Entertainment

Children’s Picture Book “Faceless Beauty” Shares a Message of Worth and Value

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This book is for all children who want to know just how special they are and what a difference they will make to the world someday.

Deer Park, NY (USA), December 22, 2017 — If you have ever questioned your worth or wondered what made you unique, Alexandra Coutrier’s new children’s book has the message you need to hear. We all need to know that we are special and have value but often, especially when we are young, we don’t have anyone to tell us. This book is for all children who want to know just how special they are and what a difference they will make to the world someday.

“I see children everyday who just don’t know how special they are and that is what prompted me to write this book,” said first time author Alexandra Coutrier. “Children need to be told that they are beautiful, inside and out, and this is a story to help parents and caregivers remind their children of that positive message of love and encouragement.”

The main character in Faceless Beauty is a little girl who lives in the woods, insecure and unsure of her worth until one day a light shines down on her with a positive message. She is told that she is a child of God. She was made to be a light, with great purpose and value and should share her beauty with the world.

“In Matthew 5:15, we learn that the light must not be hidden but should shine for the world to benefit from,” said Coutrier. “My hope is that this book will help children understand that they are unique and should explore their inner strength to find that light and let it shine for the world to see.”

The book has been written to allow parents to insert their own child’s name so that the message can be personalized. It is a unique opportunity to reinforce this positive message of love and encouragement with each child so that they might believe in their own value.

“My hope is that children will come to understand that they are beautiful as they are today,” said Coutrier. “Be grateful for what you have today, be grateful for who you are and where you are today.”

“We’ve all felt that insecurity in our lives when we weren’t sure of our purpose or direction and Alexandra’s book is a wonderful way to help children, from an early age, believe in themselves and in their own value,” said Lisa Umina, founder and publisher, Halo Publishing International.

Faceless Beauty is now available at Halo Publishing, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, in hard cover for $19.95, paperback for $12.95 and $9.95 for the e-book.

* Halo Publishing
* Amazon
* Barnes and Noble

About Alexandra Coutrier:
Alexandra Coutrier is a warm and loving wife and mother, a woman with a passion to see people become who God made them to be. She has a love for uncovering the hidden potential in the lives of those whom the world has cast down, allowing them to uncover the gifts that lie within. Alex is on a mission to help others fulfill their potential and live out the best lives possible.

About Halo Publishing International:
Halo Publishing International is a self-publishing company that publishes adult fiction and non-fiction, children’s literature, self-help, spiritual, and faith-based books. We continually strive to help authors reach their publishing goals and provide many different services that help them do so. www.HaloPublishing.com

Press & Media Contact:
Lisa Umina, Publisher
Halo Publishing International
1100 NW Loop 410, Suite 700-176,
San Antonio, TX 78213, USA
+1 877-705-9647
contact@halopublishing.com
http://www.HaloPublishing.com

Art

Monterey Museum of Art (MMA) Announces Monterey Artist Hector Dionicio Mendoza to Hold Month-Long Artist-in-Residency and Art Project Starting Dec. 23

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The Monterey Museum of Art has announced that Monterey-based multi-media artist Hector Dionicio Mendoza will hold a one-month artist-in-residency and mixed-media art project starting Dec. 23.

Monterey, CA, Dec. 22, 2017 — The Monterey Museum of Art has announced that Monterey-based multi-media artist Hector Dionicio Mendoza will hold a one-month artist-in-residency and mixed-media art project starting Dec. 23.

Mendoza’s residency and art project “Process in Progress,” begins Saturday, Dec. 23, when the public is invited from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to stop by and interact with the artist. Other sessions are scheduled for Jan. 4, 2018; Jan. 5 at the First Friday reception; Jan. 8; and Jan. 15, which will be a screen-printing workshop where the public is invited to participate and learn basic screen-printing techniques on both paper and fabric. The residency closes on February 4, 2018.

“Process in Progress” includes drawings, sculptures and installations that invites the public to experience a glimpse into the artist’s studio practice, a behind-the-scenes look into the artist’s process of making art.

 

According to Mendoza, the main impetus of the project is to present a body of work in its various stages of completion, allowing the public to consider the following questions:

  1. When is artwork considered complete and ready to exhibit?
  2. What are the influences that dictate, inspire or inform a body of work?
  3. What role does the alchemy of materials play when creating art?
  4. How is the process of experimentation a major contributing factor for generating new art techniques and ideas?

