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Martin Carlino is a co-founder and the senior editor who assigns and edits The Record stories, while also bylining articles every week. Martin is an experienced and award-winning education reporter who was the editor of The Northbrook Tower.
Volume 7 - 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2020.00034
This article is part of the Research TopicMachine Learning in HeliophysicsView all 17 articles
In order to efficiently analyse the vast amount of data generated by solar space missions and ground-based instruments
modern machine learning techniques such as decision trees
support vector machines (SVMs) and neural networks can be very useful
In this paper we present initial results from using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to analyse observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) in the 1,600Å wavelength
The data is pre-processed to locate flaring regions where flare ribbons are visible in the observations
The CNN is created and trained to automatically analyse the shape and position of the flare ribbons
by identifying whether each image belongs into one of four classes: two-ribbon flare
with the final class acting as a control for any data included in the training or test sets where flaring regions are not present
The network created can classify flare ribbon observations into any of the four classes with a final accuracy of 94%
Initial results show that most of the images are correctly classified with the compact flare class being the only class where accuracy drops below 90% and some observations are wrongly classified as belonging to the limb class
In this paper we focus on solar flares and in particular on the classification of the morphology of flares displaying visible flare ribbons (e.g., Kurokawa, 1989; Fletcher and Hudson, 2001). Throughout this paper, flare observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) Lemen et al. (2012) onboard SDO were used
These observations clearly show the flare ribbons as they appear on the solar surface
The locations and shapes of flare ribbons are thought to be closely linked to the geometry and topology of the solar magnetic field in the flaring region. For example, the ribbon shapes and lengths have been connected to the presence of separatrix surfaces and quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) (e.g., Aulanier et al., 2000; Savcheva et al., 2015; Janvier et al., 2016; Hou et al., 2019)
The ribbon shapes found and analyzed throughout these studies are mostly two-ribbon flares with two “J” shaped ribbons
however it is known that other ribbon shapes can also occur with circular or compact flare ribbons also being observed
One motivation of the work presented in this paper is to create a tool that allows the classification of large data sets to generate a catalog of flares associated with their ribbons
which could automatically be detected and classified
be used in connection with magnetic field models to obtain better statistics on the possible correlation of ribbon geometry and magnetic field structure
This paper considers all C, M, and X class flares (see e.g., Fletcher et al., 2011
for a definition of GOES classes) that occurred between November 2012 and December 2014 and attempts to classify the shape of all observable flare ribbons
To do this a CNN consisting of two hidden layers was created and trained to predict four classes of ribbons and flares
limb flares and circular/compact ribbon flares
with the fourth class acting as a control class to process quiet Sun images that may also be processed through the CNN
The network was trained on a dataset containing 540 images (including validation images)
and was tested using an unseen dataset containing 430 images
we describe the design and training of our CNN
The preparation of the data used in the paper is discussed in section 3
our results are presented in section 4 and we conclude with a discussion of our findings in section 5
Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are a type of machine learning technique commonly used to find patterns in data and classify them
Instead of being given explicit instructions or mathematical functions to work they use patterns and trends in the data
initially found through a “training data” set
This data set should be the set of inputs for the CNN—usually a subset of the data that one would initially want to classify or detect
This allows the network to “learn” the patterns and trends such that it can independently classify unknown data
To create a basic CNN there must be at least 3 layers; an input layer, a hidden layer and an output layer (e.g., Cun et al., 1990; Hinton et al., 2012; LeCun et al., 2015; Szegedy et al., 2015; Krizhevsky et al., 2017)
The input layer is the first initial network layer which accesses the data arrays inputted into the model which are to be trained upon
The data input has usually been through some pre-processing before being used by the network
the pre-processing used on the AIA data is discussed in section 3
The hidden layer is a convolutional layer where instead of applying a layer using matrix multiplication, as in general neural networks, a layer using a mathematical convolution is used instead. Although this is the basic set-up for a CNN, most CNNs have multiple hidden layers before having a fully connected output layer. The different types of hidden layers that can be used are: convolutional, pooling, dropout (Hinton et al., 2012) and fully connected layers
The final output layers are usually built from fully connected (dense) layers
These layers take the output from the hidden layers and process it such that for each data file a pre-defined class is predicted by the network
A convolutional layer performs an image convolution of the original image data using a kernel to produce a feature map
These kernels can be any size but are commonly chosen to be of size 3 × 3
The stride of the kernel can also be set in the convolutional layers indicating how many pixels it should skip before applying the kernel to the input—this has been set as 1 for the CNN here such that the kernel has been applied to every pixel in the input
If larger features were to be classified larger strides could be used
exponential or softmax (see Equation 3) can also be implemented
however for the convolutional layers in our model only ReLU is used
as the function can be calculated and updated quickly with gradients remaining high (close to 1)
with ReLU also avoiding the vanishing gradient problem
Although convolutional layers make up the majority of the hidden layers within a CNN
other hidden layers are also important to avoid over-training of the network
pooling layers are commonly used to deal with this
Pooling layers help to reduce over-fitting of data and reduce the number of parameters produced throughout training—which causes the CNN to learn faster
The most common type of pooling is max pooling which takes the maximum value in each window and places them in a new and smaller feature map
The window size for the max pooling layers can be varied similarly to the convolutional kernels
however throughout this paper all max pooling layers had a kernel of size 2 × 2
Although the feature map size is being reduced
the max pooling layers will keep the most important data and pass it onto the next training steps
For the CNN created to analyse the flare ribbons
two convolutional layers were implemented after the input layer
These layers were both followed by max-pooling layers with a stride of 2
Both layers were implemented using ReLU activation functions
however the first convolutional layer had 32 nodes whereas the second layer was implemented with 64 nodes before being passed onto fully connected layers
