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Articles by Ron Roberts
Opinion: The city should honor its agreements with the Padres
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The city is facing a serious budget crisis, and no one who has spent time in public office would suggest otherwise. San Diego is confronting difficult fiscal realities that will require hard decisions about priorities, services and long-term financial stability.
Severe Weather Possible Friday Afternoon and Evening
LUBBOCK, TX (KAMC) – KAMC Forecaster Larry Rodriguez and KAMC Chief Meteorologist Ron Roberts have your Thursday evening weather update for May 28, 2026. Temperatures will range from the upper 50s to the middle 60s Thursday night. Winds will be from the southeast at about 10 mph. A mostly cloudy sky is expected, with a slim chance for thunderstorms going into the early morning hours of Friday. No severe weather is expected.
Severe Weather Possible This Weekend
LUBBOCK, TX (KAMC) – KAMC Forecaster Larry Rodriguez and KAMC Chief Meteorologist Ron Roberts have your Thursday evening weather update for April 9, 2026. Temperatures will range from the lower to upper 50s Thursday evening. Winds will be from the south at about 10-15 mph, under a partly cloudy sky. Temperatures will range from the lower to middle 80s across the area Friday. Winds will be from the south at about 10-15 mph. The day will start off mostly cloudy and will begin to become partly sunny.
Severe Storms Possible Friday Afternoon and Evening
LUBBOCK, TX (KAMC) – KAMC Forecaster Larry Rodriguez and KAMC Chief Meteorologist Ron Roberts have your Thursday evening weather update for April 2, 2026. Temperatures will range from the middle to upper 50s on the Caprock and the middle to upper 60s off the Caprock. Winds will be from the south at about 10-15 mph, under a partly cloudy sky. Temperatures will range from the lower to middle 80s across the area. Winds will be from the south at about 5-10 mph, under a mostly sunny sky.
Severe Weather Possible Thursday
LUBBOCK, TX (KAMC) – KAMC Forecaster Larry Rodriguez and KAMC Chief Meteorologist Ron Roberts have your Wednesday evening weather update for March 4, 2026. Temperatures will range from the middle to upper 40s, with some spots seeing the lower 50s, Wednesday night. Conditions will be mostly cloudy with winds from the southeast at about 5-10 mph. No precipitation is expected. Thursday will begin mostly cloudy with some drizzle and patchy fog.
Above Average Temperatures Continue
LUBBOCK, TX (KAMC) – KAMC Forecaster Larry Rodriguez and KAMC Chief Meteorologist Ron Roberts have your Thursday evening weather update for February 26, 2026. Lows for Thursday will be warm once again, ranging from the middle to upper 40s. Winds will be light from the southeast at about 5-10 mph, with mostly clear conditions. Another unseasonably warm day is expected across the South Plains Friday. Temperatures will range from the lower to middle 80s, with mostly sunny conditions.
Cooler Temperatures Expected Thursday
LUBBOCK, TX (KAMC) – KAMC Forecaster Larry Rodriguez and KAMC Chief Meteorologist Ron Roberts have your Wednesday evening weather update for February 25, 2026. Lows for Wednesday night will be mild and above average. Temperatures will range from the middle to upper 40s. Areas to the south will see temperatures in the lower to middle 50s. Expect a mostly clear sky overnight, with winds from the southeast at about 10-15 mph. A cool front is moving thru the area as of Wednesday evening.
Thursday Evening Weather Update
Active rain for your Thursday forecast with visibililty rates decreasing due to increasing humidity. Plan for overnight rain with the possibility of hearing some thunder roar! We have your full forecast below. Here’s a look at the current radar conditons: There is an Areal Flood Watch until 6pm for portions of the South Plains along with a Freeze Watch that is issued for Lea county until 9:00 AM Saturday morning.
Using Daily Huddles to Keep Your Crews Focused and Productive
So much time and money is wasted when crews are not well organized. I'm guessing it happens at your company. I've seen very few companies where it doesn't. You know what I'm talking about: The crews leaving the yard 45 minutes after arriving for work. People mulling around a job site. The crews calling in needing equipment or material. The crews not knowing what to do when the weather turns or an area isn't ready for them. The crews not showing any sign of urgency.
