicious mix of honey roasted peanuts and peanut butter clusters
Coffee Break Bliss: Coffee low-fat yogurt with biscotti pieces and chocolate
Limited Batch Strawberry Summer Crisp: Strawberry low-fat strawberry yogurt paired with golden graham crackers and white chocolate
Four-packs: convenient new packaging options for the top 2 flavors, Almond Coco Loco and Key Lime Crumble
Lifting the Lid on Break Behavior
To dig a little deeper, Chobani asked Americans how and when they take breaks. Here’s what Chobani found:
Americans are in need of a break. Most Americans (69 percent) admit it’s been a day or more since they last took a break.
Filling the free time is a walk in the park. During those much-needed moments of free time, most Americans said they just want to grab a simple moment outside (46 percent), go for a walk (37 percent) or eat without workplace distraction (41 percent).
Breaks are high value – let’s make a deal. American’s said they would give up alcohol (37 percent), social media (34 percent) or even coffee (26 percent) for one week in exchange for a 30-minute, uninterrupted daily break.
Technology is not to blame. While today’s “always on” culture thrives on technology, most Americans said they aren’t afraid to unplug – three out of four (74 percent) survey respondents would be comfortable taking a break from technology for three or more hours if it meant plugging into break time.
National Break You Make Day
While Americans take a personal pause on National Break You Make Day, the opportunity for delicious snack break moments continues well after the inaugural kick-off. From June 3 and beyond, fans are invited to put their break time skills into practice, with opportunities to:
Score break time inspiration. Visit www.BreakYouMake.com to see how people across the country spend their breaks, discover break time inspiration and find out more about delicious Chobani Flip.
Break with CHOmobiles in Denver, CO or Charlotte, NC. Break takers in Denver or Charlotte can take a moment to swing by the CHOmobile, visiting each city on National Break You Make Day, to enjoy an afternoon snack break fueled by Chobani “Flip.” Follow @Chobani on Twitter for the latest information on CHOmobile whereabouts.
Breaking in the Big Apple. Those in New York can visit Chobani Soho for a FREE Flip break, or stop and enjoy one of the café and yogurt bar’s special sweet or savory yogurt creations.
Keep up the good break behavior. After June 3, let old habits die hard – and get rewarded for it! Throughout the month of June, fans are invited to continue their break time commitments for a chance to win free Chobani Flip. Simply share and tag a selfie from a real break time moment, using #BreakYouMake, for the chance to win free Chobani Flip.
Love this Life
Chobani’s National Break You Make Day is the latest iteration of the brand’s To Love This Life Is To Live It Naturally Campaign, exemplifying Chobani’s credo of loving life and living it naturally. As part of the new campaign, which launched last month, two new television ads for Chobani Flip will tackle today’s “always on” world by showing the positive impact that comes from taking a simple moment for oneself. One spot features a nurse taking a break from her hospital shift to enjoy a delicious, nutritious snack, and a second features a cowboy spooning into a tasty “Flip” after running his horses on a working ranch.
The ads will run on primetime and cable television along with radio. The campaign will includes full integration across the brand’s channels, including shopper marketing, grassroots and field marketing, social media, public relations and influencer engagement.
The new Love This Life series of ads celebrates simple everyday moments, featuring original songs by artist and producer Eef Barzelay written and composed for the brand and available for download on the company’s website.
For more information on National Break You Make Day, visit www.BreakYouMake.com.
[1] This research was conducted by KRC Research from May 11-13, 2015 via an online survey of 1,021 United States adults ages 18+.
About Chobani Maker of America’s No. 1–selling Greek Yogurt brand, Chobani, LLC, was founded on the belief that people have great taste — they just need great options. Chobani produces high-quality authentic strained Greek Yogurt products made with only natural ingredients from its New Berlin, N.Y., and Twin Falls, Idaho plants. Chobani is committed to using milk from regional farms and strengthening its surrounding local economies. Chobani gives 10 percent of its annual profits to charities worldwide through the company’s charitable foundation. All Chobani products — including Chobani® Greek Yogurt, Chobani Flip™ and Chobani Simply 100® — are kosher certified, contain five live and active cultures, and are made with milk from cows not treated with rBST*, with most of its products offering two times more protein than regular yogurt.** Chobani products are available nationwide in the U.S. and Australia, and in countries in Asia and Latin America. For more information, please visit www.chobani.com and www.facebook.com/chobani.
