This week: He kupu i t mtou Kaikmihana, that's Te Reo for "a word from the Commissioner". I'm taking a look at Inland Revenue's annual report for the year ended 30th June 2019.

Each year, every government department prepares an annual report for its minister and for the reporting lines to Parliament. These will set out its activities in the previous 12 months, its performance against agreed measures and also include its financial statements.

Inland Revenues is a treasure trove of information as you can imagine, a lot of detail to poke through here. And in fact, there is so much in this I could probably spend two or three podcasts on the matter. Instead, what I'm going to do this week is start with some headline numbers about Inland Revenue itself, the tax it collects and the data it shares and then finish with some observations about the state of the organisation itself.

The report is grouped around five areas. They are Making It Easier for Customers, Helping Meet People Meet Their Obligations, Managing Ourselves Well, Governance and Management and the biggie, How We Performed, a sort of NCEA assessment of Inland Revenue.

Big budget, big staff levels

Now Inland Revenue was given $847.5 million in appropriations for the year 2018-19 to spend and it actually finished up spending $828 million of that. The bulk of it goes to what it calls Services for customers, $616 million. Then the other areas that receives money are policy advice, $11 million, services to other agencies, $6 million and the big one, Business Transformation, $215 million.

It spent about 97% of its budget. And it is saying in one of the headline items that the Commissioner points out in ther report is that through Business Transformation to date, it's released $60 million in administration savings and improved compliance outcomes as a result by raising additional revenue of about $90 million.

So to achieve that result Inland Revenue has just over 5,000 staff as of 30th June 2019, now that is down 800 since 2015 and about 90% are full time now. The average age is 44.6 which is quite old, I think. And a really interesting point here is that 65% of all its staff are female, but, and women will not be surprised to see this, is that 50% of all managers are male. One of Inland Revenues metrics is trying to improve on that matter.

But there's been a fair amount of churn through its staff. I mean 938 staff left during the year, which is a near 20% loss. Now, they hire people as well, and that's something that I'll pick up on later on. So, it's got a lot of money to deliver services. But a fair chunk of that $200 million is in part of the Business Transformation, which has been its main focus.

"The one that takes"

Anyway, for the year it collected $77.9 billion of tax revenue. Now included in that is nearly $985 million of tax differences. It identified this as part of its audit activities and investigation activities. That is a fairly significant number and we will see more of that going on.

But Inland Revenue, its main focus through the year quite frankly, has been managing its transformation to implement its so-called Business Transformation. And the key thing here was Release Three, the third stage of its transformation, which happened in April. That was when it moved over Pay As You Earn and also was the stage where it was automatically issuing refunds and assessments for taxpayers.

That as you are probably well aware, put huge strain on its resources. The report notes on page 31, "We received 41% of all calls for the year between April and June 2019." This was over 1.6 million calls compared with 1.4 million for the same period previously in 2018. I will say that they suffered a disruption because of the having to evacuate the office in Palmerston North, the call centre there, because it was found to be earthquake prone.

But quite apart from all the calls that received, people also quite reasonably turned up at their offices and the Manukau office had more than a thousand visits on some days. Many people also then went online with massive numbers of people were hitting the online system. Between 26th of April when the system went live and the end of June, there were 16.9 million login to its myIR system, an increase of 90%, or nearly double from the same period in 2018. On its busiest day, there were almost 500,000 logins, so the system put itself under some strain, but Inland Revenue feels it managed with that. It's a matter of debate whether you think that, but there's no doubt it was an ambitious call on an ambitious project and I would expect that next year it should run a little bit more smoothly.

Interestingly, it's now saying that 88.8% of all returns were filed digitally up from 83% in previous years and that 86.8% of tax payments were made on time, which is down from 87.9% and this is a measure that I think Inland Revenue needs to have a closer look at because it has a penalty system. But we do know that the payment on time rate between 85 and 87% is no better than other tax agencies that don't charge late payment penalties, and this has been a bane of my life. I think it's clogged up the system and it's particularly noticeable when you look at what happens with child support debt. You have a penalty system. It's not working. It's been clearly not working both by its own standards and judged internationally and yet we still persist with it.

Talking of tax debt, at 30th June 2019 Inland Revenues' tax debt, excluding student loans and child support stood at $3.5 billion, up 13% from 2018 when it was $3.1 billion. That's after writing off $532 million of overdue debt and in the previous June 2018 year it wrote off $613 million.

The key thing of note here is that the level of GST debt is up 45% from $815 million to $1.18 billion and the amount of Pay As You Earn is also up 24% from $375 million to $466 million. They're explaining that that rise in overall debt being the result of a number of factors including late filing penalties and late payment penalties, interest in default assessments.

Is the penalties system working?

That all just bears out the point I've just made, if people aren't paying on time and we're hammering with penalties and we're still not collecting it, maybe Inland Revenue needs to rethink its approach about those penalties. Because you can see that in child support, the amount of child support debt is actually down a little bit in June 2019 to $2.2 billion, but $1.6 billion of that represents penalties.

As part of its efforts to collect Child Support,Inland Revenue's obtained four arrest warrants from the courts, of which one was executed and so far, it's collected $11,000 as a result of that. And then it's looked at another 14 summonses for examination of financial means and 20 charging orders against property and warrants. Key focus here is chasing down people who are overseas who owe child support and under its reciprocal arrangement with Australia, collected about $46.4 million from Australia.

It actually sent $14.7 million over to Australia. And this information sharing is one of the things that Inland Revenue does a lot of, which people don't realise here. For example, the repot talks about passport information sharing programme with the Department of Internal Affairs and that resulted in 1,409 contact records match for parents who had a child support debt in 2018-2019. As a result, 120 customers made payments of over $234,000.

Information sharing

It sent plenty of information with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) in relation to student loan customers. They sent 149,000 requests to the ATO asking, "Can you tell us all about that?" And maybe that's not doing as well as it should do because the level of overdue student loan debt is now $1.48 billion and that's up 12% basically because of overseas-based student loan holders. In fact, they issued a couple of arrest warrants.

The information sharing goes not just to the ATO, it goes with WorkSafe is one area where it's passed information to other agencies. And the big one, the one that people should be really aware of, and I'm starting to see come across my desk, is international compliance. Inland Revenue and New Zealand are part of the Common Reporting Standard or the initiative run by the OECD to counter offshore tax evasion. In September 2018 Inland Revenue swapped data with other tax agencies around the world. It sent out 600,000 account reports too other agencies saying "We have people here [with financial accounts] who have an overseas address or overseas tax information number, there's 600,000 of them. In turn Inland Revenue received similar details about over 700,000 such accounts. You may recall that I've mentioned in a past podcastthat Inland Revenue's looking into this in more detail and that is just the tip of the iceberg, the 700,000 records to work through. That's a lot of people. And I think quite a few more than what I've seen will be receiving a "Please tell us a bit more about your finances."

