Avenal is a city in Kings County, United States. Avenal is located 35 miles southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of 807 ft, it is part of the Hanford–Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kings County. In area, it is the fourth largest city in Kings County; the Zip Code for this community is 93204, telephone numbers use the sequence 386-XXXX. The population was 15,505 in the 2010 census, which includes inmates at the Avenal State Prison, the first prison solicited by a community in the state of California. Many of the remaining residents either work at the prison or in the agriculture industry; the prison provides 1,000 jobs to residents. The California Department of Finance estimated that Avenal's population was 13,218 on July 1, 2018; as of that date, Avenal State Prison held 4,165 inmates, about 32% of the total population of Avenal. Inmates are counted as city residents by both the United States Census and the California Department of Finance; the City of Avenal was named by Spanish explorers.

In Spanish, "avena" means oats, "avenal" means oatfield. This area was covered with wild oats, "waist high," that looked like golden silk and covered the Kettleman Plains. Early American settlers arrived in the Kettleman Hills during the 1850s with dreams of raising cattle and farming. Oil, would bring fame and people to the area. Native Americans had always known oil was in the hills, with natural seepage around Coalinga and Tar Canyon; the first Kettleman Hills well was drilled followed by countless unproductive efforts. On March 27, 1927, the Milham Exploration Company began work on Elliot No. 1. The crew toiled for 19 months. On October 5, 1928, the well blew out with a roar, heard 20 miles away, spewing forth an oil so fine that its color was white, could be used unrefined as gasoline in automobiles; the discovery of oil transformed Avenal into a boomtown. In 1929, Standard Oil surveyed the current site of Avenal to build a town. Makeshift houses were hauled in from Taft to take the place of the tents.

A water line was laid and a sewer plant was installed, a post office replaced a cigar box in the general store, a fire department was organized and a community grew. Standard Oil Company built the residents a hospital. In the first year, nearly 20 businesses occupied Kings Street and Skyline Boulevard. By 1936, Avenal boasted a population of 3,000 - oil workers - with 100 businesses and 69 private telephones and numerous community organizations. In 1940, Avenal was the second largest town in Kings County with a population of over 4,000 and was known to have some of the best services and schools in the state. Although today Avenal and its economy are reliant on the Avenal State Prison and agriculture, Avenal was once a booming oil town known as the "Oil Fields Capital." The teeming life of the oil fields, the forward thrust of civilization into the sun-baked hills so in their pristine state meant the early development of nearby towns where adequate living facilities could be provided to care for the fast-growing population.

Milham City was projected by a group of Kings County citizens who owned lands on the slope of the hills east of the oil field. It scarcely had emerged from the dream stage when the Standard Oil Company announced in 1929, that a townsite had been set aside on the northwestern slope of the hills and that it would be called Avenal, thus the present thriving, interesting little town of Avenal came into being as the "oil capital" of the great field. Roads and streets were surveyed and laid out, water mains were laid, the town was launched on its purposeful career overnight. An emergency hospital was built. Small and large homes were purposefully constructed to enjoy a fuller life in the erstwhile barren plains and trees were planted to provide much needed shade. On December 5, 1929, the first mail arrived at the new Avenal post office located at Moore's Soda Fountain. During World War 2 was the site of a training landing strip called Murray Field, part of Lemoore Army Air Field. Among the first business establishments at Avenal were Koepp's Welding Works, The Republic Supply Company, Mac's Coffee Shop, Moore's Soda Fountain and the Cross Lumber Company.

Presently, the town included 26 oil field supply houses, 12 oil field service company branches, 9 grocery stores, 9 service stations, 8 restaurants, 5 welding establishments, 4 builders' supply houses and numerous other enterprises. While the oil fields and their urban center were populated with industrious, law-abiding people the problem of keeping the peace and maintaining the dignity of the law existed there just as it does in all other communities where there is life and big payrolls. To meet this commonplace problem a township was established and on April 1, 1937, E. W. Oliver was appointed as justice of William "Bill" Brendal was named constable. Aiding and cooperating with them in the enforcement of the law was Deputy Sheriff Richard "Dick" Doty, appointed by Sheriff L. P. Loftis in 1935. Two other county offices maintained deputies at Avenal for service in the oil fields, they were deputy county assessor. By election in February 1934, the Avenal Township formed a fire district, which served efficiently both in the town and country districts.