* According to the FDA, no significant difference has been found between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST treated cows.
**Protein content of regular nonfat yogurt is 10g-13g protein per 8 oz. serving; nonfat Chobani Greek Yogurt contains 11g-14g protein per 5.3 oz. serving.
As a child, my family frequently made the trip from our home in upstate New York to Indiana and Michigan to see relatives. Since then, I’ve spent many hours in the car driving up and down the East Coast and into the midwest. (I’ll get that cross country road trip sooner rather than later, hopefully).
During the last decade, one or two of my kids have been along for the ride. We’re an old school family. Even though my kids are stuck in the back seat for hours at a time – past summers have seen us traveling to both southern Georgia and Indiana or New York state – we use no electronic devices.
There are no screens in the car other than my iPhone, which I reserve for directions and texting our expected arrival times and locations. The kids don’t watch movies. They don’t play any video games. Sometimes they just look at the window and stare.
I’m not making any judgment here on families who rely on those devices to keep kids entertained and to prevent the inevitable sibling squabbles. Believe me, there are moments when I wish I had them.
But we’ve managed without them. And now that my kids are 10 and 5, we’ve developed some activities and traditions that actually make me look forward to hours on the road. In the car, there are no dishes to wash, laundry to fold or room to tidy up. Instead, I just get to hang with my girls. Really, there’s nothing better than that.
So here are 10 ways to survive road trips without relying (exclusively) on screens:
1. Eat in the car. This is especially key if you’re traveling with toddlers to young grade schoolers with a lot of energy. A decade ago, when I was a novice at taking kids on road trips, I expected that my toddler would enjoy sitting down in a fast food restaurant after sitting down in a car for three hours. I was wrong. She wanted to walk around, play, chat and get some extra cuddles. She didn’t want to eat. I quickly learned that restaurant time was wasted time … and money. Now, we pack meals and snacks or get them to go. When we stop, it’s to visit the restroom, fill up on gas and stretch our legs. We often do jumping jacks in parking lots and running races at rest stops. We eat in the car, which is a great way to pass 30 minutes or so.
2. Have the kids help plan the trip. I try and break up long road trips with interesting stops along the way. Last year, during our drive from upstate New York to North Carolina, we stopped at Hershey’s Chocolate World in Pennsylvania. Between Indiana and North Carolina, we stopped at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. Older kids, especially, will enjoy looking up interesting stops along your driving route. They can play a role in picking out hotels, mapping the location of rest stops and finding a favorite sandwich shop at an exit that you’ll be driving by around lunch or dinner time (to eat in the car, of course).
3. Get a hotel with a pool and breakfast. If your road trip is long enough that you’ll need to stop along the way and it’s in your budget, be sure to stop at a hotel with both a pool and breakfast. Seriously, my kids think this set up is practically Shangri-La. Here, you can burn off that energy in the pool after a long day in the car and load up on a breakfast before you go (and maybe take a small snack for the road). I’ve also driven a little longer in the evening and let the kids swim in the morning, a great way to burn that energy before you get on the road. No pool? Take a long walk in the morning before you head out or find a local playground to get them active.
4. Bring a map. Like an actual real paper map. AAA members can get them free at local offices. (And if you’re on a road trip, a AAA membership can be indispensable.). State tourism departments also often will send you free maps and all kinds of pamphlets about various attractions in their states. In North Carolina, the tourism department will send you an entire travel package for free. Older kids can follow along with your progress on their own map, even highlighting the route as you move along. For younger kids, before the trip, take out your highlighter and map and highlight the route that you’ll take. If you’re going through several states, use a different color for each state. Highlight any hotels or destinations that you’ll stop at along the way. Talk about the map during the drive. As you cross a state border, tell your child to look for the “green route,” for instance.