Once the convolutional and pooling layers have been implemented as hidden layers
the final feature map output is passed onto output layers which allows the data to be classified
These classification layers are made up of fully connected (FC) layers—similar to those in a normal neural network
FC layers only accept one-dimensional data and so the data must be flattened before being passed into them
The neurons in the FC layers have access to all activations in previous layers—this allows them to classify the inputs
The final fully connected layer should have the number of classes as its units
with each output node representing a class
An additional output layer that can be implemented before a FC layer is a dropout layer. This layer is implemented before a FC layer to indicate that random neurons should be ignored in the next layer i.e., they have dropped out of the training algorithm for the current propagation. Hence if a FC layer is indicated to have 10 neurons, a random set of these will be ignored when training (see e.g., Hinton et al., 2012
for further information on dropout layers)
The CNN was created and trained using Keras Chollet et al. (2015), with the network layout shown in Figure 1. This shows the two convolutional and pooling layers previously discussed, with a dropout layer implemented before the data is passed onto two FC layers, with 128 and 4 nodes, respectively. A breakdown of all parameters used in each layer are shown in Table 1
including two convolutional and max pooling layers and two fully connected layers
The first convolutional layer has 32 channels followed by max pooling layer and the second convolutional layer has 64 channels followed by a max pooling layer
The fully connected layer has 128 nodes and then the final fully connected layer has four nodes which correspond to each of the classes—Quiet Sun
Details pf each CNN layer with the number of filters
The previous section described the basic design of the CNN used throughout this paper
Here we will describe the training process carried out on the model
When data is passed through the network, at each layer a loss function is used to update the model weights. This loss function carries out the process known as back-propagation (Hecht-Nielson, 1989)
where differentiation takes place and the network learns the optimal classifications for each training image
The loss function chosen for our model is known as categorical cross entropy
This cross entropy loss is calculated as follows;
where M is the number of classes (here M = 4) and y is the binary indicator (0 or 1) such that if y = 1 the observation belongs to the class and y = 0 if it does not
Finally p is the probability that the observation belongs to a class
of each class is calculated using a softmax distribution such that;
This function should tend toward 1 if an observation belongs to a single class and tends to 0 for the other 3 classes to indicate that the network does not recognize it as belonging to those classes
The resultant classification is selected by choosing the largest probability that lies above p(xi) = 0.5
The network is trained on 540 1,600 Å AIA images
The data processing is discussed in section 3
with each image used containing a single flare
hence should give an indication of general background values (It should be noted that none of these observations are taken on the limb)
Two flare ribbons must be clearly defined in the observations
if there are 2 semi circular ribbons the flare is classified as a two-ribbon flare and not a circular flare
The solar limb must be clearly observed in this snapshot observation with a flare brightening being visible
The limb class was chosen to start at a specific distance from the solar limb to reduce confusion with other classes
This will be discussed further in section 4
Here a circular ribbon shape of any size must be observed
It should be ideally a singular ribbon so as not to be confused with the two-ribbon flare class
they appear in the data as round “dot” like shapes
Classes were divided almost evenly to stop observational bias from entering the model during training and although there is a slight class imbalance it is not large enough to affect the accuracy of the model
40% of the data was used as a validation data set with the remaining 60% used to train the model
The learning rate chosen was 10−4 with a batch size of 32 selected for both training and validation to allow the use of mini-batch gradient descent throughout training
Although larger batch sizes would speed up the training process
to get better generalization of the model a smaller batch size was picked to improve the model accuracy
with the mean accuracy across the five-folds being approximately 92.9 ± 2.98%
(A) Training accuracies with both validation and training accuracies shown over 10 epochs; (B) Training and validation loss shown over 10 epochs; panel (C) shows the confusion matrix created on the test set
with the diagonal showing the correctly identified ribbon types; panel (D) shows the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve which has been modified to include a curve for each class and the micro and macro average curves; panel (E) shows the results for loss and accuracy whilst using k-fold cross validation
To create a neural network that can analyse the flare ribbons observed
a robust data set of flaring regions and their ribbons was created
The data set must be created from observations from the same wavelength and instrument to ensure the CNN will not train on varying parameters such as wavelength or smaller features that would perhaps only be found by using a certain instrument
Due to this the data has been collected from the AIA on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at the 1,600 Å wavelength
This wavelength has been chosen as it observes the upper photosphere and transition region allowing for a clearer view of the flare ribbons than those observed in the EUV wavelengths
To find dates where flares were observed on the solar disk, the flare ribbon database created by Kazachenko et al. (2017) was used
From this database all flares that occurred between November 2012 and December 2014 were included in the training set
To create a training set all of the flares included must be labeled as belonging to a class that is defined for the CNN
Flares where ribbons were not well-defined were removed from the data set
This resulted in a training set containing 540 image samples with 160 quiet Sun regions
flares have been chosen such that they should clearly fall into a particular class
To be able to classify each image the following process was implemented
For each flare, the observation was chosen at peak flare time according to the Heliophysics Event Knowledgebase (HEK) (Hurlburt et al., 2012)
It should be noted that this means the CNN does not take into account the evolution of the flare ribbons from the start to the end of the flare
although this is something that could possibly be included in further work
For some observations there is more than one flare present and in this case both regions are processed and classified separately
although they occurred on the solar disc simultaneously
a bounding box is created around the central flare position
For each flare this creates a bounding box of size 500 × 500 × 1 pixels
This step was included to reduce the size of the data the neural network would have to process due to large data sets increasing the number of training parameters quickly
hence this step allows the data input size to be drastically reduced
This code works in a similar way to that of an object detector creating bounding boxes around objects to be classified
Once located each image is labeled manually according to the classes previously discussed; the quiet sun