Enforcing compliance

Talking about tax evasion and addressing additional compliance, Inland Revenue overall found discrepancies as I called it, of $985 million and its return on its investment was $7.54 per dollar. In other words, every dollar it put into its investigation activities, it got $7.54 back identified $985 million in total tax position differences. That involved over 12,305 cases.

There are some interesting snippets in here about high wealth individuals, that is people worth more than $50 million. According to Inland Revenue, high-wealth individual customers and their respective groups pay more than $700 million in income tax and collect over $1 billion of pay as you earn. So that's a fairly significant amount of the over $80 billion of tax income.

This is a reasonably small group of people representing maybe 200-300 people in there, and Inland Revenue says they identified $44 million of discrepancies as a result of investigations into this area.

In the hidden economy, theres some very interesting stuff in here. They found an additional revenue of about $109 million and that is they also found over fraudulent refunds and entitlements about another $30 million. But what's interesting to see here is that the proportion of people saying that they participated in cash jobs is starting to fall slightly.

Fewer people are asking for this. When they started measuring this in 2011, 34% of people said they participate in a cash job. It's now down to 27% but the level of people who said they were likely to ask for a cash price discount has gone from 27% and dropped to 16%. However, the number of people who said they would report themselves as being likely to participate in cash jobs, is 19%, same as 2018.

And here's the big one though. Only 49% of people agreed in 2018 that cash jobs were acceptable, but that's down from 72% in 2011. That's one of those interesting measures that people point the finger at multinationals but are not averse to getting a bit of a discount for cash.

It's the same thing, whether it's tax avoidance by a multinational or flat-out tax evasion. You're on the same spectrum. Well, the argument would be that tax avoidance is within the means of the law. Whereas tax evasion, taking a discount for cash isn't. Anyway, it's encouraging to see this improvement in behaviours there.

Bright-line test returns

And finally, the tax revenue they collected from property tax compliance that is looking at the Bright-line test, et cetera, had a return for investment of $9.58 per dollar. So that's nearly 50% above its target of $6.42 per dollar. And that added another $109 million. And just on the Bright-line test Inland Revenue got in touch with a thousand taxpayers over their returns filed in the 2017 income year about the Bright-line test possibly applying.

So that's a fair snippet of what Inland Revenue has done during the year. And there's plenty more in the report to go through and I might pick out particular aspects in future podcasts.

The IRD has poor staff engagement

Well what about the state of the organisation itself? How did it perform against its measures? According to Inland Revenue it achieved 36 out of the 48 output performance targets for the year and that's compared with 43 out of 50 in the 2017-18 year. Now where it fell down in its own measures is its services for customers when it met 28 of the 40. But it met all the other top performance targets for services to other agencies, policy advice and on Business Transformation.

But the area that concerns me is the staff engagement rate. I deal with Inland Revenue staff pretty much every day, and I deal with them at all levels. Those who are answering the phones, dealing with requests up to the policy officials. What I think the Revenue Minister and the Finance and Expenditure Committee should be concerned about is that the staff engagement by Inland Revenue's own measure is a mere 29%.

That's actually an improvement from the year to June 2018 when it was 27% and when this was first measured in the June 2017 year, it was 44% and even then that annual report noted that that was below the Australasian government average or expectation of 51%.

These measurements have only happened in the last three years. The 2016 report simply notes that staff engagement rose during the year. Now if its staff engagement rose during the year 2016 it implies that the staff engagement since the Business Transformation project really took off, which began in 2016 has halved to all intents and purposes. That is a major concern because it affects everyone in the system. Taxpayers, if Inland Revenue staff are of low morale, that feeds through to the rest of how they deal with us. The pressures they're under and there's wider implications for the government of underperformance in revenue collection. So I think this is a matter that the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Inland Revenue management and the Minister of Revenue and The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee should all be asking very hard questions as to what's going on here.

The staff turnover in Inland Revenue has been quite dramatic over the past five years the organisation is losing on average just under 700 people a year and that's a lot of experience to be walking out the door. And so from a base of 5,800 in 2015, you can say that two thirds of that, almost 60% of those that were there in 2015 would appear to have gone by now. That's a massive turnover. The report notes that the turnover has decreased but it is expected to increase commenting, "Turnover turnover's decreasing, reflecting the period of significant organizational changes occurred in 2017-18, as we work through further changes to reach our future operating model, we expect turnover is likely to increase."

"Customers"? Really?

I don't like being called a customer by Inland Revenue. It's actually quite amusing to see the use of the word "customer" here in the report. The report refers to customers over 500 times, but taxpayers, merely 47 times. But as a stakeholder, as a tax agent and as a taxpayer, the performance of Inland Revenue is very dependent on the morale of its staff. And what I'm seeing here in this report and it continues a trend that has emerged in the last three reports is not good.

I have experienced that. When you're talking with Inland Revenue staff, you can sense that they're frustrated, they're incredibly professional, they're always professional. I know people will say, "I've had bad experiences with Inland Revenue," but my experience is they're wholly professional at all times, but they're being asked to do a lot.

There's now overtime back, and the report says it saw 740 odd people had to come in and work extra hours [as part of Release 3]. They shifted a whole pile of people from the investigation area to help with the phones. And that's not something that should be a regular pattern. And so already pressured staff have been asked to do a lot and to see the staff engagement is just 29% is a major concern to me.

Well that's it for the Week in tax. More next week. I'm Terry Baucher, and you can find this podcast on my website, http://www.baucher.tax or wherever you get your podcasts. Please send me your feedback and tell your friends and clients. Until next time, have a great week. Ka kite no!

This article is a transcript of the October 25, 2019 edition of The Week In Tax, a podcast by Terry Baucher. This transcript is here with permission andhas been lightly edited for clarity.

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Terry Baucher takes his annual chance to review the performance of the IRD and finds professionalism but frustratingly low levels of improvement and...

Maro Itoje heads a list of England players snubbed by World Rugby for its player of the year award despite their march to the World Cup final. Tom Curry is the only member of Eddie Joness squad on the six-man shortlist and while the 21-year-old would become the youngest ever recipient of the award, a number of his team-mates are notable by their absence.

Itoje was named man of the match for his performance against New Zealand in last weekends World Cup semi-final and has been among the standout performances throughout the tournament. Like a host of other England players, including Owen Farrell, George Ford, Kyle Sinckler and Manu Tuilagi, he can consider himself unfortunate to be overlooked for the prestigious award, however.

