The parties involved in a lawsuit filed last year over an ordinance that set up the city of Aspen's 20-cent grocery-store-bag fee have agreed to try to resolve the case through summary-judgment motions, according to documents filed last month in Pitkin County District Court.

The suit against the city initially was filed in August by the Mountain States Legal Foundation on behalf of the plaintiff, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers Foundation, a Boulder-based organization whose local members include Aspen mayoral candidate Maurice Emmer and frequent city critic Elizabeth Milias, who operates the Red Ant political blog. At a March 7 status conference, attorneys for both parties set up a schedule of summary-judgment motions.

The foundation filed its motion on March 21, asking District Judge Gail Nichols to strike down the city's 2011 ordinance that bans plastic-bag distribution at the city's two grocery stores, Clark's Market and City Market, and collects a 20-cent fee on each paper bag the shoppers purchase from the stores in lieu of using their own reusable bags. The city has until April 11 to respond. Other replies to motions and cross motions are due in May.

Opponents say the ordinance — which a majority of council members agreed to pass as an example of environmental stewardship — violates the state's Taxpayer Bill of Rights because city voters weren't allowed to decide the issue. They claim the bag fee is actually a tax.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights, commonly known as TABOR, is a provision of the state constitution requiring a public vote before any local government can create new debt, levy new taxes, increase tax rates or institute tax-policy changes directly causing a net tax-revenue gain.

Emmer could not be reached for immediate comment on Sunday, but he has commented on the city's action on The Aspen Times' website.

“The issue could have been avoided by putting the issue on a ballot instead of doing it by city council fiat,” he wrote in the days after the ordinance was passed 19 months ago. “City council was warned about that at the time but dismissed the issue as ‘tea bagger' whining. Not only did the city waste the legal resources of city attorney trying to make this work without a ballot, but now they will have to use the city attorney's time to defend the case and, if the city loses, pay the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees.

“Why is the city intent on using public resources to prove a legal point that nobody cares about? Just repeal the ordinance and put it on a ballot. Or is City Council afraid that the citizens wouldn't be enlightened enough to adopt this tax if given the choice, so omniscient city government should make the choice for the ignorant citizens?”

City Attorney Jim True has said he and former City Attorney John Worcester spent a lot of time researching the legality of the ordinance setting up the bag fee. He said it should hold up in court because the share of the revenue that the city receives through a split with the stores goes into a fund for specific environmental programs rather than the city's general fund.

Councilman Torre, who pushed for the measure in 2011, said Sunday that although he's not an attorney, he is confident the bag fee will pass judicial muster.

“Overall, I think the ordinance has been a success,” he said. “I think the community and visitors, as well, have embraced it.”

Torre, who also is running for mayor,Shop the latest collection of bottega wallet from the most popular stores. said the bag fee is a “first step” in reducing plastic waste generated in Aspen and that he hopes the community will collaborate in support of other waste-management initiatives that further that goal.Shop the latest collection of bottega wallet from the most popular stores.

For 400 million years the Barron River in Queensland has steadily carved out a deep gorge through hard granite, shaping spectacular waterfalls cascading from tropical rain forest.

For indigenous people the gorge is the home of Buda-dji the Carpet Snake who, in the dreamtime, cut out the Barron River from the coast to the tablelands.

Buda-dji travelled along the Barron Gorge with his beautiful Nautilus shells, bartered them with different clans along the river for dilly bags and eel traps.

Ambushed by baddies, he came to an untimely end. Fortunately, today he lives again, transformed by Aboriginal artist George Riley into an artistic masterpiece of rain forest indigenous art on the locomotive of the Kuranda Scenic Railway that runs daily from Cairns up the gorge to Kuranda, “the village in the forest”.

At Cairns station, we boarded the last heritage carriage on the train before Buda-dji started its journey. After a short stop at the heritage-listed Freshwater Station (the home of a museum dedicated to the story of the rail line) to pick up passengers, we set off.

Soon houses gave way to sugar cane fields before Jundara, the site of the largest field hospital in the southern hemisphere during World War II. American and Australian soldiers injured in the Pacific battles were flown here for treatment and recuperation. Housing now covers the area.

