Top farmer Biggie Rankin is making a difference

At his core, Mr Rankin, or "Biggie" as he is better known, has always been a farmer. He has a strong love for the land and says he has a sense of accomplishment on seeing a harvest come in, or witnessing the birth of animals on his farm. Plus, he knows that in his own way, he is making these islands a little better for the people, because through his efforts, people are able to put quality food, produced locally on their tables.Premier and Minister of Agriculture Hon Juliana Connor-Connolly congratulated Mr. Rankin on his work and winning the top farming award on Grand Cayman."We talk about fork-to-table foods, but Biggie takes this concept to a new level. Nothing on his farm goes to waste. What he doesn't sell goes to his jerk stand. The waste from the animals  the pigs in particular  is converted to fuel."His efforts are inspiring and the fact that he takes nothing for granted and has invested his heart and soul into farming earned him the Minister's Award," she added.

Mr. Rankin was born with a love of the land. He says he doesn't know where this love or the passion for growing came from, because his maternal grandparents, the McFields, were builders and fisherman and his paternal grandparents were merchants, which makes him the sole farmer in the family.Even as a young boy, Mr. Rankin kept chickens, pigs and goats. But he had to give up his young farming efforts, because at age 16 he went to sea to earn a living.He returned three years later, got married and decided to return to farming. So he purchased six cows. A few years later, he purchased the land where Rankin's Jerk Stand and Butcher Shop now stand and where the family home is located. He also leased land in the area now known as Industrial Park, for $5 a year to keep his herd of cows.He grew his farm to include chickens and pigs. But as Grand Cayman started to develop, Industrial Park became a bussing commercial area, so he scaled back his operation and began to focus on construction, although he still dabbled in farming. During the time when he resided in George Town, Mr. Rankin and his helper, Ms. Jen, planted callaloo, peppers and okra. They sold the produce to By-Rite Supermarket.

Basic Items to Have on Hand for Home Mesothelioma Care

My job takes me to a lot of different environments, including homes, hospitals and assisted living facilities. As I care for mesothelioma patients, I pay close attention to their "setup" and obstacles and look for ways to offer suggestions to help improve their lives. I know that dealing with mesothelioma is challenging, so I hope that anything I can do to make things easier for them will be well received.Patients often have difficulty swallowing, whether it is from sores in their mouths from chemotherapy or difficulty due to the disease itself. This makes it hard to take the many pills that are typically prescribed. An ideal way to deal with this issue is to use a pill crusher. Crushing the meds and placing them in applesauce or ice cream helps them go down much easier.

The first issue that raises a red flag for me is when someone tells me they sleep in a chair or recliner. Typically, they'll say that it is easier for them to breathe when they don't lie completely flat. That is true, however, making adjustments with the bed may lead to a better night's sleep.  Elevating the upper body is important. One way to do that is to use extra pillows until you are sufficiently elevated. If pillows don't work, use foam wedges, they can be found at medical supply stores or some department stores. You can use the wedges as additional cushioning for elevation or you can place them under the top part of the mattress to raise it up.  The same can be done by placing a small drawer between the mattress and boxspring.Along with the pill crusher, a pill box is important for keeping track of medications.

Orange Crush a spring break party, not a sign of the apocalypse

Law enforcement struck the right balance with its promised "heavily proactive" approach.The Tybee police department and the island's ocean rescue crew worked the beach with their all-terrain vehicles. Maha building toll 56 dead.Officers waded into the crowds and politely but firmly reminded the crush crowd of the beach rules regarding glass, litter and staying off the dunes.Only the overtly disrespectful partiers left the sand in handcuffs. The police weren't out to crush the crush but simply to contain it. Keep the atmosphere festive, not hostile.The big brother treatment seemed effective, too. The police cordoned off a section of the beach parking lot between 15th Street and the marine science center for a command post. The set-up included a video surveillance tower while a helicopter overhead provided another feed.The off-island law enforcement personnel handled traffic. They closed most of the roads between Butler Avenue and the beach in the business district. That curbed the cruising and spread the pedestrians out, as many took advantage of the open streets and left the sidewalks.
The crowd control efforts also included strategic facility closures. Officials sealed the stairwell between the pier and the beach at the height of the festivities. They closed the pier and pavilion completely at dusk to discourage the partiers from hanging at the beach after dark.The beach and parking lots cleared quickly as a result. By midnight, Tybee was once again a quiet little beach town.For too many Tybeenians, their brief brush with college spring break wasn't brief enough.One south end resident started a Facebook petition calling for Orange Crush to get the Tiananmen Square treatment next year. Others shook their heads and clucked throughout Saturday and into Sunday, with more than one saying, "we gotta do something to stop this."What they forget, or refuse to acknowledge, is Tybee is a public beach. Tybeenians own the seashore, but so does every crusher, at least those who pay taxes in the county. So all must share it.That Tybee residents respect their environment more than the offislanders do is, for better or worse, irrelevant.