5. Play highway games. Sure, there’s the ABC game where you find the letters in order on road signs or license plates. We also like to play I Spy and 20 Questions, where one person thinks of a person, place or thing and the rest of the car can ask 20 questions to figure it out. But the internet is full of many, many more ideas. I love these suggestions on PBS Parents. KidsHealth has some road trip boredom busters. TravelHacker has more.
6. Listen to audio books on CD. One of my kids gets car sick, so reading books is out of the question for her. We have found that listening to books on CD is a great way to pass the time. We started with picture books. “The Runaway Pancake,” by writer and actor John Lithgow, is a big hit. Now that my younger daughter is five, we’ve progressed to chapter books. The Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park has us all laughing out loud, even if we’ve read or listened to them a half dozen times before.
7. Don’t forget a surprise bag. I always pack a big bag of surprises. There’s nothing fancy inside the bag other than little items wrapped up in wrapping paper or the Sunday comics. Sometimes the surprises are a new box of crayons or a book picked up at a used bookstore or consignment sale. Other times, I’ll actually wrap up an old toy or game that hasn’t gotten a lot of use. There’s always a big scene and some laughs when one of my kids unwraps her gift to reveal something that’s already hers. I find that these are especially helpful when my husband isn’t with us and I’m not able to hang in the back seat with the kids.
8. Hang in the back seat with the kids. I know this isn’t going to work if you’re the only driver, but if another adult is along for the ride and there’s room, spend a little bit of time in the back with the kids. I find it heads off the potential for sibling squabbles. I’m able to read to my little one, for instance, as my older daughter does her own thing. We also play games together and just talk and laugh. I love those moments.
9. Let everybody have their own music hour: I’ve been on those road trips where we’ve listened to the same exact CD of kids music for four hours in a row. Not anymore. Let each family member pick out their own favorite tunes. Then, put together a schedule when each family member gets to control the music.
10. Take a deep breath. These are tried and true road trip strategies, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be all rainbows and kittens during your 12-hour trip to grandma’s house. Indeed, despite all this and more, there are certainly some stern words, skirmishes and unhappiness on most any road trip – as you’ll find on most any day. Some days, I just let it go after yelling “simmer down back there!” Other days, we stop, stretch our legs and get an ice cream cone.
c 2014, WLOS ABC 13 | Portions are Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed.
WLOS News 13 provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Asheville, NC and nearby towns and communities in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, including the counties of Buncombe, Henderson, Rutherford, Haywood, Polk, Transylvania, McDowell, Mitchell, Madison, Yancey, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Graham, Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Union, Pickens, Oconee, Laurens, Greenwood, Abbeville and also Biltmore Forest, Woodfin, Leicester, Black Mountain, Montreat, Arden, Weaverville, Hendersonville, Etowah, Flat Rock, Mills River, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton, Clyde, Franklin, Cullowhee, Sylva, Cherokee, Marion, Old Fort, Forest City, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, Spindale, Spruce Pine, Bakersville, Burnsville, Tryon, Columbus, Marshall, Mars Hill, Brevard, Bryson City, Cashiers, Greer, Landrum, Clemson, Gaffney, and Easley.
The Interstate 495 corridor in eastern Wake County connects Raleigh’s Beltline with Interstate 95 in Rocky Mount.
But officials hope that’s not the end of the road. They want the corridor to connect the Triangle with the Hampton Roads area in Virginia.
The future interstate would run along U.S. Highway 64 to Williamston, then along the U.S. Highway 17 corridor toward Norfolk, Va. Proponents say it would be a huge economic boost for both states.
“This corridor would tie those two metro economic engines together,” said Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, a business organization. “This would be an economic lifeline to them. It wouldn’t make them prosperous, but would give them an opportunity for prosperity to occur.”
Rocky Mount is one of the communities that would benefit, he said. Recruiters know industry needs interstate connections before building a major facility.