the label is entered into an array ready for training the CNN
Once each image has been classified the final steps of the data preparation is to ensure all ROIs were of a suitable size for the CNN to process
hence the data was down-sampled so each image was of size 250 × 250 × 1
Hence the final set of input data would be of size n × 250 × 250 × 1
where n is the total number of ROI samples contained within the training data
The final step for the data preparation was to normalize the data slightly before training
this will ensure the best results when training the CNN and so all of the ROIs were normalized using their z-scores as follows:
Once all of the above processes had been carried out on the observations the CNN could begin training as discussed in section 2.2
Once training was completed the network was tested using a previously unseen data set. This test set contained 430 images consisting of 160 quiet sun images, 160 two-ribbon flares, 47 limb flares, and 63 circular ribbon. Note that some flares included in the test data may have occurred in the same active regions as images included in the training data set. The test outputs are shown using a confusion matrix and ROC curves as shown in Figures 2C,D
A confusion matrix is a good way to visualize model performance on test data that has already been labeled. It summarizes the number of correct and incorrect classifications and shows them by plotting the predicted classes against the true classes of the data. The confusion matrix shown in Figure 2C indicates the percentage of data correctly classified by the diagonal
two-ribbons and limb classes approximately 95% of all test data was correctly classified
however for compact flares only 88% of the data is being correctly classified with approximately 11% being incorrectly classified as limb flares
This may be due to the distortion of ribbons on the limb
making them look almost compact or circular in shape
The 11% being incorrectly classified could possibly be corrected by training the model further on a larger data set
with high AUC values found—all approximately 99%
To further investigate the model outputs for the limb class, three different images from the test set were considered. Figure 3 shows these three flares and their probabilities of belonging to each class
The first flare is clearly identified as a limb flare with the flaring region sitting just away from the limb
For the second flare it is shown that the model is confused
with very little difference in the confidence that the flare is either a compact or limb flare
both with approximately 50% probability that the flare could belong to either class
the model is almost 100% confident that the flare belongs to the compact/circular ribbon class
This may be due to the flare being slightly further from the limb and so instead of picking up the limb region and the flare
the network has only identified the flare which looks to belong to the circular ribbon class
To rectify this problem in further work some changes to the network and its input could be applied
this could include the inclusion of spatial co-ordinates as one of the inputs which could help with the confusion about which images belong to the limb class
Model output on previously unseen images in the test set
All of the data should belong to the limb flare class
however confusion is seen between limb flares and compact flares
we have demonstrated a basic application of CNNs to solar image data
the model classifies the shapes of solar flare ribbons that are visible in 1,600 Å AIA observations
Compact/Circular ribbons) were picked due to there being obvious differences between each class
hence more complicated classes could have been chosen but may have effected the overall performance of the CNN
Each of the classes chosen when tested were all found to be well-defined with most of the images being correctly classified by the network
with an overall accuracy of approximately 94%
to generalize the model further training could be carried out on features such as sunspots or prominences which can also be viewed in the current wavelength
although to do this a deeper network would be needed to extract finer features in the data
Varying the image wavelengths for the AIA data or using a different instrument such as SECCHI EUVI observations from STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) or EIS EUV observations from Hinode could also make the model more robust
The main result from this paper shows that even with a shallow CNN we can get excellent accuracy in the dataset that we considered here
Such a result is encouraging and shows basic CNNs can be very useful tools in analyzing large datasets
The model created in this paper can be applied to other data pipelines and can be used to locate many more features from Solar observations obtained from both space and ground-based instruments
The research data supporting this publication can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.17630/fa62b9e5-4bd5-4c35-82db-4910d3df62f5. The code can be found at https://github.com/TeriLove/AIARibbonCNN.git
TL created the neural network and carried out the data analysis
TN and CP regularly contributed to the project intellectually by providing ideas and guidance
All authors contributed to the writing of the paper
TL acknowledges support by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Doctoral Training Centre Grant ST/P006809/1 (ScotDIST)
TN and CP both acknowledge support by the STFC Consolidated Grant ST/S000402/1
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest
The authors would like to thank the continued support from STFC
The AIA data used are provided courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA science team
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Received: 02 April 2020; Accepted: 26 May 2020; Published: 26 June 2020
Copyright © 2020 Love, Neukirch and Parnell. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)
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*Correspondence: Teri Love, dGwyOEBzdC1hbmRyZXdzLmFjLnVr
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30 September 2022 – Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova
Claus Neukirch completes his mandate as Head of Mission and OSCE mediator in the Transdniestrian Settlement Process today
“Keeping peace and stability on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River is what will count in the days
and I am confident that the Mission will continue providing its remarkable contribution to this process
the Sides and people on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River every possible success in the most important endeavor in these times: to maintain peace and stability,” said Neukirch
“I am truly grateful to my colleagues in the OSCE Mission
all counterparts and participants of the negotiation process
partners and all the delegations for the tremendous support
active co-operation and interest they showed towards the Mission throughout all these years
No mediation efforts would have been successful without their extraordinary support and co-operation," he emphasized
The key priority of the OSCE Mission to Moldova is to help achieve a lasting
comprehensive political settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict based on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders
The mandate of the OSCE Mission to Moldova is endorsed and renewed every year by all 57 OSCE participating States
Related organizations
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Leading independent law firm Stronachs LLP has enhanced its employment team with the announcement of the assumption of a new partner and the engagement of a new employment lawyer.