Englands opponents in Saturdays final have two representatives on the shortlist with the flying winger Cheslin Kolbe joined by Pieter-Steph du Toit, having also played a key role in claiming the Rugby Championship title for South Africa. Alun Wyn Jones, who captained Wales to the Six Nations grand slam and World Cup semi-final, the All Black flanker Ardie Savea and the USAs Joe Taufetee who earlier this year became the most prolific try-scoring front-row forward in history, complete the nominees.

The 21-year-old Curry is the youngest member of Englands squad but he will not become the youngest ever World Cup winner if Eddie Joness side lift the trophy. That record is still held by Frans Steyn, who was 20 when South Africa beat England in the 2007 final, and who is on the bench for the Springboks on Saturday.

The average of Englands XV is 27 years and 60 days, making it the youngest team to start a World Cup final in the professional era, however. And the 23-year-old Sam Underhill, who has dovetailed to devastating effect at flanker with Curry, said: Its definitely a positive having younger players in the side. Theres a lot of energy and enthusiasm to be had from that. Its been good for the squad dynamic as well, as we can mix experience with guys who are keen to learn, which has been good. So I think by and large its been a good thing, but I dont think its something that you really notice.

You look at the younger players and they dont seem that young. You look at Tom Curry; hes the youngest in the squad but he doesnt seem like a young player or a junior player which fills you with a lot of confidence.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry has sent a good luck message to the England squad before Saturdays final. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Duke of Sussex will be in attendance for the match. He is a longstanding England supporter as well as being a patron of the Rugby Football Union and included a photograph of his five-month old son Archie in an England jersey in his video message.

When asked if he had received support from the Royal Family, Underhill said: Not personally! But as a group weve had a couple of messages from Prince Harry. He sent us a nice message of support, which was nice to receive. He showed his little lad in an England shirt, so that was a nice touch. Im still waiting on my personal message!

Read the original here:
England World Cup final stars snubbed on player of the year shortlist - The Guardian

Dundee manager James McPake hailed his sides classy 3-0 victory at Alloa as the best performance of the season.

The Dens Park side dominated a lopsided affair at the Indodrill stadium in chalking up back-to-back league wins for the first time since May 2018.

The visitors deservedly went ahead in the 15th minute when Kane Hemmings notched the first of his double.

The former Oxford player doubled the Tayside outfits lead six minutes before the break before turning provider for substitute Sean Mackie to wrap up the scoring in the 75th minute.

Hemmings should also have left with the match ball but hit a wild shot well wide at the end.

McPake, whose team remain six points behind Championship leaders and city rivals United, said: Weve been as good at times in certain games but as a compete performance, yeah, that was it against a very good and dangerous team.

To come and perform at that level for 94 minutes, Im very pleased.

When youve footballers in there with the pedigree of Graham Dorrans, Paul McGowan and Shaun Byrne theyve got a way of playing that they enjoy and have an understanding now.

I thought Graham was outstanding and you can see he is now getting to a level of fitness that only games bring.

Im delighted hes at my football club but the other players complimented him as well.

The visitors had history on their side as they looked to build on Fridays 2-1 victory at Ayr, having not been beaten at Alloa on league duty since 1939.

McPake had confidence in the same group of players to come up with the goods after naming an identical starting XI from the trip to Somerset Park.

Aside from a low left-footed effort from Adam Brown that had Conor Hazard diving to his left to make a routine save, Dundee dominated the early stages.

The central midfield triumvirate of Graham Dorrans, Shaun Byrne and Paul McGowan dictated the direction of play as Alloa chased shadows.

Dundees first sight of goal came after eight minutes when Andrew Nelson advanced from midfield before hitting a wayward shot harmlessly wide.

But Hemmings made no mistake from close range as he notched his second of the season in the 15th minute.

The forward exchanged passes with Declan McDaid before drilling a low drive through the legs of Jamie MacDonald.

The away side had their tails up and continued to press.

Nelson hit a fizzing drive from outside the area over the bar before Cammy Kerr, from a similar distance, also fired high of the frame moments later.

Although McPakes side continued to exert their influence, penetrating their opponents rearguard was not so straight forward.

That was until six minutes before the break when Hemmings doubled his and his teams lead.

The forward was picked out at the back post by Jordan Marshalls menacing delivery and cooly placed a right-footed volley past the hapless MacDonald.

Alloa briefly thought they had dragged themselves back into the game seconds before the break but Liam Buchanans effort was disallowed for offside.

Alloa overturning a half-time two-goal deficit to earn a point against Queen of the South at the weekend would have served as a warning to the Dundee players when they returned for the second period.

Alloa did manage to conjure their best chance of the game but Liam Buchanan shot well over after being picked out by Scott Taggart on the edge of the box.

Dundee midfielder Paul McGowan was as just as wasteful when he swung an effort off target from 18 yards.

Alloa were much improved following the break but Hemmings came close to grabbing his hat-trick in the 62nd minute.

The former Oxford marksmans left-footed effort across goal was well saved by the outstretched McDonald.

However, Hemmings then turned provider for Mackie to score in the 75th minute, just moments after the on loan Hibs player replaced Nelson.

Mackie cooly placed the ball into the gaping net from six yards.

Another chance came and went for Hemmings in his bid to achieve a personal milestone, the forward lashing McDaids lay-off well wide from ten yards.

Alloa manager Peter Grant said: The better team won, its the first time weve been outplayed and you have to give credit to the opposition I thought they were excellent.

Alloa: MacDonald, Robertson, Graham, Taggart, Deas, Hetherington, Trouten, OHara, Flannigan, Buchanan, Brown (ODonnell 83)

Substitutes not used: Henry, Gilhooly, Gillespie, Thomson, Malcolm

Dundee: Hazard; Kerr, McGhee, Forster, Marshall; Byrne, Dorrans (Ness 83); McDaid, McGowan (McPake 80), Nelson (Mackie 72); Hemmings

Substitutes not used: Ferrie, Meekings, Johnson, Robertson

Referee: Barry Cook

Attendance: 1,218

Originally posted here:
Classy Dundee cruise to 3-0 win at Alloa with best performance of the season - The Courier

We actually just had Tracy Letts in here earlier in the day and he kind of said something similar where he was like, I dont have any plan, I dont know.

Thats great to hear because Im a big fan of his, so Im glad hes working the same angle. But yeah, I think that, if you think too much about it, youll end up kind of putting yourself in a box that you dont need to be in. I never thought that I would be on West Wing when I was 17, that was not my plan. And there was, and it was an incredible experience. I never thought that Id be on Mad Men for seven years, like this show about advertising in the 60s than I never thought that was going to be what it was. Yeah. So I kinda have this thing of like, Well, you didnt plan that and that worked out, so maybe, you know, dont worry about it too much.

