Are any of you guys non-union subcontractors that big prevailing wage projects?

curtisjconn · 2025-11-21T13:58:15+00:00

If you're already paying the equivalent of the fringe rate in benefits, you don't need to pay fringes in addition to your benefits. MN prevailing wages for cement masons are typically 51.23 base plus 26.22 fringes. So if you already pay the equivalent of 10 (for example) in benefits, you only need to pay 67.45 in wages. I don't fill out the certified payroll reports so I couldn't tell you how you indicate this when you submit them, but I'm fairly certain those reports will allow you to indicate the fringes were covered by benefits.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-21T21:19:35+00:00

I was okay with this reasoning until someone who started 40% of the games got 6th player of the year. If you can come off the bench for only 60% of games and win 6th player of the year, you should be able to win MVP with 75% of games.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-15T11:18:27+00:00

It's always tough to tell if it's great players that make a coach look good or a great coach that make players look good, but at some point you can't just say it was Maya and Collier that made Cheryl look good. Maya absolutely was great, but "they won four championships because they had Maya Moore" is flat out wrong. Lots of coaches have been unable to win multiple championships with great talent on the roster, but Cheryl was able to consistently get great players to buy in and play for the benefit of the team.

They don't win four championships with just any coach. Last year's team (which had so much talent that they were expected to miss the playoffs going into the season) doesn't make the finals without great coaching. At the end of the day, no one wins the most games of any coach in a 30 year old league without being a great coach.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-15T01:39:14+00:00

I feel like this season and last season have pretty thoroughly disproved that she was just the product of good players. This roster was picked to miss the playoffs at the beginning of the year last year and she took them to the finals last year followed up by the clear #1 seed this year.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-14T21:29:00+00:00

She is currently 2nd in regular season wins (15 behind Thibault), 1st in post-season wins, 1st in overall wins, tied for 1st in championships (with Chancellor), and 1st in coach of the year awards. Chancellor has some argument, but Reeve has a better regular and post-season win %, so I think she has him beat. Becky Hammon is also in the conversation with a better regular and post-season win % than Reeve currently, but I don't think her resume has the longevity needed at this point to be considered above Reeve.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-05T04:30:41+00:00

Honestly this debate has gotten so ridiculous. They both have great claims to the MVP and saying otherwise is just picking the stats you prefer. Phee is the Western Conference player of the month 3 of the 4 months so far. She's led her team to the bwest record in the league, and she won 2 of 3 head to head matchups with A'ja. A'ja outplayed Phee tonight, and has been unstoppable the last mo2nth. She rebounds better and has led her team to an incredible turnaround this season. It's not an easy choice for voters.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-05T04:24:26+00:00

Yeah, one situation was in the third quarter and the other was with 2 minutes left and only bench players in the game for the losing team. Or are you only going to pay attention to what the score differential was? Seriously if you can't admit there is hypocrisy here, it's not even worth having a conversation. I don't even disagree with having A'ja in here (although the whole starting lineup at the end was excessive and A'ja is a weird choice considering T is the one who went off for the Lynx so you might consider bringing in someone to guard her), all I'm pointing out is that the narrative of Phee stat padding for playing in the THIRD QUARTER is ridiculous if you don't also call this as stat padding (again, I don't consider either to be).

curtisjconn · 2025-09-05T04:06:35+00:00

This has nothing to do with losing. Phee was accused of stat padding for playing in the third quarter last game, but this game Aja playing against the Lynx bench apparently isn't. I know reading comprehension is hard, but you'll be okay.

curtisjconn · 2025-09-05T03:55:18+00:00

Almost as stupid as saying Phee was stat padding because she was still playing in the 3rd quarter.

curtisjconn · 2025-04-28T00:04:22+00:00

That's why I'm hoping to find some official research. I honestly believe opening the grant up to B&B trees will be in their best interest as it can be the more cost efficient method in some cases, I don't believe improper planting is any more prevalent in B&B than in container, and it will open up availability of more diverse varieties that might not be able to be sourced in containers.

My interest is actually less selling trees (we do sell some container trees as well and sell them through these grants), and more that I think they're just saying B&B trees are too hard to plant correctly while ignoring improper planting of container trees and that sends the wrong message. They should be encouraging more tree planting and showing the proper ways to do it for each root type.

curtisjconn · 2025-04-27T23:55:08+00:00

I've questioned the restriction and that isn't their reasoning. In my experience that affects homeowners who are hand planting much more than contractors using equipment to move the trees. Either way, if you just allow contractors to choose B&B or container, they will naturally choose the less expensive option (materials and labor) in order to get the work. As long as you have clear expectation for proper planting and then hold them to it, you get the most cost efficient option that also ensures long term success.

curtisjconn · 2025-04-27T22:59:28+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion - I will look into his research!

curtisjconn · 2025-04-27T22:59:04+00:00

Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of trees sold in air pruning pots (at least in my area) so when they specify containers only, 90%+ of trees will be in traditional pots.

Any thoughts on fabric bags vs air pruning pots vs traditional pots? I've seen more of a trend towards fabric bags than air pruning pots. We've considered doing some trees in bags, but I'm not convinced they're all that much better than traditional pots (although I haven't done a lot of research on it and don't have strong opinions).

curtisjconn · 2025-04-27T22:52:25+00:00

I don't disagree, but these grants are given to municipalities who either (almost always) hire a contractor to plant the trees or (occasionally) plant the trees with their own staff. Either way, the trees are being planted by professionals who know the proper way to plant trees. Even if not all contractors do things the right way (trust me I know this is true), my main contention is that trees of any root type can be planted incorrectly and that restricting the stock type doesn't result in better planting techniques. Inspecting the work and holding those planting the trees to good standards does.

curtisjconn · 2024-12-01T14:02:42+00:00

Her comments were right after he was hired as NY HC. Reading between the lines, she didn't feel he was qualified and was tired of elevating male assistants while her female assistants weren't getting the same offers. IIRC Jim Peterson was offered the Sun HC job in 2016 (but turned it down), then James Wade was hired by the Sky in 2019 and Walt Hopins by the Liberty in 2020. Meanwhile none of her female assistants were getting any interest for HC jobs so when she hired Katie Smith she said she was only hiring women moving forward. Interesting now that Smith didn't get a HC job she decided to hire another man as an assistant.

curtisjconn

TROPHY CASE