 

In addition to artwork, the project will include supporting materials such as sketches, books, magazines, photos, and sound to engage the audience. He hopes to have at least 35 works on display, including about 10 at various stages of completion. Mendoza will be on site one day a week during regular museum hours during the one-month period of the project.

 

“By simultaneously using the museum as an exhibition space and an artist-in-residence studio, the practice of artmaking becomes more accessible to the public and consequently demystifies how art is created,” says Mendoza. “The project also seeks to add to the current dialogue of how contemporary museum spaces are being used by artists and the public.”

 

Mendoza, who was born in Uruapan, Michoacan, México, but grew up in King City, uses recycled clay, concrete, and rust in combination with found objects as a way of creating personal icons in his work. Mendoza’s work explores a wide range of themes, including the relationship between history, race and nature.

 

“My work is a social statement, a commentary on society. Visions from daily life are points of departure for my work,” Mendoza says. “The concepts I have used in my art are chosen as they are introduced via mass communication media or through personal experiences. I incorporate both expressive and realistically sculpted objects with significant gestures to portray metaphor.”

 

After graduating from high school with honors, he was awarded a scholarship to attend California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, California, where he studied graphic design.

 

His interest in graphic design led him to study art at California College of the Arts in Oakland, California, where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in fine art.

 

After completing his bachelor’s degree, Mendoza was invited to several artist-in-residence programs and exhibitions in Europe, including Kust Futur in Switzerland 2000, The Bossard Project in Berlin 2001, Casa Santos in Barcelona 2002, and The Putney Arts Center in London 2003.

 

Mendoza’s awards include the Eureka Fellowship 2004 in California, Kunst Now 2005 in Berlin, and Eco-Conciente 2007 in Mexico City. In 2009, he received his master’s degree in fine art from Yale University. Most recently he was awarded an artist’s residency at the prestigious Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California.

 

He currently lives in Monterey and is an Assistant Professor in the Visual and Public Art Department at California State University Monterey Bay. Mendoza teaches studio courses in sculpture, painting, and screen printing.

 

About the Monterey Museum of Art
The Monterey Museum of Art expands a passion for the visual arts and inspires appreciation of California Art — past, present, and future. The Monterey Museum of Art connects art and community, with an emphasis on participatory experiences built around the Museum’s strong collection of California and regional art. Exhibitions and programs of the highest quality are designed to engage and inspire visitors.

The museum was established in 1959, to uphold the artistic legacy of the region by collecting, preserving and presenting the art of California and the Central Coast. Originally a chapter of the American Federation of the Arts, MMA remains the only nationally accredited museum between San Jose and Santa Barbara.

Visit montereyart.org for additional information on the Museum’s exhibitions, programming and events.

Media Inquiries: pr@montereyart.org or 831.372.5477 x101

 

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereyart.org

Business

T5 Data Centers Signs New Hospital Network as First Tenant to Benefit from T5@Chicago Phase 2

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Health Care Network To Consolidate Data Center Operations in Custom Build-Out at T5’s Midwest Data Center Location.

Elk Grove Village, IL, USA — T5 Data Centers, innovators in providing secure, customizable, hyperscale computing environments for enterprise companies, has signed a pre-lease with a leading hospital network as the first tenant to occupy the second phase of the company’s T5@Chicago data center build out. The new lease will occupy a significant portion of the data hall currently under construction.

The hospital network is migrating its existing data center operations to the T5@Chicago custom-built facility to take advantage of more efficient systems and to accommodate capacity demand for future growth. Several of the data centers in the Chicagoland market are not purpose built facilities and have difficulty meeting emerging enterprise computing requirements. T5 Data Centers prides itself on providing state-of-the-art, custom-built data centers with on-site systems management from T5 Facilities Management (T5FM). For T5’s new hospital network tenant, T5@Chicago offers a robust infrastructure that allows them to consolidate operations and to maximize control of their infrastructure. The T5@Chicago infrastructure will also comply with HIPAA and other stringent regulations.

“Chicago is becoming one of T5’s hottest markets,” said David Horowitz, VP of Sales and Marketing for T5 Data Centers. “We are experiencing more demand from the corporate enterprise users who are requiring highly secure, scalable purpose built data centers. We are able to provide this latest Chicago tenant a customizable build-out and a scalable approach to manage future growth. Allowing our customers to control their infrastructure and have visibility into their operations like it was their own internal data center is a major differentiator that enterprise customers appreciate. Our T5 Facilities Management team is simply an extension of our customers’ teams.”