The three fire district commissioners elected were Ray Mohler, Floyd Rice and Jess Hamilton. The Avenal district owned one well-equipped White fire truck and a half interest with the West Side Fire Protection District, of a 2-ton Reo fire truck. Two full-time drivers wer

Aforia circinata, common name the ridged turrid, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cochlespiridae. The shell grows to a length of 75 mm; the slender, elongate shell is covered with a brownish epidermis. There are six evenly rounded whorls, but with a sharp carina, above which they are smooth, whilst below it they are grooved, with wider interspaces; the anal sinus is deep, about one-third of the way from the carina to the suture. The shell is slender and covered with a brownish epidermis, it contains six whorls, with a single, narrow carina, about the middle of the whorl in the upper whorls. This carina does not interrupt the rotundity of the whorls so as to produce any flattening of the latter, but appears as if it had been placed upon the equator of the whorl, after the latter had been completed; the posterior surface of the carina and that part of the whorls behind it, are destitute of any but the most microscopic revolving striae, though plainly marked by the notched lines of growth.

The anterior surface of carina and whorls is covered with sharp, revolving grooves, with wider interspaces, being about twelve on the body whorl, between the posterior edge of the aperture and the carina. The notch is deep, about one-third of the way from the carina to the suture; the aperture and the siphonal canal are narrow. The outer lip, before the carina, is effuse; the nucleus is white. This marine species occurs in the Bering Sea and in cold waters from Alaska to Japan Hasegawa K. Upper bathyal gastropods of the Pacific coast of northern Honshu, chiefly collected by R/V Wakataka-maru. In: T. Fujita, Deep-sea fauna and pollutants off Pacific coast of northern Japan. National Museum of Nature and Science Monographs 39: 225-383. Hasegawa K. & Okutani T. A review of bathyal shell-bearing gastropods in Sagami Bay. Memoirs of the National Sciences Museum, Tokyo 47: 97-144. "Aforia circinata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 29 August 2011. Aurivillius, C. W. S. 1885. Öfversigt öfver de af Vega-Expeditionen insamlade arktiska Hafmollusker.

II. Placophora och Gastropoda. In: Nordenskiöld, A. E. Vega-Expedionens Vetenskapliga Iakttagelser, 4: 313-383, pls. 12-13

Phlebotomy is the process of making a puncture in a vein with a cannula, for the purpose of taking blood. The procedure itself is known as a venipuncture. A person who performs phlebotomy is called a "phlebotomist", although physicians known as doctors, medical laboratory scientists and others do portions of phlebotomy procedures in many countries, it is not to be confused with phlebectomy. Phlebotomists are people trained to draw blood from a patient for clinical or medical testing, donations, or research. Phlebotomists collect blood by performing venipunctures. Blood may be collected from infants by means of a heel stick; the duties of a phlebotomist may include properly identifying the patient, interpreting the tests requested on the requisition, drawing blood into the correct tubes with the proper additives explaining the procedure to the patients, preparing patients accordingly, practising the required forms of asepsis, practising standard and universal precautions, performing the skin/vein puncture, withdrawing blood into containers or tubes, restoring hemostasis of the puncture site, instructing patients on post-puncture care, ordering tests per the doctor's requisition, affixing tubes with electronically printed labels, delivering specimens to a laboratory.

Some countries, states, or districts require that phlebotomy personnel be registered. In Australia, there are a number of courses in phlebotomy offered by educational institutions, but training is provided on the job; the minimum primary qualification for phlebotomists in Australia is a Certificate III in Pathology Collection from an approved educational institution. In the UK there is no requirement for holding a formal qualification or certification prior to becoming a phlebotomist as training is provided on the job; the NHS offers training with formal certification upon completion. Special state certification in the United States is required only in four states: California, Washington and Louisiana. A phlebotomist can become nationally certified through many different organizations. However, California only accepts national certificates from six agencies; these include: American Certification Agency, American Medical Technologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology, National Center for Competency Testing/Multi-skilled Medical Certification Institute, National Credentialing Agency, National Healthcareer Association, National Phlebotomy Certification Examination.