“It is imperative for the future of eastern North Carolina that we have an interstate,” said Theresa Pinto with the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce.
It’s not just industry that could benefit. The interstate could shave a half-hour off the trip between Norfolk and Raleigh, which would boost tourism.
Raleigh tourism officials have been pushing the interstate plan for a decade.
“It would certainly (be) a hugely significant impact for the leisure market, but also for group business, sports, meetings and conventions,” said Dennis Edwards, president of the Raleigh Convention Visitors Bureau.
Bipartisan bills are moving through both houses of Congress to start the project.
Much of the route already is freeway, which would need some minor upgrades to meet interstate standards. Pinto says the estimated $1 billion cost is an investment that would pay huge returns.
“If it’s not done, though, we don’t see any growth,” she said.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will use PeraHealth‘s real-time clinical surveillance software to improve clinician communication and more quickly detect subtle patient health problems.
Powered by the peer-reviewed Rothman Index™, a universal score for predicting patient readmission and mortality risk, PeraHealth’s full suite of solutions will be accessed at the leading teaching and research hospital and at nationally-ranked Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, where the Pediatric Rothman Index will be implemented.
“At Penn State Hershey Medical Center, we are dedicated to providing healthcare of the highest quality. The ability to put together patterns of subtle changes in lab values, vital signs, and physical assessments and detect clinical problems earlier in the course of disease will allow us to enhance our already robust care program,” said Andrew Resnick, M.D., MBA, chief quality officer and associate professor of surgery at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. “We are committed to eliminating all preventable harm, and our investment in the Rothman Index demonstrates our commitment to ensuring optimal outcomes for the patients of central Pennsylvania and beyond.”
PeraHealth software automatically pulls and computes data from all major electronic health record (EHR) systems, with no additional manual data entry required for nurses or other staff. The data is translated into a 0-100 Rothman Index score and presented in a clear graph that trends a patient’s condition across any care setting.
“It’s common for subtle but serious health problems to go undetected, especially in pediatric populations,” said PeraHealth CEO Stephanie Alexander. “PeraHealth solutions alert doctors and nurses earlier to these types of issues by clearly trending patient condition in real-time. We are honored to partner with Penn State Hershey to support their efforts to achieve the highest level of care quality, safety and value.”
Clinicians also use PeraHealth solutions:
To remotely monitor patients across multiple care settings for preemptive rapid response team intervention.
For chronic disease management to help determine when to discharge patients.
During daily interdisciplinary rounds to optimize ICU bed utilization.
To facilitate conversations and make recommendations about the need for palliative care.
The Pediatric Rothman Index is now used at seven of the nation’s leading children’s hospitals representing 2,300 beds, 111,000 annual inpatient admissions and three million annual outpatient visits. Recent peer-review shows the Pediatric Rothman Index successfully predicted the likelihood of crisis events up to 24 hours before they occurred, and with favorable sensitivity and specificity.
About Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Founded in 1963 through a gift from The Milton S. Hershey Foundation, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a leading academic medical center located in Hershey, Pa. The 551-bed Medical Center is a provider of high-level, patient-focused medical care. Annually the Medical Center admits more than 29,000 patients, accepts more than 911,000 outpatient visits, receives nearly 67,000 emergency room patients and performs more than 29,000 surgical procedures. The Medical Center campus includes Penn State College of Medicine (Penn State’s medical school), Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, and Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital—the region’s only children’s hospital. The Medical Center campus is part of Penn State Hershey Health System, which also includes the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation Hospital, and other specialty facilities.
About PeraHealth PeraHealth provides hospitals and health systems with a single solution for real-time clinical surveillance across all patient populations and care settings. Based on the peer-reviewed Rothman Index™, a universal score for predicting patient readmission and mortality risk over time, PeraHealth software can pull data from all major EHR systems with no added manual data entry for staff. The result is an earlier warning system alerting clinicians to the potential for subtle patient deterioration to help optimize ICU use, hardwire rapid response teams and enhance palliative care services. More than two million clinicians, patients and families have benefited from solutions from PeraHealth and Alive Sciences, its Sarasota, Fla. affiliate. For more information about Charlotte, N.C.-based PeraHealth, visit www.perahealth.com.