Soon afterwards the train slowed as we entered Horseshoe Bend, a spectacular 180-degree twist as the train looped back in a 100m curve and afforded great photographic opportunities from the furthermost carriages.

A short distance later, we entered the first of 15 hand-carved tunnels and the site of what was once a station at Stoney Creek. This remote spot is deserted now, but during the railway construction in the 1880s a busy township flourished with amusement halls and pubs for the 1 500 Irish and Italian navvies working here.

Construction on the line was born out of necessity in 1882 when the gold miners inland of Cairns desperately needed supplies and a reliable, safe route was sought.

Work on the line started in 1887 and the track was built in three stages, starting at the coast. It was not tackled with bulldozers and jackhammers,woven leather masterpiece from the house of bottega purses. but with hand tools, dynamite, buckets and bare hands.

Escarpments were removed above the track and every loose rock and overhanging tree had to be removed by hand.

The earthworks proved particularly difficult. Deep cuttings and extensive embankments were excavated – over 2.3 million cubic metres.

The Barron Valley earth was especially treacherous. Slopes averaged 45 degrees and the entire surface was covered with a 4m to 7m layer of disjointed rock, rotting vegetation, mould and soiI.

Eventually the engineers and navvies prevailed in what is still considered an engineering feat and in 1891 the line opened in high Victorian style with a banquet high up on Stoney Creek bridge with General Sir Henry Wiley Norman, governor of Queensland, the guest of honour.woven leather masterpiece from the house of bottega purses.

Stoney Creek Bridge remains the most outstanding feature of the 35km line. The iron lattice construction stands on three trestle piers.

Soon after crossing the bridge, we enjoyed spectacular views from the carriage window of the Coral Sea and Cairns far below us to the east. Towards the end of the one hour, 45-minute trip from Cairns, the locomotive stopped to allow passengers to alight at a small siding which gave perfect views of the 265m Barron Falls.

It’s still a working station, and doubles as a refreshment stop for visitors with an added attraction the colourful tropical gardens throughout the length of the platform.

There are two departures from Cairns station, at 8.30am and 9.30am. The Scenic Railway now has a Gold Class service, with the bonus of drinks and snacks on board the Heritage Green carriage complete with brass insignia and plush Victorian-era interior.

When Hussein Mohamed, a resident of Handeni district in Tanga region heard about the much marketed government subsidised farm inputs three years ago, he rejoiced and quickly extended his two hectares to three because he thought the inputs would be given free of charge. Mohamed who resides in Konje village, represents many villagers who had little or no education at all on what the government’s subsidised farm inputs were all about.

He immediately ignored the offer and went back home to continue using traditional means of cultivation. He has since never dared to ask about the government’s subsidized farm inputs again.

Farmers and their village leaders were supposed to be sensitized on the issue from the word go but it seems this was not the case. Surprisingly, even the secretary of government’s subsidized farm inputs in the village, Aziza Ng’ondi has never received education on the proper use of the inputs.

Aziza who is coordinating the programme at the village, admits she is ignorant too of proper application of the inputs in the farm because during the inception of the programme the village had no farm extension officer.

As a result, she says the villagers and leaders were only sensitized on the availability of the inputs through posters and a few campaigns but not on the application of the inputs on the farms.

Furthermore, she says during the sensitization campaigns, some farmers did not attend and others were simply migrants in the village from other regions in search of farming land. These came to the village late when beneficiaries had already been identified.

She said in recent years,woven leather masterpiece from the house of bottega purses. there has been a massive influx of people from other regions of Singida and Arusha into the village, and when they arrive they also want to benefit from the programme.

She says the government subsidized farm inputs is a three-year programme aimed at benefiting all the villagers but in phases. When the first group is covered, the programme shifts to cover another group until all farmers are done with.

Apart from lack of education, Aziza cites another problem facing smooth implementation of the programme, as lack of monitoring and evaluation of the exercise.

She says sometimes the books containing vouchers would get finished and the farmers would go without inputs because there was nobody from the district level to make follow up. “In the past, all coordinators of the programme at village level were promised to be paid 2,500/- for every book that got finished, this money would be used as transport fare for us to rush to other stations and collect the books, but now we are not given the money,” she said.

