What's the best way to do this? Tiller? Remove sod/grass ahead of time? I don't have all the tools, so will have to rent.

Something like a 20x20 plot. I see that I can rent a 9HP tiller that will do it, apparently smaller machines won't. But it's also a 500lb beast and I wouldn't mind doing some of the work myself. (but maybe this is stupid)

Strategies?

The Kremlin has reacted angrily to news that the U.S. Congress has approved an aid package for Ukraine, warning that it will lead to the "deaths of even more Ukrainians."

On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine after the potentially game-changing assistance for Kyiv languished in Congress for months, mired down by political infighting. Lawmakers also approved billions more in aid for other U.S. allies. The Senate will now vote on the package, before it heads to President Joe Biden for sign-off.




The decision "will make the United States of America richer, further ruin Ukraine and result in the deaths of even more Ukrainians, the fault of the Kyiv regime," Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said in remarks reported by Russia's state news agencies.

"The allocation of military assistance by the United States to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will aggravate the global crisis," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a post to messaging app Telegram.

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia's security council, said the approval of new aid to Ukraine was "Russophobic" and would exacerbate "the number of victims of this war."

"I cannot with all sincerity not wish the United States to plunge into a new civil war as quickly as possible," Medvedev said on Telegram.

Cueing all MAGAts. This(!) is your call to arms, from your Russian oligarchs whom you support. (PAGING MTG!!!)

LOL

gth

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...r&cvid=8f7fa74e0fed441ab298ddd3694c6826&ei=18

I will admit that I’ve only paid attention to women’s basketball for about five years, and only close attention for the last couple years. And I have never watched a complete game in the WNBA.

So maybe what I’m about to say is complete bunk or has already been addressed…but…

As long as the women try to model their game after the men’s version, they will not succeed. Physiologically, the women simply cannot do what the men can do on the court. It ends up being a poor substitute for “the real thing.”

Instead, I think the women’s pro game should transform itself into a version that is similar to how Iowa (and I’m sure other teams) play the game. Fast paced, heavy teamwork versus individual play, crisp passing, long range shooting, etc. It’s an absolutely compelling brand of basketball that is fun to watch and, perhaps even more importantly, gives the viewer an alternative to the men’s game which, imo, has become stale.

To grow their base, You’ve got to give the viewer something that is different. If the fans want to watch a huge post player back into their opponent until they’re under the basket or just devolve into a one-on-one game, Then they’ll pick men’s game over the women’s game every time.

But if you offer a true alternative that’s different and exciting at the same time, then I think there’s a chance.

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While not the desired outcome, it's a start.

Towns under 20,000 are out of luck.

Really looking forward to DT vs. AB round two and maybe three.

Dom Parrish over Augello to earn the 53kg spot.

Mat assignments should be easy to follow for those challenged like me.
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SQUATTERS ARE JUST ANOTHER BYPRODUCT OF THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY

The squatter crisis — and law enforcement’s reluctance to deal with the problem — will inevitably lead to vigilante justice by frustrated homeowners with nowhere to turn, one expert warns.

Real estate mogul Shawn Meaike, a 51-year-old podcaster and serial entrepreneur, told The Post that lenient laws letting squatters stay in houses they don’t own and aren’t renting must change — and soon.

Otherwise, fed-up homeowners will do the job police can’t.

“I’m concerned, truthfully, that you push people too far,” Meaike said. “And if there is no law to protect them, what they’re going to do is not going to be a result that anybody’s happy with.”

“I don’t want it to happen,” the real estate and insurance giant said. “But something bad is gonna’ happen. And you’re going to start [seeing] articles on violent confrontations that could end up in severe injury or somebody’s death.”

Although the squatter phenomenon is not new, Meaike said he’s rarely dealt with it during his 25 years in real estate.

He’s noticed it more and more recently — especially as shocking cases seize the public’s attention, such as the Queens man arrested for moving himself and other renters into a $1 million house in Flushing owned by a woman whose parents had passed away.

Whenever Meaike had a run in with illegal tenants, the solution was simple: Call the cops.

“The police didn’t question anything — you weren’t a tenant, you didn’t have a lease, you were gone.”

When asked why he thinks the problem suddenly worsened, Meaike said some tenants have no other choice. Rents are sky-high, mortgage rates have ballooned and buying a property has become unattainable for some.

“There’s a lot of people who are literally frozen out — are there are a lot of options for them?” he asked.

“People get desperate,” he continued. “I know how difficult this market is for a lot of people. Listen, when it comes down to your survival, we’ll do about anything. Especially if we’re providing for children.”

Not everyone is caught in such a bind though.

Some folks may just want to take advantage of weak laws that make it truly difficult to boot deadbeats — especially in the five boroughs, where a legal loophole lets squatters claim legal occupancy after just 30 days on a given property.

The cutoff is 10 years in the most of the Empire State.

“That’s the question,” Meaike said.

“How many of these people are doing this out of necessity to survive, and how many of them are doing it [because], ‘You know what? This seems like something that has no consequence, so let’s get me and eight people to move into this guy’s property and take advantage of it because nobody’s going do anything about it.’

“They ordered Uber Eats, and now they’re claiming occupancy,” he added, referencing another shocking case in which two alleged squatters served up a $25 Shake Shack receipt as part of their proof that they should be allowed to live in a $930,000 home in Jamaica, Queens.

That’s why the laws need to change — and the cops need to get tough, he said.

“We have to make sure that, like in Florida, there are laws that … when you call the police, they will come out and remove them,” he said. “They’re very aggressive.”

