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GRASS cutting and floral displays must be slashed as South Tyneside's ground maintenance programme moves from "a Rolls Royce to a Ford Focus" standard of service, senior councillors have agreed.

The borough could be a less colourful place after it was agreed to slice 500,the Injection mold fast!000 from the budget to maintain our green areas.

Cash-strapped South Tyneside Council ¨C facing 35m worth of cuts over the next year ¨C is to introduce a series of efficiency measures aimed at "getting more for less".

Proposals include reducing the frequency of grass cutting, decreasing the height and depth of shrub borders and hedges ¨C while reviewing "high maintenance tasks" such as spring bedding and the display of hanging baskets.

Also earmarked in the value for money savings are borough bowling greens ¨C which will be subject to reduced maintenance.what are the symptoms of Piles,

Council bosses have had to identify across-the-board savings, with cuts to everything from school road safety patrols to luncheon clubs for the elderly.

About 600 council posts across all departments are being axed, although it is hoped the job losses will be achieved through voluntary redundancies.

Last month, the Gazette revealed how the council had put plastic flowers in hanging baskets outside South Shields Town Hall as part of a money-saving trial ¨C but the experiment received a withering response from many of our readers.

Members of the council's decision-making cabinet agreed the latest cost-saving measures when they met last week.We processes for both low-risk and high risk merchant account.

In a report to the committee, Coun Jim Perry, the council's lead member for environment and transport,buy landscape oil paintings online. called for a more "truthful and realistic" approach to the standard of service the public can expect. He said: "Because of the budget situation we find ourselves in, members were given a car analogy that agreed we need to stop thinking of a Rolls Royce service, but more of a Ford Focus one that is reliable and well maintained.

"We need to look at simpler, neater and more low maintenance environments, such as areas that presently have high maintenance features simply being grassed over.

"In many areas we could simply reduce the frequency of cutting grass.Largest Collection of billabong boardshorts,

"Another example is the creation of wildflower meadows, which are environmentally better and cheaper.

"Local farmers might wild cut for the council.

"High maintenance and less sustainable tasks need to be looked at closely with a view to removing these, such as planting of spring bedding and hanging baskets and the intensive maintenance of bowling greens with low usage."

The timing of our change in view is primarily due to the comfort we have that the company's new product line is coming together in a way that should result in a product by year-end 2011.

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The company has a solid balance sheet and profitability. We project that MEMC will end 2011 with $1 per share in net cash. The company is solidly profitable and looks to earn approximately $1 in generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) earnings-per-share in 2012.

There is choppy weather ahead, but the company's valuation more than makes up for it.We processes for both low-risk and high risk merchant account. At the current price of $11, take away $1 for cash per share and the stock is selling for 10 times next year's earnings.

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Up until now,buy landscape oil paintings online.the Injection mold fast! SunPower (SPWRA) (rated at Sell) has held the record for solar cell efficiency. We believe MEMC could challenge it.

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Green Mountain Energy Company in Texas is betting that people are interested enough in solar to pay more for it than for traditional grid power.

The company launched a solar leasing program this week that will allow people to buy into a 20-year lease of solar panels for their residential roofs. The goal is to provide a lower-cost option, with no upfront investment to people who are keen on getting green power.

There's just one catch. The solar lease will cost more than grid power.

The Dallas Morning News reported that an average-size 4-kilowatt array will cost a customer $100 a month and will produce about 450 kilowatt hours of electricity. At current rates,what are the symptoms of Piles, that power would cost the customer $45 to $50, according to the newspaper.

So are people really willing to pay double for clean energy?

Jason Sears, senior manager of product strategy and marketing for Green Mountain Energy,buy landscape oil paintings online. said people are.

"The folks that are interested in solar aren't just interested in saving money," Sears said. "They're interested because they think solar is the right thing to do, and they want to do the right thing."

Sears said the company has several customers who installed panels on their homes despite a lack of incentives, and they had to pay all the upfront ownership costs.

He said the company has been looking for a way to add a solar panel lease option for quite some time because customers had been asking for it.