T5@Chicago is a highly secured, 208,000 square-foot, Tier III data center located in Elk Grove Village. This LEED Silver certified data center was acquired by T5 Data Centers in 2016 and has been operating since its inception through T5FM, which provides best-in-class, award-winning facilities management services. T5 is currently in Phase 2 of its T5@Chicago build-out, adding a new secure data hall with an additional 2 mW capacity.

T5@Chicago is the company’s ninth U.S. data center and meets the resilient, high-quality characteristics consistent across T5’s portfolio.

About T5 Data Centers
T5 Data Centers (T5) is a leading national data center owner and operator, committed to delivering customizable, scalable data centers that provide a “Forever On” computing environment to power mission critical business applications. T5 Data Centers provides enterprise colocation data center services to organizations across North America using proven, best-in-class technology and techniques to design and develop facilities that deliver the lowest possible total cost of operations for its clients. T5 currently has business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Portland, Charlotte, Chicago, New York and Colorado. All of T5’s data center projects are purpose-built facilities featuring robust design, redundant and reliable power and telecommunications, and have 24-hour staff to support mission-critical computing applications.

For more information, visit http://www.t5datacenters.com.

Contact:
Aaron Wangenheim
T5 Data Centers
(415) 292-7700
aaron@t5datacenters.com
http://www.t5datacenters.com

Business

Theme of 2018 Monterey County Fair, “Shake Your Tail Feathers,” and official poster unveiled

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The Monterey County Fair announced that the theme for the Aug. 30-Sept. 3, 2018, event will be “Shake Your Tail Feathers.”

Monterey, CA, Dec 11 , 2017 — The Monterey County Fair announced that the theme for the Aug. 30-Sept. 3, 2018, event will be “Shake Your Tail Feathers.”

The fair also unveiled its official poster for this year’s event, featuring chickens in Mardi Gras-style beads, masks and hats and two chickens enjoying a Ferris wheel ride.

“We are very excited about the 2018 Monterey County Fair theme and dedicate it to our feathered friends at the Fair,” says Kelly Violini, Monterey County Fair CEO. “We hope that everyone can come out and join us in ‘Shaking a Tail Feather’!”

The artists and graphic designers who collaborated on the poster are Olivia Trinidad and Arnold Ramos of OT Graphic Design of Monterey, which has been doing graphic art and design work for the Monterey County Fair since 2008, including all official posters for the fair since then.

“They just wanted it to be colorful and fun, with chickens and roosters having fun at the Fair,” says Trinidad, who has 20 years of experience in graphic design, about the poster assignment. “It’s great to be able to do a poster on our own. Usually we work with art we are given, but this time it was my artwork, so we were able to play with it. It was fun and easy.”

The Monterey County Fair will run from Thursday, Aug. 30-Monday, Sept. 3, 2018, at the Monterey County Fair & Event Center, 2004 Fairground Road, in Monterey.

About the Monterey County Fair & Event Center

The Monterey County Fair & Event Center is a premier event center set on 22 oak-studded acres with ample parking. It is a state-owned multi-use facility that features four large banquet rooms, two outdoor concert venues, and a variety of outdoor and indoor cost-effective sites ideal for all types of events. It is home of the annual award-winning Monterey County Fair, host to many major and private events on the Central Coast, and the site of the Monterey Bay Race Place, a Satellite Wagering Facility.

For more information, contact the Fair Administration Office, at 2004 Fairground Road in Monterey, by calling (831) 372-5863 or go to www.montereycountyfair.com for more information.

Monterey County Fair & Event Center

2004 Fairground Road, Monterey, CA 93940

www.montereycountyfair.com

montereyfairpr@gmail.com

(831) 372-5863

OT Graphic Design

PO Box 2454

Monterey CA 93942

Phone: (831) 402-7946

E-mail: olivia@otgraphicdesign.com

otgraphicdesign.com

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereycountyfair.com

Software, Technology

Package Central for Adobe InDesign Improves Preflight, Queue Management

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Zevrix Solutions announces Package Central 1.10.3, a maintenance update to company’s file packaging automation solution for Adobe InDesign. The software automatically collects InDesign documents along with their fonts and links from watched hot folders. Package Central can serve unlimited users on a network and offers email notifications, variable folder names, PDF export, and more. The new version improves handling of InDesign files with missing elements and fixes some queue management issues.