How much in your workthis is obviously a really intense up-close emotional piece. Not that Handmaids isnt, but him, he is also has all the broader weight of like politics kind of on its shoulders and stuff like that. When you approach something youre doing, how much of the outside world are you bringing to bear? I mean, do you feel like youre processing the world through your work. Do you think of it in those kinds of therapeutic terms?

Yeah, sometimes. Not all the time. Handmaids is so literal sometimes. That would be probably my biggest experience with some things going on in the world outside that everyone is experiencing and in all walks of life and Im doing something that I feel like is very parallel to that, and exercising my own feelings about it. And you know, my own opinions and emotions and that would be like the closest Ive gotten to that. Other than that, and this happens even on Handmaids too, I try to approach it from personal, not political. With Peggy, you know, I never thought of her as a girl in the 60s. I thought of her as a woman of any time, of any age who was dealing with the situation that she was dealing with. And that was my sort of way into her and to make her relatable. Same with June, you know, shes a mother and a wife and a woman and shes dealing with the situations the way that I think that this person would deal with them. And so I kind of try to make it a little bit more intimate, I guess, than thinking, Oh, Im going to tie in, you know, the world's problems into this character.

Watching Her Smell again, and I think the first time too, I kept thinking about a movie Id seen not too long before that, which was a movie called Madelines Madeline, a Josephine Decker film. And then I looked at your IMDb and I was like, Oh, shes working with her. That makes total sense. Can you talk a little bit about Shirley, where you play Shirley Jackson?

Yeah. Yeah. Thats also a really interesting different kind of movie. Its a brilliant script by writer named Sarah Gubbins, she just wrote this like the one of the best scripts Ive ever read. And then Josephine came in and kinda like turned it into her own sort of strange, magical film. Its one sort of a section of Shirleys life. We didnt want it to be a biopic. Theres stuff that weve kind of fudged and fictionalized that isnt exactly accurate. But what we did was try to follow the emotion of it, try to represent who Shirley is. And Stanley, her husband whos played by Michael Stuhlbarg, its really just as much about him as it is her. And just show this slice of their life, this slice of this marriage and this slice of what it was like to be that writer. She had a lot going on in her head. She was an addict. She was a very difficult person in a very difficult marriage. Stanley was the same. She was a very complicated artist. What Sarah did so brilliantly I think was just sort of make you feel like what it wouldve been to be like to be in Shirleys head for a little while. And it follows the parallel of her writing a book called Hangsaman, which was after The Lottery came out. So shes dealing with a lot of the press from that, a lot of blowback from that. People were very upset about that story.

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Inside the First Oscars of the Season - Vanity Fair

The LF-30 was styled at the Toyota Groups ED European Design Centre by a team led by Californian Ian Cartabiano. The team deliberately went radical, Cartabiano tells us.

The only reason to hold on the traditional [automotive] cues is to make the

visual transition for our traditional customer. But I think were at the point now where we should make a more futuristic and a braver statement and really take advantage of what EV technology can provide.

"Electrified design should really try to create something new rather than be mired in the past," says Cartabiano.

For me, its intentionally a new genre type of luxury performance vehicle. Its not really a sedan and its not a coupe and its not a crossover [but] a new type of luxury performance car that has the sleek attitude of a performance vehicle.

Cartabiano says it has more interior room than the companys flagship LS limousine, combined with the seating position and driving dynamics of an LC sports coupe. It could only happen with an electrified platform. I think the future of electrified design should really try to create something new, create a new expression of technology rather than be mired in the past.

The LF-30 won't be a loft on wheels, but it will be an exciting experience for the driver and passengers.

The interior packaging is realistic, even today, Cartabiano says. Its really an intriguing sense of space because [for] the driver ... you really do feel like youre in control but the rear of the car is this really great space for passengers. And I think thats a really exciting combination.

Sometimes its easy in the era of autonomous driving and electrification to make a living room, loft on wheels. Its kind of a go-to standard lately. But I dont think thats the only solution, especially for a luxury brand where [personal] ownership is important.

Lexus and Toyota more generally says it plans to offer full electric, hybrid (including plug-in hybrids) and fuel cell cars in the future to meet all needs in all markets. By 2025 it will have an electrified version of every Lexus model.

LEXUS LF-30Price Not for sale (concept model only)Engine Four in-wheel motors, with 110 kW/h battery packPower/torque (claimed) 400 kW/700 NmCruising distance (claimed) 500 kmAcceleration (claimed) 3.8 seconds

The author attended the Tokyo Motor Show as a guest of Lexus.

The future will be worth the wait; in the meantime there'll be an electrified version of every Lexus by 2025.

See the article here:
The future of motoring, according to Lexus - The Australian Financial Review

Fall marathon season is in full swing and along with perfect training conditions, runners are out in droves right now. Fittingly, there are three new books on the sport for fall, each with a very different focus in mind. No matter what chapter of running life you might be in or even if youve yet to enter a chapter one of these books is going to meet your needs.

From authors Cindy Kuzma and Carrie Jackson Cheadle comes "Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries," "Running That Doesnt Suck" from Lisa Jhung, and from Brian Metzler theres "Kicksology: The Hype, Culture & Cool of Running Shoes". All of these books written by experienced runners and journalists who have deep understanding of their subject matter.

Since an unfortunately high number of runners end up injured every year estimates go as high as 50 percent odds are you have faced, or will face, a layoff at some point in your running career. Whether its your first or 10th injury, however, you know that it is always hard to sit on the sidelines, missing your favorite activity. Cindy Kuzma and Carrie Cheadle understand this, which is why they wrote "Rebound" in hopes of making the tough period of injury lay off just a bit easier.

"Rebound" serves as a roadmap to help injured runners return to their sports stronger with a combination of tools allowing runners to take control of their recovery. The book includes the personal stories of athletes and researchers who offer up their wisdom and science, all backed up by Cheadles experience as a mental performance consultant.

According to Kuzma, there was a need for this book because most of the support for injured athletes comes in the form of physical, not emotional. Research offers us an increasing understanding of how the brain plays a key role in all stages of athletic performance and recovery, she says. Were glad we can contribute to the conversation and help offer much-needed support to athletes on the mental side of the rehab and recovery process.

Many runners, when injured, deal with guilt over how much the layoff impacts them emotionally. For this reason, the entire first chapter of Rebound addresses the roller coaster of emotions injured athletes face. What Ive learned from writing this book is that all those emotions are normal and natural, says Kuzma. Its OK and in fact, essential, to feel and express them.

The book goes on to offer mental drills to help injured athletes train their minds and learn to work through injury so that they can return physically and mentally stronger than before skills they can use in every area of their lives.

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Ever say to yourself "I want to run, but I can't?" Lisa Jhung, an experienced runner and journalist who writes about running, understands how hard it can be to get started, which is why she authored the newly released "Running That Doesnt Suck: How to Love Running Even if You Think You Hate It".

