text:
San Miguel River

San Miguel River may refer to:

 * San Miguel River (Colorado), a tributary of the Dolores River in the U.S. state of Colorado
 * San Miguel River (Ecuador), on the border between Ecuador and Peru
 * San Miguel River (Mexico), a tributary of the Sonora River in the Mexican state of Sonora
 * San Miguel River (Peru), a tributary of the Marañón River in Peru
 * San Miguel River (Colombia), a tributary of the Japurá River in Colombia

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: San Miguel River


text:
San Miguel River (Colorado)

The San Miguel River is a tributary of the Dolores River, approximately 81 mi long, in southwestern Colorado in the United States. It rises in the San Juan Mountains southeast of Telluride and flows northwest, along the southern slope of the Uncompahgre Plateau, past the towns of Placerville and Nucla and joins the Dolores in western Montrose County approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of the state line with Utah.

Geography and protected areas
The San Miguel is more or less free-flowing; however, diversion dams dot the river and alter flows. In some parts it is however one of the few remaining naturally functioning rivers of the West.

The San Miguel varies in gradient, from extremely steep in its upper reaches (forming a shallow, rocky, unnavigable stream) to more mellow in the lower sections (30 - 50 ft/mi of drop, which offers the whitewater boater a variety of runs all within the class II+--III range). All told, the San Miguel drops over 7000 ft from an alpine ecosystem to the desert. The average flow is about 600 cuft/s.

More than 30 miles of the San Miguel are a protected area, as pats of the area were purchased by the ″Nature Conservancy Association″ in 1989.

The preserved zone hosts a riparian habitat, featuring the typical vegetation such as grey alders and narrowleaf cottonwood. The native fish include rather rare species such as cutthroat trout and the mottled sculpin. The River also features a 2,000 feet high, narrow canyon with walls of red-rock sandstone. American dippers have built their nests.

Bridal Veil Creek of Bridal Veil Falls and other creeks above Telluride join to form the river, which first flows to the west through Telluride. Other tributaries include the South Fork of the San Miguel River, which joins from the south and itself has various creeks and the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River as tributaries.

Tourism
Whitewater kayakers and boaters enjoy many sections on the San Miguel. Minimum suggested flows for small vessels is 250 cfs, with the river near Placerville usually becoming navigable in late April or early May. Several runs of varying length are commonly undertaken from there to the confluence with the Dolores, near the site of Uravan. The San Miguel is considered a continuous class 2 run with several class three rapids which become more challenging at higher flows, where the river's speed can make it difficult to stop and scout. Additional River hazards are three diversion dams that exist between Naturita and the Hwy 145 bridge East of Norwood. All of them are relatively easy to scout and portage, however. As the river meanders through an agricultural valley just east of Naturita, several cattle fences cross the river.

Other popular outdoor activities at San Miguel River include walking, hiking and fly fishing, for which the conditions are best from July to September.

title: San Miguel River (Colorado)


text:
Manchester University (Indiana)

Manchester University (formerly Manchester College) is a private liberal arts university associated with the Church of the Brethren and two locations, a residential campus in North Manchester, Indiana, and a second location in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which hosts the university's doctorate programs in pharmacy; master's programs in pharmacogenomics, athletic training, and nutrition and nutrigenomics; and an accelerated second degree program in nursing. Total enrollment is approximately 1,200 students.

History
Manchester University (formerly Manchester College) was founded in Roanoke, Indiana, as the Roanoke Classical Seminary in 1860 by the United Brethren Church. David N. Howe served as the last president of Roanoke Classical Seminary, which was moved to North Manchester to become North Manchester [Manchester] College. He served as Manchester College's first president from 1889 to 1894 and is known as the founder. The school was renamed Manchester College in 1889 when it moved to North Manchester. In 1932, Manchester merged with Mount Morris College of Mount Morris, Illinois, a Methodist seminary founded in 1839. Manchester is a college of the Church of the Brethren.

The Peace Studies Institute and Program for Conflict Resolution—the first undergraduate peace studies major in the U.S., was established at Manchester in 1948. The program was chaired by Kenneth Brown from 1980 until 2005.

The Manchester College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

In 2012, Manchester changed its name from Manchester College to Manchester University to reflect the growing number of graduate programs offered. Manchester also expanded & opened its second location featuring its state-of-the-art pharmacy school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2012. Manchester is the first university to offer a master's degree program in pharmacogenomics.

Academics
Manchester University operates on a 4-1-4 (four month semester- January Session- four month semester) academic calendar in its College of Undergraduate Studies. Students working toward a bachelor's degree can choose from seventy-eight major fields of study and thirty-four minor fields. Students working toward an associate degree can choose from two major fields of study. Manchester also offers master's degrees in five fields of study and a doctorate degree in pharmacy.

Accreditation
Manchester University as a whole has been accredited by The Higher Learning Commission continuously since 1932 and was a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools prior to its dissolution in 2014.

Department of History and Political Science
The Department of History and Political Science is one of the oldest and most prestigious programs of study at Manchester, housing the Mock Trial and Model United Nations organizations. Well-known graduates include G. John Ikenberry, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and co-faculty director of the Princeton Project on National Security; and Steven A. Shull, '65, university research professor at the University of New Orleans. Distinguished faculty have included Professor of Political Science Robert Johansen (Class of 1962; faculty 1967–74), founding Fellow of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and president of the World Policy Institute (1978–1982); and Professor of Medieval History Andrew Cordier (Class of 1922; faculty 1926–1944), one of the co-founders of the United Nations and president of Columbia University (1968–1970).

Manchester benefited from Cordier's faculty position as, through its relationship with him, Manchester also became the only college in the United States to hold NGO status with the United Nations, a distinction Manchester still holds. This has allowed the institution to attract a number of renowned public figures and policy makers to its campus, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Barry Goldwater, Ralph Nader, and Jesse Jackson.

Campus

All students classified as first-years, sophomores, or juniors must live on campus unless they live within 40 miles of Manchester University with their parents or are married. There are no fraternities or sororities at Manchester, and the university is a partially dry campus with alcohol being permitted at certain events.

Manchester University has five residence halls:
 * East Hall is a traditional-style hall that houses up to 224 men and women and is designated for first-year students.
 * Garver Hall is a traditional-style hall houses up to 275 men and women with a majority of the hall being restricted to first-year students.
 * Helman Hall is a suite-style hall that houses up to 129 men and women classified as sophomores, juniors, or seniors.
 * Oakwood Hall is a suite-style hall that houses up to 129 men and women classified as sophomores, juniors, or seniors.
 * Schwalm Hall take offline in 2021
 * East Street Apartments houses students classified as sophomores, juniors, or seniors, with priority given to seniors.

Students in their senior year are permitted to live off campus, and often live in named, themed houses that may persist through several years of occupants.

Manchester also offers more than thirty student clubs and organizations.

Service
In 2012–13, Manchester students contributed over 47,000 hours of community service, earning the university a spot on the president's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the fifth-straight year. The university's chapter of Indiana Reading Corps is one of the largest in the state, logging more than 3,000 hours tutoring elementary school children. Habitat for Humanity also is a major recipient of campus service.

Washington Monthly magazine ranks Manchester 14th among the nation's baccalaureate colleges for its “contribution to the public good.”

Buildings
The university president's residence, named Tall Oaks, is located on the North end of campus and is passed on from president to president.

The principal nonresidential buildings on the campus of Manchester University are:
 * Science Center
 * Funderburg Library
 * Cunningham Academic Center
 * Clark Computer Center
 * Otho Winger Memorial Hall
 * Physical Education and Recreation Center (PERC)
 * Calvin Ulrey Hall
 * Charles S. Morris Observatory
 * Jo Young Switzer Center (formerly Student Union)
 * Cordier Auditorium
 * Petersime Chapel
 * Chinworth Center
 * Jean Childs Young Intercultural Center and Toyota Round

Note: The Academic Center is a renovation of the former Holl-Kintner Hall, and contains classrooms, faculty offices and an admissions Welcome Center.

Note: The Administration Building was razed in 2022.

Athletics
Manchester University teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Spartans are a member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC). Men's sports include swimming, diving, baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, tennis, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include swimming, diving, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, wrestling, cheer and volleyball.

A burgeoning esports team began intercollegiate play in 2020 and competes in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) and the Great Lakes Esports Conference (GLEC).

Notable faculty

 * Kenneth Brown, professor of Philosophy and Peace Studies and recipient of the 2005 lifetime Achievement Award from the Peace and Justice Studies Association.*

Notable alumni

 * Myrl E. Alexander, former director of U.S. prison system and leading innovator in penal reforms, recipient of President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
 * Herb Banet, NFL player
 * Roy Blough, former director of the U.N. economic affairs department, member of President Truman's Council of Economic Advisers
 * Andrew W. Cordier, U.N. official
 * Mike DeBord, NFL coach
 * Donald F. Durnbaugh, professor and author of church history, moderator of Church of the Brethren annual conference, editor of the Brethren Encyclopedia
 * Martin Ellis, organist
 * Mike Emrick, announcer, honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame
 * Paul Flory, Nobel Prize winner in polymer chemistry
 * Jane E. Henney, first female commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
 * James Hollis, Jungian analyst and author
 * Kyle Hupfer, Indiana Republican Party Chairman
 * G. John Ikenberry, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and co-faculty director of the Princeton Project on National Security
 * Carol Karp, mathematician
 * J. Gordon Keever, former Assistant Treasurer at NCR Corporation and co-founder of the Business Executives Institute
 * Mike Kelly, former University of Dayton Head Football Coach, 2011 NCAA College Football Hall of Fame inductee
 * Sarah Kurtz, solar cell engineer
 * Cary D. Landis, 25th Florida Attorney General
 * Gene Likens, identified acid rain in North America
 * John Longfellow, noted college and IHSAA basketball coach; NAIA National Champion, 1951 Pan-Am Games Gold Medal-winning coach
 * Terry Pettit, volleyball coach
 * Roy J. Plunkett, inventor of Teflon
 * Frederick Rakestraw, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
 * Hans Sebald, sociologist
 * Ted Studebaker, pacifist and activist
 * Dan West, founder of Heifer International
 * Paul K. Weimer, electrical engineer

title: Manchester University (Indiana)


text: User talk:155.246.15.34

title: User talk:155.246.15.34


text:
Little Snake River

The Little Snake River is a tributary of the Yampa River, approximately 155 mi long, in southwestern Wyoming and northwestern Colorado in the United States.