Joining the firm in 2014, Annika Neukirch has been promoted from senior associate to partner. Annika advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law services across various sectors. She also works closely with the corporate team, advising on employment aspects of corporate transactions, TUPE transfers, and insolvencies and pre-pack administrations.
Annika Neukirch David Chalmers and Emily Byrne
Annika has developed significant expertise in contentious matters and has extensive experience representing clients in employment tribunals, particularly in complex cases involving discrimination, whistleblowing, and unfair dismissal claims related to health and safety. Additionally, Annika is skilled in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation. She also holds a certification in data protection from the Law Society of Scotland.
Emily Byrne has joined the team as a solicitor, following completion of her traineeship with the firm.
Annika Neukirch said: “I am delighted to join the partnership at such an exciting time for the firm. I look forward to working closely with the team to continue supporting our clients, helping them navigate the complexities of employment law at a time when significant employment changes are proposed by the new UK government.”
Partner and head of employment, David Chalmers, said: “Annika’s assumption is a testament to her dedication and hard work, as well as the firm’s commitment to nurturing and developing our talent. With Annika stepping into this role, alongside Emily’s promotion, I am confident that our team is well-positioned to continue driving the firm’s success and delivering exceptional service to our clients.”
Being a member of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce can bring significant value to your business. Talk to us today to find out more.
2019Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyRoger StoneIllustration by João FazendaIn the spring of 1970
when “Let It Be” was at the top of the charts
was approached by a member of the senior class with a proposition
Was Neukirch interested in running for student-body president
Neukirch was from the suburban version of a political dynasty
His father was a Lewisboro town councilman
and many of his six siblings had served on the student council
“I think people saw it as the natural order of things that I’d run,” Neukirch said the other day
“But I didn’t know how to run a campaign.” The senior
who was also the acting student-body president
volunteered to be Neukirch’s campaign manager
“He got me to buy a hundred balloons with ‘Elect Rob Neukirch’ on them,” Neukirch recalled
“And he told me to never speak the name of the person I was running against—to just use the pronoun.” Neukirch’s campaign manager
would later work on Richard Nixon’s 1972 reëlection campaign
in which the candidate also refrained from speaking the name of his opponent
“I thought Roger was pretty harmless back then,” Neukirch
orchestrating Brooks Brothers’ riots and exchanging secret messages with WikiLeaks
not for being a bookworm but for having a perfectly oval-shaped cranium
“I can really vividly picture his head.”) Stone told Alex Jones
he was a male cheerleader (“Here come the purple-and-white down on the field / We know the other team will have to yield
“The jock group had no use for Roger Stone,” Marc Ortmayer
’69 and a member of the Indians football squad
“He was just a little too fervent about the campaigning thing and winning,” Neukirch said
“A classmate says he remembers Roger instituting a whispering campaign against my rival
he’d run for vice-president against a junior
“He appreciated that he had no chance of winning unless he did something truly extraordinary
which is what he did.” At an assembly for the candidates to make speeches
Stone enlisted a bunch of “very cute girls
dozens of balloons dropped from the auditorium’s ceiling
“I still have no idea how he did that,” Carvolth said
Some people see retirement as a time to slow down and relax
The Topeka resident fills much of his free time giving back to the community
Neukirch volunteers at Cotton O’Neil Heart Center and was named the 2016 Sunflower State Games Volunteer of the Year
he has taught driver safety classes for AARP and taken part in the Great Topeka Bed Race
a fundraiser for Housing and Credit Counseling Inc
“I feel very strongly that you should give back to the community,” he said
who grew up in El Dorado and later lived in Parsons
who worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
He eventually worked for the state of Kansas
administering a federally mandated beautification program for the Kansas Department of Transportation
Neukirch began volunteering for the Sunflower State Games in 2002
Sunflower State Games is a nonprofit organization that promotes physical fitness and active lifestyles for all ages and skill levels
“People like Marvin Neukirch allow for our participants to receive a quality experience at the Sunflower State Games
Our volunteers are critical to any success that we enjoy as an organization,” said executive director Mitch Gross
Neukirch began volunteering at Cotton O’Neil Heart Center
where he visits with clients and helps them with their nurse-monitored exercise programs
“All of our volunteers in (the cardiac center) are former cardiology patients themselves
so they can provide empathy,” said Beverly Rice
director of volunteer services and patient advocates for Stormont Vail Health
“Marvin brings that dimension to his volunteer work and helps (clients) get through their rehab
exercises with (clients) and encourages them
Neukirch said many opportunities exist in Topeka for those thinking about volunteering
He suggested contacting a church or visiting The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Volunteer Topeka website
Nearly all agencies need volunteers,” he said
Contact niche editor Jan Biles at (785) 295-1292
Website/Facebook: sunflowergames.com; facebook.com/Sunflower-State-Games-135735509209/?ref=ts
Services: Promotes physical fitness and active lifestyles for all ages and skill levels
