PLATTSBURGH — Some Essex County farms could qualify for disaster funding, due to crops destroyed by frost after March 1.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued federal agriculture disaster declarations for several New York counties. The original proposal championed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand had included Clinton County as well, but it was not included in the disaster declaration made by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday.
“Farmers across New York who were still recovering from last year’s natural disasters risk losing an entire season worth of crops again,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “These disaster declarations are a good first step to open up access to federal resources so these farmers can get back to business and keep New York’s agricultural industry on the move.”
After a winter of record-high temperatures, many crops on New York farms blossomed earlier than usual. Many of these crops were then exposed to early spring freezing temperatures and were destroyed as a result.
Federal agriculture disaster recovery programs provide tools to assist farmers in overcoming the challenges they can face as they work to recover from production and physical losses on their farms and rebuild their business. Help includes financial assistance to compensate for farm losses, low-interest emergency loans and assistance in rehabilitating farmland.
The Farm Service Agency said disaster emergency loan assistance is available effective June 5 for those who lost at least 30 percent of their production. Farmers may be eligible for production loss loans of up to 100 percent of their actual loss, the operating loan amount needed to continue business or a maximum principal balance outstanding of $500,000, whichever is less.
Eligible farmers must be unable to obtain credit from private commercial lenders. The interest rate on the loans is 3.75 percent.
Applications will be accepted until Feb. 5, 2013.
The Farm Service Agency office is located at 2530 State Route 40, Greenwich, NY 12834. The phone number is 692-9940, Ext. 2.
Source: pressrepublican.com
Essex/South Page squads seek rhythm - SW Iowa News
With about one-third of the season in the record books, the Essex/South Page baseball and softball teams are fighting to find their respective rhythms and string together some wins.
As of Monday afternoon, June 4, the Trojans were sitting at 2-5 and the Trojanettes were 4-6, with the longest winning streak between them the boys’ back-to-back victories against Red Oak on May 26 and Nishnabotna on May 29.
Since those two wins, though, the Trojans’ have dropped two straight games in which they were leading until a flurry of runs from their opponent tipped the scales. On May in Underwood, ESP held a 4-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth inning when the Eagles soared for seven runs to put the heat on. Two innings later, after the Trojans had bounced back with a run to make the score 7-5, Underwood rallied big again with a six-run sixth to put the game all but out of reach and walk away with a 13-5 win.
Even more nausea inducing for the ESP faithful was the late-game swing at home against Fremont-Mills on Friday evening. Carrying a 2-1 edge into the seventh, the Trojans saw the Knights catch fire to the tune of three runs and steal the 4-2 win. Sophomores Jacob Ohnmacht and Jacob Jones led the charge for ESP, each driving in a run, while senior Levi Allen and sophomore Zach Dailey kept the Knight pitchers on edge, swiping three bases apiece.
Despite picking up the loss, senior Cameron Kinney had a solid outing for the Trojans, recording nine strikeouts and only one walk, with three earned runs and nine hits against him, in a complete game performance.
Against Underwood, Allen was the ESP offensive star, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, one run and one RBI and two stolen bases.
The Trojanettes have been playing hopscotch in the win/loss column all season, picking up a sturdy victory here and there only to falter in the following one or two games. After running their record out 3-2 with a dominating 17-6 win over Fremont-Mills in a four-way showdown in Red Oak on May 26, the ESP girls have fallen in four of their last five games, including most recently to that same Lady Knight squad in Essex on Friday.
The lone win for the Trojanettes since the latter half of the Red Oak engagement was a decent showing on the road in Hamburg against Nishnabotna, where they picked up a 13-7 triumph. Just two days later on the road at Underwood, the ESP softballers saw their fortunes change again, though, seeing their offense disappear after a four-run first inning and watching a lead whittled away until the Eagles flew off with the 6-5 win after a three-run seventh.
At press time, the Trojans were scheduled for a two-night, two-game road trip, first to Lenox Monday and then to Sidney Tuesday evening, before returning home to host the Wolverines of East Mills on Thursday. The Trojanettes had a lighter week planned, waiting for the Thursday night double bill and then joining the boys on the road to Stanton on Friday to close out the week.
Source: www.southwestiowanews.com
The Only Way Is Joey Essex for Sam - The Sun
The couple were seen on screens on Sunday splitting up after Joey was spotted leaving a club hand in hand with another girl.
But on tomorrow night's show the pair kiss and make up as they tell each other they still have deep feelings for one another.