It rises near the continental divide, in Routt National Forest in northern Routt County, Colorado, along the northern edge of the Park Range. It flows west along the Wyoming-Colorado state line, meandering across the border several times and flowing past the Wyoming towns of Dixon and Baggs. It turns southwest and flows through Moffat County, Colorado, joining the Yampa approximately 45 mi (72 km) west of Craig, just east of Dinosaur National Monument. The Little Snake is not generally navigable except seasonally in years of plentiful water.

title: Little Snake River


text:
Margaret J. Winkler

Margaret J. Winkler Mintz (April 22, 1895 – June 21, 1990) was a key figure in silent animation history, having a crucial role to play in the histories of Max and Dave Fleischer, Pat Sullivan, Otto Messmer, and Walt Disney. She was the first woman to produce and distribute animated films. Winkler was the subject of the feature film Walt Before Mickey.

Early life and career
Hungarian-born of German descent, Winkler began her career as the personal secretary of Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Brothers. Through most of the silent era, Warner Brothers was strictly a film distributor, and Harry Warner was the man who made the deals. In 1917, Warner Brothers began distributing cartoons of Mutt and Jeff in New York and New Jersey. Warner was impressed with Winkler's talents.

In 1921, Winkler founded M.J. Winkler Pictures (later Screen Gems) and signed a contract with Pat Sullivan Productions to produce Felix the Cat cartoons. The following year she signed another contract to distribute for Fleischer Studios on the Out of the Inkwell series. This established her reputation as the top distributor in the cartoon world. It was a good thing, because at the end of the same year the Fleischer brothers, flush with success as a result of Winkler's work, left her to form their own distribution company, Red Seal Pictures. However much Sullivan helped Winkler's business, he and Winkler were constantly fighting. In September 1923, the renewal of his contract came up, and his unrealistic demands meant M.J. Winkler Pictures might have to survive for a while without its biggest star. Winkler viewed a pilot reel, called Alice's Wonderland (1923), submitted by then neophyte animator Walt Disney, the first entry in the Alice Comedies series. Winkler was intrigued with the idea of a live-action girl in a cartoon world, and signed Disney to a year-long contract despite the fact that Laugh-O-Gram Studio, the studio that made the cartoon, was now bankrupt. Disney subsequently formed a new studio, Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, which was the first cartoon studio in Hollywood and eventually changed its name to Walt Disney Productions. Disney was helped by the tutelage of Winkler, who insisted on editing all of the "Alice Comedies" episodes herself. One of her suggestions was the addition of a suspiciously Felix-like character called Julius. This was apparently the "straw that broke the camel's back" for Sullivan, who signed with rival distributor E. W. Hammons of Educational Pictures in 1925.

Winkler was the first female member of the Motion Picture Producer's Guild. To disguise her gender, she would sign letters "M.J. Winkler."

Marriage
In 1924, she married Charles B. Mintz, a film distributor who had been working for her since 1922. Soon after she had her first child and retired from the business, turning her company over to her husband who renamed it Winkler Productions in 1926. The couple had two children, Katherine and William. The company was eventually renamed Screen Gems.

Death
Winkler died on June 21, 1990, in Mamaroneck, New York. She was 95 years old.

title: Margaret J. Winkler


text:
Kona International Airport

Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole is the primary airport on the Island of Hawaiʻi, located in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States. The airport serves leeward (western) Hawaiʻi island, including the resorts in North Kona and South Kohala. It is one of two international airports serving Hawaiʻi island, the other being Hilo International Airport on the windward (eastern) side.

It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, in which it is categorized as a small-hub primary commercial service facility.

Construction
Much of the runway is built on a relatively recent lava flow: the 1801 Huʻehuʻe flow from Hualālai. This flow extended the shoreline out an estimated 1 mi, adding some 4 km2 of land to the island and creating Keāhole Point. The airport opened on July 1, 1970, with a single 6500 ft runway; the previous smaller airstrip was converted into the Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area.

Construction crews from Bechtel Corporation used three million pounds of dynamite to flatten the lava tube riddled lava flow within 13 months.

In its first full year, 515,378 passengers passed through the new open-air tropical-style terminals.

Naming
The airport has had several names over its lifetime.

At the time of its opening in 1970, it was named the Ke-āhole Airport, after its geographical location, Keāhole Point, itself named after the ʻāhole fish found in the area.

In 1993, the airport was renamed Keāhole-Kona International Airport, after the nearby resort town of Kona. In 1997, the Kona name was further emphasized when the airport was renamed the Kona International Airport at Keāhole.

On January 8, 2017, the airport was renamed Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole to honor astronaut Ellison Onizuka who was born and raised in Kona and died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Impact
Prior to the construction of the new airport in 1970, tourism was centered on the town of Hilo on the eastern side of the Big Island. Tourists to Kona and the western side of the island typically flew into the Hilo Airport and had to make nearly two hour drive across the island. The lack of a major airport became especially problematic as large resorts started opening in Kona around 1968.

When the airport opened, it helped accelerate a shift of tourism from East Hawaii to West Hawaii. Tourism in Hilo had already taken a hit when a tsunami destroyed all seaside hotels in 1960.

The full extent of the airport's impact and shift in tourism can be seen in Hawaii Island Strategic Plan for 2006 to 2015. By 2005 the percentage of accommodations on the west side of the island increased to 86% of the total. In 2005, just four modest hotels continued to serve the east side of the Big Island, with three of them dating back to the 1960s.

Tourism has helped fuel Hawaii County's overall population growth. Between 1990 and 2010, the population increased 48%.

Expansion
Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines were the primary air carriers during the early and mid-1970s for inter-island flights from Honolulu on Oahu, Kahului on Maui and Lihue on Kauai with Aloha operating Boeing 737-200 jets and Hawaiian operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets at this time. In the late 1970s, Hawaiian operated larger McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 jets on its inter-island flights.

By early 1985, United Airlines was operating nonstop service into the airport from both Los Angeles and San Francisco with Douglas DC-8-71 and wide-body McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliners.

In 1991, a small museum, the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center opened at the airport. The displays included a sample of lunar soil, a spacesuit from Apollo 13, and personal items from Onizuka.

In 1994, the airport's runway was extended to 11000 ft, the second-longest in the Hawaiian Islands after Honolulu. The longer runways enabled much larger aircraft to use the airport, enabling nonstop flights between Kona and Tokyo or destinations in the United States beyond the West Coast hubs.

Japan Airlines (JAL) started a Kona-Tokyo flight in 1996. The route was suspended between 2010 and September 2017 leaving the island with only one scheduled international flight (to Vancouver) for a time. Hawaiian Airlines filed an application with the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) for nonstop flights from Kona to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, to restore the link between the two cities after JAL ended flights to Narita Airport in 2010. The USDOT rejected the airline's application in favor of Delta's Seattle to Haneda flights despite support from residents of west Hawaii. On October 23, 2013, Hawaiian Airlines announced that they would re-apply to the USDOT for nonstop Kona-Haneda flights a year after their application to fly that route was rejected. On July 8, 2016, Hawaiian Airlines announced that nonstop Kona-Haneda flights would begin on December 20, 2016, after the USDOT awarded them the route in May. JAL's resumption of daily Tokyo service in 2017 generated 900 jobs and $8.58 million in tax revenue for the Big Island during its first year, according to the Hawaiian Tourism Authority. Tokyo service on both Hawaiian and JAL was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time a new international arrivals facility was built at Kona; JAL resumed its Narita-Kona route in August 2022.

A modernization project started in March 2017 to combine the airport's two separate terminals into one terminal area. The program allowed the airport to have one, central security screening area and also allowed passengers to use the shopping and dining areas in either terminal. To enable the expansion, the Onizuka Space Center was closed in March 2016, and the airport was renamed after Onizuka in January 2017.

Facilities and aircraft
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole covers 2700 acre at an elevation of 47 feet (14 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt runway, 17/35, 11,000 by 150 feet (3,353 x 46 m).

In the year ending November 30, 2021, the airport had 87,770 aircraft operations, an average of 240 per day: 51% general aviation, 30% scheduled commercial, 12% air taxi and 7% military. In March 2022, there were 56 aircraft based at this airport; 26 single-engine, 8 multi-engine, 18 helicopters and 4 ultralights.

Passenger terminal
The state government of Hawaiʻi facility operates a runway and a terminal complex of single-story buildings along the eastern edge of the airfield for passengers, air cargo and mail, airport support, and general aviation. Airport operations fall under the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation.