Volunteer opportunities: Help with a variety of athletic events
Website/Facebook: stormontvail.org/volunteer-services
Services: Various medical and health services
Volunteer opportunities: Patient advocate; gift shop; heart center ambassador; escorting; clerical; surgical waiting room; patient room service; BirthPlace; emergency; pediatrics; neonatal intensive care unit; information desk; lobby ambassador; infusion center
This work, Death of a Fort Hood soldier: Spc. Hal Lee Neukirch Jr., must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright
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7 September 2018 – The Italian OSCE Chairmanship has appointed Claus Neukirch of Germany as the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova
He will also serve as the OSCE mediator in the Transdniestrian Settlement Process
Neukirch succeeds Michael Scanlan who completed his term as Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova in August
“I am happy to be assuming this important post at this time of unprecedented progress in the Transdniestrian Settlement Process
I look forward to working with all the participants of the 5+2 format to further nurture the output-based dynamic of the negotiation process
in keeping with the Mission’s mandate,” said Neukirch
Neukirch served as the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Albania
Senior Political Advisor to the German OSCE Chairmanship
Deputy Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre and Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova
He has over 20 years of professional experience in the OSCE area and holds a PhD in Political Science
The core mandate of the OSCE Mission to Moldova is to help achieve a lasting
with a special status for Transdniestria within Moldova
Joe Coughlin is a co-founder and the editor in chief of The Record. He leads investigative reporting and reports on anything else needed. Joe has been recognized for his investigative reporting and sports reporting, feature writing and photojournalism. Follow Joe on Twitter @joec2319
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It turned out the grass was greenest in Huntley for senior Jordan Neukirch
who chose to stay put and enjoyed a dream season in 2008 as a result
220-pound senior led the defense as a middle linebacker with 40 solo tackles and 55 assists
Neukirch (pronounced Newkirk) gained 1,730 yards (8.5 avg.) and ran for 22 touchdowns
His efforts helped Huntley enjoy the second-best season in school history
The Red Raiders opened with 8 straight victories and reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001 in only the school's second playoff appearance
Neukirch's remarkable senior season resulted in his selection to the all-Fox Valley Conference first team
the Class 6A all-state team and the co-captaincy of the 2008 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area football team
the rest of the all-area team and the players of the week will be honored at the Daily Herald recognition banquet at Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre in Hoffman Estates on Dec
"I guess things couldn't have gone any better unless we'd won a state title," Neukirch said this week through his ever-present smile
After the Red Raiders finished with a 4-5 record in 2007
the team's leading tackler and second-leading rusher did more than just contemplate a transfer to traditional football power Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock - he enrolled last spring
Neukirch dreamed of playing college football and his family originally thought he could gain increased exposure at Marian Central
a sophomore on the varsity basketball team this season
ended up staying at Huntley when the family reversed course and chose not to send the boys to private school
Huntley coach Steve Graves said he and his staff took a hands-off approach to both decisions by the Neukirch family
feeling it wasn't his place to influence the decision one way or the other
"That's hard for some people to believe," Graves said
"Many people would have believed that there were a lot of promises to get him to come back
but the first time I knew Jordan was coming back was when he talked to us about it
And the first time I knew he was going to leave was when he talked to us about it
"Both times we said the same thing: 'We respect your decision whatever it is.'"
which turned out exceptionally well for the player
his coaches and the entire Huntley community
Marian Central lost Wisconsin-bound quarterback Jon Budmayr to injury in Week 1
"I really do believe everything happens for a reason," Neukirch said
"Especially after everything that happened over the spring and summer and this season
I'm real happy that everything worked out the way it did."
Rather than wait for college recruiters to find him
First he improved his speed to a high 4.6 in the 40-yard dash by working with Rocky Scalise of Going Vertical in Huntley
whom Neukirch credits for his improved stamina and foot speed
Last summer he participated in 10 one-day camps that helped him get stronger while increasing his exposure to college coaches
which paid dividends when he committed to play at Illinois State before school started
Once the season began Neukirch played nearly every down on offense and defense and never wilted
Kevin Doran and tight end Marcus Popenfoose for opening holes that helped him post such audacious rushing statistics
Perhaps the most memorable play Neukirch made all season was a fluky one
In Week 8 Huntley rallied for 2 touchdowns but still trailed its showdown for the Fox Division title with Prairie Ridge by 7 points late in the fourth quarter
Huntley quarterback Brandon Luczak's pass to Neukirch at the goal line was nearly intercepted
but the ball slipped through the defender's hands and into the arms of the alert senior
concentrated on it and it ended up in my hands," Neukirch said
"That was one of those games where it was just an act of God that we were supposed to win that game
For us to be down that much and have a miracle play like that..