Toronto (ON), Canada — Zevrix Solutions today announces Package Central 1.10.3, a maintenance update to its document packaging automation solution for Adobe InDesign. Originally developed for a major publisher in the United States, the software automates InDesign packaging by processing files from hot folders. Package Central offloads file packaging to a central system leaving operator workstations free from the document collection process.

The new version addresses an issue in which InDesign files with missing fonts and links weren’t skipped even when this option was checked in the workflow settings. The update also improves the functionality of the Stop button which now lets users reliably stop processing at any time while ensuring that already queued files are removed from hot folders.

Under Package Central workflow, production artists, prepress operators and designers simply submit files to watched hot folders that reside on a network. The software automatically collects InDesign files along with their fonts and links freeing user’s time for important tasks such as design and layout. Operator workstations will never again be tied up by the packaging process.

Package Central runs on a dedicated Mac station and watches hot folders for incoming InDesign files. The software performs all its tasks automatically and can run absolutely unattended. It offers the following key features and benefits:

–Automatically collect InDesign files from hot folders
–Update modified links automatically
-Create PDF and IDML files on the fly
-Automatic email notifications of process stages and errors
-Compose variable folder names
-Serves unlimited users on a network
-Detailed processing history

Pricing and Availability
Package Central can be purchased for US$149.95 from Zevrix website as well as from authorized resellers. Trial is also available for download. The update is free for registered users. Package Central requires macOS 10.7-10.13 and Adobe InDesign CS5-CC 2018.

About Zevrix Solutions
Located in Toronto, Canada, Zevrix Solutions provides productivity solutions for Adobe Creative Suite software, graphic file diagnostics and Microsoft Office on Mac OS. Zevrix Solutions is dedicated to helping professionals increase their profits through automating their everyday tasks, producing error-free documents, saving disk space and cutting production costs. For more information, visit http://www.zevrix.com.

Contact:
Leo Revzin
Owner
Zevrix Solutions
105 McCAUL St, Suite 301
Toronto Ontario M5T 2X4 Canada
858-206-0607
media@zevrix.com

Solutions for Adobe InDesign & the Graphics Industry

Entertainment, Media

Natasha Dematra Received Hero of Peace Prize

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Natasha Dematra, the youngest female director in the world, received Hero of Peace Prize Award from the Royal Palace of Blahbatuh in Bali.

Kuta, Bali, Indonesia — Natasha Dematra, the youngest female director in the world, received Hero of Peace Prize Award from the Royal Palace of Blahbatuh in Bali. The prestigious award was given because of her contribution to peace and humanity. Natasha said that she felt honored to receive it and hopes to keep promoting peace in the future.

The Crown Prince of Blahbatuh, Anak Agung Ngurah Kakarsana, saluted the young director and wished she would carry the honor with her life as she fights for peace and keep her productive.

The Royal Palace of Blahbatuh was founded in 1583. The ancient kingdom consists of a 4.5 hectares area and was built with the concept of Tri Mandala. The Crown Prince is the 25th generation leader of this Kingdom. The Palace is also famous for its original mask of Gajah Mada that is kept sacred and only issued for specific traditional ceremonies or rituals.

Besides receiving the title as The Youngest Female Director in the World for her feature film “Mama, I Have To Go,” Natasha Dematra also received Best First-Time Director from American Movie Awards, a notable Film Festival which also gave an award to Steven Spielberg in 1982. Natasha also won Humanitarian Awards from many prestigious festivals. Her film music “Earth” was chosen as the opening film at the Film Festival in New York and was screened at The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Marocco. In addition to being a director, she is also an actress, singer, producer, film festival jury, and the Ambassador for Women and Ambassador for Peace.

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/6rmGVD8YNPM

Media Contact: Irene | Film Festivals Alliance | http://www.filmfestivalsalliance.org

Business, Technology

World’s First Artificial Intelligence Workshop in Stockholm, Brussels, Singapore, HK, Seoul and NY

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The Deep Learning Workshop for Today’s Strategic Leaders in Stockholm, Brussels, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, Seoul and Hong Kong will provide key insights into current and future developments for deep learning, with particular emphasis on what organizations can do today to leverage this revolutionary technology and apply it to their most pressing challenges.