The commercial passenger facility is a set of rambling, open-air, tropical-style structures, divided into three terminals: Terminal 1 includes gates 1 through 5, Terminal 2 includes gates 6 through 10, and Terminal 3 hosts smaller commuter flights. Kona International is the only remaining major airport in the Hawaiian Islands where passengers board using mobile stairs or ramps, instead of more modern jet bridges. Despite the less modern facilities, Kona is used by large airliners including the Airbus A321 and A330 along with the Boeing 717, 737, 757, 767, and 777.

Accidents and incidents

 * On August 25, 1977, an Air Cargo Hawaii twin-turboprop Short SC.7 Skyvan crashed and burned while attempting to land at Keahole Airport. The pilot and passenger were killed.  The crash occurred about 1.5 mi short of the runway.
 * On September 10, 1989, the pilot of an Aero Commander 680 was making an emergency landing on runway 17 due to loss of power in the right engine. He crashed about 0.25 mi southwest of the runway, resulting in one fatality and one serious injury.
 * On June 21, 2022, a Rockwell Commander 114 suffered a landing gear failure while landing at the airport. As a result the runway was blocked for 3 hours, and some inbound flights were diverted. The lone pilot was not injured.
 * On January 16, 2024, cracks found in the runway forced the airport to temporarily close. The airport reopened the following morning after repairs were completed overnight.

title: Kona International Airport


text:
The Black Book of Soviet Jewry

The Black Book of Soviet Jewry or simply The Black Book (Чёрная Кни́га; דאָס שוואַרצע בוך, Dos shvartse bukh), also known as The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry, is a 500-page document compiled for publication by Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman originally in late 1944 in the Russian language. It was a result of the collaborative effort by the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and members of the American Jewish community to document the anti-Jewish crimes of the Holocaust and the participation of Jews in the resistance movement against the Nazis during World War II. The 1991 Kyiv edition of The Black Book was subtitled The Ruthless Murder of Jews by German-Fascist Invaders Throughout the Temporarily-Occupied Regions of the Soviet Union and in the German Nazi Death Camps established on occupied Polish soil during the War 1941–1945.

The book was not allowed to be published in the Soviet Union upon the conclusion of the war. Its insistence on the uniqueness of Jewish suffering – above and beyond the rest of Soviet citizenry – was denounced by the Central Committee as anti-Soviet.

Background
Prominent Jewish Soviet writers and journalists Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman served as war reporters for the Red Army. Grossman's documentary reports of the opening of the Treblinka and Majdanek extermination camps were some of the first eyewitness accounts — as early as 1943 — of what later became known as the Holocaust. His article The Treblinka Hell was disseminated at the Nuremberg trials as a document for the prosecution.

Manuscripts and publications
In 1944–1945, based on their own experiences and on other documents they collected, Ehrenburg and Grossman produced two volumes under the title Murder of the People in Yiddish and handed the manuscript to the JAC. Copies were sent to the United States, the British mandate of Palestine (now Israel) and Romania in 1946, and excerpts were published in the United States in English under the title Black Book that same year. In Romania, a part of the manuscript was also published in 1946. It was also printed in Israel. A handwritten manuscript of the book is held at Yad Vashem.

The fate of the Black Book in the USSR
According to Ehrenburg, the mandatory State literary commission did not commit to publish the book in October 1944: "Instead of a straight answer, the resolution was:

"write the book, and if it comes out well, it would be published.' But it is not we who are the authors, it is the fascists ... What does that mean, 'comes out well' this is not a novel, it is a document." The book was partially printed in the Soviet Union by the Yiddish publisher Der Emes; however, the entire edition, the typefaces, as well as the manuscript, were destroyed. First the censors ordered changes in the text to conceal the specifically anti-Jewish character of the atrocities and to downplay the role of some Ukrainians who worked as Nazi police officers. In 1948 the Soviet edition of the book was scrapped completely. The collection of original documents that Ehrenburg handed down to the Vilnius Jewish Museum after the war was secretly returned to him upon the Museum's termination in 1948. The JAC was also disbanded, its members purged at the outset of the state campaign against the "rootless cosmopolitans", a Soviet euphemism for Jews. (See also the Doctors' plot.)

Typically, the official Soviet policy regarding the Holocaust was to present it as atrocities committed against Soviet citizens, without specifically acknowledging the genocide of the Jews.

A Russian-language edition of the Black Book was published in Jerusalem in 1980, and finally in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1991.

The new Russian-language edition of the Black Book was published in 2014 by Editions Corpus with the help of Planeta.ru, a Russian crowdfunding site.

title: The Black Book of Soviet Jewry


text:
Pinus virginiana

Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, (18–59 feet) but can grow larger under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 20 inches diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.

The short (4–8 cm), yellow-green needles are paired in fascicles and are often twisted. Pinecones are 4–7 cm long and may persist on the tree for many years, often (though not always) releasing their seeds in the second year. In growth habit, some trees may be inclined with twisted trunks.

This pine is useful for reforesting and provides nourishment for wildlife. Its other main use is on Christmas tree farms, despite having sharp-tipped needles and yellowish winter color. It also can provide wood pulp and lumber. Like some other southern yellow pines, Virginia pine lumber case hardens. That is, it becomes very hard over time during wood drying. Wood from Virginia pine is not normally considered to resist rot unless treated with preservatives.

Description
Pinus virginiana is endemic to the United States and can be identified by a key characteristic; the relatively short needles are twisted and come in bunches of two. The needles are typically two to eight centimeters in length. There is hair on the bracts and on the bud scales of the P. virginiana. The leaf sheath of the P. virginiana is greater than 2.5 millimeters long. The cones of the P. virginiana only open after they are mature. The branches of the Pinus virginiana are flexible. They will bend when pressure is added to them. Pinus virginiana are between 9 and 18 meters tall. The bark of P. virginiana is red and brown in color, and also has the tendency to be rough with relatively small bark scales. The pollen cones are circular, almost elliptical and are 10–20 millimeters in size. They are the same color as the bark, typically. Seed cones are spread throughout the tree. The mature seed cones (4–7 cm) are much larger than the pollen cones. The P. virginiana prefers to grow in poor soils and dry loam or clay. They can grow on sandy soil, but this usually causes the tree to be smaller than the average P. virginiana.

Taxonomy
Pinus virginiana is in the family Pinaceae and the order Pinales. A molecular phylogeny indicates that the sister taxa to Pinus virginiana are Pinus clausa, Pinus contorta, and Pinus banksiana. Pinus banksiana has shorter needles than P. viginiana at 2–3.5 centimeters in length, whereas P. virginiana is 2–8 centimeters in length. P. banksiana needles are not twisted, but curved, and has cones that are serotinous and unarmed. The leaf sheaths in P. banksiana are less than 2.5 millimeters long. In P. virginiana the needles are twisted and straight. The cones open at maturity, are not serotinous and the scales on the cones have prominent prickles. The sheaths of the P. virginiana are greater than 2.5 millimeters long. Pinus clausa has larger needles than the P. virginiana. The Pinus clausa has needles that are between 5 and 13 centimeters long, P. virginiana has needles that range between 2 and 8 centimeters long. Pinus clausa is also serotinous. Lastly, Pinus virginiana and Pinus contorta are distributed differently: Pinus virginiana are found on the eastern side of the United States, whereas Pinus contorta are found on the western side. A similarity between Pinus virginiana and Pinus contorta is that the needles of both species are twisted.

Distribution and habitat
Pinus virginiana inhabit dry forested areas. The tree occurs in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. In locations where the P. virginiana lives, rainfall is typically between 890 and 1400 millimeters. The average temperatures in the summer are between 21–24 degrees Celsius and in the winter it is around −4 to 4 degrees Celsius. Pinus virginiana is poorly adapted to fire, but if the tree is larger they are able to survive. Open growth Virginia pines may begin cone production at only 5 years old. There have been documented cases of trees as young as 18 months beginning to flower. Virginia pine is monecious and some self-pollination is possible, but a significant seed crop requires two trees. Cones take two complete growing seasons to develop. Pollination takes place 13 months after cone formation begins, and dispersal occurs the following autumn. Unlike some other pines, Virginia pine produces cones in all parts of the canopy. Pinus virginiana is reportedly naturalized in southern Ontario

Ethnobotany
Cherokee Native Americans used P. virginiana medicinally for a variety of purposes. Diarrhea, stiffness of the body, colds, fevers, hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, and constipation, among others, are all ailments treated with parts of the tree. Cherokee also used it in certain cultural rituals. In burial, P. virginiana branches were burned and the ashes were used for a fire in their homes. Ball players would consume apple juice infused with P. virginiana needles "for wind" prior to events. Root infusions from the plant may be used as a stimulant and the needles as a soap.

Etymology
The etymology of the Pinus virginiana is as follows: Pinus is Latin for Pine and virginiana means of Virginia.

Uses
Pinus virginiana was used historically as mine timbers, for railroad ties, and for fuel and tar. Currently, it is being planted as in reclamation sites for coal mining operations. Pinus virginiana can also be used for wood pulp, which is used to make paper, and for lumber. The wood weighs 32 pounds (14 kg) per foot.