The play represented Neukirch's season in microcosm: in the right place at the right time
Bringing football glory back to the pastoral town along Il
Route 47 is the cherished memory Neukirch will take with him to college in Normal and beyond
"A lot people don't know much about Huntley because we haven't been very good and haven't made the playoffs," Neukirch said
"But I think we made a bit of a name for ourselves this year
"I thank the rest of the guys who did it with me because making Huntley more well-known was one of the things we wanted to do
they'll carry on the tradition now that the program has turned around."
1998 - Matt Schabert (Larkin) and Kevin Kaplan (Cary-Grove)
Travann Hayes (Larkin) and Clint Reames (Jacobs)
2000 - Dan Sheldon (Burlington Central) and Colin Williams (Elgin)
2001 - Brett Borchart (Huntley) and Eric Kramer (Bartlett)
2002 - Brad Podge (Bartlett) and Trent Steckel (Crystal Lake South)
2004 - Kent Martin (Bartlett) and Brian Mitz (Cary-Grove)
2005 - Jake Goebbert (Hampshire) and Alex Kube (Cary-Grove)
2006 - Andrew Lorman (Cary-Grove) and Paul Duyckinck (Burlington Central)
2007 - Sam Campbell (Prairie Ridge) and Cam Kinley (Larkin)
2008 - Jordan Neukirch (Huntley) and Kyle Zelinsky (Bartlett)
captain: Glenbard West's Watt at peace with conflict <span class="date">[12/05/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=255621">DuPage Co
all-area football team <span class="date">[12/05/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=255590">Fox Valley co-captain: Staying put best decision for Neukirch
Huntley <span class="date">[12/05/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=255596">Fox Valley co-captain: Tackling an art for Bartlett's Zelinsky <span class="date">[12/05/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=255595">Fox Valley all-area football team <span class="date">[12/05/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=255673">Lake Co
captain: Antioch back making all the White moves <span class="date">[12/05/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=255664">Lake Co
Sports Monthly Page 1</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allarea2008/dupage2.pdf">DuPage Co
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Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardItalian Market stuck in the middle with Frank Rizzo muralTrattoria owner whose building hosts the Frank Rizzo mural says he finds himself at the center of a debate he didn't sign up for
When David Neukirch bought a corner property at Ninth and Salter Streets two years ago
here's what he got: A modest-size Italian restaurant with a decent Yelp pedigree; a coveted location in the iconic Italian Market; and a three-story vandalism magnet
Neukirch has gotten used to the occasional graffiti on his south wall
home to the hulking mural of the former mayor — the city's most defaced
"END COPS 4EVA," someone will scrawl in black; or "FASCISTA" in red; or the perennial "F– POLICE." Then the Mural Arts Program
will send someone out to clean off the graffiti; merchants will update their compendium of Things People Wrote on Rizzo's Face; and the market will go back to business as usual
when the mural facing Montrose Street was defaced again
in the midst of a national conversation about the kinds of people we memorialize — and in a rapidly changing city still grappling with Rizzo's intensely polarizing legacy — Mural Arts officials had begun to talk about taking the mural down entirely
The final decision will likely not come easily
so the mayor's office has little official say
Mural Arts can decide whether to pull the mural down — and it aims to decide
with a planned series of conversations with local leaders
Neukirch could also ask for the mural to be taken down
Mural Arts needs Neukirch's permission to carry out any work on the building
It's a debate that goes far beyond a mural on the wall of Nina's Trattoria in an old neighborhood undergoing rapid change
who serves Sicilian dishes to old-school Rizzo lovers and newcomers alike
a 31-year-old Italian American from Medford
won't say what he thinks of Rizzo himself — "I have not even processed that aspect of it," he said
Much of the conversation around Rizzo's memorials has focused on his statue
which sits on city land outside the Municipal Services Building
where many of the merchants say they knew Rizzo personally
Some say they could not care less whether the mural comes down
and in the same breath sing his praises as a law-and-order man
Some cringe at a mural lionizing a man they say represented the city at its worst
Some merchants are just worried about continued vandalism
"People are going to think the neighborhood isn't safe," said Raul Aguilar
who owns Los Amigos Food Market across the street
(He was staying out of the larger debate: "I respect everyone.")
the market's Facebook page reposted an angry screed by Rizzo's former secretary calling Mural Arts founder Jane Golden and City Councilwoman Helen Gym
The market's board wrote three subsequent apologies
but not before residents had spent days arguing in the comments
and I've never seen anyone take a glance at that mural," said Rob Neddoff
parents are stopping by and taking pictures with their kids
I don't care if it comes down." (He had hit on a compromise
he thought: put a plaque on the mural detailing the mayor's complicated history
"You have to look at both sides of the man.")
was concerned about the graffiti — and his Bentley
someone had written "Kill Killer Cops" and "RIP DAVID." The latter was widely assumed to be a reference to David Jones
The current graffiti on the mural will be repaired
Then the thornier work begins — the meetings to address the mural's fate
No other mural in the city inspires such debate
she said — or graffiti with such a political message
And it's a significant cost for the organization to keep repairing it — five times since 2010
"It's a complex question about representation — who does the representing
and who's getting represented," said Golden
we've really tried hard to do work that reflects people's lives
Art has power — and these are very important conversations happening here in Philly and across the country."