New York City, NY, USA — The Deep Learning Workshop for Today’s Strategic Leaders will bring the latest insights in artificial intelligence and most specifically deep learning to executives, managers, directors, consultants and regulators. Attendees to these innovative workshops organized by GLDNAcademy.com in Stockholm, Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Seoul and Hong Kong will:

• Get up to speed on how artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning will impact global business
• Review key enabling technologies including big data and scalable computing processing
• Understand the role of deep learning in healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, customer service and finance
• Look at the landscape of how artificial intelligence stands today, why it is gravitating towards deep learning and how that fits in to the organization’s future
• Devise a strategy to move the organization forward that focused on the company’s most pressing points to leverage deep learning
• Learn to personalize the customer experience with techniques similar to Google searches and Amazon recommendations
• Start applying TensorFlow, the most widely-used deep learning framework, in the organization
• Embed deep learning in the organization’s existing technology development life-cycle

The Deep Learning Workshop for Today’s Strategic Leaders will provide key insights into current and future developments for deep learning, with particular emphasis on what organizations can do today to leverage this revolutionary technology and apply it to their most pressing challenges.

ABOUT THE DEEP LEARNING WORKSHOP FOR TODAY’S STRATEGIC LEADERS
Top executives of organizations around the world have heard a lot about artificial intelligence (AI). Within AI, there is machine learning, a technology that enables computers to get better at tasks with more practice. Furthermore, within machine learning, there is deep learning, which involves algorithms by which computers train themselves using multi-layered neural networks (inspired by the human brain) and vast quantities of data.

This program focuses on practical applications of artificial intelligence for business using TensorFlow, the most widely-used deep learning framework from Google. Deep learning is already impacting every part of business today; in fact, PwC has warned that automation could replace 38% of all American jobs by 2030. Deep learning will continue to be a rich source of insights from ever-growing data sets being evaluated by powerful algorithms, enabling companies to make better decisions.

Deep learning allows computational models that are composed of multiple processing layers to learn representations of data with multiple levels of abstraction. These methods have dramatically improved speech recognition, visual object recognition, object detection and many other domains such as financial trading, transportation, drug discovery and genomics. Deep learning effective and efficiently discovers intricate structure in large data sets by using algorithms to indicate how a machine should change its internal weights and biases that are used to compute the representation in each layer from the representation in the contiguous layer, which have brought about breakthroughs in processing images, video, speech, audio and financial data.

GLDNAcademy.com’s The Deep Learning Workshop for Today’s Strategic Leaders will show attendees how to harness the opportunities deep learning offers, how to identify challenges and how to prepare their organization for what the future holds. From financial trading to autonomous vehicles and from robotics to automated cancer diagnoses, practical applications for deep learning are already here and will impact businesses for years to come.

ABOUT THE CYBERSECURITY WORKSHOP FOR TODAY’S STRATEGIC LEADERS
Despite the ongoing cyber threat that is witnessed through news reports almost on a daily basis, firms are still neglecting proper cybersecurity planning. As information technology becomes ever more complex and Internet of Things applications progressively widespread, cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important and business-critical field. Unfortunately, a recent study from security solutions provider Resilient Systems and market research firm Ponemon broke down key areas of continued failure for organizations.

The study found that 66% of IT and security professionals surveyed said their firms were unprepared to recover from a cyber attack, and 75% lacked a formal incident response plan. A key example of this unpreparedness is that fact that many of the companies impacted by the WannaCry ransomware attack had not installed patches in their Windows infrastructure that were released by Microsoft months before. Vulnerabilities in commercial software are common; the only solution is to stay abreast of manufacturer’s releases.

In order to help businesses in their cybersecurity planning, the Cybersecurity Framework released in February 2014 following a collaborative process involving industry, academia and government has been widely adopted by many types of organizations around the world, quickly becoming the de facto standard by which cyber security is going to be measured.

GLDNAcademy.com’s The Cybersecurity Workshop for Today’s Strategic Leaders will bring leaders up to speed on the most recent and battle-tested approaches to protect their companies’ valuable information and intellectual property from prying eyes of hackers and competitors. Attendees to the program will learn how to apply the Cybersecurity Framework in their organizations and erect strong defenses for their valuable customer and employee data and intellectual property.