However, she said despite all the shortfalls, a big percent of farmers who received the farm inputs have improved their productivity from 2 to 3 sacks of maize before the programme to more than 10 sacks after the programme which means, if they had education, yields would have gone up than it is now.Find purses from our handbags and purses Collection in a variety of styles for every occasion.

Reached for comments, the district’s agriculture, Irrigation and cooperatives officer, Omar Kiruwale refuted the allegations saying since the programme started in 2010; the district council has been working very closely with extension officers to identify farmers in different villages so that many could benefit from the government subsidized farm inputs on time.

“When we started this programme, all precautions were taken including convening several public rallies to educate the people on the government’s subsidized farm inputs but also to identify poor farmers who could not afford buying the inputs at market price,” he said. He said despite minor hitches such as the effects of climate change, and invasion of rats (Panya) into farms, the past three years of the programme has been successful.

“The district has made significant achievements such as increased productivity, increased income among farmers and improved livelihood among farmers on the programme” He said.

“Many farmers here say the fertility of their land is good enough to support agriculture and therefore there is no need for more fertilizer. We at district level say this is a very wrong perception and that’s why we have launched education campaigns to make sure that all farmers are reached,” he said.

“We have started with seven tractors from SUMA JKT, which have been distributed in seven divisions, however, our long term plan is to make sure that every ward gets tractors and this will go all the way to the village level,” he said.

The Handeni District Commissioner, Muhingo Rweyemamu said despite being his first time to manage and supervise the programme as the District Commissioner, so far the programme was going on well and many farmers have benefited from the programme.

However, he faces some challenges, for example, some farmers want to get only improved seeds and not fertilizer on grounds that the fertilizer kills soil fertility.

“We have selected ten primary schools to conduct demonstration farms on this programme so as to alley fears on the negative perception of farmers who think that using fertilizers kills soil fertility so as to attract more farmers” he said.

He called on the Handeni residents to make sure they uproot tree trunks from their farms so that the tractors can operate without obstacles and effectively and efficiently use government subsidized farm inputs to improve their livelihood.

 TV One stumbled on to a ratings winner with the strangely captivating Barbie-on-acid dramas of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings.

Despite the misleading title (it mostly featured Irish Travellers, not Roma Gypsies) and selective depiction of Traveller culture, it provided a rare look at an insular outsider people struggling to find their place in the modern world - though it never asked how they pay for such lavish celebrations. Maybe it's because they save money on rates, maintenance and all the other costs faced by homeowners.

The show found some Travellers who were willing to talk about their lives, but also an outsider who had ingratiated herself with them: Dressmaker Thelma Madine, creator of fantastical, kitschy wedding gowns that involve more planning and effort than the Moon landings.

A straight-talking, weary-looking Liverpudlian, Thelma's the lady to see if you want a hot pink dress with enough fabric to clothe an African village, a truckload of crystals, and your name in fairy lights. And another dozen just like it, for the bridesmaids. Just be sure to hire a limo with extra-wide doors.

Now she's got her own show, where she's training 10 gypsy girls as dressmakers, as a way of giving back to the people who've paid for her palatial home (furnished in the same garish style as her dresses) and private schooling for her daughter. At first glance, it looks like a commendable idea.

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings painted a depressing picture of the role of females in Traveller culture. It's a contradictory world where little girls bump and grind in skimpy costumes like miniature Beyonce clones, and teenagers dress like Arkansas jailbait but their honour is vigorously defended until they're married. After that, it's the life of a stay-at-home mother (which must be pretty claustrophobic when your home is a caravan).

Many Traveller girls aren't expected to get an education, much less a job, but the big question is whether they live this way by choice or because they are oppressed victims of a male-dominated culture. Thelma is convinced it's the latter - hence her new venture - but she doesn't seem to be entirely on their side.

While she's done well from Travellers, she shares society's doubts about their integrity, intelligence and work ethic, and considers the girls to be essentially unemployable, were she not coming to their rescue.


Announcing the project to her staff, she said: "The bad part is they're all gonna be Travellers." That's not bad, she was told. "You come back to me and say that in three months," Thelma replied grimly, as if casting a gypsy curse, followed by a blithe quip about how one girl won't need her dad's permission because he's just gone to jail.

