DT Fine Art

Editor,

The Pennsylvania community-based providers who help our citizens with mental health, intellectual disabilities or addiction were relieved to hear Gov. Tom Corbett vow to protect the most vulnerable in our society during his proposed 2011-12 state budget address.

Every day, the more than 200 members of the Pennsylvania Community Providers Association (PCPA) treat individuals and families who need a strong safety net to support them toward independence and self-sufficiency. PCPA member agencies serve more than 1 million Pennsylvanians yearly, many of whom are enrolled in state programs funded by the Department of Public Welfare.

Over the past several years, the state budget has either cut or flat-lined funding for services designed to assist Pennsylvanians who cope with mental and behavioral challenges.While other state programs received funding increases, many of our agencies struggled to remain open and some did not succeed.

In his proposed budget, Gov. Corbett did not fund a newly created Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.We understand and support his position that it is better to use limited funding on treatment rather than administration.

PCPA will work with state lawmakers as they craft a state budget.We understand that fiscal discipline requires a shared sacrifice.However, lawmakers need to understand that our most vulnerable citizens coping with intellectual disabilities, mental health issues and addiction have shouldered much of that sacrifice in the past several years.

Now is the time to draft a spending plan for our state that is responsible and protects those who need our services the most.

George Kimes, executive director,

Pennsylvania Community Providers Assn.

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OLYMPIA –
The Washington Senate has proposed a ferry operations budget that is slightly smaller than the Houses version.

The Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday released a proposed 2011-2013 transportation budget that calls for $492.3 million in spending on ferry operations. The proposal calls for a $2.5 percent annual fare increase as well as a 25-cents-per-ticket surcharge to raise money to build a new 144-car ferry later this decade — money that will go to the capital budget.

The Senate and House budgets used different ways to add up the operations and capital portions of their proposed budgets, meaning adjustments are needed for a close-to apples-to-apples comparison. An apples-to-apples comparison would put the Houses proposed ferry operating budget at $501.5 million.

The House version included an already-implemented 2.5 percent rate increase plus a 5 percent rate increase later this year. Then it would add a 2.5 percent rate hike in 2012.

The House version does not include the Senates proposed 25-cent surcharge. Instead, the House Transportation Committee proposes transferring money from other state transportation department accounts to help build the proposed 144-car ferry.

Both the House and Senate proposals would spend more than the $440.6 million plan submitted in January by Gov. Chris Gregoire. The governors proposed budget includes a recent 2.5 percent rate increase and a proposed 7.5 percent rate increase later this year. It does not include the 25-cent ferry construction surcharge.

The ferry operations budget for the current two-year budget cycle is $427.5 million.

The biggest reason for the budget bump is increased fuel costs. WSF expects to spend $58 million to $59 million more on fuel in the next two years compared to the last two.

All three proposals would cut some ferry runs.

Information was not available Tuesday on how the Senate version would affect Kitsap runs.

The House proposal would get rid of a midday round-trip on the Bremerton-Seattle route in fall, winter and spring. Gregoires proposal calls for eliminating runs after 9:05 pm between Seattle and Bremerton.

The House Transportation Committee is scheduled to vote at 3:30 Wednesday on whether to send its entire transportation appropriations bill — including the ferries portion — to the full House. The Senate Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing on its transportation appropriations package at the same time.

Sens. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island, and Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, both said late Tuesday afternoon that they hadnt had a chance to read their houses transportation budget. They declined to comment.

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HART COUNTY –
The Hart County Cooperative Extension will provide a commercial pesticide applicator’s training for people who have a commercial pesticide license. The training will start 8 am March 14 at the Hart County Cooperative Extension Office, 200 Arthur St. in Hartwell.

A video on “New Herbicides for Residential Turf,” and “Georgia Department of Ag Role and Activities” will be shown for all commercial (two hours) categories and private (one hour).

For more information and to sign up, call the Hart County Extension Office at (706) 376-3134.

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by Jack Minor

Cory Gardner is among a growing list of Republicans in the house who oppose the federal governments adding debt until its financial affairs are in order.

Government waste and spending was one of the key reasons Republicans swept control of the House in November. Government spending is now at a point where many economists say it is unsustainable.

Last year the Democrat-controlled Congress failed to pass a budget as required by the Constitution. Since the budget deadline has passed, the government has been operating with a series of continuing resolutions.

 With the election of the new Congress, fierce debate has ensued over the budget. While both sides talk of spending cuts it is important to understand what the term means.

In Washington it is customary for programs to have a certain rate of increase. If the rate of increase changes, it is considered a cut even if the amount has increased. For example, if a program normally increased by 10 percent a year but the budget only allowed for an 8 percent increase over last years budget, that is considered a budget cut.