Conservation
On the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Pinus virginiana is considered a species that is of least concern. It is a species of least concern due to relative commonness as an early successional species. In areas of abandoned farmland in the eastern US, P. virginiana tends to be common.

title: Pinus virginiana


text:
Kona

Kona or KONA may refer to:

People

 * Kona (surname)
 * Dilshad Nahar Kona, Bangladeshi singer also known as Kona

Fictional characters

 * Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle, a 1960s comic book character

Places

 * Kona District, Hawaii, USA; on the western coast of the island of Hawaii. Kona means "Leeward" in Hawaiian. In Ancient Hawaii each island had a "Kona" district.
 * Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA; sometimes called Kona Town
 * Kona, Kentucky, USA
 * Kona, North Carolina, USA

 * Kona Department, a department in Mouhoun Province, Burkina Faso
 * Kona, Ashanti, a small town in the Sekyere South District, Ghana
 * Alternative spelling of Konah, a town in Guinea
 * Kona, a city of Howrah district in West Bengal, India

 * Colossae or Kona, an ancient city of Phrygia

Facilities and structures

 * Kona International Airport in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA
 * Winona Municipal Airport (ICAO airport code ), Minnesota, USA

Broadcast callsigns

 * KONA (AM), a radio station in Kennewick, Washington
 * KONA-FM, a radio station in Kennewick, Washington
 * KONA-LP, a low-power radio station (100.5 FM) licensed to serve Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States

Arts and entertainment

 * Kona (TV series), a Kenyan telenovela that premiered in 2013
 * Kona (video game), a 2017 video game developed by Parabole

Music

 * Kona (lit. woman in Icelandic) a 1985 solo album by Icelandic singer Bubbi
 * "Kona", 2018 single from the album Limpopo Champions League by South African musician Sho Madjozi

Groups, organizations, companies

 * Signal Intelligence Regiment (KONA), German Signal intelligence regiment (abbr. KONA), during World War II
 * Kona Brewing Company
 * Kona Grill, a restaurant chain based in Scottsdale, Arizona
 * Kona Bicycle Company

Brands, products

 * An open-source implementation of the K programming language
 * Kyocera Kona, a flip phone manufactured by Kyocera
 * Hyundai Kona, a crossover SUV automotive vehicle

Other

 * Kona coffee, a product of the Kona District in Hawaii
 * Kona storm, a weather event in Hawaii

title: Kona


text:
Talk:Margaret J. Winkler

Untitled
There is a conflict in my sources over which series was the first to be distributed by Winkler Productions. According to Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat, the contract giving Winkler distribution of Felix the Cat was signed on December 15, 1921 and the beginning of her distribution of the "second series" of Out of the Inkwell was Fall of 1922. This implies that Warner Brothers distributed Out of the Inkwell in 1921. On the other hand, a footnote in Before Mickey states that a trade ad in Moving Picture World for Out of the Inkwell dated December 17, 1921 uses Winkler's business address, implying that she distributed the "first series" as well as the second. What makes this so complicated is the fact that Moving Picture World is the primary source for trade information from this period. The magazine contains New York ads, and Winkler used Warner Brothers to release her cartoons in New York and New Jersey. This means that ads with "Warner Brothers" on them are not necessarily distributed by Warner Brothers. Looking at American Animated Films: The Silent Era, Felix the Cat cartoons with release dates from January 22, 1922 to June 8, 1925 are distributed by Winkler. According to the same source, Out of the Inkwell cartoons with release dates of October, November 21, and December 3, 1921, are distributed by Winkler; followed by cartoons with release dates of January 7, February 7, and March 6, 1922 distributed by Warner Brothers, followed by nine cartoons with release dates between April 20 and December 15, 1922, distributed by Winkler. I can't figure out why Out of the Inkwell would go to Warner Brothers for three months--maybe Winkler, starting to distribute Felix the Cat, didn't think she could handle both that series and Out of the Inkwell and so gave up one until she gained confidence. Or else maybe the author of American Animated Films: The Silent Era made a mistake. -- McPoodle 07:08, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Moisturized ??
What does this sentence mean? "In 1915, she married Charles B. Mintz, a film distributor who had been moisturized." If anyone can figure that out, they should replace "moisturized" with a more understandable word or phrase. PatConolly (talk) 03:43, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Margaret J. Winkler


text:
Toadflax

Toadflax is the common name of several related genera of plants in the family Plantaginaceae, including:

 * Anarrhinum
 * Antirrhinum, also called snapdragon
 * Chaenorhinum, native to Turkey and the Mediterranean
 * Cymbalaria
 * Linaria
 * Misopates
 * Nuttallanthus

title: Toadflax


text:
List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1985

These are the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits of 1985. The two longest running number-one singles of 1985 are "We Are the World" by USA for Africa and "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie which each logged four weeks at number-one. "Say You, Say Me" logged two weeks at number-one in 1985 and two more additional weeks in 1986, reaching a total of four. "Like a Virgin" by Madonna concluded a six-week run that started in 1984.

That year, 17 acts first hit number one, such as Foreigner, USA for Africa, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, Bryan Adams, Paul Young, Huey Lewis and the News, John Parr, Dire Straits, Ready for the World, a-ha, Whitney Houston, Jan Hammer, Starship, Marilyn Martin, and Mr. Mister. George Michael, having already hit number one with Wham!, also earns his first number one song as a solo act. Madonna, Wham!, Phil Collins, and Tears for Fears were the only acts to have more than one song reach number one, with Phil Collins having the most with three, while the others have two.

This was also a record year for British acts with 13 hits reaching the top spot. As of 2022 this record remains unbroken.

Additional sources

 * Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition (ISBN 0-8230-7677-6)
 * Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2008, 12 Edition (ISBN 0-89820-180-2)
 * Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Eighties (ISBN 0-89820-079-2)
 * Additional information obtained can be verified within Billboard's online archive services and print editions of the magazine.


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Azati Prime

"Azati Prime" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the 70th overall. The episode was written by Manny Coto from a story developed by Coto, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It was directed by Allan Kroeker, his second of the season. The episode featured several guest actors, including those playing members of the Xindi Council, as well as Matt Winston who reprised his role of Temporal Agent Daniels for the second time this season.

Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship Enterprise, registration NX-01. Season three of Enterprise features an ongoing story following an attack on Earth by previously unknown aliens called the Xindi. In this episode, the crew track a Xindi superweapon down to a planet and Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) seeks to destroy the weapon in a suicide attack. He is captured, and the Enterprise is seriously damaged after an attack by four Xindi vessels.

The USS Enterprise-J appeared in this episode, based on designs by Doug Drexler. The ship was from 400 years in the future from the timeframe that the series is set in, and the bridge set was created mostly using green screen. John Eaves also created several designs of aquatic Xindi vessels for this episode. "Azati Prime" received Nielsen ratings of 2.6/4 percent. Critical reaction was mostly positive, with praise directed at the pacing of the episode and the plotting of the overall arc.

Plot
Enterprise approaches Azati Prime where the Xindi are constructing their super weapon. Captain Archer sends Commander Tucker and Ensign Mayweather on board the Xindi shuttle they had captured, to investigate the planet. Working their way past security, they approach the weapon, which is being built underwater. Archer orders Enterprise to destroy a Xindi detection facility on the planet's moon to prevent it from signalling the ship's presence. The shuttle returns with scans of the weapon and Archer decides to pilot a suicide mission to destroy it. The crew try to talk him out of it but he is resolute.

Archer then finds himself 400 years in the future on board the USS Enterprise-J, alongside Temporal Agent Daniels. They are at the battle where the Sphere Builders are defeated by the Federation, preventing an invasion. The builders have the technology to view alternate timelines, and have been manipulating the Xindi to prevent the Federation from forming. Daniels gives Archer an initiation medal from a Xindi who had joined Starfleet as temporal evidence. Back on his Enterprise, Archer rejects the notion of a Human–Xindi détente and leaves on the shuttle. He arrives at the super weapon construction site but finds the weapon is gone, and is rapidly captured by the Xindi Commander Dolim.

The Reptilians begin to interrogate Archer, who then asks to speak to Degra, the Primate scientist from episode Stratagem. Using Daniels' medal, Archer tries to convince Degra that the Reptilians cannot be trusted but Dolim arrives with armed colleagues and takes the Primates away. Sub-Commander T'Pol, in command of Enterprise, displays signs of an emotional breakdown. She also decides to go on a mission, to negotiate a peace and reacts angrily when Tucker tries to stop her. An attack from four Xindi ships follows, and the episode concludes with a cliffhanger, as Enterprise is left severely damaged.

Production
"Azati Prime" was the first episode of Enterprise to be filmed in 2004, starting on January 5. Filming took eight days, concluding on January 14. The eighth day overlapped with the production of the following episode, "Damage". The story was developed by Manny Coto alongside Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Coto developed it into a script, his third of the series. The director of the episode was Allan Kroeker, who also directed "The Xindi" earlier in the season as well as the final episodes of both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. The episode featured a number of guest stars, including Smallwood, Oglesby, MacDonald and Worthy, who appeared in their recurring roles on the Xindi council. Winston appeared as Daniels for the second time during season three, having made his debut in season one's "Cold Front".

The Xindi shuttle set had been constructed for "Hatchery", while a new set was constructed for the bridge of the Enterprise-J, which consisted mostly of a green screen. The future Enterprise was designed by Doug Drexler, who drew the first design only two days prior to the production meeting for the episode. The computer generated model was created in a few hours, and Drexler later said that they would have finished it differently. He imagined that the vessel was so large that there would be universities and entire parks on board, with the turbolifts replaced by short range transporters. More than one design was created, with the final version created with elements from different designs. One of the elements incorporated into the version seen on screen was a reduction in the size of the warp nacelle supports as Drexler said that he did not like that they had increased in size. John Eaves also created a number of designs for aquatic Xindi vessels for use in the episode, as well as a rejected design for the superweapon.

Reception
"Azati Prime" was first aired in the United States on UPN on March 3, 2004. It received a 2.6/4 percent share among adults. This means that it was seen by 2.6 percent of all households, and four percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. Enterprise was the sixth most watched program in the time slot, behind Smallville on The WB. It was estimated that "Azati Prime" was watched by 4.02 million viewers, which was less than recent episodes had received.