Joey, 21, asks Sam: "Do I make you happy?”
To which Sam, also 21, replies: “Yes, are you joking? All I do is laugh when I’m around you.”
Sam tells Joey that she is still p***ed off with him for what he has done, but when he admits "I love you", she responds in kind.
Joey then asks her to once again be his girlfriend.
Elsewhere on the show Lydia Bright opens up about her blossoming romance with Tom Kilbey and Gemma Collins has a nasty argument with her ex-boyfriend Charlie King.
On Sunday night's show Joey was seen dashing to Sam's home for crisis talks after receiving a text from the blonde boutique owner, which read: "I know what you did last night."
Joey was spotted cosying up to Amber Turner, a waitress at Mason's restaurant in Brentwood, Essex, last Tuesday night.
Sam confronted Joey, who insisted "nothing happened".
Last year the pair dated for four months, before Sam gave Joey the elbow.
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Sussex v Surrey at Horsham: Play abandoned - wscountytimes.co.uk
Sussex have struggled to 90-6 on a rain affected second day of their County Championship match against Surrey at Horsham.
Resuming on 81-2, having dismissed the away side for 124 yesterday, Sussex were soon in trouble when Mike Yardy fell to the first ball of the day, fending a short Stuart Meaker ball into the hands of Mark Ramprakash at gully.
Joe Gatting soon followed, clean bowled by Meaker in his second over of the day, the Surrey paceman uprooting Gatting’s off-stump for two. That was the final action before a 40 minute rain-break, and upon the resumption Luke Wright last five balls before he feather a catch behind to Steve Davies off Murali Kartik. Surrey wicketkeeper Davies had been called into the England squad, but rushed back to Horsham this morning after Matt Prior was passed fit to play in the Third Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston.
The last action of the day saw Ben Brown (1) trapped LBW by the lively Meaker, before the rain arrived to force the teams off before lunch. With the Cricketfield Road outfield now sodden, play has now been abandoned until tomorrow morning
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Essex girls aren’t thick - The Sun
Instead, this no-nonsense pair are happy and confident in themselves — as long as their hair is looking reem — and refuse to play up to men.
And Billi adds: “The difference between me and Cara compared to the rest of the cast is that we are REAL friends.
“We share everything — clothes, make-up, even knickers.”
The girls met when they were at secondary school and have been the best of friends ever since.
Billi says: “The beauty of mine and Cara’s relationship is that our loyalties rest in each other.
“We haven’t got a care in the world about what everyone else thinks.”
Their attitudes might be different but with their dark tans, Bambi eyes and gleaming white smiles, the pair, both 24, still look like stereotypical Essex girls.
Cara says: “We love the Essex look — being glam makes you feel good about yourself.
“I’ve always been into my image, even when I was a little girl I was covered in diamante.
“I had a Louis Vuitton school bag for goodness sake.”
Billi laughs: “She’s not joking — we both had hair extensions aged 14 too. We were the naughty girls at school, always getting into trouble for rolling our skirts up too short.”
But these girls are no bimbos. Each of them had a successful career long before TOWIE bosses asked them to join the Bafta-winning ITV2 show in its fourth series.
Billi has had a strong work ethic since the day she left school.
She shares joint ownership of successful salon Belles & Beaus in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, with her sister Giorgie and is a qualified yoga instructor.
Billi says: “Belles & Beaus was an investment bought by my parents for me and Giorgie.
“My mum is a hairdresser so the beauty industry has always been in my family.
“I’m a trained nail and spray-tan technician and have worked in the salon for five years.”
But since appearing on TOWIE, Billi’s schedule is so full that the salon is now run full-time by Giorgie and their mum Paula.
Billi says: “It’s tough trying to juggle everything. I want to focus more on my Bikram yoga but I’m struggling to find time.
“People think I’m an airhead but I’m actually really spiritual and into meditation.”
Cara also has a shining CV.
Having passed her GCSEs with flying colours (including three A-star grades), she landed an apprenticeship in the City dealing stocks and shares aged just 17.
She says: “Despite what people may think, we were both pretty bright at school. There’s a common misconception that Essex girls are stupid — that’s not the case at all.
“We both went to good schools and got a good education.”
The best friends have just got back from Marbella, where they filmed the final episode of the current series, which will be shown next Wednesday.
Billi says: “We love Marbs, it’s like home-from-home for us. We spent a lot of our childhood holidaying there with our families.”
TOWIE cast members’ catchcry of “No carbs before Marbs” has entered the language — but Cara and Billi are giving up nothing just to look good in bikinis.