The current federal debt is over $14 trillion. That is the equivalent of one dollar bills stacked end to end reaching from the earth to the sun and back seven times. Every member of Congress acknowledges the issue needs to be dealt with. Several members, including Cory Gardner and Sen. Mark Udall, have proposed balanced budget amendments.

Part of the debate concerns raising the debt limit of the federal government which is expected to hit the $14.3 trillion ceiling around April 15. House Speaker John Boehner has repeatedly said the limit needs to be raised. Boehner, along with democratic leaders, believes not raising the limit would cause the government to default on obligations and damage the US credit rating.

 That allegation is disputed by the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute which say the government could still service interest on the debt with existing tax revenues provided substantial cuts are made to the budget.

 A survey by WorldnetDaily reveals that there are currently 121 House Republicans opposed to taking on more debt while 55 others are also opposed but with conditions such as spending cuts. The survey was based on direct answers and public statements by officials. The survey also said that only 22 of the 241 members believe Boehners position that rasing the debt is vital.

 Cory Gardner is on the list of Republicans opposing more debt. Gardner said, We should not even be talking about raising the debt ceiling until we have made substantive spending cuts and spending reform.  Endless borrowing is not a viable strategy.”

 Former Congressman, Tom Tancredo, has said he hopes the party will stand firm in its commitment by refusing to raise the debt limit. I absolutely support not raising the government debt limit. I would shut down the federal government in a heartbeat. He went on to say, I would love for people to see how long you could shut it down without having any ill effect.  What if we shut it down and nobody knew?

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MAASTRICHT, THE NETHERLANDS — The early signs of the commotion that might fundamentally alter the biggest art-selling show in the world can be detected across the European Fine Art Fair, which opened its doors to the public on Friday.

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Otto Neumann Ltd.

Rembrandt’s “Portrait of Man with Arms Akimbo” is being offered for sale by Otto Neumann of New York.

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At first glance, the massive presence of the world’s leading dealers in Old Master paintings gives the illusion of continuity. Maastricht is where multimillionaire collectors and museum curators congregate in larger numbers than anywhere else.

Pictures with names that remind you of the National Gallery in London or the Louvre in Paris hang along the central avenue, even if the works that live up to their exalted signatures are inexorably getting scarcer.

Stepping onto the stand of Johnny Van Haeften of London, you can come across a small gem by Gerard Terborch, “The Card Players,” one of the greatest works by the 17th-century Dutch master. If anything surpasses it, it is Jan van de Cappelle’s marine depicting “Two Smalschips and Other Shipping Off a Sandbank in a Calm,” to use the long-winded title coined by 20th-century catalogers.

But neither are recent discoveries. Both have been seen before in Mr. Van Haeften’s London gallery. And while a delightful “Wooded Landscape With the Conversation of Saint Eustace” done in the late 16th century by Jan Breughel the Elder, another hallowed name in the museum world, does not look quite so familiar, it is no discovery either. The picture was sold in Zürich as recently as March 2008, before entering a “German collection.”

The fate of these three pictures is typical of our time. Fewer and fewer collectors are capable of recognizing a masterpiece of the 16th or 17th century or inclined to live with it.

Part of the reason lies in the drying up of supplies. The most discerning connoisseurs are dependent on the sum total of works they have seen. When the pictures of a given painter only appear at distant intervals, potential buyers become scarce, unless an exalted name such as Rembrandt is there to stimulate outsiders in search of status-enhancing trophies. A portrait by Rembrandt displayed by Otto Neumann of New York will no doubt find a home, even at €33.7 million, or $47 million.

A more fundamental reason for the dwindling numbers of wealthy connoisseurs tempted by subtle masterpieces by Old Masters lies in the radical change of perception. Terborch’s “Card Players” like Vermeer’s greatest works and van de Cappelle’s marines, is about nuances in the handling of light. The feeling of time suspended that emanates from the Terborch invites meditation, and so does the greatness of nature at sea when the elements unleashed make man feel puny, as in van de Cappelle’s admirable picture. Unfortunately, meditation is no longer the order of the day.

Professionals respond to the shift of public mood. Some leading dealers in Impressionist and Modern art who take part in the Maastricht Fair have all but eliminated Impressionism, seen as too soft and dreamy. It is virtually absent from the display of the Hopkins-Custot gallery, now focused on the 20th century. The same is true of Jacques de la Béraudière of Geneva.

At the Galerie Berès, long renowned for its sophisticated works by avant-garde artists of the late 19th century, the change of direction is startling. The second half of the 20th century reigns supreme, from Simon Hantaï to Jean-René Bazaine represented by a small abstract gem of 1956.

