Financial Director: Jonagold Shoppes

I'm pleased to annouced the grand opening of the Jonagold Shoppes I and Jonagold Shoppes II. I am posting exclusive photos of Jonagold Shoppes II, located behind Daniels Row near the main ferry road.

Residents can expect to find lots of shops targeting various hobbies and interests. There is the Bohemian Books, where many sims find themselves discussing the latest books or films. Culinary Cooks Rock, a cooking school and showcase for the best cooks to compete in cooking competitions. An indoor sports arena, dance hall, stand-up comedy club, gym and my personal favorite, a two level artists studio specializing in classes in pottery, sewing, painting and toy construction.

Jonagold Shoppes I features stores for the basic shopping needs of our residents.

Archives/Technology: New Calendar and Blog Schedule

New Calendar
There has been much discussion about a new calendar for Apple Valley. Many residents feel that the #Season-#Simday isn't reflective of the dynamic nature of the hood. Also, some residents are pushing for 2 simday rotations instead of 1 simday rotations. The hood council discussed that if we move to 2-simday rotations, then households will have to wait longer for thier turn and this will throw the publication of the newspaper and other news off.

Right now we require all households to be on the same simday (ie simMonday, Fall Day 2) , but this might change when families start to move into the hood (now requiring that they move in on the start if a season, not simMonday as before).

However, to make sense of the dynamical nature of the hood (who would believe that during the rotation of Doe's home, John Doe has a crush on Jane Smith and they have a successful date, but during the rotation of the Smith home, Jane falls in love with John and they marry-all in the same simday!) Thus we will revive the ancient tradition of SimLonic Calendar.

The SimLonic Calendar
-8 months
-one or more household(s) will be featured each month

Season/Month/Info

Spring/Hapar/Month of Happiness
Spring/Lovar/Month of Love

Summer/ Patar/ Month of Patience
Summer/ Remar/ Month of Remembering

Autumn/ Havar/ Month of Harvesting
Autumn/ Resar/ Month of Resting

Winter/ Givar/ Month of Giving
Winter/ Peacar/ Month of Peace

The new calendar will go into effect immediately (simTuesday) with the year 2000. The only changes will be the dates in the newspaper and website will no longer say simday.

Blog Schedule
Families will not which month they are updating for and blogs will now be updated every 4 days in month order. We will try this rotation and schedule for a while before re-evaluating whether or not to move to one blog for the entire community much like Lakeside Heights.

Pastoral Notes: Church Fees

Instead of a raise, from now on fees for weddings and funerals will be paid directly to me. I will be paid 75% of the fee and the remaining 25% will go towards the upkeep of the church.

Education Note: Economy and PAG

The economy has affected even PAG. It was noted earlier that PAG decided to build it's campus on another small nearby island instead of AV Metro. PAG is changing it's name to Pierce University that specializes in university degrees and the board has approved a plan for a local administration of the university. They offered the job as University President. My job duties will increase as Educational Director and thankfully I'll have a much better salary since PU will be paying me. Some immediate changes, thanks to the economic downturn, are increased fees and admission requirements:

Apple Valley Academy: §100 a SimYear (Hapar-Peacar) per student.
Application for Graduation from AVA: C average or better, score a 6 in one skill exam.

Pierce University: §1000/semester
Kimkura University: §4000/year

Admissions to Pierce University: A score of at least 15 on thier entrance exam and at least 15 skill points to enter.

GPA (3pts-A, 2pts-B, 1pt-C)
+ # Extracurriculars (1pt each)
+ # Skill points (1pt each)
+ # Hobby Points
+ # Years Work Experience

Each class is limited to four sims each.

Admissions to Kimikura University: A score of at least 15 on thier entrance exam, at least a 3.0 GPA, and at least 15 skill points to enter.

+ # GPA points (4pts-4.0, 3.9 pts-3.9, etc)
+ # Extracurriculars (1pt each)
+ # Skill points (1pt each)
+ # Hobby Points

Each class is limited to two sims each.

Medical Notes: New Medical Centre & Fees

With the slowing of the economy, every resident is making cutbacks, including the medical centre.

New Centre
We have sold the land that the medical centre sits on and with the help of Li Sweeny, we're revamping the medical centre. Let's face it, we're a small hood and we do not need the high tech services as the larger hoods, The medical centre will now have a small gift shop and pharmacy, examination room, small waiting area, and small operation room (with plastic surgery, labor and delivery and other surgeries).

Job Cutbacks
We no longer have the need for a pharmacist, which is probably great news to the young man we hired. I have a feeling that he rather be anywhere but here. However, that means that for the time being I must run everything. I will now attend all births and surgeries.

Fee Increases
Fees have also increased for several medical services.

Education Note: Economy's Effects on AVA

The economy has effected the construction of AVA. Instead of the state of the art facility we had planned, we've had to scrape plans and revise a smaller cheaper school. We had to demolish the building and sell the materials for scrap in order to save money. I know, it sounds odd, but a lot of civic buildings are doing the same thing.

Curriculm
The curriculm is the same. Students must pass the Skills Exams with the same scores.

Classes
The main difference is that classes will be mostly lectured based except for the following:
-Music, students will study the piano.
-Art, students will study the fine art of painting and sketching.
-PE, students will study tai chi, yoga, boxing, ballet, football and aerobic fitness.

Building
The new building will consist of 2 main classrooms (elementary/junior high and high school), one general purpose classroom (with piano, ballet barre and indoor easels), small cafeteria and outdoor space.

Jobs
We are the only civic owned building not decreasing jobs. We are in need of a primary school teacher and are currently searching for that (if you know of a teacher, or wish to apply, please email me.)

Infrastructure and Restricted Import Laws

Some good news and bad news.

New Infrastructure for the Hood
-The hood council approved the proposal for new infrastructure for the hood. We now have a slightly better system, however there is some bad news.

Restricted Import Laws
-Only the most necessary items will be allowed to be imported. Effective immediately, only items created by the MAXIS company can be used. We have already approved modifications of MAXIS appliances as well as a few tables and chairs from PiggiSims. Some wallpaper and floor tiles are being investigated from Parsimonious. Clothing has been ordered from All-About-Style and stylists have been trained for Nouk hairstyles and Lyran makeup only. Modifications of such MAXIS items will be allowed on a case-by case basis. Applications must be submitted for each item. To ensure that superficial requests do not flood my inbox, all families must wait until simThursday (it is now the dawn of simTuesday) to submit any requests. Requests will be handled based on how many families have a need for an item.