Michelle Erica Green of TrekNation compared elements of the episode to the Star Wars franchise, such as the Xindi super-weapon standing in for the Death Star. She found the pacing made the episode "engrossing" and thought that the action sequences would qualify it for technical Emmy Awards. She said that the one flaw in the episode was the characterization of Archer and T'Pol, as she felt that some of their actions were implausible. Jamahl Epsicokhan on his website Jammer's Reviews, gave "Azati Prime" a rating of three and a half out of four. He thought it was compelling and was impressed with how elements of earlier episodes were brought together, also saying that it was "possibly the most entertaining episode of Enterprise yet this season". Aint It Cool News gave the episode a rating of 3.5 out of five, and generally praised the episode, but complained that Archer found himself in a prison cell yet again.

James Gray writing for The Digital Fix said "Azati Prime" was probably the best episode in the series yet, and had the best space battle scene of all Star Trek television and movies up to that time. film and television critic Jordan Hoffman gave the episode four out of five, and said that the Xindi story-line was reaching a peak. Io9 ranked the spacecraft design shown in this episode, the Enterprise-J, as the eleventh best version of the starship Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise.

Home media release
The only home media release of "Azati Prime" has been as part of the season three DVD box set, released in the United States on September 27, 2005. The Blu-ray release of Enterprise was announced in early 2013 and season three is expected to be released in January 2014.

title: Azati Prime


text:
Talk:Beirut

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 16:26, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Beyrouth (9861430944).jpg

Coordinates
Is there a policy for what coordinates to use. I'm not sure where the current coords came from, but they are not the geonames coords of 33.89332, 35.50157. Should we use the UN official coords of 33.898316, 35.505696. Thanks PalauanReich (talk) 16:31, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Beirut


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User:Halifax~enwiki

Welcome to my world.

title: User:Halifax~enwiki


text:
RCS

RCS may refer to:

Organizations

 * Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, a French football club
 * Radio Corporation of Singapore
 * Radcliffe Choral Society, a choral ensemble at Harvard University
 * Rawmarsh Community School, South Yorkshire, England
 * Red Crescent Society
 * Red Cross Society
 * Representation of Czechs and Slovaks, a football team
 * Richmond Christian School
 * Riverdale Country School, Bronx, New York
 * RCS MediaGroup (Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera), an Italian publishing group
 * Rogersville City School
 * Romania Cable Systems
 * Rosehill Christian School
 * Royal College of Science
 * RCS Motor Club, and automotive club of the Royal College of Science
 * Royal College of Surgeons
 * Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
 * Royal Corps of Signals
 * the Ryan Cayabyab Singers; a Philippine band

People

 * Ryan Cochran-Siegle, an American World Cup alpine ski racer

Places

 * First Czechoslovak Republic (RČS: Republic of Czechoslovakia), Czechoslovakia's official name between 1918 and 1920
 * Rochester Airport, England, UK (IATA airport code )
 * Risalpur Cantonment railway station, Risalpur, Pakistan (station code )

Transportation

 * Raleigh, Charlotte and Southern Railway (RC&S), a predecessor to Norfolk Southern Railway (1942–1982)
 * Reaction control system, a system of thrusters used to maneuver spacecraft
 * Reentry control system
 * Regional Connectivity Scheme, for aviation in India, under UDAN
 * Republic of China Ship (RCS and ROCS), ship prefix for the Republic of China Navy

Technology

 * Radar cross-section
 * Radio Computing Services
 * Real-time control system (disambiguation)
 * Real-time Control System
 * Remote control system
 * Resource construction set
 * Revision Control System
 * Rich Communication Services, a substitute for SMS used in mobile phone messaging

Other uses

 * Regional Command — South (RC-S), a subdivision of International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan

title: RCS


text:
List of military aircraft of Japan

This list of military aircraft of Japan includes project, prototype, pre-production and operational types regardless of era. This includes both domestically developed Japanese designs, licensed variants of foreign designs, and foreign-produced aircraft that served in the military of Japan.

Japanese names are used here, not World War II Allied codenames. The prefix "Ki" in this list is an abbreviation of "Kitai", meaning "airframe", and was used only by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. "Ki" should be read as one word. For clarification on other designations, particularly those used by the Navy, see Japanese military aircraft designation systems. (Note: " - " indicates information is unknown or not applicable.)

title: List of military aircraft of Japan


text:
Cinnamon bittern

The cinnamon bittern (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus) or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern, breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances.

Taxonomy
The cinnamon bittern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with herons, cranes, egrets and bitterns in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea cinnamomea. Gmelin based his description on the "Chinese heron" that had been included by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had based his own description on a partial specimen in the British Museum. The cinnamon bittern is now placed with nine other species in the genus Ixobrychus that was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow. The specific epithet cinnamomeus is Latin meaning "cinnamon coloured". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Description
It is a small species at 38 cm length, though it is one of the larger Ixobrychus bitterns. Possessing a short neck and longish bill, the male is uniformly cinnamon above and buff below. The female is similar but her back and crown are brown, and the juvenile is like the female but heavily streaked brown below. When surprised on its nest or concerned, it assumes the characteristic attitude of bitterns, termed the on-guard. The neck is stretched perpendicularly, bill pointing skyward, while the bird freezes and becomes very hard to see among the surrounding reeds.

Distribution and habitat
The species has an extremely large range throughout Asia; there are breeding populations from India to Indonesia. Vagrants have been in Micronesia, the Seychelles and Afghanistan, among other locations. Global population estimates are uncertain and range from 130,000 to 2,000,000 individuals.

Behaviour and ecology
The cinnamon bittern breeds in reed beds, nesting on platforms of reeds in shrubs. Four to six eggs are laid. The species can be difficult to see, given their skulking lifestyle and reed bed habitat, but tend to emerge at dusk, when they can be seen creeping almost cat-like in search of frogs. Cinnamon bitterns feed on insects, fish and amphibians.

title: Cinnamon bittern


text:
Rio–Niterói Bridge

The Rio–Niterói Bridge (in Portuguese: Ponte Rio-Niterói), officially the President Costa e Silva Bridge, is a box girder bridge spanning the Guanabara Bay, connecting the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is currently the second longest bridge in Latin America, after the Metro Line 1 bridge, and the 48th longest in the world in 2020. From its completion in 1974 until 1985 it was the world's second-longest bridge, second only to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

It is 13.29 km long – 8.836 km over water and the bridge's 300 m central span is 72 m high in order to allow the passage of hundreds of ships entering and leaving the bay every month. At the time it was completed, the central span was the longest box girder in the world; it has since been surpassed by the 301 m main span of the Stolma Bridge (1998) and the 330 m main span of the second Shibanpo Bridge (2006). It carries over 150,000 vehicles daily, which pay a toll only when entering Niterói of. It has 18 access points and eight overpasses.

Officially, it is part of federal highway BR-101. From 1 June 1995, it was under the management of Ponte S.A. under a 20-year concession until 1 June 2015 since when Ecoponte has managed the bridge.

History

The concept dates to 1875, when a bridge-and-tunnel connection was envisioned between two cities separated by Guanabara Bay and connected by road only via inland journey of more than 100 km through the city of Magé.

In 1963, a working group was created to study a bridge-building project. On 29 December 1965, an executive committee was formed to run the bridge-building program. President Artur da Costa e Silva signed a decree on 23 August 1968, authorizing the project for the bridge. The bridge program was run by Minister of Transport Mario Andreazza.

Construction began symbolically on 9 November 1968, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on her only visit to Brazil. Actual work began in December 1968

Initially, the bridge was constructed by a consortium of Brazilian companies led by Camargo Correa SA (for the concrete works) and by Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Redpath Dorman Long in association with Montreal Engenharia of Brazil (for the steel navigation spans). On January 26, 1971, President Emílio Garrastazu Médici signed a decree taking control of the consortium.

The bridge opened on 4 March 1974, on a Monday morning, with the official name of President Costa e Silva Bridge. "Rio-Niterói" started as a descriptive nickname that soon became better known than the official name. Today hardly anyone refers to it by its official name.

In 2012 a bill was introduced to change its official name, President Costa e Silva Bridge - the second president of the Brazilian military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985 - to Herbert de Souza Bridge, which has annoyed the Brazilian military.

Controversy
Officially, 33 people died during the construction of the bridge. Unofficial estimates put the death toll in excess of 400. Some people suggested that workers were buried within the concrete, but engineer Bruno Contarini contested that by saying, "There wasn’t even concrete when one of the foundations toppled over during the load test and eight people died. If any bodies were not rescued, it’s because they disappeared in the bay, not because they were buried in concrete ."

Pop culture
In 1977, the famous Brazilian singer Maysa died in a car crash on the bridge.

In 2011, the bridge was featured in the film Fast Five. The Puerto Rican bridge Teodoro Moscoso doubled for the bridge during the last moments of the film.

title: Rio–Niterói Bridge


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Ambrosia beetle

Ambrosia beetles are beetles of the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), which live in nutritional symbiosis with ambrosia fungi. The beetles excavate tunnels in dead or stressed trees into which they introduce fungal gardens, their sole source of nutrition. After landing on a suitable tree, an ambrosia beetle excavates a tunnel in which it releases its fungal symbiont. The fungus penetrates the plant's xylem tissue, extracts nutrients from it, and concentrates the nutrients on and near the surface of the beetle gallery. Ambrosia fungi are typically poor wood degraders, and instead utilize less demanding nutrients. Symbiotic fungi produce and detoxify ethanol, which is an attractant for ambrosia beetles and likely prevents growth of antagonistic pathogens and selects for other beneficial symbionts. The majority of ambrosia beetles colonize xylem (sapwood and/or heartwood) of recently dead trees, but some colonize stressed trees that are still alive, and a few species attack healthy trees. Species differ in their preference for different parts of trees, different stages of deterioration, and in the shape of their tunnels ("galleries"). However, the majority of ambrosia beetles are not specialized to any taxonomic group of hosts, unlike most phytophagous organisms including the closely related bark beetles. One species of ambrosia beetle, Austroplatypus incompertus exhibits eusociality, one of the few organisms outside of Hymenoptera and Isoptera to do so.