But homeowners can also take steps to protect themselves before they get embroiled in such disputes, Meaike said, by hardening their property the same way they might against would-be criminals.

For instance, they should fortify their front doors, install hurricane windows that can withstand strikes from a baseball bat, hook up camera and alarm systems and maybe hang a “Beware of Dog” sign — even if no pooches live on the property.

“Put the money into it,” Meaike said. “If you’re getting into real estate, and you can’t afford these measures, then you can’t afford to get into real estate.”

Still, the whole thing hits close to home for Meaike, who said squatters taking over one of his houses would have financially crippled him when he was just starting out.

He doesn’t want to see others go through that.

“I remember being stressed out about collecting rent when I first started,” he said. “I didn’t have any money. And I don’t know what I would have done if … there were a couple of guys hanging out in my apartment, I went to throw them out and the police told me I couldn’t.

“I don’t know that I wouldn’t have taken matters into my own hands.”

Some squatters even want that, he said, because then they can get a restraining order against the landlord and drag the legal brawl out even longer.

“Real estate has been such an amazing way for me to help other people gain wealth — and for me to change my trajectory, because I didn’t have any money growing up.”


“I hate that some people nowadays are going to experience this once, possibly go into foreclosure, go into bankruptcy, never try it again,” he continued. “And they’ll never try to get ahead because of what happened to them.

“That’s the American dream. But it can become a nightmare.”

in the portal. 🙁 Everytime I open my phone they have a new addition. It seems the Big Boys are playing musical chairs with all the talent. As many have already stated, Iowa basketball appears to be left out of the talent grab…😬 Given our pre NIL success results, it’s really hard to be optimistic about the future of Iowa Basketball….🥲

Lightning - Panthers playoff series. Which way do you lean or want to prevail?

Yankees @ Nationals 6pm

Giants @ Dodgers 9pm

They had a truly unique sound. This might be my favorite JT song. Gorgeous.

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Just to get the debate going, I will submit exhibit A/B.



Read it till you see it....


Also, they don't know how to properly identify their mascot.


That is a crocodile, not a gator..

Teen shooters.


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Going to go out on a limb and guess America has failed these youngsters?

I was...unprepared for the onslaught of emotions I felt at the end of match 2.

Small amount left on a mortgage. 115k at 25ish years left. Plan was/is to keep on as rental property investment. (although chance I go off-grid w/ truck camper and keep it my home-base)
Making a lot of money lately and could have paid off in next year or so.

Better investment to pay it off or just let the cash ride in a long-term investment?

Part of me just wants it off my plate since I can.

26 seconds

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I’ll give you one guess who she is voting for in November.

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Buddy text me from the practice
“Lainez couldn’t hit water if he was in a boat”
“Dejong fake blocked a guy fell down and curled into a ball”
Hill had ball at his waist and was stripped at 5 yd line on Third and goal”
“ Hill and Lainez couldn’t hit anyone in just drills”
“ couldn’t run the ball”
Anyone see anything different?

The second video of the young girl recapping what happened is heartbreaking.

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Of course Joe lets him go.

Nearly two months after it was temporarily closed for safety reasons, the Black Hawk Bridge across the Mississippi River at Lansing reopened this weekend — eliminating the need to take a water taxi or drive some 70 miles out of the way to cross at the next closest bridge over the river.



The historic bridge, connecting Lansing with rural Crawford County in Wisconsin, was closed Feb. 25 after some of its piers shifted. Construction on a replacement bridge just feet away likely played a role in causing instability in the old bridge, an Iowa Department of Transportation project manager said earlier this month.


More than 2,200 cars a day use the bridge, and merchants told The Gazette they experienced a drop off in business during its brief closure. One man said he sometimes slept in his car because a free water taxi across the Mississippi ended service too early after he got off work late in Wisconsin and he had to return to a farm near Lansing. A drive to the next closest bridge across the Mississippi is about 35 miles away, and then 35 miles back.




The Iowa DOT said emergency repairs included two new piers and four spans of decking. The bridge was inspected and reopened at 11 a.m. Saturday. The repairs were estimated to cost $2.65 million.

Workers prepare April 10 to place a bridge section as repairs continue on the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing. Repairs later were completed and the bridge was reopened to traffic Saturday after an inspection. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
A seven-day-a-week water taxi service ended when the bridge was reopened. The department estimated the cost of providing the service, operated by a tour company from Marquette, was $255,000.


The contractor building the new Lansing bridge — Kraemer North America — was tapped to do the repairs on the old bridge.


Piers on the historic bridge, which opened as a toll road in 1931, were made of timber and extended only about 50 feet below the riverbed. The newly repaired piers are made of concrete and extend into bedrock, some 150 feet down.





The new bridge is not expected to be complete and opened to traffic until 2027. Work on the $124 million project so far has been on the Wisconsin side of the river, where the contractor was pouring concrete into two of the new bridge’s five piers.


The Iowa DOT said last week a new piece of heavy equipment needed for the construction was being assembled on a barge.


“It’s called a ringer crane because of the ring it sits on,” the department said in an update. “Instead of moving back and forth on a set of tracks like most cranes, this one can rotate 360 degrees. It is being assembled on a barge and will be used in the river for construction of piers 1 and 2 as well as the new bridge.”

Some good news coming for Iowa fans out of the football following spring practice today...

Can the players get coaching from the coaches? I assume the players get together within their groups and workout, Oline works together on drills, qbs and receivers can throw and catch, etc etc.

Is there a time limit on how much players can practice together?