Maha building toll 56 dead

The toll in Thursday's building collapse in Shil-Phata in Mumbra rose on Friday to 56 dead and 60 injured. Rescue operations are still being carried out and more casualties are expected as people are still trapped under the debris.Earlier on Friday, in the state Legislative Assembly, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan announced monetary relief for the families of the deceased and injured. "The government will provide financial assistance of `2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and `50,000 each for those seriously injured in the tragedy," he said.

He announced the suspension of Thane Municipal Corporation deputy municipal commissioner Deepak Chavan for dereliction of duty. Senior police inspector K.P Naik was also suspended as there were allegations of him having a nexus with slumlords, thereby resulting in rampant illegal construction in the area.Joint operations by over 300 personnel from the local police, fire brigade, state reserve force and BMC were conducted with sledgehammers, gasoline-powered saws and hydraulic jacks on Friday to break through the tower of rubble in their search for survivors. Six bulldozers were brought to the scene, along with a crusher machine and fire engines from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

"There may be a possibility that people are still trapped inside right now," Thane police commissioner K.P. Raghuvanshi said Friday. TMC deputy commissioner Sandeep Malvi confirmed this and said that 100 to 150 people had been living in the building, all of them mostly residents or construction workers. He added that since only 56 bodies were recovered and 60 were injured, it was very likely that around 18-20 people were still trapped.The police has also registered a case against the absconding builders.Locals alleged that such disasters occurred because of the nexus of builders, local politicians and civic officials, which, along with the land mafia in Mumbra, has been responsible for the large-scale illegal construction.

Metso receives two repeat orders for Altay Polimetally's mine in Kazakhstan

Metso has signed two repeat orders with Altay Polimetally LLP for their open pit copper mine in Almaty, Kazakhstan.Classic gets Kiwi makeover. The orders include the design, supply, installation and commissioning of complete secondary, tertiary and quaternary crushing and screening plants as well as an automation system. The combined value of the orders is EUR 25 million. The two new contracts follow the delivery of the world's biggest fully mobile crushing and conveying system, signed in June 2012 for a value of EUR 11 million."For our new copper ore deposit, we need cost efficient processes and reliability based on a seamlessly working partnership. We do not need multiple intermediaries, and by choosing Metso, we are working with a market leader who has a long experience in mining and construction operations," says Mr. Yun, Dr. of Technical Sciences, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Altay Polimetally LLP.

To achieve the customer's objective for a minimum number of operators, Metso also supplies Altay a complete automation system to run the whole process. The electrical systems can withstand the harsh climatic conditions and provide efficient plant control.The secondary and tertiary crushing plant order was included in Metso Mining and Construction's fourth quarter 2012 orders received, and the quaternary crushing plant in the first quarter 2013 orders received. The installations will be delivered by July 2014.The secondary and tertiary plants include one GP500S cone crusher with large feed opening, and two HP5 cone crushers with high reduction ratio. Two high-efficiency MF 3085-2 screens will be used for screening. The planned output of the copper ore processing plant is 550 metric tons per hour, resulting in 3 million tons per year of 0/10 mm sized end products.