Jhung's book includes a know-thyself-to-become-a-runner quiz to help wannabe runners find the type of approach that might work best for their individual needs. The results help readers to then navigate the book and learn more about different ways in to running.

Read our interview with Jhung about the book.

Author Brian Metzler has been running pretty much all of his life, and as a journalist who covers the sport and its gear, has run in just about every type of shoe out there over 1,500 pairs, by his estimate. While not every runner might share his fascination for all that goes into running shoes, Kicksology offers up plenty of useful information for runners to digest.

I think runners of all experience levels will find fascinating some of the stories about the history of shoes, how shoes are made, and the recent advancements in shoes, says Metzler. Going inside shoe factories in both China and New England was eye opening for me. Then again, so was learning about how a shoe comes to life, what it costs to make a pair of shoes, and how some recent advancements have really helped improve marathon times.

"Kicksology" dives into the fads and science that have shaped running shoe trends, and does a good job of helping runners learn how to separate the hype from the real in order to become informed consumers. A chapter on running injuries and whether or not shoes can play a role in preventing them is a good example. Running shoes definitely dont cause injuries, says Metzler, but they can have a big impact on a runners fitness and performance.

The combination of a runners foot shape and running gait are entirely unique to that runner based on their anatomy, injury history and day-to-day postural traits and habits. Because of that, there are better and worse shoes for every individual.

That said, Metzler astutely points out in his book that most runners get mired down in the marketing of running shoes, often putting far too much stock in what a shoe can and cant deliver. The key to healthy, efficient running has less to do with shoes and more to do with the time, effort, care and passion that each of us puts into it, he points out in the book.

In his final chapter, Metzler takes a look at what runners can expect from running shoe development in the coming years, which may involve a good deal of personalization and customization. At the end of the day, no matter how they change, he says, running shoes will continue to play the role of inspiring and bringing runners together.

After all his research, does Metzler have a favorite shoe? They span a wide range, he says, but theyre all based on both the quality and uniqueness of the shoe, and also the emotional attachments I have from running in them.

A few that make the cut: The original Adidas Oregon from the early 80s; the Nike Air Tupu from 2002; the HOKA Speedgoat 2 from 2017; and the Altra Timp 1.5 from 2018. But as soon as I mention those, I can think of dozens more, too, he admits.

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Three must-read books for runners (and wannabe runners) - NBC News

Eoin Murphy says his goalkeeping rival Brian Hogan is fully deserving of his first PwC All Star award.

The Tipperary netminder was nominated for the position along with Murphy and Laoiss Enda Rowland and he got the nod after starring across his countys eight games en route to All-Ireland glory.

Theres a historic element to his selection too as, with his father Ken selected between the posts back in 1987, the Hogans have become just the third father-son combination after the Larkins and Powers from Kilkenny to win hurling All Stars and the first to be chosen in the same position.

Kilkenny keeper Murphy is widely considered to be the finest custodian in the game at present and won his second All Star last year though he admits he was surprised to be shortlisted this time around after missing the start of the Championship due to a knee injury.

He said: Look, in fairness to Brian, hed a brilliant All-Ireland final and even a brilliant Munster final as well so he certainly deserves the All Star.

To be honest, the fact that I missed a fair chunk of the Leinster Championship, I was surprised I was nominated.

I know when people probably go down through it, the latter stages of the Championship probably has a fair pull on it but, look, thats the way it goes.

You would be delighted to be nominated, you obviously want to win it. Once I didnt win the All Star there is a tinge of disappointment there but, look, for Brian, its his first one.

Its a good story there obviously his father. Its a fair achievement. Its his first year there.

Tipp probably deservedly got the chunk of them as well (seven). Theyve been the top team all year apart from maybe one sub par performance in the Munster final. Theyve been the top team all year and thats the straight and narrow on it.

Credit where its due, these awards are given to the best players and normally the best players come from the best team and thats the way it is.

Although Murphy didnt make the cut, his teammates Padraig Walsh, TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly were chosen and he feels three spots on the team was a decent representation of their season after reaching the All-Ireland final.

I think over the course of the year its probably a fair reflection. Limerick have two representatives on it but, look, its a fair reflection on how our year went but at the end of the day, these personal awards, its brilliant to be recognised in that manner but at the end of the day, you do want to win silverware so I suppose its a bittersweet year.

From my own point of view, its extremely frustrating at the start of the Leinster Championship having to sit down and look at a few games, wondering whether youll get back in or whatever.

I was obviously delighted to get back in and play a few games but to finish the year without winning anything, it is really bittersweet because you set out the stall to win League, Leinster and All-Ireland but the be all and end all is the All-Ireland.

Eoin Murphy is an ambassador for the Just2minutes initiative which aims to enhance the knowledge of the chain of survival in Ireland by shooting videos demonstrating what to do in the event of a sudden cardiac event. These videos will be circulated to all schools across the country with the objective of having every child willing and able to perform CPR.

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Eoin Murphy admits that goalkeeping rival deserved his All Star award - Irish Mirror

NetflixThe Crown, season 3

(UK, 2019) 17 November

A new era calls for fresh blood in Buckingham Palace. In the latest season of Netflixs lavish Emmy and Golden Globe-winning monarchy drama, Olivia Colman takes up the mantle from Claire Foy as steely Queen Elizabeth II. This season, the narrative moves away from exploring marital tension between Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and instead focuses on the now middle-aged royals as they face a rapidly modernising Britain under Harold Wilsons prime ministership. Colmans reign is joined by Tobias Menzies as her mellowed-out husband, and the Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret.

Season three spans the years from 196476, covering events such as Prince Charless investiture as the Prince of Wales (Josh OConnor) and the Apollo 11 moon landing. Netflixs review embargo prevents us from saying more, but all signs point to a dramatic ride.

By Paul Thomas Anderson (US, 2017) 9 November

Paul Thomas Andersons dizzying, quietly beguiling romance of sorts is imbued with visual restraint and elegant beauty. In Daniel Day Lewiss apparently final acting role, he finds charismatic rigour in Reynolds Woodcock, a famous dressmaker of Londons 1950s couture world. On the surface, its the story of a capricious perfectionist, finding his muse in Alma, a young, shy waitress, with whom he begins a love affair. But when the tables turn, underneath lies a domestic power struggle that develops into something disturbing and wickedly funny. Radioheads Jonny Greenwood composes a classical-style score thats lush, swoony and increasingly eerie, adding enigmatic layers to the films perverse undertones.