"The interest has been great so far,the Injection mold fast!" Sears said. "We've had a lot of calls and email from people who want more information and are interested in doing it."

The program can be tailor-made to suite each individual homeowner in that they can pay an even amount throughout the lease or arrange to have it start low and gradually increase,We processes for both low-risk and high risk merchant account. Sears said.

Also, in the event a homeowner leases an array that produces more power than the owner uses, Green Mountain Energy buys it back at the same rate customers pay for power as part of the utility's Renewables Rewards program.

"We have one of the most generous rewards programs out there," Sears said.

While the lease program is double the regular price now, Sears said he believes there is enough momentum behind solar to drive people to the leases.

"We're really excited about the lease program," he said.Largest Collection of billabong boardshorts, "We really believe it's the most accessible and affordable way for more people to go solar."

SUSIE GHARIB, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT ANCHOR: Stocks bounced back today, thanks to a batch of solid earnings reports from corporate America. But one of Wall Street's biggest names wasn't among them -- Goldman Sachs. The investment bank's first quarter profits were down 21 percent. Goldman earned $1.56 a share. That was a big drop from the $5.59 that it earned a year ago. Still, the results were much stronger than analysts expected. Suzanne Pratt takes a look at some of the speed bumps on the road ahead for Goldman.

SUZANNE PRATT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: This is a familiar image when you hear the words Goldman Sachs. That's CEO Lloyd Blankfein on the far left, testifying before Congress early last year about who gets blamed for the financial crisis. Fast forward to today, when Goldman reported its latest quarterly results. The numbers were OK, not stellar, yet the giant investment bank continues to prove it's weathered the financial crisis and recession pretty well. Nevertheless, Goldman is now facing new headwinds, including a tarnished reputation. But Suzanne McGee, author of "Chasing Goldman Sachs," says the bank should be most concerned about its rival, JPMorgan Chase.

SUZANNE MCGEE, AUTHOR, CHASING GOLDMAN SACHS: It's been profiting quietly from all the hullabaloo surrounding Goldman Sachs. And if I were sitting there in Goldman Sachs' executive offices, I be looking over my shoulder fairly constantly and worrying more about what they are doing perhaps than what the public thought of me.

PRATT: And then there's the question of Blankfein and his big, but somewhat scuffed, shoes. Blankfein apparently has no plans to step down just yet, but already on Wall Street, the succession speculation has begun. While there's little agreement on a frontrunner, there is on one point -- the new chief will not be an outsider.

MCGEE: It historically has not done that. It would be almost a violation of their culture at a time when they're trying to go back to their roots, culturally speaking.

PRATT: And, of course, Goldman's stock price is another challenge. So far this year, the shares are down 10 percent, more than its brethren and lagging the overall market. Morningstar analyst Michael Wong does not believe the public's anger toward Goldman is the problem.

MICHAEL WONG, CAPITAL MARKETS ANALYST, MORNINGSTAR: We believe that the company's stock is mainly being affected by the cost of financial reform -- the capital requirements and also some other threats to its business model, such as the Volcker rule.

PRATT: And then, there's still questions about future financial reforms. No one really knows how those changes might affect Goldman's business model or earnings power in years to come. Suzanne Pratt, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.

Japan's Damage Estimates

SUSIE GHARIB: In Japan, workers started today draining highly radioactive water from the basement of that badly damaged nuclear plant. It's the latest step to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi plant and prevent more toxic spills into the ocean. Meanwhile, initial damage estimates from Japan's massive earthquake and tsunami are coming in from the insurance industry. Total insured losses range from $12 billion to $34 billion. Now to get more perspective on that, earlier today, Tom Hudson talked with Shivan Subramanian, the CEO of FM Global. It's a commercial property insurance firm. Tom began by asking what the firm's damage estimate is.

SHIVAN SUBRAMANIAM, CEO, FM GLOBAL: Yes, right now, even though we have about $7.3 billion of capital in one of the largest property insurers in the world, I would estimate there are Japanese losses that are going to come under $150 million.

