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The reported deal could also make Cousins the first quarterback to receive a fully guaranteed contract, possibly setting the precedent for similar extensions for quarterbacks such as Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan in the coming months.
It would be the latest in a recent series of pricey investments aimed at solving the team’s long-running quandary at quarterback.
The Vikings spent first-round picks on Christian Ponder in 2011 and Teddy Bridgewater in 2014 and shipped three draft picks to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 for Sam Bradford after Bridgewater tore multiple ligaments in his left knee. The Vikings paid Bradford $7 million that season and $18 million in 2017, a year in which lingering knee issues limited him to only six quarters of regular-season football.
Assuming Cousins, who turns 30 on Aug. 19, signs with the Vikings and starts in Week 1 of the regular season, he would be the Vikings’ sixth different opening-day starter in seven years at quarterback. Ponder, who started the first games of the 2012 and 2013 seasons, remains the most recent Vikings quarterback to hold the job after the preseason for two consecutive years.
Whether by durability or effectiveness, Cousins would be expected to come to Minnesota and end years of quarterback searches that ultimately proved fruitless.
Cousins, who hits free agency after playing on the franchise tag the past two seasons in Washington, has passed for more than 4,000 yards each of the past three seasons. He made the Pro Bowl after 2016, when he threw for 4,917 yards, 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has started 49 consecutive games, including his lone playoff start where he threw for 329 yards, but was sacked six times, in a 35-18 NFC wild-card loss to Green Bay after the 2015 season.
The Eagles, who signed Bradford to a contract extension after 2015, reportedly were interested in bringing Cousins to Philadelphia if the Redskins had decided not to franchise tag him. Had he played for the Eagles, he would have worked with quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo; if Cousins gets his deal done with the Vikings, DeFilippo would be his offensive coordinator.
He would replace Case Keenum, whom a league source said is expected to sign with the Broncos once free agency kicks off Wednesday. Keenum’s unlikely turn as the Vikings’ starter — during which he passed for 3,547 yards and 22 touchdowns while leading the team to the NFC Championship Game — created a market for him in free agency. The Vikings, ostensibly, would be signing Cousins because they believe he can take them a step further.
Cousins’ career record as a starter is 26-30-1, and the Redskins, who went 10-6 with Robert Griffin III in 2012, were never better than 9-7 with Cousins as a starter. The Vikings, though, would be betting on Cousins’ ability to command a talented supporting cast and join with the NFL’s top-ranked defense to make them regular NFC contenders.
By Thursday afternoon, they might have officially pushed their chips to the middle of the table.
FOR a moment overnight the United States was represented by another Trump on the world stage, when the president's daughter Ivanka took a seat among a table of G20 leaders in Germany.
The 35-year-old sat down next to Xi Jinping, Angela Merkel and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Hamburg, diplomats and the White House confirmed.
This fuelled allegations of nepotism against the US leader, who has put family members in top White House positions.
A White House official said Ivanka had been at the back of the room but "briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out".
The official emphasised that "when other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others." Ms Merkel also sought to play down the case, saying that it is "in line with what other delegations do".
UN ambassador Nikki Haley said this was not unusual for Ivanka.
"She's got her certain issues that she focuses on and when those things come up then that's where she is," Haley said, according to CBS News.
She noted that the First Daughter had been "very well accepted nationally and internationally".
But Mr Trump's already vociferous detractors were enraged.
"And replaces Pres. Trump at the G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings" she said.
"It's nothing unusual for an adviser to sit upfront," said one diplomat on condition of anonymity, "we have had it before."
"I'm very proud of my daughter, Ivanka - always have been, from day one - I had to tell you that, from day one," Trump said before Australia's Malcolm Turnbull and Canada's Justin Trudeau.
"She's always been great," he said. "A champion. She's a champion." Mr Trump then prompted some nervous laughter when he mused about whether he had made her life more difficult.
"If she weren't my daughter, it would be so much easier for her. Might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth." Ivanka was given the official title of "First Daughter and Advisor to the President" early in the administration, amid outcry that an unofficial role exempted her from ethics rules.
Her husband Jared Kushner is assistant to the president and senior adviser, a top White House role. Neither of the two take a salary.
Ivanka Trump has faced sustained criticism from opponents of her father who'd hoped she would be able to push him to adopt more moderate policies.
Many have labelled her "complicit" in his agenda.
It comes as the Turnbulls and the Trumps have united with other world leaders to help unlock the economic potential of women.
US President Donald Trump said the US would contribute $US50 million ($66 million) to a new World Bank fund conceived by his daughter that aims to help women entrepreneurs access capital and other support.