GREENVILLE – They’ve had their boots in the mud, the creeks, the cliffs, coves and mountainsides of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Upstate region for the last few decades, seeking open chunks of land for permanent conservation.
Success for land-trust supporters and volunteers in preserving lands important for scenic value, clean water, wildlife habitat and public recreation has come in securing land in the sight-line of the Blue Ridge Parkway and stitching together private lands to create popular state parks. Success also has come by purchasing conservation easements on small, hidden parcels in the highlands that are home to rare salamanders and songbirds.
But have the land trusts always been looking in the right places?
That’s what a recent scientific study by The Nature Conservancy sought to find out. And now, a new multimillion-dollar grant from the New York-based Open Space Institute hopes to steer efforts in the right direction.
The Nature Conservancy report, “Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Southeast,” identified the most resilient sites in the region, considered to be “natural strongholds” likely to withstand the growing impact of climate change and to offer refuge to a diverse array of animals.
The areas of focus include locations identified as priority landscapes for protection. They also are among some of the nation’s most biologically diverse places and face a growing set of threats from development, inappropriate timber harvesting and invasive species. Over the next 20 years, the Southeast is expected to lose almost 20 million acres of forests due principally to development and conversion.
Using the new scientific data, the Open Space Institute, a leading regional land conservation organization, is seeking to focus attention on those most biologically rich and threatened places.
To that end, the institute recently announced the OSI Initiative, in which $5.5 million in matching grants for land protection will be available to land trusts that focus on “climate-resilient” lands — those that will help facilitate wildlife adaptation to climate change within two new sites:
•The Southern Blue Ridge, encompassing mountainous parts of Upstate South Carolina, Western North Carolina and Tennessee.
•The Greater Pee Dee River, which straddles the North and South Carolina border along key river corridors and stretches from the coast to the Sandhills and Uwharrie Mountains.
The initiative, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, is part of a vanguard effort to use cutting-edge climate science to identify and protect resilient lands across the eastern United States. The new awards expand on the OSI’s $12 million Resilient Landscapes Initiative that began in the Northeast two years ago.
This program, land conservation leaders say, will be meaningful for preserving natural lands for future tourism, wildlife, hunting and angling.
Mac Stone, executive director of Naturaland Trust, a land trust based in Greenville, said the new grant is exciting, but the short deadline will have his and other land management groups having to work quickly to take advantage of it
“We’re certainly very interested in it and the prospect that this fund exists,” Stone said. “It’s an exciting fund and it’s nice that these funding projects will be based on science for climate resiliency data.
“We’ll have to delve deeper into the requirements of the application before we know if we will be able to apply. It’s just a matter now of doing research to find which properties would be appropriate.”
The Naturaland Trust was founded in 1973 by Greenville attorney C. Thomas “Tommy” Wyche, who began working to protect large and significant tracts of land in South and North Carolina. They became such conservation and recreation gems as Jones Gap and Caesars Head state parks.
The non-profit land trust has been involved in the preservation of tens of thousands of acres of foothills and mountain land, mainly along the South Carolina–North Carolina border, and works in cooperation with many private, government and other nonprofits to ensure lasting conservation of these lands.
“We work all within the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment and within Greenville proper, such as the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and within the Enoree watershed to protect the bunched arrowhead, a federally endangered species,” Stone said.
“We have a varied landscape on which we work, but we try to identify properties based on certain principles – they must be ecologically significant, contiguous with other protected landscapes, such as adding on to Department of Natural Resources land, or state parks land, and lands that can offer significant recreational value,” he said.
There are many possible properties on the Open Space Institute map that fall within the boundaries Naturaland Trust works within, but Stone said it can take quite a bit of time to cultivate relationships with landowners.
“But we’re going to try,” he said. “We’re going to try to redirect our energy into seeing if we can secure some of these funds.”