Classic gets Kiwi makeover

Director Niki Caro, meanwhile, is reportedly writing and directing a biopic about opera legend Maria Callas, and Roger Donaldson is linked to a film project with Pierce Brosnan and his Irish DreamTime production company about a former CIA operative.However, Donaldson's movie Cities, described by IMDB as "in pre-production", may not see the light of day. Producer Matthew Metcalfe at General Film Corporation told The Diary the "project is sitting in development and is not active". Hollywood stars Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst have been linked to the film, but Metcalfe - who is producing the Ed Hillary biopic Beyond the Edge - said it's all just theoretical at the moment.

peaker of the House David Carter left the garland of albatross feathers at home to don shorts in Paris this week. Sacre bleu! The 61-year-old took part in the city's marathon, beating home more than half of the 38,690 runners with a time of 3 hours, 59 minutes and 35 seconds. He said on Twitter that he was "exhausted but very pleased to have completed" the race.This week in cultural news, John Key called war on Knuckleheads but not on North Korea, Pita Sharples attacked Te Ururoa Flavell and the Maori Party's ruling body, and a little heard-of Danish MP lobbed caustic missiles on grass skirts and powhiri.Ou est Dame Susan? The controversially appointed Race Relations Commissioner, who's lying low in Tauranga, stayed noticeably schtum on the cross-cultural diplomatic incident. Apparently it's out of her jurisdiction.

Stone crushers install first dust suppression system at Margalla Hills

The continuing practice of stone crushing on the Margalla Hills by ill-equipped stone crushers has been wreaking havoc for the environment. However, there is a silver lining as one crusher has installed a dust suppression system to settle the dust generated during the crushing process and reduce polluting emissions. Hopefully, others will follow.Meanwhile, as a safety measure, another stone crusher has started using water to settle the clouds of dust that rises during the crushing process.While still not on 'war-footing',Youthful congregation gives 103-year-old church new life. the Rawalpindi District Environment Office has recently begun efforts to limit the destructive activity of around 100 stone crushers who operate on the western end of the Margalla Hills National Park.Although stone crushing is a major threat to the natural habitat and forestation in the national park area, the DEO is primarily focusing on the air pollution aspect of stone crushing.The dust clouds generated while grinding boulders and rocks into fine gravel and the emissions from vehicles used to transport the gravel contribute to the high levels of airborne particulate matter in the area.

The DEO and the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency estimate particulate emissions from stone crushing to be 33 to 40 times higher than national environment quality standards.The DEO suggests stone crushers adopt dust suppression techniques such as wet scrubbers and sprinklers.The dust suppression technology used by Khawaja Stone is not advanced or complicated. It uses tarps to cover the crushing plants where rocks are broken down into fine pebbles. Water pumped from a nearby tank is sprayed on the rocks as they are being disintegrated using regular garden hoses with shower heads attached.

Youthful congregation gives 103-year-old church new life

This month marks the first anniversary of its opening service at the old Wheeler Memorial Presbyterian Church, known for its six exterior pillars, its large stained-glass windows and its pipe organ.The structure at 23rd and J Streets was getting old, and the Wheeler congregation was aging. Upkeep was too costly for the dwindling numbers, so it was decided to put the beloved church building on the market.After early interest by the Learning Community didn't result in a bid, Emmaus stepped up and bought it for $425,000.What soon followed was a touching transition. The Presbyterian congregation held its final service in the chapel at the same time that Emmaus folks held their first in the sanctuary.Then the 75 or so members from Wheeler joined the newcomers for joint prayer as well as words from the outgoing and incoming pastors."There were tears," said the Rev. Ed Steinmetz, pastor at Wheeler its final 15 years and now retired. "It was both sad and joyous. Many of our people didn't want to leave — one had attended there more than 70 years but they knew we had no choice."The Presbyterian congregation, founded in 1887 in a storefront, had lasted 125 years.

The South Omaha neighborhood has changed: Once attracting European immigrants, it now is home to many Hispanics.After selling the 1910 church building, the Wheeler congregation merged with Mosher-Pilgrim Presbyterian near 48th and Monroe Streets to form Discovery Presbyterian Church.Pastor Erik of Emmaus Bible said the Presbyterians couldn't have been kinder in welcoming him and his congregants and wishing them well. Emmaus, which had held services at Bellevue West High School, was thrilled to purchase such a beautiful, historic church.Already, he said, the congregation has grown from 200 a year ago to nearly 300. Many are in their 30s with children, he said, but some are in their 40s and 50s."Omaha's evangelical presence is very light in this part of town," he wrote recently, "and we have some tremendous opportunities for Gospel advancement."The pastor, who grew up Catholic near Boston, said he was a rebellious teenager who married at 18 and joined the Air Force. His wife, Christie, also served in the Air Force, and both were assigned as intelligence analysts at Offutt Air Force Base.