The conversation about what to do with the mural would involve Neukirch and the owner of the lot that it abuts
Golden said: "There are different experiences
different perspectives that need to be represented."
said he wants assurance that whatever happens to the mural
"All I ever wanted was a decision and protection," he said
Hungary's populist leader Viktor Orbán: He must be feeling very safe these days
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán published a full-page advertisement in Bild
in which he set out his views on the European Union
we learn that he rejects a European empire
that he wants to protect "the European people” from migration and pandemics and that he thinks nothing of the European Parliament
Orbán has chained up the press and restricted freedom in his country
He vilifies the LGBTQ community and has made friends and family members rich with money from Brussels
he must feel very safe publicly mocking the EU
The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 28/2021 (July 10th
The dismantling of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary has been sharply criticized by its European partners and the EU institutions in Brussels
Orbán hasn’t had to fear any consequences – at least not any that would truly hurt
When Orbán ignores a ruling of the European Court of Justice
the European Commission doesn’t even apply to institute punitive damages
where the ruling PiS party has largely brought the judiciary under its control
And there are good reasons for the EU not to interfere too much in the politics of its members states
If Poland doesn’t want to take in Syrian refugees
then that is regrettable on humanitarian grounds
what is happening in Hungary and Poland will destroy the foundations of the EU
Politicians often use the term "community of values” lightly
A community whose members yield some of their power for the whole to function as a unit cannot exist without shared beliefs
Those who do not share European ideas of democracy
rule of law and the protection of minorities also have no business benefitting from the EU
Brussels long had no effective means of sanctioning Orbán’s nepotism and autocratic tendencies
But the European Rule of Law Mechanism has been in place since last fall
It can be used to hit the governments in question where it hurts: funding
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has not resorted to using the new instrument
She is first awaiting a decision from the European Court of Justice
where Poland and Hungary have sued against the rule of law mechanism
The leaders of the 27 EU member states agreed to this process to obtain the consent of both countries
it’s true that anyone who flouts political agreements is committing a breach of trust
von der Leyen’s hesitation is understandable
Orbán himself doesn’t feel bound by any agreement
The Hungarian law that classifies homosexuality alongside child abuse
but it doesn’t have to put up with a dangerous bully
Hungary will elect a new parliament early next year
and the EU cannot allow a leader who undermines the European Union to pay for his campaign using taxpayer money from Europe
Such leniency also has a corrosive effect on the EU as a whole
When von der Leyen visited Slovenia last week
Prime Minister Janez Janša showed her a photo of purportedly communist judges he claims his country’s judicial system is riddled with
The Commission president felt compelled to recall the norms of the rule of law
had just approved billions of euros in coronavirus aid to Slovenia
the pressure from the European Parliament and the public is starting to have an effect
Von der Leyen did not approve the release of money from the coronavirus bailout fund that Hungary requested
The country has first been ordered to outline how it will prevent the money from disappearing into the pockets of Orbán's cronies
but it remains to be seen how far the Commission president will ultimately go
If Orbán gets away with a few cosmetic changes
Von der Leyen said on Wednesday that she plans to apply the rule of law mechanism this autumn
Enough damage has already been done in the past few years
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Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports
I’d like to thank Ambassador Neukirch for his report to the Permanent Council
comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Transnistrian conflict on the basis of recognition of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova
within its internationally recognized borders
and with a special status for Transnistria
thank you for the work of the OSCE Mission to Moldova and your effective leadership
We welcome your open and cooperative manner which has allowed you to build up relationships of trust with the respective Chief Negotiators
all partners in the 5+2 process and other relevant actors
Your report makes clear the unique challenges which the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented to the Mission since mid-March
We commend the way you have adapted to the new and evolving situation
Thank you for the creativity and energy you have shown while helping the parties address several issues which have arisen
we welcome the spirit of collaboration shown by Chisinau and Tiraspol over testing for cases of COVID-19 in the initial phase of the crisis
we urge the parties to re-double their efforts to resolve several outstanding issues which have been generated by COVID-19
we refer to the challenges set out in your report around free movement of those resident in Transnistria who need to cross the de facto internal boundary line on a regular basis
This includes for work in the healthcare system and to access their bank accounts
We believe that the Working Group on Health and the sub-Working Group on Banking could be convened to facilitate discussion of these issues
we support the idea of a joint OSCE Mission-World Health Organisation visit to Transnistria to increase understanding of the impact of the pandemic in that region
We regret the establishment of ad hoc check-points within the Security Zone following the outbreak of the viral pandemic
Although these have not prevented the Mission from undertaking its work
we must note that they represent a breach of the ceasefire agreement
It is regrettable that the Joint Control Commission (JCC) has not met in recent weeks and we hope that it will begin to do so again as a matter of priority
Thank you also for the information you shared on developments related to the Cobasna ammunition depot