TOM HUDSON, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: So a bit on the lower side from some of your competitors. What's the biggest source of losses for FMF Global in Japan?

SUBRAMANIAM: In Japan, most of them are earthquake-related, where there is damage to buildings or damage to equipment within the properties. And second, behind that is some water damage because of the tsunami.

HUDSON: Are you able to model any longer lasting damage from the radiation problems, from the damaged nuclear plant?

SUBRAMANIAM: No. It is very hard to do that. And right now, as you know, it's the area that is cordoned off is at least 50 miles in diameter and it is going to take us a while to look at it. The one thing I would say is given from what we know from what's going on, is that, you know, this is a country that is very well-prepared and has done a lot of good things in terms of disaster preparedness and so if there is any country that is going to recover well from this, it is probably Japan.

HUDSON: But address, from the industry's perspective, from insurance, Shivran, how the unknown impact of the continuation of the nuclear situation may impact business not only in Japan but worldwide.

SUBRAMANIAM: Yes. And there are several issues that are not just the nuclear contamination, but it's also the fact that that has led to a substantial reduction in power supply which means that a country that is so finally tuned with this manufacturing processes needs to have power on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is how they run their businesses. And they now have rolling black outs. So you combine that within the potential of damage from nuclear contamination, this could become a long- term situation.

HUDSON: Talking about business interruption insurance, is there much of that in Japan and is that impacted by these rolling brownouts that could become more of a fact of life in the next several weeks and months?

SUBRAMANIAM: Absolutely. The one thing that we will not know for at least another I would say 90 to 180 days if not more, is what exactly is the impact of business interruption. Because you can have business interruption many, many different ways. One example that most people don't realize is you can have a supplier, supplying a supplier, who's supplying a supplier and there is a small manufacturer in the Midwest which has a single location in the Midwest United States, who has that chain of suppliers. So it may take them several months before they start to recognize or really feel the impact from that business interruption. This is something that's going to take a while to know what the extent of the damage is going to be.

In a hush-hush but extraordinary ceremony earlier this week, Portland filmmaker Todd Haynes, whose "Mildred Pierce" played to such acclaim on HBO in the past month, had his portrait hung in Portland's City Hall by Mayor Sam Adams.

The portrait was painted by Steven Cohn, the local artist who works under the pseudonym Jasper Marks and is married to Haynes' sister, the musician Wendy Haynes.  The original will hang inside Mayor Adams' office, but a copy of the portrait, signed by both Haynes and Cohn, will be auctioned off to help fund The Right Brain Initiative, which is dedicated to funding arts education in the public schools.

The Mayor's office issued a statement about the portrait and the signing.

Here's a video of Haynes, Cohn and the mayor discussing the genesis of the painting:

Sam Adams and Filmmaker Todd Haynes Unveil Portrait in Mayor's Office from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.

And here are Haynes and Cohn signing a print of the portrait for the auction:

Filmmaker Todd Haynes Signs Portrait to Donate for Arts Education from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.

Doug Warren started his career as a minister, left the church to pursue other professions and then, when most people are thinking about retirement, came back to the ministry.

Warren, who has been a minister at Wall Street United Church for the past nine years, will officially lead his last service there on Easter Sunday (April 24).

"Theologically, Easter represents resurrection and new life and, in retirement, I will head into a new life," said Warren.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Warren graduated from Glebe Collegiate Institute before attending Houghton College in New York State. There he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and English. After graduation, Warren decided he wanted to see more of the world and went to Hong Kong, which was still a British colony.

"I ran out of money so I taught English at a school for two years," he said.

Returning to Canada, he became an ordained minister in the Free Methodist Church in 1963. After taking advanced theological studies, he was appointed chaplain of Lorne Park College outside of Toronto. Based on his experiences teaching in Hong Kong, Warren started a program for young people graduating from junior college in which they could participate in a self-sustaining ministry.

"These ministries were not evangelical but rather having those entering the program do some good in the world," he said.