Other land trusts and conservation supporters also are excited about the funding possibilities.
“We feel this is a really groundbreaking way for trying to preserve biodiversity,” said the Open Space Institute’s David Ray, who is based in Asheville, North Carolina. “The goal is to help get it out there and get it out in front of land trusts and see if this is useful and what ways can we develop it.”
Jess Laggis, coalition director of Blue Ridge Forever, a coalition of land trusts, said the group is excited about the Open Space Institute’s new model for identifying lands for conservation, as well as the money up for grabs.
“The Blue Ridge Forever land trust partners are thrilled that the Open Space Institute has included the Southern Blue Ridge as one of the focus areas in the new Southeast Resilient Landscapes Fund, opening the possibility of funding to help protect more land in our region,” Laggis said.
Blue Ridge Forever and its 10 member land trusts, which include the Asheville-based Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy in the Henderson-Transylvania county area, Foothills Conservancy, the Blue Ridge Conservancy in Boone, among others, has conserved nearly 80,000 acres in its 10-year existence.
The group had a goal of conserving 50,000 acres in the Southern Blue Ridge by 2010, which it reached, Laggis said, and has set a new goal of conserving 30,000 more acres by the end of 2015. She said it is 80 percent there. The Open Space Institute’s initiative should help complete the goal.
“The Southern Blue Ridge is among the most ecologically diverse and fragile regions in the country. The intact forests and mountains here are an outstanding resource for resilience to climate change. However, these mountains are a magnet for population growth and development, which potentially threatens the future viability of wildlife habitat, clean water sources and other ecological systems,” Laggis said.
“The need for conservation in these mountains remains acute. The Blue Ridge Forever partners will seize the opportunity to leverage this (OSI) investment as a catalyst for further land protection in the Southern Blue Ridge focus area,” Laggis said.
Seeking conservation eyes with a new lens –
The Open Space Institute is using data from The Nature Conservancy report to identify which areas have the best chance for plant and animal survival in the future with climate change. That is a different approach from the way land trusts have worked, said Ray, who formerly worked for the Nature Conservancy.
It will be looking at lands that have the potential for future resistance to climate change, rather than lands that are valuable to plant and wildlife species today.
“The big criteria around which it’s centered is climate-change resistance and science,” Ray said. “Working with the Doris Duke Foundation, we want to expose the land trust world to this idea to see if it’s useful.”
Requests for proposals are open for land trusts seeking funds to purchase land or conservation easements, with the $5.5 million available in matching grants in the new focus areas.
The Southern Blue Ridge focus area includes lands up and down the Blue Ridge Escarpment, as far north as Ashe County, Roan Mountain, Grandfather Mountain, down to the Black Mountains, which include Mount Mitchell (the highest peak in the Eastern United States), and down through Hickory Nut Gorge east of Asheville, south into the Upstate of South Carolina, from the Landrum area west to Walhalla and the Georgia border.
Any land trust accredited by a land trust alliance or on a path toward getting accredited needs to have a project that would be within the focus area. The deadline to apply is July 21 and awards will be announced in September.
One of the criteria for the OSI grants is matching funds for the project, available from a foundation grant or clean water management trust fund, private funds, or landowner donation.
“First and foremost, our goal is to find projects that are good examples of use of this resilience data that protecting land is a valuable tool in helping plants and animals deal with challenges that will come with climate change,” Ray said.
“Climate change obviously is a huge issue for everybody: for people trying to plan for emergencies; insurance companies taking note of it because of what it might do to business models; conservation; flooding, how it will impact our human communities; and what is it going to do to our wildlife?” Ray said.
The climate-resistance grant proposals must identify “natural strongholds” on the landscape — physical attributes or landforms that create a natural stronghold that will withstand climate change and offer options for plant and wildlife species that are there, such as mountains, cliffs and river valleys, so wildlife won’t have to move 100 miles or more when their current habitats are altered by climate change.