Ivanka Trump joined World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the sidelines of the Group of 20 world leaders' summit in Hamburg, Germany, to launch the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.
Mr Kim said the fund had raised more than $US325 million ($428 million) so far for projects and programs to support women and women-led businesses by improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, and pushing public policy.
The fund grew out of conversations between Ivanka Trump and Mr Kim early in Mr Trump's administration.
"This is not a cute little project," Mr Kim said during a panel discussion, arguing the effort would spur real economic growth.
Mr Trump, Lucy Turnbull, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke at the event, where Mr Trump said the fund would help eliminate barriers for women to launch businesses, help transform "millions and millions of lives," and "provide new hope to these women from countless communities all across the world."
Mr Turnbull praised his wife, Lucy's efforts.
"I was proud to hear Lucy speak at the #G20 Women's Entrepreneurs Launch," he said. "Lucy said in order to empower women in developing countries it was critical that their safety and security was addressed."
The president has been criticised for crude remarks he's made about women over the years, including a recent tweet focusing on a television news host's appearance.
Mr Trump's senior staff is dominated by men, despite the considerable influence of Ivanka Trump, who serves as a senior White House adviser.
In addition to the US, Germany and Canada, the new fund has also received contributions from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Australia, China, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and South Korea.
During his 2016 campaign, Mr Trump frequently criticised rival Hillary Clinton's ties to her family's Clinton Foundation, which received millions in donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and several other Mideast nations for charitable work.
During an October general election debate in Las Vegas, Mr Trump demanded that Mrs Clinton "give back the money you've taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so terrible."
He said then: "Saudi Arabia giving $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and women's rights? So these are people that push gays off ... buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money."
Plunging oil prices and chronic fuel shortages have thrown Africa's largest economy into disarray. But a closer look reveals that Nigeria's potential has not faded.
Can this massive refinery solve Nigeria's energy crisis?
PHUKET: A Russian girl was stung by a bluebottle at a Phuket beach yesterday in a warning that the marine creatures are to be avoided.
The girl, aged 13, was stung on the left hand and helped from the water at Nai Thon after screams brought lifeguards running.
Oxygen was used to help the girl calm down. Experts advise that the best treatment for bluebottles - also known as the Portuguese Man o' War - is salt water, followed by warm water.
Vinegar is recommended with other types of jellyfish because it reduces toxicity. Bluebottles are sometimes in Phuket's waters at this time of year, but disappear before the November high season.
In another incident at Kamala beach, a tourist was hurt when he stood on a sharp discarded umbrella spike while running.
Better to be stung by a Man o' war than a jet ski operator. Probably cheaper too!
Poor girl, hope she recover soon. Blue bottle's are not a joke. If they go in to the surf, the tentakles break loose, and you can not see it in the water. Be careful everyone.
@man of war think your confusing bluebottle marine creatures with slimy jellyfish that are toxic vermin.
Slickmelb, probably not vermin but definitely can be toxic and painful at times.
Is the parasol spike a cause of 'back to nature' for the beaches...? Who cleans them now from the garbage ?
Wiping the restaurants and commerce off the beaches will only happen once, Resident. That's what caused the problem. Visitors should bring what they need and take it away with them. Phuketwan has suggested that the Royal Thai Navy should enforce rules on all Phuket beaches, even after military rule ends.
Striking York University contract professors and teaching assistants walk the line on April 11, 2018.
As York University prepares to launch its summer semester without the involvement of 3,000 striking contract staff, students whose winter-term classes were disrupted are expressing frustration at the labour dispute, which is now into its eleventh week.
The strike at the Toronto university saw contract faculty and graduate teaching and research assistants walk off the job over issues of wages and job security on March 5.
Tens of thousands of students have been affected, with some raising questions about whether they’ll be able to complete their degrees on time.
Sarah Morrison, a third-year York nursing student, says she had been two months into a semester that involved a clinical placement in a community environment when the strike began.
The labour disruption has delayed that placement, an experience only available to third-year students and one that Morrison had been excited about.
“Losing that, it’s kind of losing the one thing I was really looking forward to, losing the one thing that would have probably benefited me if I was looking to get a job in public health,” she said.
Since March, Morrison has been waiting to find out when her placement will resume.
Morrison said she has cut down on planned work hours over the summer, in case her classes start up again, and has cancelled plans to go back home to Norfolk County for the summer.