These and other agencies certify phlebotomists outside the state of California. To qualify to sit for an examination, candidates must complete a full phlebotomy course and provide documentation of clinical or laboratory experience. Early "phlebotomists" used techniques such as leeches and incision to extract blood from the body. Bloodletting was used as a therapeutic as well as a prophylactic process, thought to remove toxins from the body and to balance the humours. While physicians did perform bloodletting, it was a specialty of barber surgeons, the primary provider of health care to most people in the medieval and early modern eras. Cytotechnologist Injection Medical technologist Venipuncture List of surgeries by type

The third Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia was held in Cape Town, South Africa, from Wednesday November 15 to Saturday November 26, 1995. Eight nations took part, they played a round robin; the top five teams joined the other three that have qualified: Australia, title holders Spain, hosts the United States. Mariana Arnal, Verónica Artica, María Camardón, Silvia Corvalán, Sofía MacKenzie, Magdalena Aicega, Julieta Castellán, Gabriela Sánchez, Anabel Gambero, Jorgelina Rimoldi, Karina Masotta, Vanina Oneto, María Castelli, Gabriela Pando, Cecilia Rognoni. Head Coach: Rodolfo Mendoza. NB: One name missing. Deb Whitten, Tara Croxford, Laurelee Kopeck, Nicole Colaco, Lisa Faust, Amy MacFarlane, Carla Somerville, Sue Reid, Veronica Planella, Karen McNeill, Chris Hunter, Tammy Holt, Gillian Sewell, Krista Thompson. Head Coach:??. NB: Two names missing. Birgit Beyer, Susie Wollschläger, Simone Thomaschinski, Eva Hagenbäumer, Denise Klecker, Irina Kuhnt, Britta Becker, Melanie Cremer, Tanja Dickenscheid, Heike Lätzsch, Franziska Hentschel, Nadine Ernsting-Krienke, Natascha Keller, Vanessa van Kooperen, Philippa Suxdorf, Katrin Kauschke.

Head Coach: Berti Rauth. Joanne Thompson, Jill Atkins, Karen Brown, Susan Fraser, Lucy Cope, Mandy Davies, Pauline Robertson, Tammy Miller, Jane Sixsmith, Susan MacDonald, Anna Bennett, Hilary Rose, Rhona Simpson, Mandy Nicholls, Diana Renilson, Christine Cook. Head Coach: Sue Slocombe. Jacqueline Toxopeus, Stella de Heij, Willemijn Duyster, Wendy Fortuin, Noor Holsboer, Marlies Vossen, Dillianne van den Boogaard, Suzanne Plesman, Jeannette Lewin, Suzan van der Wielen, Florentine Steenberghe, Margje Teeuwen, Nicole Koolen, Mijntje Donners, Ellen Kuipers, Wietske de Ruiter. Head Coach: Tom van't Hek. Caryn Bentley, Paulene de Bruin, Jill Dix, C Mangion]], Jacqui Geyser, Nicky du Toit, Sherylle Calder, Gill Daniels, Hanneli Arnoldi, Michele MacNaughton, Caroline Matthews, Karen Roberts, Lindsey Carlisle, Sharon Cormack, Karen Symons, Kerry Bee, Alison Dare. Head Coach: Kelly Fairweather; the first five qualified for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Georgia. 1996 Men's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier Overview on FIH-site

Andrejs Pildegovičs is the state secretary for Foreign Affairs of Latvia. From 2007 to 2012 he was the ambassador of Latvia to the United States, he became ambassador on July 18, 2007. He was sent to America in June 2007. Pildegovičs attended Oxford University from 1998 to 1999 in the foreign language department. Shortly after he attended Oxford University, came the birth of his second child, Eva Pildegoviča, he worked as the chief of staff in the Chancery of the President of Latvia from 2006 to 2007. He was a foreign policy adviser to the President from 2000 to 2006. Pildegovičs was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as head of the Middle East and Africa division, from 1999 to 2000, he studied Chinese history at the University of St. Petersburg, he studied at the Beijing Foreign Language Institute. He has three children. Official website

Beirut River is a river in Lebanon. The river runs east to west curves north, separating the city of Beirut from its eastern suburbs Bourj Hammoud and Sin el Fil. According to popular legend, St. George slew the dragon in a spot near the mouth of the river; the river flows from snow drains and springs on the western slopes of Mount Kneisseh and the southern end of Mount Sannine near the towns of Hammana and Falougha, emptying at Beirut's northern Mediterranean coast, east of the Port of Beirut. During the Stone Age, Beirut was two islands in the delta of the Beirut River, but over the centuries, the river silted up, the two islands were connected into one land mass; the right bank of the Beirut River, southwest of the mountain resort town of Beit Mery at an altitude of 125 metres above sea level is an archeological site, "Beit Mery I,", found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger who determined it to be an Acheulean site. In antiquity, the river was known as Magoras, it was the site of the worship of the god of Heliopolis.