Rebekah Robinson, assistant director of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, based in Hendersonville, called the OSI climate-resilience grant “fantastic,” and was pleased to see the Southern Blue Ridge chosen as one of the areas.
“A lot of the local land trusts have been using GIS data to help prioritize projects for a long time, but this is a lot larger landscape view. That’s unique,” Robinson said.
“The scale of it is important. With climate change, they’re looking not at where species are found now, but where they might need to go,” she said. “They will require much larger landscape level for movement over time. It’s definitely one of the bigger pledges of funding for our region.”
The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum is excited to be partnering with the Blowing Rock Historical Society and the Blowing Rock Fire Department on its upcoming exhibition, 1923: The Blowing Rock Fire, open to the public from May 9-July 26.
The exhibition takes a detailed look at a significant point in Blowing Rock’s history that left the town anxious to start anew. A reception for this exhibition and others on view will be held during BRAHM’s Summer Exhibition Celebration on May 9 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. following Blowing Rock’s Art in the Park. The event is free and open to the public.
“It is hard to imagine the utter helplessness that this community would have felt as they tried to battle a raging fire with only buckets of water,” says Lee Carol Giduz, BRAHM executive director. “Today, this town is blessed by a well-equipped and beautiful fire station. We take for granted that we are protected. This exhibit, 1923: The Blowing Rock Fire, reminds us of a tragic and frightening event, but also shows the resilience of the people of a small mountain town.”
Visiting the village for the first time, you’d hardly find a trace of evidence of the devastating fire of 1923. But for those living here at the time, the event was very real, and without a fire department in place, citizens ran back and forth with buckets of water, fighting to stop the fire in its tracks. Those unable to assist watched from across the street in the town park. The fire was so significant that over half the town was taken, but like any such event, it offered opportunity for renewal.
After the fire, the official Blowing Rock Fire Department was founded, and the town worked together to gather funds to purchase its first fire truck by 1926. The Blowing Rock Historical Society and the town fire department have been working closely together to restore the original fire truck to be revealed this summer. The Museum is excited to be supporting such a monumental event in our towns history and invites the community to come celebrate.
General admission to the Blowing Rock Art History Museum is $7 for adults and $6 for students, seniors, active military, and children ages 5 and up. Donations are accepted for admission to the Museum on Thursdays. Located at 159 Chestnut Street on the corner of Chestnut and Main in Blowing Rock, the Museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday (closed on Sunday and Monday). For more information, please call 828-295-9099 or visit www.blowingrockmuseum.org.
HENDERSONVILLE IS ONE OF THE MOST “LIVABLE” TOWNS IN AMERICA
Brevard was ranked 57th, and Hendersonville came in at 63rd in Livability.com’s first Top 100 Best Small Towns list, released Monday.
This new list is an expanded edition of the website’s annual Top 10 Small Towns index.
According to a news release from Livability.com, “These cities and towns allow for the tight-knit communities key to small-town living coupled with the amenities you’d expect in larger cities. More than 35 states are represented from coast to coast.”
In its description of Brevard, the website mentions its moderate climate, cultural offerings and outdoor attractions, such as Pisgah National Forest.
“Proximity to several waterfalls earned Brevard the nickname, ‘The Land of Waterfalls.’ Brevard College’s music and environmental studies programs are lauded, and Blue Ridge Community College provides an additional choice for higher education,” the website states. “Outdoor adventure opportunities include lush parks, mountain biking and road biking.”
In the description of Hendersonville, the website singles out the city’s history, attractive downtown, and quality public education and health care.
“Historic neighborhoods, a vibrant downtown district and friendly residents help Hendersonville, N.C., attract new residents,” the website states.
“We hear that all the time,” agreed Karen Baker, assistant director of the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority. “We just had a visitor a few minutes ago who said what a lovely downtown Hendersonville has. People are often surprised, with the small size of Hendersonville, just how much we have culturally.
“Someone came in earlier this morning, someone who had moved here from Asheville,” Baker added. “They liked it because we have so many things similar to Asheville, but a slower pace — not as hectic.”