By Kay Cannon (US, 2018) 11 November

The three girls at the centre of the raunchy Blockers make a pact through emoji-coded texts to lose their virginity on prom night. Upon discovery of this thread, their overprotective parents (a hilarious Lesley Mann, Ike Barinholtz and John Cena) band together to put a stop to their daughters plans. Its silly, riotous fun, with ridiculous obstacles standing in the way between parents and kids. Director Kay Cannon instils what could be an outdated concept with surprising maturity, entrusting her trio of teens with a self-aware confidence around their sexuality. Here, the unhinged adults have more to learn from the intelligent adolescents. Its this level of depth that makes this overlooked comedy stick out from the crowd proving the experiences of a coming-of-age story arent just limited to youngsters, it can be for grownups too.

Honourable mentions: Bojack Horseman season 6, part one (TV, out now), Dolemite is My Name (film, out now), Outlander season 4 (TV, 5 November), The King (film, 1 November), Seven (film, 15 November), The Irishman (film, 27 November), Atlantics (film, 29 November)

By John Carney (US, 2019) out now

Nothing quite beats the feeling of turning on a comforting rom-com and embracing all of its gooey predictability. In John Carneys (Once, Sing Street) anthology series, each episode brings to life stories inspired by the popular New York Times column on relationships, feelings, betrayals, and revelations. While it may prove frustratingly mawkish for some, there are a few gems tucked in between all the cheese. The episode titled When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist, with Dev Patel as an app founder and Catherine Keener as the journalist interviewing him for a story, particularly shines. With a stacked cast including Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey and Andrew Scott, the shows lightness and warmth should be enough to tickle the fancy of those who want to snuggle up in bed with a cup of tea and lose themselves in some breezy escapism.

By Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang (US, 2019) 8 November

This Grand Jury prize-winning documentary from Sundance takes a deep dive into the harrowing consequences of Chinas 35-year one-child policy. Told through the perspective of co-director Nanfu Wang, the film paints a shocking picture of the ways this social experiment scrapped at the end of 2015 affected more than 1 billion people, and continues to have a devastating impact on its citizens lives to this day. The films eye-opening revelations are simultaneously up close and personal: mothers forced into abortions, foetuses discarded in garbage dumps, abandoned babies on the streets. Among the interviewees are Wangs own family members, village chiefs and former family planning officials and the spectrum of emotions on display, which range from grief, guilt to remorse, is heart-wrenching. A vital, enthralling watch.

Honourable mentions: Brittany Runs a Marathon (film, 15 November), The Report (film, 29 November)

(Australia, 2019) out now

This horror anthology, which made the rounds of the Australian film festivals earlier this year, consists of bite-sized stories from five emerging Indigenous Australian filmmakers. Full of blood and guts (at times literally), each narrative varies in style and tone, all the while leaning into and shaking up familiar horror conventions. Featuring mythical creatures from other worlds such as bush ghouls and fanged water creatures, to the murky, more realistic horrors of sex slavery, these films are united by their confrontation of Australias ugly colonial past and how this manifests in the present. Collectively, a telemovie that goes beyond mere spooky popcorn entertainment.

By Rachel Perkins (Australia, 2019) new episodes every Sunday

Deborah Mailman is Alex Irving: a gutsy Indigenous activist appointed as a senator in federal parliament by prime minister Rachel Anderson (Rachel Griffiths) after a video of her role in a horrific domestic violence incident in her hometown of Winton goes viral. Directed by Rachel Perkins, Total Control features all the walking and talking, back-stabbing and moral conflict youd expect of a political drama but its made especially timely by its refreshing manoeuvring of the obvious gender and racial imbalance in Canberra, and its protagonists ambition to create change through the system. With puncturing, snappy dialogue, the show shines a damning spotlight on the drastically high rates of young Indigenous deaths in custody, entrenched racism, and the shortfalls in the recognition of Indigenous land rights. Mailmans performance is magnetic, commanding, and at times gleefully unpredictable.

Honourable mentions: Frayed (TV, new episodes every Wednesday), The Strange Chores (TV, every day from 31 October), Julia Zemiros Home Delivery (TV, 13 November), Carpark Clubbing (web series, out now)

By Russell T Davies (UK, 2019) 6 November

Set in the not so distant future, this brilliant six-part BBC One series from Russell T Davies (Doctor Who, A Very English Scandal) envisions a post-2019 world that has only become hotter and faster and madder. Its terrifyingly realistic, though miraculously still maintains moments of light-hearted optimism. The show is grounded in the day-to-day life of three generations of the Lyons family based in Manchester, leaping through time between 2019 and 2034. It imagines a planet where Donald Trump is elected for a second term, the north pole has melted, and China and US trade wars have escalated to the point of nuclear explosive. Its not all doom and gloom though: energetic family dynamics and giddy technological forecasts (think Snapchat dog filters as actual masks) infuse the show with playful wit. The show is ultimately a blaring alarm bell: a glimpse of what could so easily lie ahead. Itll be hard completely suspending your disbelief for this one.

By Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (UK, 1947) 6 November

Eye-popping technicolour and staggering extreme close-ups come to mind when one thinks of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburgers psychological melodrama. Often heralded as one of the first true erotic dramas, Black Narcissus is a feast for the eyes. Amid the remarkable, lofty landscape of the Himalayas (it won the Oscar at the time for best cinematography and art direction), a group of nuns struggle to set up a convent in the high altitude of the mountains. Howling winds and geographic isolation stir up repressed memories and carnal passions, festering and eventually exploding with a hyperbolic sensuousness. In particular, the film is brought to delicious, electric heights by Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth, driven to the brink of madness by lustful jealousy. A special collection of films by the writing, directing and producing duo Powell and Pressburger will be playing on SBS World Movies this month, later dropping into SBS On Demand.

Honourable Mentions: Sink or Swim (film, 2 November), Broadchurch box set (TV, 14 November), Blue Murder (TV, 20 November), On Becoming God in Central Florida (TV, 21 November), Wellington Paranormal Season 2 (TV, 28 November)

By Richard Linklater (US, 2003) out now

The premise of a rock music enthusiast posing as a substitute teacher at a private elementary school is made irresistibly fun by the genius pairing of celebrated indie director Richard Linklater and actor Jack Black, whose sprightly comedic performance here bursts with infectious energy. A class of young gifted musicians are handed down lessons in rocknroll and life, defying parental and teacher expectations with rebellious joy and humour, to compete in the Battle of the Bands. The film has since been turned into a stage musical (showing at Sydneys Capitol Theatre from November), but it still holds up magnificently as the feel-good, rocking delight it was upon its cinematic release.