First-year student Samantha Zurin said three of her four classes have been suspended by the university since the strike began and the instructor of the fourth course went on to cancel all classes.
The instructor “does not respond to students (and) when contacted about this class York doesn’t do anything about it,” Zurin said.
“I feel like the two sides have used the students as pawns and this could have been over — we could have finished our month of school two months ago,” she said.
York says it is working to do all it can to allow students to graduate as planned wherever possible. It also says convocation ceremonies are taking place as scheduled.
The university also said its summer term, beginning Tuesday, is expected to offer fewer courses than planned due to the labour disruption.
“We anticipate that the number of courses offered will be reduced from the original schedule as a result of the current labour disruption,” it said in a letter to students that was posted online.
Earlier this month, a commissioner appointed by the provincial government suggested the school and the union representing the striking employees enter binding arbitration.
The province’s Liberal government then introduced back-to-work legislation days before an election campaign began, but the bill did not pass as the NDP did not support it.
CUPE 3903, the union representing the striking York workers, has rejected calls for arbitration, instead asking York’s administration to continue bargaining.
CUPE spokesman Julian Arend said he sympathized with students affected by the strike but said the university was to blame for stalled courses.
“The administration is fully in control of the schedule, and they’ve been using that as a bludgeon against the union, and the students end up as collateral damage,” he said.
Martha Batiz, a union member and course director in York’s Hispanic Studies department, said many of her students were initially supportive of the strike, but are now frustrated that it’s putting their lives on hold.
Peterborough United defender Steven Taylor has completed his move to New Zealnd-based club Wellington Phoenix.
Taylor (32) was deemed surplus to requirements by Posh manager Steve Evans at the end of last season and will now play for the only Kiwi club in the A League.
Taylor is thrilled with the move. He told his new club’s website: “As soon as I was aware of the interest, I knew it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.
“I was here in 2014 as part of the Football United Tour when we played in Dunedin and Wellington and loved the country then.
“I know that I am joining an exciting project as well as playing in one of the best leagues in the world in the A-League”.
Taylor played 51 games for Posh last season.
A mixed-use development proposed for west Ventura is causing some concerns because it would feature parking lifts.
In addition to concerns about traffic, density and a design some say doesn’t fit with the neighborhood, a mixed-used development proposed for Ventura’s west side is causing concerns for another reason: It includes parking lifts.
The automated lifts – picture up-and-down and side-to-side moveable stackers – will provide 193 parking spaces for the project’s 125 residential units. Off- and on-street parking will provide the rest.
The project, on six acres at 2055 N. Ventura Ave., was initially approved in 2012 as 105 residential units. Two years later, the developer received approval to add 20 units.
The site and the associated entitlements have since been sold to a new developer called Leap of Faith, which introduced a redesigned project that adds the parking lifts. In exchange, plans call for more open space, including a public park that’s a third of an acre, up from a quarter of an acre in earlier iterations.
“We thought we could improve it,” Noah Ornstein, Leap of Faith’s general counsel, told the Ventura City Council.
The Design Review Committee approved the updated plans in November, but Mayor Matt LaVere and council members Christy Weir and Cheryl Heitmann requested a “call for review.” Under that process, elected officials can ask that a decision made by the advisory Design Review Committee and Planning Commission be brought to the full City Council for another look.
After a hearing that lasted more than two hours, the council voted 6-1 to uphold the Design Review Committee’s approval but added stronger language on ensuring evacuation plans were clear and other disaster contingencies were planned for, in the event that hundreds of people were trying to access their vehicles at once.
“There are a lot of concerns from residents with regards to this project,” she said after the meeting. One of her concerns centered on the parking lifts, she said, which haven’t been done before in Ventura.
During the March 18 hearing, the council wasn’t voting on the entire project, only considering its design aspects.
But residents weighed in on traffic, density and the safety of the parking stackers, matters that the Planning Commission will be consider later. Several noted how difficult it was to evacuate during the Thomas Fire in December 20.
MORE: Measure O: What is Ventura’s sales tax money paying for?
Matt Bello said the project doesn’t work with the neighborhood and said officials should be more imaginative.
“I don’t think that this development fits in with our community,” he said.
Much of the construction will be done off site, reducing significantly the number of truck trips and speeding up the overall building process, Ornstein said.
Weir’s concerns centered on the safety component of the lift. Because the project’s entire design centers on parking, she said, the two must be considered together.
“Designs are based on parking,” she said.
After the Thomas Fire, it was clear many people hadn’t been able to get their vehicles out, some because garage doors failed when the electricity went out.