The website also singled out Henderson County’s four high schools, which “get high ratings from parents.” It added, “Hendersonville is perhaps best known for hosting an annual North Carolina Apple Festival that draws 50,000 visitors. Residents have access to great health care at Pardee Hospital.”
The Livability.com ranking places Hendersonville one notch ahead of Aspen, Colo.
Baker expects that the website’s observations will increase interest in Hendersonville and the surrounding area.
“Any time these rankings are out there, we see an influx of people visiting and also calling asking about Hendersonville and wanting relocation packages and vacation packages,” she said.
“It’s great when Hendersonville’s on a list,” Baker added, “but even when it mentions any Western North Carolina town, it’s a boost for the whole area. … I think the secret is out about Hendersonville.”
To create the rankings, the website’s editors modified methods developed by the Martin Prosperity Institute, part of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
“Affordability is becoming an increasing issue in our largest cities,” Livability editor Matt Carmichael stated in the news release. “Quality smaller towns that offer great amenities at a more reasonable cost are a great alternative.”
More than 12,000 towns with populations between 1,000 and 20,000 were evaluated in the study. More than 40 data points were grouped into eight categories ranging from demographics, real estate and health care to social and civic capital.
RALEIGH, N.C., June 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The Algorithm Marketplace, launched today in BETA, provides automated analysis of aerial data acquired by UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Using sophisticated algorithms, drone operators no longer need a background in geographic information system (GIS) or remote sensing to interpret their aerial data, instead, the marketplace provides an action-based report to improve management of assets. This launch includes initial algorithms in agriculture, but users can expect solutions to be deployed in the areas of environmental monitoring, energy, insurance and infrastructure assessment.
“We spent the past 18 months aggregating more than 100 aerial analysis algorithms from leading research partners in North America and Europe,” said Dr. Ally Ferguson, PrecisionHawk Director of Geospatial. “While several are deployed now, we are testing many of our internal and partner solutions in real world environments throughout the summer of 2015.”
The patent pending marketplace is a part of DataMapper.com, PrecisionHawk’s drone data platform (Video: https://youtu.be/zLeUU3_Dr5E)
“As we deploy additional automation and verification tools over the next few months, users can expect many of the analysis algorithms to process in as little as a few minutes, empowering a wide variety of industries,” said Andrew Slater, PrecisionHawk VP of Software. “Automation benefits companies who not only need answers quickly, but also those who need to control costs when they need to analyze large volumes of aerial data.”
The market is open to companies, universities and students to post and monetize their analysis tools at no cost. A share of the revenue generated from every algorithm sale goes back to the partner. In addition, the algorithm tools can be set to private so companies can extract information without sharing IP.
“The Algorithm Marketplace opens up the remote sensing community and allows institutions, like Texas AM, to see its research solve tangible real world problems for non-technical users,” said Michael Bishop, founding director of the Center for Geospatial Sciences, Applications and Technology at Texas AM University.
Algorithms are being developed to help companies better evaluate change in conditions over time. To support these tools, PrecisionHawk recently acquired TerraServer (www.terraserver.com), a leading online satellite imagery provider. The 18-year old business has 1.6 million visitors annually.
“We kept finding that we needed satellite data to create software solutions for the drone industry,” said Stefan Lataille, PrecisionHawk GIS Scientist. “Drone platforms need to understand their environment and TerraServer, with its access to historical and current satellite data, provides the building blocks to create better analysis tools for drone users to identify how the world changes over time.”
About Data Mapper by PrecisionHawk: DataMapper is a set of aerial software solutions created by PrecisionHawk. DataMapper provides users with the ability to store, process, share and analyze aerial data collected by UAVs. The cloud and desktop based tools are designed to help users process and interpret raw data into usable information in the form of automated 2D and 3D orthomosaic processing and apply analysis tools in The Algorithm Marketplace. To learn more, visit datamapper.com or Twitter @TheDataMapper.
Media Contact: Lia Reich, Sr. Director of Communications 919-590-9280 Email