ABOUT GLDNACADEMY.COM
GLDNAcademy.com invites CEOs, board members, managers, leaders and professionals to expand their horizons:

• To meet fellow leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, managers, investors and regulators looking for the industry insights that will move the needle in their organizations
• To engage with an experienced faculty that exhibits the deepest knowledge across the most practical and challenging matters that really matter for businesses today
• To become part of the most engaging professional network of leaders in the world

GLDNAcademy.com offers seminars in dozens of industries and functional areas. Each and all of these programs incorporate the following:

• Relevant programs offered in the top business capitals of the world
• World-class faculty with access to the top echelons of the world’s most innovative organizations
• State-of-the-art workshops that incorporate hundreds of hours delivering the best
• Pre-program questionnaires that provide key information that permeates our offerings
• Thousands of satisfied attendees from all over the world

Media Contact:
Melania Pulitzer
Managing Director
GLDNAcademy.com
+1-414-FORUMS0
mjp@gldnacademy.com
http://www.gldnacademy.com

Education

Academies of Math and Science Opening New Campus at McDowell & 59th Ave

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This fall the fifth AMS campus, Academy of Math and Science Desert Sky, will open at McDowell & 59th Ave.

Phoenix, AZ, USA — For 16 years, the dedicated team at the Academies of Math and Science has accomplished much from being recognized as the 2016 Arizona Charter School of the Year, to receiving the National Blue Ribbon award, to being the #1 and #2 rated K-8 schools in the area by 5-star GreatSchools parent reviews. This fall the fifth AMS campus, Academy of Math and Science Desert Sky, will open at McDowell & 59th Ave.

AMS Desert Sky will hold a New Student Registration event in partnership with the radio station 103.5 LA TRICOLOR on Saturday, December 16th, 2017 at 5757 W McDowell Rd. The event will run from 10 am to 2 pm, starting with speeches from the founding principal and teachers and followed by lunch, music, and kid-friendly activities. Parents will have the opportunity for one-on-one enrollment consultations with the administrative team while children play on an inflatable obstacle course.

With an anticipated attendance of several hundred families, the event will be an excellent opportunity to meet members of the community and talk with AMS staff members and parents. TRICOLOR will hold a raffle, and AMS swag will be given to all attendees, as well as polos for all students registered on-site.

About Academies of Math and Science
The Academies of Math & Science is a tuition-free, high-performing charter school network founded in 2000, with four existing campuses in the state of Arizona. Curriculum includes STEM and programming, foreign languages such as Mandarin and Russian, and music and arts including poetry, piano, and guitar. Free tutoring, affordable extended care, and numerous sports programs are offered as well.

Lisa Graham Keegan, Executive Director of A for Arizona, called AMS “the leader of the pack” in creating high-quality schools, and praised AMS’ academic gains and performance levels, saying she believes “that AMS will be a school that makes Arizona famous for this kind of quality.” The construction of AMS Desert Sky is enabled by the Arizona State Credit Enhancement Program.

For more information and to register for the December 16th event, please visit http://www.amscharters.org/desertsky or call 623-242-2597.

Media Contact:
Emily Chavez, Marketing & Recruitment Manager
Academies of Math and Science
520-887-5392 ext. 1015
echavez@amsschools.org
http://www.amsschools.org

Entertainment, Marketing

FED Publishing Releases New Book, “Artak and The Forgotten Mark” by Christian Walker

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Artak and The Forgotten Mark, by Christian Walker, takes you on the epic journey of a boy who travels the world to become the man and warrior he was destined to be.

Madison, WI, USA — Christian Walker’s Artak and The Forgotten Mark is the story of Artak, who having travelled the world mastering his fighting skills, returns home a fearless warrior.

When Artak was merely 14, he watched his parents killed along with his entire village. In fear, the boy barely escaped the fiery scene by his father’s command. This shock engraved in his heart a vow to avenge them one day.

Collapsing at the gates of Wimbra a few days later, he is taken in by Martuk, the village leader. Accepting him as his own child, he teaches the young boy everything he knows of the art of sword combat, but given his natural abilities and determination, in a short time he surpasses the skills of his teacher.

Little does he know fate will soon give him the chance he’s long waited for; to meet face to face with the beast that left him an orphan.

“A good read for all fans of fantasy, adventure, swords and dragons.” ~5 Star Review

Genre – Dragons, Romance, Friendship, Love, Brotherhood, Heroism, Fantasy, Adventure

Artak and The Forgotten Mark ISBN 9781506905006, published by First Edition Design Publishing, is available on-line wherever ebooks are sold. The 244 page print book version, ISBN 9781506904993 is published by First Edition Design Publishing and distributed worldwide to online booksellers.