The reported deal could also make Cousins the first quarterback to receive a fully guaranteed contract, possibly setting the precedent for similar extensions for quarterbacks such as Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan in the coming months.

It would be the latest in a recent series of pricey investments aimed at solving the team’s long-running quandary at quarterback.

The Vikings spent first-round picks on Christian Ponder in 2011 and Teddy Bridgewater in 2014 and shipped three draft picks to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 for Sam Bradford after Bridgewater tore multiple ligaments in his left knee. The Vikings paid Bradford $7 million that season and $18 million in 2017, a year in which lingering knee issues limited him to only six quarters of regular-season football.

Assuming Cousins, who turns 30 on Aug. 19, signs with the Vikings and starts in Week 1 of the regular season, he would be the Vikings’ sixth different opening-day starter in seven years at quarterback. Ponder, who started the first games of the 2012 and 2013 seasons, remains the most recent Vikings quarterback to hold the job after the preseason for two consecutive years.

Whether by durability or effectiveness, Cousins would be expected to come to Minnesota and end years of quarterback searches that ultimately proved fruitless.

Cousins, who hits free agency after playing on the franchise tag the past two seasons in Washington, has passed for more than 4,000 yards each of the past three seasons. He made the Pro Bowl after 2016, when he threw for 4,917 yards, 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has started 49 consecutive games, including his lone playoff start where he threw for 329 yards, but was sacked six times, in a 35-18 NFC wild-card loss to Green Bay after the 2015 season.

The Eagles, who signed Bradford to a contract extension after 2015, reportedly were interested in bringing Cousins to Philadelphia if the Redskins had decided not to franchise tag him. Had he played for the Eagles, he would have worked with quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo; if Cousins gets his deal done with the Vikings, DeFilippo would be his offensive coordinator.

He would replace Case Keenum, whom a league source said is expected to sign with the Broncos once free agency kicks off Wednesday. Keenum’s unlikely turn as the Vikings’ starter — during which he passed for 3,547 yards and 22 touchdowns while leading the team to the NFC Championship Game — created a market for him in free agency. The Vikings, ostensibly, would be signing Cousins because they believe he can take them a step further.

Cousins’ career record as a starter is 26-30-1, and the Redskins, who went 10-6 with Robert Griffin III in 2012, were never better than 9-7 with Cousins as a starter. The Vikings, though, would be betting on Cousins’ ability to command a talented supporting cast and join with the NFL’s top-ranked defense to make them regular NFC contenders.

By Thursday afternoon, they might have officially pushed their chips to the middle of the table.

FOR a moment overnight the United States was represented by another Trump on the world stage, when the president's daughter Ivanka took a seat among a table of G20 leaders in Germany.

The 35-year-old sat down next to Xi Jinping, Angela Merkel and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Hamburg, diplomats and the White House confirmed.

This fuelled allegations of nepotism against the US leader, who has put family members in top White House positions.

A White House official said Ivanka had been at the back of the room but "briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out".

The official emphasised that "when other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others." Ms Merkel also sought to play down the case, saying that it is "in line with what other delegations do".

UN ambassador Nikki Haley said this was not unusual for Ivanka.

"She's got her certain issues that she focuses on and when those things come up then that's where she is," Haley said, according to CBS News.

She noted that the First Daughter had been "very well accepted nationally and internationally".

But Mr Trump's already vociferous detractors were enraged.

"And replaces Pres. Trump at the G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings" she said.

"It's nothing unusual for an adviser to sit upfront," said one diplomat on condition of anonymity, "we have had it before."

"I'm very proud of my daughter, Ivanka - always have been, from day one - I had to tell you that, from day one," Trump said before Australia's Malcolm Turnbull and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

"She's always been great," he said. "A champion. She's a champion." Mr Trump then prompted some nervous laughter when he mused about whether he had made her life more difficult.

"If she weren't my daughter, it would be so much easier for her. Might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth." Ivanka was given the official title of "First Daughter and Advisor to the President" early in the administration, amid outcry that an unofficial role exempted her from ethics rules.

Her husband Jared Kushner is assistant to the president and senior adviser, a top White House role. Neither of the two take a salary.

Ivanka Trump has faced sustained criticism from opponents of her father who'd hoped she would be able to push him to adopt more moderate policies.

Many have labelled her "complicit" in his agenda.

It comes as the Turnbulls and the Trumps have united with other world leaders to help unlock the economic potential of women.