Classification and diversity

Until recently ambrosia beetles have been placed in independent families Scolytidae and Platypodidae, however, they are in fact some of the most highly derived weevils, and are now placed in the subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae of Family Curculionidae  There are about 3,000 known beetle species employing the ambrosia strategy.

Ambrosia beetles are an ecological guild, but not a phylogenetic clade. The ambrosia habit is an example of convergent evolution, as several groups evolved the same symbiotic relationship independently. The highest diversity of ambrosia beetles is in the tropics. In the Paleotropical region, hundreds of species of Xyleborini and Platypodinae are the main agent initiating dead wood decomposition. In the Neotropics, Platypodinae and Xyleborini are joined by the scolytine tribe Cortylini. Compared to the diversity in the tropics, ambrosia beetle fauna in the temperate zone is rather limited. In the Nearctic region it is dominated by a few species from Cortylini, Xyleborini and Xyloterini. In the Palearctic realm, significant groups are Xyloterini and Xyleborini, joined by Scolytoplatypodini in the Far East.

The symbiotic relationship
Beetles and their larvae graze on mycelium exposed on the gallery walls and on bodies called sporodochia, clusters of the fungus' spores. Most ambrosia beetle species don't ingest the wood tissue; instead, the sawdust resulting from the excavation is pushed out of the gallery. Following the larval and pupal stage, adult ambrosia beetles collect masses of fungal spores into their mycangia and leave the gallery to find their own tree.

A few dozen species of ambrosia fungi have been described, currently in the genera Ambrosiella, Meredithiella, and Phialophoropsis (from Microascales), Afroraffaelea and Raffaelea (from Ophiostomatales), Ambrosiozyma (Saccharomycetales), Fusarium and Geosmithia (from Hypocreales), and Flavodon (from Basidiomycota). Many more species remain to be discovered. Little is known about the bionomy or specificity of ambrosia fungi. Ambrosia fungi are thought to be dependent on transport and inoculation provided by their beetle symbionts, as they have not been found in any other habitat. All ambrosia fungi are probably asexual and clonal. Some beetles are known to acquire ("steal") fungal inoculum from fungal gardens of other ambrosia beetle species.

Evolutionary origin
During their evolution, most scolytid and platypodid weevils became progressively more or less dependent on fungi regularly co-habiting dead trees. This evolution had various outcomes in different groups:
 * Some phloem-eating bark beetles (phloeophages) are vectors of phytopathogenic fungi, which in some cases contribute to tree death. The extent to which fungal pathogenicity benefits the beetles themselves is not at all trivial and remains disputed.
 * Many of phloem-feeding bark beetles use phloem-infesting fungi as an addition to their diet. Some phloeophages became dependent on such a mixed diet and evolved mycangia to transport their symbionts from maternal trees to newly infested trees. These beetles are called mycophloeophages.
 * Ambrosia beetles and ambrosia fungi are thus only one end of the spectrum of the weevil-fungus association, where both the beetle and the fungus became completely dependent on each other.

Impact on forests
The vast majority of ambrosia beetles colonize dead trees, and have minor or no economic effect. A few species are able to colonize living stressed trees (Xylosandrus). A few species are able to attack live and healthy trees, and those can reach epidemic proportions in non-native, invaded regions (Xyleborus glabratus, Euwallacea fornicatus ).

Beetle species that readily colonize lumber, such as sawlogs, green lumber, and stave-bolts, often cause region-specific economic loss from the pinhole and stained-wood defects caused by their brood galleries. In Northern USA and Canada, conifer logs are attractive to Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.) during the spring swarming flight (Dyer 1967). Previous studies showed that short log sections become attractive more rapidly than corresponding long logs.

title: Ambrosia beetle


text:
Yellow bittern

The yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in the northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Alaska and there is a single sighting in Great Britain, from Radipole Lake, Dorset on November 23, 1962 – however, the British Ornithologists' Union has always considered this occurrence to be of uncertain provenance and currently it is not accepted onto the official British List.

Taxonomy
The yellow bittern was formally described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Systema Naturae. He placed it with the herons, cranes, storks and bitterns in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea sinensis. Gmelin based his description on the "Chinese heron" that had been included by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham based his description on a collection of Chinese drawings. The yellow bittern is now one of ten species placed in the genus Ixobrychus that was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow. The specific epithet sinensis is Modern Latin meaning "China". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Description
The yellow bittern is a small species at 36 to 38 cm in length, with a short neck and longish bill. It has yellow green legs, an ivory bill (darker on top), a short black tail and yellow irises. The male of the species has a dark cap, chestnut head and neck, with a uniformly dull yellow body above and buff below. The female's cap, neck and breast are streaked, with a rufous hindneck and upper back and streaked dark red brown and buff under parts. The juveniles of the species resemble the female but is more boldly streaked, brown on its head and back, and mottled with buff above.

Distribution and habitat
Yellow bittern's are found in fresh water marshes and swamps. It nests in small constructed platforms of reeds or twigs in the vegetation of reed beds or in trees and shrubs adjacent to or above water. They lay four to six pale blue-green eggs.

Behaviour and ecology
Yellow bitterns feed on a variety of insects, fish, amphibians, crustaceans and molluscs.

Conservation
The yellow bittern is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

title: Yellow bittern


text:
North Park University

North Park University is a private Christian university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is located on Chicago's north side and enrolls more than 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students.

History
The university originated in the founding of North Park Theological Seminary in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church in Minneapolis. In 1894, the school moved to Chicago and opened as North Park College. It moved to its present location at the corner of Foster and Kedzie. Although far from the Loop, the location was close to then existing Swedish-American villages and the newly established Swedish Covenant Hospital. Old Main, the oldest building on campus, was erected and dedicated on June 16, 1894. It is at this time that the name North Park was first used to describe the school.

Struggles and success marked the early years of North Park; enrollment and funding fluctuated significantly. An interesting source of both money and headache came from P. H. Anderson, who was serving as a Covenant missionary in Alaska at the time. When he made a small fortune during the gold rush, he donated a significant portion of the windfall to North Park. However, the money was considered tainted by some of North Park’s leadership, who thought the money was of dubious origin.

A leader at that time was David Nyvall. Nyvall served as president and teacher in the Seminary for many years. The current seminary building, Nyvall Hall, is named after him.

Since the early days, the school has developed and changed in many ways. In 1958, North Park Junior College expanded from a two-year college into a four-year program, becoming North Park College. In 1997, the decision was made to change the name of the school again, and North Park University was born. Though North Park still holds on to its Swedish American past and close ties with the Evangelical Covenant Church, it is now an intercultural institution focused on diversity. North Park describes itself as a liberal arts university that is Christian, city-centered, and intercultural. North Park University is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Higher Learning Commission. It is also a designated Hispanic-serving institution. The seminary is additionally accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. North Park's last president, David L. Parkyn, retired at the end of the 2016–2017 academic year. Carl E. Balsam was named as the interim president in June 2017, and served until August 2018. Mary Surridge was nominated as the school's tenth president, and began her term in August 2018.

Academics
The university is organized into the following academic units:
 * College of Arts and Sciences
 * School of Business and Nonprofit Management
 * School of Education
 * School of Nursing and Health Sciences
 * School of Professional Studies
 * North Park Theological Seminary

It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. Its most popular undergraduate majors, based on number out of 365 graduates in 2022, were:
 * Business Administration and Management (93)
 * Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse (64)
 * Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness (34)
 * Psychology (30)

Athletics
The North Park athletic teams are called the Vikings. The university is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) since the 1962–63 academic year. The Vikings previously competed in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1959–60 to 1961–62.

North Park competes in 19 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball. In January 2023, North Park introduced its first esports team, a co-ed intercollegiate sport that competes in the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC).

Men's basketball
North Park has had a successful men's basketball program. It has won five men's NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championships since 1978, including three consecutive ones led by Michael Harper, who later played for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. In the 2022–23 season, North Park advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen under first-year and current head coach Sean Smith, going 24-6 (13-3 in CCIW Conference play). Coach Smith also won Conference Coach of the Year, as well as NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.

Men's Track and Field
North Park's Dave Valentine won the 1983 NCAA Men's Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the 10,000 meters setting a Division III National Championship record held from 1983 to 1994 and setting school records in the Indoor 2 mile, 3 mile and 5,000 meters in addition to the Outdoor 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and Marathon.

Men's soccer
North Park men's soccer ended their 2017 season with a record of 20-2-2, finishing runner-up for the National Championship title. Their decorated season included a CCIW Championship, CCIW Tournament Championship, victories all the way to the NCAA Championship game, seven All-CCIW picks (including Newcomer and Player of the Year), four All-Region picks, a First Team All American selection, and a plethora of awards for Head Coach John Born : National Coach of the Year, Regional Coach of the Year, and CCIW Coach of the Year. The team is currently coached by North Park soccer alum Kris Grahn.

Baseball
North Park's baseball team is the six-time CCIW regular season champions, most recently winning in 2012. The Vikings have made the NCAA Division III tournament 18 times (five consecutive) and won the conference tournament thrice. The baseball team has made the NCAA tournament six times, most recently in 2012.