Honourable Mentions: Hairspray, Dreamgirls (films, out now), Waynes World (film, 2 November), Aint Them Bodies Saints (film, 6 November), Tom Cruise collection (films, 15 November), Grease, Saturday Night Fever (films, 16 November),

UK, 2019 5 November

Philip Pullmans esteemed fantasy novel trilogy is finally given the proper treatment it deserves with this new adventure-packed TV series from HBO and the BBC. Erasing the ill-judged 2007 film The Golden Compass from memory, this adaptation stars newcomer Dafne Keen as Lyra: a young orphan living in an alternative world, where the human soul takes the form of a physical animal companion, and the north pole is the only place to escape the oppressive rule of the Magisterium. Featuring Ruth Wilson as the alluring Mrs Coulter and James McAvoy as Lyras adventurer uncle, the show follows Lyra in her search for her kidnapped best friend, taking her on an epic quest from Oxford up to the north pole, to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. The world-building is rich and technically impressive, capturing the complexities of the universe peculiar and wondrous through a childs eyes.

Honourable Mentions: Watchmen (TV, out now), Catherine the Great (TV, 3 November), The Favourite, The Hate U Give (films, 1 November), Love Simon (film, 29 November)

From 2 November

Its a huge month for streaming, with Apple adding their own platform into the increasingly crowded arena. At the top of their line-up is Morning Wars, the high-stakes TV drama budgeted at a gobsmacking $15m per episode (thats as much as Game of Thrones). The A-list cast is led by Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell, and the show pulls back the curtain on the razing ambitions and tussles for power behind an early morning newscast.

Other highlights include Dickinson, a modern comedic twist on the coming-of-age story of rebellious young poet Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld); See, a dystopian future where humans have been either wiped out or blinded (with Jason Momoa as a father of twin girls gifted with vision); and The Elephant Queen, a character-driven wildlife documentary centred on a species on the verge of extinction.

While therell be only a small selection of originals available upon launch, the catalogue will expand in the months ahead, to include M Night Shyamalans thriller Servant, Oprah (an in-conversation between Winfrey and authors around the world), and Sundance award-winning film Hala, starring Australian Geraldine Viswanathan.

From 19 November

Disneys new dedicated streaming service will house their own library of original TV shows and films, and the plentiful entertainment that falls under their subsidiaries Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, National Geographic and 20th Century Fox. Offering access to its back catalogue of nostalgia trips (Australias suite is yet to be announced, though this US tweet thread might clue us in on a few, including all 30 seasons of The Simpsons), it will also exclusively hold Disneys 2019 cinema releases and beyond, including Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King.

Most notably, the much-anticipated live-action Star Wars TV series spin-off The Mandalorian headlines Disney+s launch. Created by Jon Favreau, this original series is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order, following a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the Star Wars galaxy.

Other Disney+ originals to keep an eye out in their continual roll-out include The World According to Jeff Goldblum, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, the holiday comedy Noelle (all available on launch), as well as Diary of a Female President (available January 2020) and a new Lizzie McGuire series with its original cast members.

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From The Crown to His Dark Materials: what's streaming in Australia in November - The Guardian

Flagler County Fire Chief Don Petitos 15 years, the last 14 as fire chief, will end by February, if not sooner. County Manager Jerry Cameron said he expects Petito to give him a retirement date by the end of the year. Petito said he will provide that date pending his success as he looks for work elsewhere in the region.

Thats part of the fallout from a serious clasha blow-up, in Camerons wordsbetween Petito and Jarrod Shupe, the countys chief information officer, which led Cameron to call a Board of Inquiry to look into the issue. The blow-up took place in the middle of the Hurricane Dorian emergency in September. Petito, losing his temper in front of employees, including Cameron, disagreed with the way Shupe had assigned radio communication channels to Palm Coast government without consulting him. Cameron agreed that Shupes method was wrong.

Shupe was counseled about it and cited in writing for conduct unbecoming of a public employee, a violation of county personnel policies.

Petito was verbally counseled and offered a choice that, he thought, was no choice but to leave by next year. Retelling what he told Cameron, Petito said he saw it as an ultimatum: Thats the way I felt when I was sitting in your office, that if you take this deal nothing goes in your file, and your tenure is untarnished. But if you dont, well put it in your file. He didnt know what would go in his file. That to me is youre forcing me out. Youre telling me you take the deal or were coming after you.

Cameron is adamant its no such thing, that it would be a fabrication if the story was conveyed that way, and that he would not keep on an employee he was forcing out. If Petito feels hes being pushed out he needs to come talk to me, because thats simply not the case. But Petitos statements, and even some of Camerons, say otherwise.

When Cameron was read some of Petitos own statements, he said, thats not what he told me. He told me Ive had a good run here, its time for me to move on.

There appears to have been some scrambling between Cameron and Petito once they had word of this story. After a conversation with Cameron around noon, Petito, not one bit hiding how incredulous he was at what he was saying, said of Cameron: I totally misunderstood, according to what hes telling me. Petito said hed not been misunderstood in an earlier interview: his quotes were accurate: he did feel he was being pushed out. But apparently what Cameron had told him was not what Cameron had told him. After talking to Jerry today he said I could stay if I want to, Petito said. Apparently I misunderstood everything and Im not being forced out, so I guess Im not leaving but I am going to be seeking other employment, get the hell out of here.

Jarrod Shupe. ( FlaglerLive)Cameron said Petito had told him he planned to retire in February long before the trouble with Shupe. Petito said not exactly: hed given word of his 55th birthday next February, and he said that if his wife, Facilities Director Heidi Petito, would become deputy administrator, he would leave, since he couldnt be in a position to report to her. But after returning from vacation this week, hed decided he wanted to stay: he still needs three years to reach a milestone in the Florida Retirement System. Then came the meeting with Cameron and the ultimatum that, apparently, was not an ultimatum at all.

Spun whichever way it is, the fact remains that the clash between Petito and Shupe was only the culmination of long-standing animosity between Petito and Shupe, pitting the set ways of a chief cut out of the old school cloth, in Camerons words, against the sharply ambitious ways of Shupe, who doesnt hide his hopes of becoming county administrator some day. The sharpest of directors, Shupe can be heavy handed, though in this case both he and Petito were. They both dueled in public with thick sets of memos, documentations, recriminations and counter-recriminations. Petito at one point sought out the help of Palm Coast City Council member Jack Howell to get rid of Shupe. (I just dismissed it, it was just idle talk, and Jarrod really doesnt have anything to do with us per se, Howell said, and Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte thinks a lot of him, so as long as Jerry is happy Im happy.)

Anonymous emails written with clear knowledge of internal protocols and language circulated about Petito, making accusations about his behavior on the job, as did public record requests for his goings and comings and those of his wife and Chet Lagana in the maintenance department (the trio is known for epic lunches at Terra Nova in Bunnell, but none of the three has ever been known to neglect duties). The machinations angered and frustrated Cameron.