Like its predecessor, Thelma's Gypsy Girls purports to be sympathetic to its subject but looks more like a typical "reality" show, cranking up the conflict (which is easy when you put teenage girls in a room together). It feels like exploitation in more than one sense - Thelma's snowed under with work and has moved to new premises, and the expansion rather conveniently coincides with her getting a bunch of low-paid trainees.

DOES it seem right that a four-year-old child would be wearing a dress more expensive then your wedding dress? That is the kind of craziness that went on in London last week at the first ever Kids' Fashion Week.
The place was swarming with mothers desperate to spot the best new outfits for their little ones. Money was clearly no object, with a red silk Chloe dress selling for a mere snip at $1,235 (1,454).

Children as young as 18 months were getting their nails painted at a nail bar. But don't worry, the nails were being painted with washable, non-toxic polishes. Phew, for a moment there I thought these women had all lost their minds.

With newly polished nails, these tiny children then watched equally small children parading up and down in designer clothes, their every move being photographed and filmed.

What exactly does this teach our children? That they should focus on their appearance more? Want to wear ridiculously expensive clothes? Want to be photographed and splashed all over YouTube?

One of the mothers attending the show said: "When my girls are beautifully dressed, nothing else matters. It's a reflection on me as a parent. It doesn't matter what I wear. People treat you differently when your children wear designer clothes."

Parents have always made sacrifices for their children to have the best. It used to be so that their children could have the best education or piano lessons or maybe even horse-riding classes, but designer clothes ... seriously?

Children have always been a reflection of their parents. But rather than reflect their parents' values, now it seems that many parents are more worried about whether their children reflect their ability to fund a wardrobe full of designer clothes.

Research has found that children start recognising logos at 18 months. By the age of 10, the average child has already memorised 300 to 400 brands. Among eight to 14-year-olds, 92pc are specific about which ones they want to buy.

In the UK alone children's fashion is now a $6.5bn (7.6bn) industry. Not to be sniffed at. You can see why the manufacturers are keen to showcase their wares.


 

NeNe Leakes is set to walk down the wedding aisle for the second time this year with her ex-husband and fiance Gregg Leakes and the television star is so ecstatic about her upcoming nuptials that not only will she invite all of her Bravo and NBC co-stars but she will invite her former nemesis Kim Zolciak!

NeNe revealed that she and Zolciak became friends again during the taping for the upcoming season 5 three-part reunion special for The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

"I will definitely invite every castmate from every show I'm on. I don't know who's available but they're all on the list! RHOA's Cynthia [Bailey] will be a bridesmaid. And Kim [Zolciak] will be invited as well," NeNe surprisingly told InTouch.

"And I believe she'll come," NeNe added, because she is "extending an olive branch."

Nene and Zolciak have been on-and-off again friends since the show's first season. During one heated argument, NeNe famously called Zolciak a "dirty, low-down monkey with a wig."

In the issue, NeNe also discussed her wedding dress. NeNe revealed she has yet to pick out her wedding gown but she is "still interviewing designers" and plans to lose 10 lbs. in time for the nuptials.

"They're sending me sketches," she said of her various wedding designer candidates.

As for the actual ceremony, NeNe plans to have a "big fantasy wedding" in Atlanta this summer.

The couple met in 1996 and divorced in 2011 after 13 years of marriage. Together they have a son, Brentt. NeNe has another son from a previous relationship. Gregg said that the couple split when "fame got to (NeNe's) head" after he had invested $300,000 in her career during their marriage.

Leakes confirmed her reconciliation with Gregg during her appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 3. The show's host inquired about a series of photos NeNe posted on Twitter on New Year's Eve.

"Well.... a little after midnight, I was asked this beautiful question: 'Will you marry me -- again?'" The NBC and Bravo star said she accepted Gregg's proposal that night.

'We were with our son - Gregg somehow got him out of the condo and had a big heart made of Hershey's Kisses on the bed. It was sweet! I said yes right away," she told Fallon. She explained why she took him back during the late night chat.

"When I started living my dream, things changed. I started making more money than him. He'd say "You don't need me anymore," but I really did," she told the late night talk show host.