We call on the Russian Federation to involve the OSCE in the process of removal and destruction of Russian ammunition from Transnistria
in accordance with the 1999 Istanbul Summit Declaration and subsequent extension of the mandate of the Mission to Moldova
We also recall the importance of the withdrawal of the Operational Group of Russian Forces as part of the framework of commitments undertaken in the Summit Declaration
we welcome the cooperation you reported with other OSCE executive structures
including the High Commissioner on National Minorities
the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Representative on the Freedom of the Media
We also value the Mission’s efforts to promote an inclusive
open and tolerant society and respect for human rights
We would be interested to hear more about the Mission’s efforts to incorporate a gender perspective into its work
we agree with you that the way in which the parties manage the current COVID-19 challenges could set the tone for a successful resumption of negotiations on the outstanding Berlin Plus Confidence Building Measures
In the interest of all citizens of the Republic of Moldova
the United Kingdom urges the parties to work together to resolve current differences in a collaborative manner
Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details
Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardA pivot to late-night pizza: Nannie Franco’s opening in Italian MarketGet the "special," topped with fried peppers
David Neukirch and Erin Aweau have pivoted on their Italian restaurant at the corner of Ninth and Salter Streets in the Italian Market
Ninth St.) — the sweet little BYOB that had Neukirch working in the kitchen and Aweau running the front of the house since late 2011 — has given way to Nannie Franco's Pizzeria
It's a revival of the couple's Nannie Franco's
once at 11th and Jackson Streets in South Philadelphia
The new setup will be easier for Neukirch to manage: Order at the counter; dine in
Get the "special," topped with fried peppers
and Danny Digiampietro is getting close to opening his Angelo's Pizzeria at 736 S
a relocation of his now-closed Haddonfield eatery to the former Sarcone's Deli
The President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu met today with Claus Neukirch
The officials discussed several current issues
in particular the situation in the Transnistrian region in the context of the war in Ukraine
The Head of State stressed the importance of a peaceful dialogue between the two banks of the Dniester River
the respect for the human rights and the provision of social and security guarantees to all citizens
She also expressed confidence in good cooperation with the OSCE in the future
So now Germany actually is planning on delivering military equipment to Ukraine
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht would like that to be interpreted as a "clear signal" that Germany "is standing side-by-side with Ukraine."
The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 5/2022 (January 29th
That hasn’t just raised questions in Kyiv about Germany’s reliability
The helmets are intended to assuage those doubts
Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t likely to find a delivery of 5,000 helmets to be particularly impressive
Especially when the German government continues to prevent other countries from helping Ukraine defend itself
Germany has blocked the acquisition of sniper rifles for Ukraine
while Estonia is still waiting for Berlin to approve its delivery of East German-era howitzers to Kyiv
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Secretary Annalena Baerbock have invoked the German constitution
which prohibits the country from delivering weapons to warzones
Weapons can contribute to exacerbating a conflict
as happened in Afghanistan following the recent victory of the Taliban
The position is also supported by a majority of German voters
political principles can lead to the wrong results
When Islamic State threatened to overrun Kurdish territory in northern Iraq in 2014
the German military equipped Peshmerga fighters with anti-tank missiles
an important contribution to stopping the Islamist advance
as then-Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen openly admitted
From the perspective of Scholz and Baerbock
the situation in Ukraine does not justify a repeat of that breach
The line of argumentation from Berlin holds that doing so would provide no military benefits and would destroy lines of communication with Moscow
A delivery of weapons from Germany may very well be largely meaningless from a military perspective
it would send a message to Putin that the West stands unified in the face of his threats
It would underscore Europe’s collective desire to defend itself against a brand of power politics that ignores international law
Nobody knows if a delivery of weapons to Ukraine would be enough to prevent a war
certain that disunity makes war more likely
The German coalition government claims to play a leadership role in Europe
are pursuing a mixture of firmness and dialogue in an effort to force Putin to change course
Berlin sees itself as being primarily responsible for dialogue
That is in line with the pacifist tradition Germany has developed since World War II
but it is not consistent with its leadership ambitions
On top of that comes the decades-old conviction within Germany’s Social Democratic Party
that it enjoys privileged access to the mindset of the Kremlin
The list of ultimatums Russia has presented to the West is not an offer to negotiate
How would a delivery of weapons stall negotiations that Putin isn’t even interested in pursuing
The Social Democrats are quick to point to the suffering that Germany visited upon Russia in World War II
talk at all about the suffering visited upon Ukraine and other countries that belonged to the Soviet Union
encouraged the sale of weapons to Ukraine half a year ago
who was the party’s candidate for chancellor
But she has also said she intends to modernize her party’s approach to foreign policy
This would be a prime opportunity to do so
Germany should not prevent its partners from delivering weapons to Ukraine
That doesn’t necessarily translate to a reversal of its strict guidelines governing weapons exports
The principle of restraint remains fundamentally correct
to use that principle as an excuse to do nothing
Editor's note: In an earlier English version of this story
Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock was erroneously referred to as Minister of Defence