The move toward modernity is even more evident in the separate section reserved for works on paper on the first floor where specialists known to collectors for their fine Old Master drawings give greater attention to the 19th and 20th century.

On the stand of Stephen Ongpin, the masterpiece is one of the most beautiful seaside views ever done by Eugène Boudin. “A Study of Sea and Sky,” as the London dealer calls the watercolor, probably dates from the 1850s.

At Day & Faber of London, the “Portrait of an Oak Tree” in Ettersberger Park done in 1870 by Paul Wilhelm Tubbecke, is a sensational discovery. With this huge tree rising across the backdrop of a faraway lake, Tubbecke comes across as a master of the Surreal.

German art of the 19th century is indeed one of the last frontiers open to exploration. Important artists whose work is only familiar to collectors in their homeland remain available. Johann Georg von Dillis is one of them. Katrin Bellinger at Colnaghi shows a view in oil on paper probably dating from the 1830s. “The River Isar With Prater Island,” very bold in its sketchiness, is astonishingly ahead of its time.

This search for novelty with a modernist whiff goes on in unexpected areas.

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An art student from Lincoln has opened an alternative college in his living room as a protest against rising tuition fees.

Paul Stewart, a fine art student, set up the Alternative Art College because he believes education should be free.

The 20-year-olds idea was to create a place where people learn about a topic without having to pay for it.

Annual fees could rise to £9,000 next year. Mr Stewart said: You cant put a price on education and knowledge.

The college does not offer formal qualifications but welcomes people to get involved and take part in debates about art as commentary and the relationship between art and politics.

Quiet protest

Mr Stewart said: I have always involved politics in my art work, the college is about protesting in a non-aggressive way and providing people a place where they can develop knowledge.

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As temperatures warm up and the snow begins to melt, residents are saying goodbye to some seasonal pastimes.

Indeed, spring has officially arrived.

For some families, March break was a great chance to get out on the frozen lakes and catch the last few fish of the season, but for Kathy McKim carving up the hills at Snow Valley was the place for her family to be.

McKim and her two sons, five-year-old, Shawn, and six-year-old, Kyle, took to the hills on Sunday to take advantage of the last day of the break, and the last few weeks of snow.

We were here at 10 am and we did a few runs, so two hours is fine, she said. Last year, I didnt come for March break because I figured it would be packed.

The sun was shining and the ski resorts hills were groomed to fine shape, but McKim said the final day of the break wasnt as busy as she anticipated.

The one thing that I found, was when I came on Wednesdays it wasnt busy, so that was really nice, she said. Then I came on Friday and it was packed. During the week they have a lot of school buses, so theres a lot of kids and beginner skiers, and these guys (her sons) are small, so its nice for me to avoid that.

John Ball, general manager of Snow Valley, said rain and snow determined the quality of snow during the break, but the overall season proved to be a good one.

The weather was up and down but we had some rain and then we had some cold weather, he said. Were wrapping up the break today (Sunday) and its after 1 pm and its -5 C out there. We have some of the best conditions weve had all year to wrap up the break.

Ball said the ski hill is looking to call it a season at the end of the month, but not before opening a long-running tradition to skiers and snowboarders.

Were looking at wrapping up the season for snowboarding and skiing on the 27th of March, and well have our end-of-season puddle jump, said Ball.

We put an 80-foot-long puddle on the bottom of the hill by the chalet and people come down the hill and scoot across the puddle on their skis or snowboards, Ball said.

In addition to snow melting, lakes are defrosting and thinning out local ice fishing, but anglers said they are reeling with the season theyve had.

It was a good year for the ice. The ice was solid and stayed solid, said Sue Villani, owner of Love to Fish Simcoe in Innisfil. Weve still got 18 inches in places, but people still have to be careful.

Villani and her husband, Vito, rent out ice hunts on Cooks Bay, off the end of Killarny Beach Road, and said fishing has generally been good, but this time of year people need to be cautious.

There are still people going out. They take out portable huts or fish out in the open because its so mild, Villani said. Some people cut big squares out of the ice for their huts, but people who are out there walking should be aware; those holes will be exposed.

Trish Wise of Phillips Fish Hut Rentals on Minets Point Road, said their season started off slow, but picked up in mid-January and maintained momentum.

It was a slow beginning, but it picked up and finished pretty well. We had 14 huts out the second week of January, said Wise. About half of our customers were catching their limit of whitefish.

Given the current change in temperature, Wise said she has noticed the changes in the ice and advises people to be safe and call it a season.

I dont suggest it (being on the ice). Its getting sloppy out there and the pressure cracks are getting bigger, she said.

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Angelina Pivarnick, the girl from Jersey Shore who left the house in each of the first two seasons, was 86d from another nightclub over the weekend.

