Weber County Statement on Commissioner Gibson Position at DNR
Weber County, Utah (Dec. 12, 2017) – We wish Commissioner Gibson the best of luck in his new job as Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and sincerely appreciate the years of service he has provided Weber County. We look forward to continuing our work with him in his new capacity to benefit the agricultural, mining, parks, and other outdoor sectors in our community.
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USDA Recognizes FY 2017 Presidential Rank Awards Winners
(WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2017) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today recognized three of its talented employees for being honored as FY 2017 Presidential Rank Awards winners. Jere L. Dick of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) received a Distinguished Rank award, and both Cyril G. Gay and Jerry L. Hatfield of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) received a Meritorious Professional award.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue applauded these winners and their service in the department with the following statement:
“It’s truly an honor to work alongside such dedicated civil servants, and I’m excited to see their excellent work recognized. USDA employees all across the country work hard every day to provide the best possible help to the people we serve. It’s our shared goal to be the most effective, efficient, customer-focused federal department, and I’m thankful for people like Jere, Cyril, and Jerry who are helping us reach that goal.”
Distinguished Rank award winner Dr. Jere Dick serves as Associate Administrator of APHIS and received this award for, among many things, his role in response efforts to the 2015 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus in poultry, as well as his work in developing USDA’s new feral swine control program. Dr. Cyril Gay, who has led the USDA-ARS Animal Health National Program for 15 years, received the Meritorious Professional award in part for his international recognition as a leading authority in vaccinology and biodefense research. Jerry Hatfield, Director of ARS’ National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa, received the Meritorious Professional award for his extensive research on agriculture’s influence on environmental quality. Hatfield leads the agriculture sector for the National Climate Assessment, part of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
According to the Office of Personnel Management, The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established the Presidential Rank Awards Program to recognize a select group of career members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) for exceptional performance over an extended period of time. Later, the Rank Award statute was amended to extend eligibility to senior career employees with a sustained record of exceptional professional, technical, and/or scientific achievement recognized on a national or international level.
Two categories of Presidential Rank Award are available: distinguished and meritorious. Distinguished Rank recipients are recognized for sustained extraordinary accomplishment. Only one percent of the career SES or SL/ST may receive this rank. Meritorious Rank recipients are recognized for sustained accomplishment.
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Story of the Year
Premieres Official Music Video For
"Bang Bang"
Exclusively with New Noise Magazine
From Acclaimed Album Wolves, Available Everywhere Now
December 13th, 2017 - St. Louis, Missouri - Story of the Year is excited to be premiering the official music video for "Bang Bang" exclusively with New Noise Magazine today. This DIY video was filmed, directed and edited by Guitarist Ryan Phillips. "Bang Bang" was the first single from their recently released and critically acclaimed album Wolves, which took over the #1 spot on the iTunes' Alternative charts along with a prominent feature in Spotify's New Rock Releases. The praise continued from outlets like Billboard, Nylon, Fuse, AXS and Alternative Press. Produced by Aaron Sprinkle (Anberlin, New Found Glory, Acceptance)and mixed by Tom Lord-Alge & J Hall, Wolves is available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Pledge Music.
On the video, Phillips shared "Our live shows have always been our calling card, sort of what were known for. The synthesis of the Bang Bang video essentially revolved around tapping into that live energy in a visually appealing and mysterious way, capturing a raw, guttural performance. Something to remind people that we're back and rock harder than ever! This video was completely DIY - us hiring our friends, pooling our resources, and going out in the woods and being creative."
In celebration of their recent release, Story of the Year will be hosting Album Release Parties in Chicago and St Louis early next year. Fans will get to hear some of these new tracks live for the first time along with their favorite hit songs they have been singing along to for the past 17 years to hit songs like "Until The Day I Die," "Anthem of our Dying Day," "Take Me Back," "Wake Up" and more. For more details on these special shows and for news about future dates in 2018, please head to http://www.storyoftheyear.net/. For an in-depth interview on each track from singer Dan Marsala, fans can head over to Fuse, who called Wolves "their [Story of the Year's] most personal record thus far."
Story of the Year is Dan Marsala: Vocals, Ryan Phillips: Guitars and Computers, Josh Wills: Drums, Philip "Moon" Sneed: Bass and Vocals. They have previously released five studio albums -- Page Avenue, In the Wake of Determination, The Black Swan, The Constant and 10 Years and Counting: An acoustic reimaging of Page Avenue.
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For more information, please visit:
http://www.storyoftheyear.net/
https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/storyoftheyear
https://www.facebook.com/storyoftheyear
https://twitter.com/storyoftheyear
https://www.instagram.com/storyoftheyearband/
Hi-Res Album Art Download Here
Hi-Res Press Photo Download Here