Cara says: “Dieting is so boring — we always get hungry and fail. It’s so hard to stick to a diet and exercise regime when you’re filming. There’s always crisps and junk food to nibble on.”
Billi adds: “We’re pretty OK about our body image. No matter how much we diet we will never be as slim as some of the other girls and we’re OK with that.
“It’s just unfortunate that now the whole of the UK has to see our cellulite on telly as opposed to us just seeing each other’s.
“Once we’ve had a strawberry daiquiri we’ll be all right — we won’t care if we look fat then.”
Despite their cheerful attitude about their images, both girls have had breast enlargements and Cara has recently had liposuction. Billi explains: “If we can’t fix it by diet and exercise we’ll look at other options. We’re realists. I had my boobs done when I was 19 because I wanted an uplift after losing weight.”
And Cara sa
ys: “I had no boobs — just a nipple on a tiny bit of fat. I was desperate to have proper boobs so I looked in proportion. I just didn’t look right with no boobs.”The girls are both single and are excited to embrace the summer without the need for a love interest.
Billi insists: “Girls come first — if you’re our friend, we will stick by you. Life is much simpler that way.
“We never argue and we don’t need boyfriends to have a good time.”
Fellow TOWIE girls, who often bicker over boys, often covet the duo’s attitude — especially Lucy Mecklenburgh and Lauren Goodger.
Cara says: “Lucy and Lauren always say that they wish they were a bit more like us. We never cry over boys — we have such a good time. Boys are actually scared of us, we’re probably a bit intimidating.”
However they both admit that they are keen to meet their Mr Rights one day — and say they will have to be from Essex.
But Cara says: “We don’t like men who straighten their hair or wear fake tan.”
Billi warns: “But we don’t like a man with a chest rug like Austin Powers either.”
When asked what the future holds, the girls both grin.
Billi laughs: “We will still be the same as we are now when we’re old ladies.
“We’ll be on rocking chairs with rollers in our hair, covered in fake tan and STILL be single.”
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Sussex officials debate state, federal fair-housing laws - Delaware Wave
GEORGETOWN -- Sussex County officials reacted with skepticism to a briefing on the lengths to which landlords must go to accommodate disabled tenants under state and federal fair-housing laws.
"We're not going to like hearing what you're saying. Just tell us all these things and maybe we can keep our mouths shut," Sussex County Councilman George Cole told representatives from the Delaware State Housing Authority and the Division of Human Relations. "It makes us all madder and madder that we're living under these terms."
Ines Hungria, a Division of Human Relations investigator, walked officials from the County Council, the zoning board and the Board of Adjustment through the strictures of fair housing laws this week.
Most of the questions dealt with animals. The law is clear: Landlords who don't want pets in their rental apartments must still allow people with service or companion animals to rent from them, Hungria said. And landlords can't say no to a companion animal like a pit bull merely because people feel threatened by it, she said, invoking a hypothetical pit bull, Zeke, a companion animal to a tenant suffering from depression, and a neighbor girl, Sarah. Unless Zeke were to bite Sarah, Hungria said, the dog can't be kicked out.
"So I can't prevent someone from renting with a pit bull if their spouse says they need a pit bull to combat depression?" Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips said. That's correct, Hungria said, although she said it's usually a doctor's note that justifies the dog. "What if Sarah's doctor certified that the dog is causing her to be depressed?" Phillips retorted.
It was one of several times officials played devil's advocate to illustrate strange conclusions fair-housing laws could lead them to draw.
"Everybody should run to the doctor, and everybody in the whole place should have a dog," Councilman Sam Wilson suggested.
Others at the meeting wondered if the law meant their zoning laws couldn't limit where group homes for the disabled could be built.
"If you deny it, have very good reasons," was Hungria's advice.
Fair and affordable housing advocates in Delaware have complained that some Sussex municipalities have discouraged poor people from renting apartments. A 2002 report from the Sussex Housing Group complained about a "tightening of code enforcement on housing occupied by minority groups, especially Latinos," in Selbyville and Georgetown.
Today, Hungria said, she and her colleagues get 50-60 complaints of housing discrimination a year, and they have formal investigations opened on about 15 of them at any one time.
Robert Wheatley, chairman of the county's Planning & Zoning Commission, said the training was important to make sure government officials and landlords knew the ins and outs of the law. He said he asked questions about the rules to make sure "there is some safeguard against people who might try to game the system."
Source: www.delmarvanow.com
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