Two Vikings have been drafted by MLB teams: Randy Ross (15th round of the 1983 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers) and Mike Giovenco (14th round by the Kansas City Royals). The Vikings also boast five Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners.

Women's Volleyball
In 2022, Coach Michael Sopocy led the Vikings to the program's first-ever CCIW Tournament Championship. North Park defeated top-seeded tournament host Carthage College 3-1 to earn an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III tournament.

Club sports and intramurals
North Park fields club teams for men's and women's ultimate frisbee and men's volleyball. There is also a healthy Intramural sports program on campus.

National championships
Men's Basketball: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987. Men's Track & Field: 1983 10,000 meters.

Student Government Association
The North Park Student Government Association (SGA) sponsors many student-led organizations on campus. Some of these include Women in STEM, the Black Student Union, and the Christian Students Organization.

The Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life
The Johnson Center for Science and Community Life was opened in September 2014. The expansion cost $57 million largely funded by Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson in a capital campaign named "Campaign North Park". The Johnson Center is a state-of-the-art addition to North Park University's science programs and is home to 1891 Bread Co. The Johnson Center has 101,000 square feet, three floors and a garden level and is located in the central area of campus. Equipped with 30 science laboratories, the building is a space for student and faculty research, "smart" technology in every classroom, and several conference rooms. The Johnson Center is also dedicated to campus community life with a two-story atrium and lobby for gathering and social interaction, offices for programs supporting co-curricular learning, spiritual growth, vocational development, urban engagement, and campus life. The building is also equipped with communal study spaces, a prayer room, and a courtyard.

Swedish-American traditions
North Park University's Brandel Library administers the Swedish-American Historical Society Archives in Chicago. The Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park is the legal trustee. The Saint Lucy's Day festival is held each December in Anderson Chapel. The service follows many Swedish traditions and is one of the few Santa Lucia Festivals held in the Chicago area. The university has an student exchange program with Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola and Jönköping University in Jönköping, Sweden.

Notable alumni

 * Bill Anderson, American football player and coach
 * Mari Andrew, writer and illustrator
 * Del Barber, singer-songwriter and musician
 * Paul Carlson, American missionary killed in Congo in 1964
 * Gordon Edes, sportswriter and team historian of the Boston Red Sox
 * Kathryn Edin, academic and author
 * Raymond Ericson, music critic
 * Nancy Faust, organist
 * Stephen T. Franklin, theologian
 * Anita Gustafson, historian and president of Presbyterian College
 * G. Timothy Johnson, medical journalist
 * Mike Harper, basketball player
 * Carl Hawkinson, state legislator
 * Paul J. Marwin, politician
 * James R. Thompson, former governor of Illinois
 * Arthur W. Wermuth, "One-Man Army of Bataan," United States Army Officer
 * Paul Zaeske, American football player
 * TimTheTatman, formally known as Timothy Betar, YouTube streamer and internet personality
 * Greg Dolezal, politician and Georgia State Senator for the 27th district in Cumming, Georgia

title: North Park University


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Talk:Rata

Untitled
mas conocido como juan esteban es un joven mitad animal y mitad humano se cree boxeador y vive en la colinita cuando hace viento sale volando por las orejas tan grandes que tiene tiene un hermano muy dienton mas conocido como lucas ellos dos juntos se creen malos y aletean a todo el mundo que entra al callejon

title: Talk:Rata


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Black bittern

The black bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances.

Description
It is a fairly large species at 58 cm in length, being by some margin the largest bittern in the genus Ixobrychus. Compared to related species, it has a longish neck and long yellow bill. The adult is uniformly black above, with yellow neck sides. It is whitish below, heavily streaked with brown. The juvenile is like the adult, but dark brown rather than black. They can be difficult to see, given their skulking lifestyle and reed bed habitat, but tend to fly fairly frequently when the all black upperparts makes them unmistakable.

Breeding
Their breeding habitat is reed beds. They nest on platforms of reeds in shrubs, or sometimes in trees. Three to five eggs are laid.

Diet
Black bitterns feed on insects, fish, and amphibians.

Australia
Black bitterns are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

State of Victoria, Australia

 * The black bittern is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988). Under this act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has not yet been prepared.
 * On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the black bittern is listed as vulnerable.

title: Black bittern


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Victorinus

Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor in the Gallic provinces from 268 to 270 or 269 to 271, following the brief reign of Marius. He was murdered by a jealous husband whose wife he had tried to seduce.

Reign
Hailing from Gaul, Victorinus was born into a Gallic family of great wealth, and was a soldier under Postumus, the first of the so-called Gallic emperors. He showed considerable ability, as he held the title of tribunus praetorianorum (tribune of the praetorians) in 266/267, and rose swiftly to become co-consul with Postumus in 268. It is also possible that Postumus then elevated him to the post of praetorian prefect. Shortly after putting down a rebellion by Laelianus in 269, Postumus was murdered by his own troops, who appointed Marius as emperor in his place.

After engineering the death of Marius, Victorinus was declared emperor by the troops located at Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in the fall of 269. His principal concern was to prevent the western provinces from submitting to the central authority of the Roman Empire, a fact made clear to him from the first few weeks when only the provinces of Gaul, Germania and Britain recognised him. Hispania deserted the Gallic Empire and declared its loyalty to Claudius Gothicus. Claudius then sent his trusted general Placidianus to south-east Gaul with instructions to bring over as many of the wavering cities as he could. Very quickly Placidianus captured Cularo (Grenoble), but did not proceed any further.

The presence of Placidianus inspired the city of Augustodunum Haeduorum (Autun) to abandon Victorinus and declare its intention to declare for Claudius Gothicus. This forced Victorinus to march south and besiege it, where it fell after seven months, after which Victorinus’ troops plundered and destroyed the city. Victorinus returned to Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne) in triumph. It remains a mystery just why Claudius did not authorise Placidianus to go to the relief of Augustodunum; however, it is speculated that Claudius, who was fully engaged either in Italy against the Alamanni or in the Balkans against the Goths, did not wish to open a second theatre of operations in Gaul, which would not only have involved a major military effort, but would also have required Claudius to assume responsibility for the defense of the Rhine frontier had he been successful. There is evidence to suggest that Claudius was having some difficulties in the East, which also occupied his attention.

Victorinus was murdered at Colonia in early 271 by Attitianus, one of his officers, whose wife Victorinus had supposedly seduced. Since the motive was personal and not political, Victorinus' mother, Victoria (or Vitruvia), was able to continue to hold power after the death of Victorinus and she arranged for his deification and, after considerable payment to the troops, the appointment of Tetricus I as his successor. Another military commander appears to have been proclaimed as the emperor Domitianus II, but was soon eliminated.

Victorinus is listed among the Thirty Tyrants in the Historia Augusta. The dubious Historia Augusta equally has a short description of Victorinus Junior, allegedly the son of Victorinus, who was appointed emperor by his family the day his father was murdered, and would have been killed immediately afterwards by the troops. The Historia Augusta also says that both father and son were buried near Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium in marble tombs.

title: Victorinus


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Valpolicella

Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wine production.

The red wine known as Valpolicella is typically made from three grape varieties: Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara. A variety of wine styles are produced in the area, including a recioto dessert wine and Amarone, a strong wine made from dried grapes. Most basic Valpolicellas are light, fragrant table wines produced in a novello style, similar to Beaujolais nouveau and released only a few weeks after harvest. Valpolicella Classico is made from grapes grown in the original Valpolicella production zone. Valpolicella Superiore is aged at least one year and has an alcohol content of at least 12 percent. Valpolicella Ripasso is a form of Valpolicella Superiore made with partially dried grape skins that have been left over from fermentation of Amarone or recioto.

Winemaking in the region has existed since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The name "Valpolicella" appeared in charters of the mid-12th century, combining two valleys previously thought of independently. Its etymology is likely from the Latin vallis pulicellae ("valley of river deposits"). Today Valpolicella's economy is heavily based on wine production. The region, colloquially called the "pearl of Verona", has also been a preferred location for rural vacation villas. Seven comuni compose Valpolicella: Pescantina, San Pietro in Cariano, Negrar, Marano di Valpolicella, Fumane, Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo. The Valpolicella production zone was enlarged to include regions of the surrounding plains when Valpolicella achieved DOC status in 1968. In December 2009, the production of Amarone and recioto dessert wines within the Valpolicella DOC received their own separate denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) status.

History
Viticulture has been used in the Veneto region since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, though the exact period of cultivation for the Valpolicella area is not precisely known. The tradition of using partially dried-grapes (seen today in the modern Valpolicella wines of Amarone) was known as the "Greco" or "Greek style" of winemaking, with its origins likely dating back to this period. In the 6th century AD, the Roman writer Cassiodorus notes that the sweet wines of the area were favorites in the courts of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Since the 8th century AD, the Republic of Venice was long a vital trading port in the Mediterranean, linking the Byzantine Empire with the rest of Europe. Merchants records shows that one of the items regularly traded through Venice was local wines produced in Verona province in the hills west of Venice. During the 15th and 16th century, struggles with the Ottoman Turks led to frequent blockades of the Venetian ports, limiting the amount of available export wines from the Greek isles and abroad. This further stimulated the development of domestic vineyards for the Venetians, who pushed even further into the hills of the Verona and the Valpolicella region.