Media Contact:
Christian Walker
+1(941)921-2607
media@firsteditiondesign.com

Business

Monterey County, California Vineyard/Winery Owner Expresses Frustration with U.S. Government’s Blanket Freeze Holding up Wine Area Designation

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Ann Hougham, owner of Mesa Del Sol Vineyards in Greenfield, has written to President Donald Trump and various Congressional leaders expressing her deep frustration that a benign petition to expand the Arroyo Seco American Viticultural Area

Greenfield, CA, Dec 11, 2017 — Ann Hougham, owner of Mesa Del Sol Vineyards in Greenfield, has written to President Donald Trump and various Congressional leaders expressing her deep frustration that a benign petition to expand the Arroyo Seco American Viticultural Area, where her vineyard and winery are located, has been caught up in a Trump administration regulatory freeze that cuts across every level of government.

“I am writing as a small vineyard/winery owner frustrated over the lack of movement to lift the blanket ‘Regulatory Freeze Pending Review’ put in place as of January 2017 that is egregiously affecting my business,” writes Hougham in a letter dated Dec. 5. “How many other businesses are affected by this ‘Regulatory Freeze Pending Review?’ I am extremely frustrated, I can attest to that!”

Under the regulatory freeze, no rulings can be enacted until the freeze is lifted, even those that have been approved, such as Hougham’s.

The Arroyo Seco AVA is an up-and-coming region for wines of distinction. According to Hougham, wines made from grapes grown on her land have been garnering high honors, but she is not able to claim that the grapes grown on her land are in the Arroyo Seco AVA, nor can she label her wines as such.

Since December 2016, Hougham has had a “Petition to Expand the Arroyo Seco American Viticultural Area” signed and ready to go to public comment before publishing, just awaiting permission from the U.S. Treasury, but which is now stalled by the regulatory freeze.

“A ruling on this petition has absolutely no tax implications. Every person and entity is in favor of this ruling,” she writes. “In my case, a ruling in favor and the publishing of this petition is righting something that was previously thought to be fact. For me and the other wineries that purchase my grapes, however, it is taxing.”

Hougham’s petition has been “perfected” and meets the U.S. Alcohol and Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) regulatory requirements for expanding AVAs. She was told in December 2016, that the petition was on the desk of Amy Greenberg, Director of TTB’s Regulations and Rulings Division, awaiting her signature before heading to a 90-day public comment period.

A few weeks later, Hougham was told that there was a halt to the process because a new administration was coming in, which is customary. In January 2017, she was informed that the Treasury Department was waiting for positions to be filled by the new administration. Then the regulatory freeze occurred, halting the entire process.

“I have spoken out because this issue needs to be addressed, not just for me but for many others,” Hougham writes. “Our government has ground to a halt, freezing businesses from moving forward. I know there are bigger issues at hand however, please, do this important piece of housekeeping and let’s move forward.”

Hougham said that she joined the Monterey County Growers and Vintners Association (MCGVA) specifically to be placed on the Arroyo Seco AVA map. She discovered, however, that her vineyard in Arroyo Seco was not in the Arroyo Seco AVA, but was contiguous to it. But she points out that, since 2001, it has been designated such by TTB permits, California Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) permits, Monterey County permits, and numerous distinguished wine labels, including her own Mesa Del Sol label.

She then began the arduous task of petitioning the TTB to expand the Arroyo Seco AVA to prove that the name and the area’s distinguishing features applied to her lands as well.

It took her two months of research to compile the evidence necessary, write the petition and garner a slew of signatures in support of her petition and submit it to the TTB. On May 19, 2015, Greenberg wrote her informing her that her petition had been “perfected” and met TTB’s regulatory requirements for expanding AVAs.

Her petition then went to the bottom of the list of the TTB’s “List of Pending American Viticultural Area Petitions” and eventually began making the rounds of various government agencies for review and approval. Her petition is now at the top of the list, which continues to grow longer with no movement forward due to the freeze.

“A regulatory freeze sounds good in principle, however, it freezes movement forward for everything across the board,” Hougham said.

Ann Hougham, Owner

Mesa Del Sol Vineyards

45803 Arroyo Seco Road, Greenfield, CA 93927

Email: mesadelsol@aol.com

831-624-8527/ moblie: 831-320-8274

Website: mesadelsolvineyards.com

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.mesadelsolvineyards.com