Officials at the Free Methodist Church were so impressed with the program they had Warren design the Volunteers In Service Abroad or VISA initiative which still exists. But being a minister in the Free Methodist Church wasn't a good fit for Warren, who left the ministry and, being proficient in playing piano, started on a musical career.

For the next 16 years he played piano at cocktail lounges and bars throughout Canada with most of his time spent at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. Then he was asked to return to the family business, a men's clothing store chain in Ottawa which has gone under the names Warren's Men's Wear, House of Britches and now just Warren's. At one time the family operated 13 stores in Ottawa but that number has been reduced to three. Warren worked at the clothing stores for seven years. The business has remained in the family with Warren's nephew now operating the stores.

After leaving the business, Warren was first on the advisory board of Algonquin College and then was invited to teach at the school. Thoroughly enjoying teaching, Warren said after conducting classes, "I would be as high as a kite."

But after three years at the school, Warren said God kept asking him, "Wouldn't you rather be teaching about life?" At that point, he was 55 but decided to become an active part of the ministry again. Warren joined the United Church "where I could serve with integrity because of the church's inclusiveness."

Under the church's requirements, Warren had to have a Master of Divinity degree, so he returned to school, attending Queen's University's Theological College. He was first introduced to the Brockville area while still a student minister and preached at Spencerville and Roebuck United Churches. He also served as a student minister for one year at Wall Street United Church before receiving his university degree.

While he was now qualified to preach in a United Church, he did not believe it would be at Wall Street because church rules did not allow a student minister at a church to return as a minister at that same congregation. However, Rev. Dr. Alan Bennett, then minister of Wall Street, encouraged him to apply for a staff position at the church. He was accepted by church officials who considered him a supply minister from another denomination.

After Bennett retired from the ministry, Rev. Kimberley Heath joined the staff at Wall Street three years ago. With a congregation of over 500 families, "the church is too large for just one minister," said Warren.

Assisted by a second minister, Warren had some time to pursue another of his interests - helping orphaned children in Kenya. He journeyed to Kenya in 2004 to visit his cousin, John West, who was director of logistics of East Africa for the International Committee of the Red Cross. While there, Warren was particularly moved by the plight of the many children who had been left orphans because AIDS, which was rampant, had killed their parents.

"An entire generation of adults between the ages of 20 and 40 were wiped out because of the AIDS disease," he said.

Warren described Kenya as the most beautiful country in the world and the cradle of humanity but it also has many challenges, including the orphans left from AIDS. While in Kenya, he received an opportunity to visit an orphanage in Nairobi where there were only three caregivers for 135 children.

"When we asked the director of the orphanage how we could help she said they needed more people 'to love our kids,'" he said.

Moved by the need in the orphanage, Warren launched Our Kenyan Kids program which now supports children and youth affected by poverty and or HIV/AIDS by providing education, training, humanitarian aid and nurturing relationships - one child at a time. The program also provides necessities, including food, nutritional supplements and medical supplies as well as support for construction and renovations at orphanages, schools and related facilities. And there is spiritual support without regard to their faith, ethnic origin, social class or world view.

Warren and other church members have made several trips to Kenya to help arrange for the various programs operated through Our Kenyan Kids. Personal donations from the organization's board of directors and specific fund-raisers covers administration costs so every dollar donated is used for assisting the children according to Warren.

Our Kenyan Kids has also funded the hiring of additional caregivers for the orphanage in Nairobi so now the ratio is one caregiver for 20 children which is much improved over the old ratio of one caregiver to about 40 children. Even so, the ratio is not wonderful, said Warren "when you consider in this country you have parents to spend quality time with only one or two children."

Warren will be leaving for Kenya in the middle of October with about 11 other supporters of Our Kenyan Kids to oversee more work by the organization.

While he will be spending time on the Our Kenyan Kids project, Warren also enjoys travelling and plans to return to Hong Kong as well as spend time with a cousin in Manila and a friend in Malaysia. Perhaps after a year, he may return part-time to the ministry possibly preaching in smaller churches. Warren, who holds a minor degree in fine arts, would also like to return to another pastime of oil painting.