She was just doing what she does best – getting into an altercation with another chick – when patrons began complaining about Anges behavior.

She and The Situation were co-hosting an event at Club La Vela in Panama City, Fla., until she was rude to patrons and staff and was escorted out.

Sources inside the establishment say that the final straw was when the former reality star drunkenly tried to fight another girl in the VIP. area.

Angie left without further incident and isnt permanently banned from the joint, but still says shes considering taking legal action against the club.

She claims she was never in a fight (where would we get that idea) and is pissed at club security for putting her in a headlock for no reason.

Perhaps she should stick to her other pastimes, such as SANCTIONED fights in the wrestling ring or just calling Snooki a fat troll. Much better.

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Scott began with a lively 40-minute presentation — complete with pie charts and ample jokes. By the time he fielded the audiences questions, many had been answered.

He defended his vote for the recent continuing spending resolution, which contained a small cut, and he explained that the continuing resolution did not contain $105 billion for President Barack Obamas health care reform that passed last year.

The far bigger fight over spending lies ahead, as Republicans try to trim $61 billion from the $3.5 trillion the federal government expects to spend this year.

While that might sound like a small slice, Scott noted the government has only about $666 billion in non-defense discretionary spending — about $278 billion of which already has been spent since the federal fiscal year began Oct. 1.

So when were talking about cutting $61 billion, were not talking all of that ($3.5 trillion), he said. Were talking about getting that from $388 billion. … Weve got to get the whole $61 billion from that piece of the pie because everything else is off the table. … When youre talking about cutting 18 percent of the spending in one area, its a serious cut.

Scott said he doesnt favor defense cuts at the moment, given the state of the world. Our world is a freak show right now, he said. We cant keep up with it. Democracy is spreading, but its ugly. Its messy. And thats OK. We just have to be prepared to pay the price.

While Scott kept the town halls tone light, he turned serious near the end and talked about the moral imperative of reining in the federal government.

We must cut spending, not because its fun. Not because it doesnt hurt. Not because we arent cutting some good things and bad things, but for one reason: There is no America at the end, Scott said. Whether we go away in 2021 or not, the bottom line is, call the game over.

This, unfortunately is not a joke, he added. This is where I get pretty emotional because people have died so we can have this liberty that we are so in love with, but it comes with a responsibility. And our responsibility and my responsibility is to stop spending money I simply do not have.

Scott said conservatives often arent good at marketing or selling their ideas, adding, The press isnt on our side. God bless you guys for being here, but the press typically does not report conservative issues well.

Scotts performance impressed Jay Rivers Fennell, who worked on Scotts campaign. In a nutshell, he is legitimate, Fennell said. He is not only honest, but legitimate.

But one woman who didnt give her name didnt like everything she heard, particularly when Scott briefly spoke in support of school vouchers. Lets do in our public schools, she said of the idea. Lets really knock them good.

Scott lingered afterward to greet supporters and answer further questions. He plans to hold a similar town hall April 20 at the Charleston Area Convention Center.

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March 21

Watercolor, friendship inspire at Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center

Twenty years ago, teacher Pat Carpenter fulfilled her student teaching with second grade teacher Cindy Reynolds at Mountain View Elementary. The experience turned into a friendship that has lasted throughout the years. Reynolds retired after 35 years of teaching, but has found new opportunities to utilize her time and talents.
One of her favorite pastimes is watercolor painting. Ironically, her first class was funded by a stipend she received for acting as a cooperating teacher for Carpenter, who was a student at Marywood University at the time. Reynolds love and skill in the medium have grown into sharing with adult and student classes.
As a result, Reynolds recently presented three sessions to Carpenters gifted class at Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center.
Madison Lee, Maggie Reppa, and Morgan Faist participated in the sessions, which resulted in their own framed paintings that they were able to take home.
During the first session, the girls learned that everything is composed of shapes and that concept enabled them to draw whatever they see. They also learned to mix colors and were amazed at the colors they could mix using only the three primary colors of paint.
I think it was really fun. I didnt know I could every draw this well. Im really glad I got the chance to do it, said Reppa.
During the second session, their drawing skills were refined by having them focus on daffodils and the shapes that make the flowers.
I really enjoyed Miss Reynolds coming into our classroom because I love to paint, said Faist.
During the final session they drew daffodils, painted them in watercolor and framed them.
I never believed I could paint. I was amazed with the finished result. She really is an amazing instructor, said Lee.
Following the painting with the girls, Reynolds was seen at the Dalton Community Library inspiring a dozen students for two sessions in the Kreative Kids series. They drew, mixed colors, and then painted bookmarks using the skills they had learned.

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