This was just a personnel issue and it never should have become a public issue, Camron said. (He doesnt think any of this, including the clash during the emergency, should have been public.) That was a concern to me. This is the kind of thing we do on a routine basis, is resolve personnel issues.

But there was nothing routine about the clash between Petito and Shupe, nor was it private, nor was it outside the publics right, and need, to know, because it directly entailed public safety and how the county and its largest city were preparing to address a potential disaster.

I had two directors that were involved in an incident that created a large blow-up in the middle of a declared emergency. I cant have that, Cameron said in a September interview, when discussing his decision to convene the Board of Inquiry. He acknowledged the strained relationship between Petito and Shupe, but when people reach the level of director, they should be able to resolve things among themselves. I shouldnt have to referee. Im not asking you to go to dinner together, Im asking you to work synergistically to the benefit of Flagler County. He noted the danger of the clash: It could have had serious consequences had conditions lined up correctly.

Even internally, the clash was a reflection of a changing culture at the county that Petito recognizes, and Cameron speaks of openly. Petito, Cameron said in September, has not bought into team work to the degree I would like to see. Ironically, it was Shupes lack of teamwork that triggered the September incident, though Cameron sees it as overzealousness that was easily counseled, adjusted. Jarrod is considerably different, Cameron said of Shupe. Jarrod is looking for some mentoring, and hes in an upward trajectory. Don is getting ready to retire.

Jerry Cameron, sitting, with Jonathan Lord, the emergency management chief. ( FlaglerLive)The issue with Petito hasnt left Shupe unscathed by any means: it resulted in what Cameron described as a memorandum of counselingactually, a Performance Improvement Plan over violating personnel policyplaced in Shupes file, and hes on notice to work cooperatively in the future. Cameron downplayed the document. It happens all the time, he said. An employee with great ambitions would not see any document blotching his record as something that happens all the time. And the most detailed criticism of Shupe, in that memorandum, amounts to a muzzling of largely public, not private information.

During the Board of Inquiry, the memo to Shupe states, it was noted that information was shared among employees and media sources that was unbecoming to both you and County employees. Workplace gossip is toxic and unproductive. It breeds resentment and becomes a roadblock for effective communication and collaboration by lowering morale and creating an unpleasant working environment. The memo, itself thick on innuendo, makes no distinction between the entirely public documents Shupe shared and gossip, and directs him to refrain from disseminating personal information hes privy to. It does not specify what personal information he disseminated.

I cant have any comment regarding the matter, the matter needs to be referred to county administration as well as HR, Shupe said this morning, but he said he was satisfied by and grateful for the resolution. I believe my side is appropriate and I look forward to continuing my employment, hopefully progressive employment, here in Flagler County.

That no Performance Improvement Plan made it into Petitos file was not to Petitos benefit, as Petito saw it: it was a signal that his days in Flagler are over. Particularly since Don will be retiring, Cameron said, a long-term counseling plan, that would be an exercise in futility. I shook hands with Don and we agreed we were going to overcome this and Im satisfied with that.

Petito had made clear in both interviews today, and indeed did so in an interview in September, after the issue with Shupe arose, that he has no intentions of stopping work, and would have liked to continue working in Flagler. He now sees that as impossible. Im 55, Im still in good shape, I can go do another job, he said. The county is moving in another direction. Ive been here 15 years and the life cycle of a fire chief is five to 10 years, so Ill move on to another one.

Cameron and Petito met twice this week: on Monday and again briefly on Wednesday. Cameron said Petito would let him know by years end when his retirement date that wont actually be a retirement would be. Petito saw it as nothing specific, but said when I apply for jobs and I get some sort of indication Id have a start date somewhere, Ill let them know.

Joe King, his deputy, appears to be lined up to take his place. He certainly would be considered for that position but I havent made a decision on how that will be handled, Cameron said. The decision will depend on Petitos dates, assuming he does leavewhich is now again in question.

Morale at the fire department has been dismal, however, and King does not have the following that Petito has.

The state of morale is very low in our department right now, Stephen Palmer, who heads Flagler County Fire Rescues union, said. The morale is low, the union body, the membership and the leadership are unhappy with Petito leaving and we dont feel theres anybody qualified currently to take his position with the county. Palmer, whod had several conversations this week with Petito before and after his meetings with Cameron, was also under the impression that Petito had been given an ultimatum. Thats how Petito put it to him. Last I talked to Don, he did not want to leave, when he came back from vacation this week.

Cameron said hes aware of low morale. Ive heard that its something I need to address and Im going to do that, or am doing it.

The rest is here:
Forced Out or Not, Flagler Fire Chief Don Petito Is Looking to 'Get the Hell Out' in Fallout From Clash - FlaglerLive.com

Isabel Portnoi

I have always thought of life as a series of steps.

Step one: you learn to walk.Step two: you say your first word.Step three: you make your first friend.Step four: you learn to read and write.Step five: you score your first goal.Step six: you experience your first heartbreak.Step seven: you graduate high school.Step eight: you go to college.Step nine: you choose a major, take some classes and then comes step 10.

It seems that the next logical step would be to graduate, followed by getting a job, making money, starting a family, all eventually leading up to retirement. While looking at life through this lens is grossly oversimplified, that doesnt eliminate its truth.

Think about it. Steps, whatever yours may be, are the driving force of everything you have ever done and everything you eventually want to do.

Today I:Step 1: woke up.Step 2: brushed my teeth.Step 3: went to class.I followed the same steps yesterday, and Im sure I will tomorrow.

But during step three, I had a conversation with British Philosopher Alan Watts. He compared life to playing music, and said, Its the same with dancing. You dont aim at a particular spot in the room because thats where you will arrive. The whole point of dancing is the dance.

How strange it would be, if dancing was a way to get from point A to point B, from step one to step two. I began to chuckle to myself, almost before I could realize that I see out of a lens even stranger than the one I previously imagined.

As a college student, my job is to think, which I ironically hardly have time to do. These four precious years are more often than not seen as a means to an end the trampoline that will get me from step one to step two.

But what if I listened to Watts and thought of these four years as a dance? Where I began and where I ended would be the last things on my mind. Instead, I would focus on everything that happened in between.

And what exactly is that in-between part? That would be life. Thats the part that we all too often sprint through, instead of dance through.

This is not to say that steps are bad. Theres a reason they exist in the first place: they reel in my wandering imagination and give focus to my scattered thoughts. They ensure that I get to where I need to be. There is no question that this is important, but the more I think about Watts, the more I think of this as a hollowed-out version of lifes potential.

To abandon these steps completely is scary scratch that terrifying. I wish that I could close my eyes and thrust myself into his ideologies, but I cant. To go straight from sprinting to dancing seems daunting I must learn to walk somewhere in the middle.

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Edit desk: I hope you can dance, focus in between the steps - The Brown and White