The Romans built an aqueduct, which had a 240-meter bridge crossing the river, to supply Beirut with water. It is believed that Fakhreddine, Lebanon's Renaissance prince, built or repaired a bridge of seven arches on the river, a streamlet in summer but swelled into a raging torrent in winter. In the Industrial Age, the banks of the river, marshy lands that flooded each winter season in Bourj Hammoud, became home to warehouses and shipping services due to the close proximity of the river to the port. By the mid-1800s, Beirut had expanded to within 10 kilometers of the river, which continued to supply the city with water via the Roman aqueduct. According to environmentalists, the 20-kilometer valley of the Beirut River the upper valley, is one of the most important areas for bird migration in Lebanon, including birds of 33 different species, such as the European Honey-buzzard, Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes, Common Buzzard Buteo buteo, White Stork, White Pelican, European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus, European Bee-eater Merops a piaster, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica and the Lesser Spotted Eagle.

The river valley stretches across several municipalities that do not formally protect it from hunting, urban development, water pollution and overgrazing. Once the river reaches the city limits of the Greater Beirut metropolitan area, it becomes polluted with the major source of pollution being industrial waste from various factories along the bank as well as sewage and refuse from the slaughterhouse in Karantina. In 2004, Cedar Environmental built a composter, aiming to prevent the slaughterhouse from directly dumping waste into the Beirut River; the river was transformed from a riparian river to a concrete canal in 1968. In 1970, extensive work was done along the river bank to protect the eastern suburb of Bourj Hammoud from floods. In 1974, ETEC Consulting Engineers were hired to design a flood control system that included a channel 32 meters wide, with capacity of 800 m3/s. Environmentalists warned in 2003 that some construction companies were dumping illegally in the river that prompted the passing of Law 148 which stipulated that all construction projects should be located at least 500 meters away from the main rivers in Lebanon.

In 2005, storms caused flood damage in the suburbs of Bourj Hammoud and Karantina, a bridge adjacent to the Port of Beiurt collapsed due to water pressure. In 2005, the City of Bourj Hammoud in conjunction with CETE Méditerranée with logistical support from the City of Marseille, initiated a risks diagnosis that revealed seismic and technological risks for the suburb. There is great interest among Lebanese to rehabilitate the Beirut River and turn it into a sustainable, green public space, an environmentally friendly transportation and water reserve system. In 2009, Sandra Frem proposed in her dissertation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology "measures for restoring the river, creating public space and enhancing the quality and management of water". In 2010, Phillipe Skaff, head of Green Party of Lebanon, proposed a 10-year plan, envisioned by ERGA Architecture House of Elie and Randa Gebrayel, to turn the Beirut River into a conservation area containing parks, nature reserves, bike-paths, sports facilities and verdant boulevards as well as a high-speed electric train.

In 2010, a studio course, An Alternative Guide to Beirut: A Studio on Infrastructure & Tourism, offered at the American University of Beirut's Department of Architecture and Design and facilitated by Carla Aramouny & J. Matthew Thomas encouraged students to propose sustainable solutions for the Greater Beirut metropolitan area, including the rehabilitation of the river. Carl Gerges' "Beirut River in Sin el Fil", Ralph Gebara's "Hybrid Beirut", Nathalie Saleh's "The Beirut Thermal Baths" were among the creative ideas proposed. Sabbag Assi Architects proposed a 210,000 m2 urban-master plan in 2010 for the development of the former agricultural lands that existed between Beirut River and Beirut-Damascus highway; the plan included vehicular and pedestrian streets, combined with landscaped, public space and cultural facilities, such as a museum of modern art. To date, the government of Lebanon has not taken any initiative to rehabilitate the river, the creative ideas proposed by numerous Lebanese environmentalists and architects remain on paper.

There are six bridges that cross the river, connecting Beirut with its suburbs. Starting f