The 19th century brought a series of calamities to most wine producing regions of Italy-including the phylloxera epidemic, oidium, downy mildew and the political upheaval of the Risorgimento. According to the 1889 writings of the French wine historian Dr. C. B. Cerletti, one of the few Italian wine regions to emerge from this period relatively unscathed was Valpolicella. In the 1950s, the "Amarone" style of winemaking was rediscovered. In 1968, the Valpolicella region received official recognition for quality wine production when it was granted its own DOC. However, with DOC recognition also came a large expansion of vineyard areas that were permitted to produce Valpolicella DOC wine, including land in the fertile plains of the Po River, which tend to produce excessively large yields of grapes with varying qualities. Additionally the grape composition for Valpolicella wines were expanded to include varieties of lower potential quality such as Molinara and Rondinella. This led to a general drop in quality, which had a detrimental impact on not only the area's reputation on the international wine market but also on sales and prices. As winemaking became less profitable, the vineyards in the most labor-intensive areas (such as the hillsides in the classico zone) were uprooted and abandoned. This shifted the source of grape production even further away from the better quality producing hillside regions down to the fertile plains.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Amarone wines of Valpolicella experienced a spike in popularity on the world's wine market. Production of Amarone jumped from 522,320 US gallons (19,772 hectoliters) in 1972 to 1.2 million gallons (46,500 hl) by 1990. By 2000 Amarone production grew to over 3.9 million gallons (148,000 hl). By this point, the price for grapes destined for Amarone production was nearly three times higher than what a comparable quantity of grapes would fetch for basic Valpolicella production. This sparked renewed interest in planting vineyards in the high altitude hillside locations that produced lower yields of grapes better suited for Amarone production. In the 21st century, the reputation of Valpolicella wines continued to expand on the world's wine market, as ambitious winemakers began to invest more in advanced viticultural and winemaking techniques that produce higher quality wines. In 2003, the DOC regulations were adjusted to eliminate mandatory blending requirements for sub-quality grapes such as Molinara. At the end of 2009, the production of both Amarone and recioto dessert wines in the Valpolicella zone received Italy's highest quality wine designation as a DOCG zones.

Climate and geography
The Valpolicella region has mostly a mild to cool continental climate that is influenced by its proximity to two sizable bodies of water-Lake Garda to the west and the Adriatic Sea to the southeast. The coolest regions are in the Monti Lessini foothills to the north, where cool winds blow southward from the Alps. This area is traditionally classified as the classico zone. Towards the south and east, the climate gets warmer in the fertile plains of the Adige river. The mean temperature in the growing season is usually around 74.5 °F (23.6 °C), with average rainfall around 34 inches (860 mm).

The vineyard soils of the region range from morainic gravel near Lake Garda to more dolomite residual gravel with alluvial deposits in the fertile central plains. Towards the east and near the Soave DOC are several areas featuring volcanic soils. The most favorably situated vineyards are located in the Monti Lessini foothills in the classico zone where the grapes ripen at altitudes between 490 to(-).

Wine regions
The Valpolicella zone is bordered to the west by the Bardolino DOC, located along the banks of Lake Garda, which produces similar wines to basic Valpolicella using many of the same grapes. The historical "heart" of Valpolicella winemaking is in the Monti Lessini hills located northwest of the town of Verona. In 1968, the boundaries of the region were extended far eastward towards the DOC production zone of Soave and south to the plains of the northern bank of the Po river and its tributary the Adige.

Today the original zone is known as Valpolicella Classico zone and may duly noted on the wine labels of wines produced completely from grapes grown in this area. Today over 40% of all wine production in Valpolicella takes place in the classico zone, with an estimated yearly production of 12.2 million gallons (460,000 hl). Another sub-zone that is permitted to attach its name to the wine is the Valpolicella Valpantena located in the valley located just east of Verona.

Grapes and wine styles

Most of the wines produced under the Valpolicella DOC are red and usually contain a sizable amount of the area's most distinguished grape, Corvina. Other grapes used in the production of Valpolicella wine most often include Rondinella and Corvinone, but also Molinara, Rossignola, Negrara, Barbera, Sangiovese and Bigolona. A few producers are experimenting with reviving the indigenous grape Oseleta in Valpolicella. The wines are produced in a wide variety of styles ranging from basic nouveau table wines, full-bodied red wines, sweet dessert wines and even sparkling spumante. The most basic Valpolicella are light-bodied and often served slightly chilled. They have many characteristics similar to a Beaujolais wine and are often noted for their sour cherry flavor. While full-bodied recioto and Amarone styles reach alcohol levels of 15–16%, most Valpolicellas have more moderate alcohol levels around 11%. For wines labeled Valpolicella Superiore the wines must be aged a minimum of one year in wood and reach a minimum alcohol level of 12%.

Recioto
The sweet red dessert wine Recioto della Valpolicella was awarded its own separate DOCG status in 2010 and has been the style historically associated with the region. The name recioto, also made in neighbouring Soave and Gambellara regions with their own DOCG designations, comes from the local dialect recie, meaning "ears", and refers to the extending lobes that appear as "ears" at the top of a grape cluster. The exposed grapes on the "ears" usually receive the most direct sunlight and become the ripest grapes on the cluster. Historically these very ripe "ears" were picked separately and used to make very rich, sweet wines. Today the method for making recioto has evolved to include the use of whole grape clusters. Grapes destined for Recioto della Valpolicella are often grown in the most ideally situated hillside vineyards. Recioto can trace its origins to winemaking techniques of the ancient Greeks; the grapes are taken to special drying rooms where they are allowed to desiccate, concentrating the sugars inside the grape.

While recioto is typically sweet, with high levels of residual sugar, the must can be allowed to ferment completely dry. Often producers will label this wine as Amarone, but they may also choose to produce it as Valpolicella DOC wine or even an indicazione geografica tipica (IGT) table wine if they choose to use grape blends outside the DOC requirement. Some producers are experimenting with international varieties and producing dry Amarone style wines from grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ripasso
In the late 20th century, a new style of wine known as ripasso (meaning 'repassed') emerged. With this technique, the pomace of leftover grape skins and seeds from the fermentation of recioto and Amarone are added to the batch of Valpolicella wines for a period of extended maceration. The additional food source for the remaining fermenting yeast helps boost the alcohol level and body of the wines while also leaching additional tannins, glycerine and some phenolic compounds that contribute to a wine's complexity, flavor and color. As the production of Amarone has increased in the 21st century, so too has the prevalence of ripasso style wines appearing in the wine market, with most Amarone producers also producing a ripasso as a type of "second wine". An alternative method is to use partially dried grapes, instead of leftover pomace, which contain less bitter tannins and even more phenolic compounds.

The first Valpolicella producer to commercially market a ripasso wine was Masi in the early 1980s. When the style first became popular in the late 20th century, it was rarely noted on the wine label. There was also debate about whether it was even permitted to be included under DOC regulations. If it was mentioned at all it was relegated to the back label wine description notes. Today the term ripasso is freely permitted to be used, with several examples on the wine market labeled as being made in the ripasso style. In late 2009, Ripasso della Valpolicella received its own DOC designation.

Amarone

While the style of Amarone has existed in the region for centuries, it was very rarely made as a deliberate wine style. Mostly it was produced in warm vintages when batches of wines destined for sweet recioto were unintentionally allowed to ferment completely dry. The modern concept of Amarone has its roots in the early 1950s when producers "rediscovered" the style and began deliberately using yeast strains that could ferment the high levels of sugars in the wine completely into alcohol. The first completely dry Amarones that were commercially marketed were the 1953 vintages produced by Bolla and Bertani. In 2009, the production of Amarone wine in the Valpolicella zone achieved DOCG status. During the petitioning process, the wine producers in the region established several quality control regulations including quotas on the amount of grapes grown in the fertile plains that could be used in Amarone production. Another measure was the 2003 removal of Molinara from the list of mandatory blending grapes.

Amarone is unique in the wine world. Typically very alcoholic, full-bodied and ripe-tasting wines are produced in very warm climate regions, where the grapes are able to build up large amounts of sugar while ripening on the vine. Examples of warm climate regions include parts of Australia, California and southern Italy. The Valpolicella region is characterized as a "cool climate region" where acid levels are usually maintained and sugar build occurs more slowly in the vine. Grapes destined for Amarone are the last grapes in Valpolicella to be harvested, getting as ripe as they can before mold and rot set in. The sugars in the grapes are then concentrated by a process of desiccation where they are kept in special drying rooms for anywhere from three to four months. During this time over a third of the water is removed as the grapes shrivel into raisins. This method (known as passito) produces more concentrated grapes that still maintain the acid balance of a cool-climate grape. Amarones differ from other late harvest wines in that the presence of Botrytis cinerea is actively discouraged, as winemakers attempt to avoid the smoky, mouldy flavors that come with botrytized wine. Extra care is taken in the vineyard to ensure that the grapes are kept dry and harvested before rot can develop.

The Amarones are then aged for several years, with many premium examples being aged for at least five years prior to release. They are often aged in large wooden barrels of either Slavonian or French oak. Traditionally the barrels are older and essentially "neutral", in that they do not impart much flavor or wood tannins, but in the late 20th and early 21st centuries more Amarone producers have been experimenting with the use of smaller new oak barrels that introduce more oak flavoring to the wine.

Amarones are rich, full-bodied wines with flavor and aroma notes that are often compared to the flavors of Port wine. The wines often have notes of mocha, bitter-sweet dark chocolate, raisin, dried fig and earthy flavors. At restaurants sommeliers will often recommend food and wine pairings for Amarone with hearty, heavy dishes such as meat roasts. A classic after-dinner assortment is Amarone paired with walnuts and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Master of wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan notes that well-made examples of Amarone from favorable vintages usually need about ten years of bottle aging for the flavors to mature, and have the potential to continue developing for twenty years or more.

title: Valpolicella