US President Donald Trump said the US would contribute $US50 million ($66 million) to a new World Bank fund conceived by his daughter that aims to help women entrepreneurs access capital and other support.

Ivanka Trump joined World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the sidelines of the Group of 20 world leaders' summit in Hamburg, Germany, to launch the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.

Mr Kim said the fund had raised more than $US325 million ($428 million) so far for projects and programs to support women and women-led businesses by improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, and pushing public policy.

The fund grew out of conversations between Ivanka Trump and Mr Kim early in Mr Trump's administration.

"This is not a cute little project," Mr Kim said during a panel discussion, arguing the effort would spur real economic growth.

Mr Trump, Lucy Turnbull, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke at the event, where Mr Trump said the fund would help eliminate barriers for women to launch businesses, help transform "millions and millions of lives," and "provide new hope to these women from countless communities all across the world."

Mr Turnbull praised his wife, Lucy's efforts.

"I was proud to hear Lucy speak at the #G20 Women's Entrepreneurs Launch," he said. "Lucy said in order to empower women in developing countries it was critical that their safety and security was addressed."

The president has been criticised for crude remarks he's made about women over the years, including a recent tweet focusing on a television news host's appearance.

Mr Trump's senior staff is dominated by men, despite the considerable influence of Ivanka Trump, who serves as a senior White House adviser.

In addition to the US, Germany and Canada, the new fund has also received contributions from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Australia, China, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and South Korea.

During his 2016 campaign, Mr Trump frequently criticised rival Hillary Clinton's ties to her family's Clinton Foundation, which received millions in donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and several other Mideast nations for charitable work.

During an October general election debate in Las Vegas, Mr Trump demanded that Mrs Clinton "give back the money you've taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so terrible."

He said then: "Saudi Arabia giving $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and women's rights? So these are people that push gays off ... buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money."

Plunging oil prices and chronic fuel shortages have thrown Africa's largest economy into disarray. But a closer look reveals that Nigeria's potential has not faded.

Can this massive refinery solve Nigeria's energy crisis?

PHUKET: A Russian girl was stung by a bluebottle at a Phuket beach yesterday in a warning that the marine creatures are to be avoided.

The girl, aged 13, was stung on the left hand and helped from the water at Nai Thon after screams brought lifeguards running.

Oxygen was used to help the girl calm down. Experts advise that the best treatment for bluebottles - also known as the Portuguese Man o' War - is salt water, followed by warm water.

Vinegar is recommended with other types of jellyfish because it reduces toxicity. Bluebottles are sometimes in Phuket's waters at this time of year, but disappear before the November high season.

In another incident at Kamala beach, a tourist was hurt when he stood on a sharp discarded umbrella spike while running.

Better to be stung by a Man o' war than a jet ski operator. Probably cheaper too!

Poor girl, hope she recover soon. Blue bottle's are not a joke. If they go in to the surf, the tentakles break loose, and you can not see it in the water. Be careful everyone.

@man of war think your confusing bluebottle marine creatures with slimy jellyfish that are toxic vermin.

Slickmelb, probably not vermin but definitely can be toxic and painful at times.

Is the parasol spike a cause of 'back to nature' for the beaches...? Who cleans them now from the garbage ?

Wiping the restaurants and commerce off the beaches will only happen once, Resident. That's what caused the problem. Visitors should bring what they need and take it away with them. Phuketwan has suggested that the Royal Thai Navy should enforce rules on all Phuket beaches, even after military rule ends.

Striking York University contract professors and teaching assistants walk the line on April 11, 2018.

As York University prepares to launch its summer semester without the involvement of 3,000 striking contract staff, students whose winter-term classes were disrupted are expressing frustration at the labour dispute, which is now into its eleventh week.

The strike at the Toronto university saw contract faculty and graduate teaching and research assistants walk off the job over issues of wages and job security on March 5.

Tens of thousands of students have been affected, with some raising questions about whether they’ll be able to complete their degrees on time.

Sarah Morrison, a third-year York nursing student, says she had been two months into a semester that involved a clinical placement in a community environment when the strike began.

The labour disruption has delayed that placement, an experience only available to third-year students and one that Morrison had been excited about.

“Losing that, it’s kind of losing the one thing I was really looking forward to, losing the one thing that would have probably benefited me if I was looking to get a job in public health,” she said.

Since March, Morrison has been waiting to find out when her placement will resume.

Morrison said she has cut down on planned work hours over the summer, in case her classes start up again, and has cancelled plans to go back home to Norfolk County for the summer.

First-year student Samantha Zurin said three of her four classes have been suspended by the university since the strike began and the instructor of the fourth course went on to cancel all classes.

The instructor “does not respond to students (and) when contacted about this class York doesn’t do anything about it,” Zurin said.

“I feel like the two sides have used the students as pawns and this could have been over — we could have finished our month of school two months ago,” she said.

York says it is working to do all it can to allow students to graduate as planned wherever possible. It also says convocation ceremonies are taking place as scheduled.

The university also said its summer term, beginning Tuesday, is expected to offer fewer courses than planned due to the labour disruption.

“We anticipate that the number of courses offered will be reduced from the original schedule as a result of the current labour disruption,” it said in a letter to students that was posted online.

Earlier this month, a commissioner appointed by the provincial government suggested the school and the union representing the striking employees enter binding arbitration.

The province’s Liberal government then introduced back-to-work legislation days before an election campaign began, but the bill did not pass as the NDP did not support it.

CUPE 3903, the union representing the striking York workers, has rejected calls for arbitration, instead asking York’s administration to continue bargaining.

CUPE spokesman Julian Arend said he sympathized with students affected by the strike but said the university was to blame for stalled courses.

“The administration is fully in control of the schedule, and they’ve been using that as a bludgeon against the union, and the students end up as collateral damage,” he said.

Martha Batiz, a union member and course director in York’s Hispanic Studies department, said many of her students were initially supportive of the strike, but are now frustrated that it’s putting their lives on hold.

Peterborough United defender Steven Taylor has completed his move to New Zealnd-based club Wellington Phoenix.

Taylor (32) was deemed surplus to requirements by Posh manager Steve Evans at the end of last season and will now play for the only Kiwi club in the A League.

Taylor is thrilled with the move. He told his new club’s website: “As soon as I was aware of the interest, I knew it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

“I was here in 2014 as part of the Football United Tour when we played in Dunedin and Wellington and loved the country then.

“I know that I am joining an exciting project as well as playing in one of the best leagues in the world in the A-League”.

Taylor played 51 games for Posh last season.

A mixed-use development proposed for west Ventura is causing some concerns because it would feature parking lifts.

In addition to concerns about traffic, density and a design some say doesn’t fit with the neighborhood, a mixed-used development proposed for Ventura’s west side is causing concerns for another reason: It includes parking lifts.

The automated lifts – picture up-and-down and side-to-side moveable stackers – will provide 193 parking spaces for the project’s 125 residential units. Off- and on-street parking will provide the rest.

The project, on six acres at 2055 N. Ventura Ave., was initially approved in 2012 as 105 residential units. Two years later, the developer received approval to add 20 units.

The site and the associated entitlements have since been sold to a new developer called Leap of Faith, which introduced a redesigned project that adds the parking lifts. In exchange, plans call for more open space, including a public park that’s a third of an acre, up from a quarter of an acre in earlier iterations.

“We thought we could improve it,” Noah Ornstein, Leap of Faith’s general counsel, told the Ventura City Council.

The Design Review Committee approved the updated plans in November, but Mayor Matt LaVere and council members Christy Weir and Cheryl Heitmann requested a “call for review.” Under that process, elected officials can ask that a decision made by the advisory Design Review Committee and Planning Commission be brought to the full City Council for another look.

After a hearing that lasted more than two hours, the council voted 6-1 to uphold the Design Review Committee’s approval but added stronger language on ensuring evacuation plans were clear and other disaster contingencies were planned for, in the event that hundreds of people were trying to access their vehicles at once.

“There are a lot of concerns from residents with regards to this project,” she said after the meeting. One of her concerns centered on the parking lifts, she said, which haven’t been done before in Ventura.

During the March 18 hearing, the council wasn’t voting on the entire project, only considering its design aspects.

But residents weighed in on traffic, density and the safety of the parking stackers, matters that the Planning Commission will be consider later. Several noted how difficult it was to evacuate during the Thomas Fire in December 20.

MORE: Measure O: What is Ventura’s sales tax money paying for?

Matt Bello said the project doesn’t work with the neighborhood and said officials should be more imaginative.

“I don’t think that this development fits in with our community,” he said.

Much of the construction will be done off site, reducing significantly the number of truck trips and speeding up the overall building process, Ornstein said.

Weir’s concerns centered on the safety component of the lift. Because the project’s entire design centers on parking, she said, the two must be considered together.

“Designs are based on parking,” she said.

After the Thomas Fire, it was clear many people hadn’t been able to get their vehicles out, some because garage doors failed when the electricity went out.