How to Make the Construction Off-season Productive
Working on the business takes deep concentration and undistracted attention. Those conditions are not likely to present themselves during the season. For that reason it is imperative to make the most of your off-season by completing all the business building activities that have been on your to-do list the last several months.
How to Make the Construction Off-season Productive
During your construction off season, improve how you conduct business. Analyze and refine your business’ systems and processes. Figure out which areas are the weakest and costing you the most money. Question every assumption you’ve been using about why the process has to be done the way it always has been done. Adobe Photoshop | unknown Working on the business takes deep concentration and undistracted attention. Those conditions are not likely to present themselves during the season.
How General Contractors Choose the Winning Sub
Many trade contractors do not understand how general contractors (GC) choose who they award trade work to. Understanding their practices and using that knowledge effectively will lead to far more, and better priced, work for your business. You may be under the impression that once a price is submitted to the GC's estimator your job is done, but you'd be mistaken. Think of your proposal during the bid process as the ante. It gets you in the game. It doesn't close the deal.
A Sales Compensation Plan that Supercharges Profits
What I'm going to share with you today is the single most powerful trick I know for supercharging your bottom line. At some point in time, if you are going to grow your construction business beyond $2 million, you are going to need someone working on sales full time. Now, maybe sales is your thing and you want to do that full time. Fantastic. It's almost always best when a business owner is committed to selling. But even if you sell successfully, you may still end up wanting to add another salesman.
Unique Value Proposition
Whether you sell to clients directly or you sell to general contractors, it is imperative that you understand the unique value you offer and communicate it clearly, concisely, and persuasively. You do so with a unique value proposition (UVP) Your UVP identifies the reason your prospect should hire you instead of anyone else. It's the reason your client should pay more for your services.
How to Allocate Overhead to Projects
The Common Method Is Almost Always Wrong The most common mistake is allocating overhead as a percentage of job cost. This practice is so universal that we rarely meet a contractor who veers from it. For example, assume a painting contractor has $1 million in annual sales, $750,000 in direct costs, $150,000 of overhead and $100,000 in profit. He would mark up every estimate by at least 20 percent to offset his overhead costs (150 ÷ 750). It's easy to see why this method is so popular.
Managing Your Construction Business Brand
Is your business branded? What have you done to publicize and reinforce its brand? Is branding something you should even be thinking about? Branding has an instinctive appeal that all business owners crave. When your business is strongly branded your company's name is the first thing people think of when needing to find someone in your line of work. To be clear, if your company is more than four or five years old it is branded among those who have experienced your services.
Managing Your Construction Business Brand
If you consistently deliver a higher level of professionalism than you once did eventually the truth will show up in your branded image. However, screw up a handful of times with the wrong customers and your brand can be trashed in a matter of months. Is your business branded? What have you done to publicize and reinforce its brand? Is branding something you should even be thinking about? Branding has an instinctive appeal that all business owners crave.
Fish and Game partners with University of Idaho to study catch rates of wild steelhead
Steelhead anglers are asked to watch for tagged steelhead they might catch during the 2019-20 steelhead fishing seasons, and report tagged fish if they catch one. Idaho Fish and Game has teamed up with the University of Idaho on a new research program to study how often anglers catch wild steelhead, and how well those fish survive after being released. In Idaho, steelhead anglers must release any steelhead with an intact adipose fin, which identifies it as a wild fish.
Author Ron Roberts on Sex Work and Millennials
Books /03 Dec 2018 Dr. Ron Roberts is an Honorary Lecturer in Psychology at Kingston University, a Chartered Psychologist and Fellow at the British Psychological Society. His new book is Capitalism on Campus: Sex Work, Academic Freedom and the Market. Your book chronicles the rising rate of UK university students who have work in the adult entertainment (AE) industry over the past two decades. Can you summarize why you think this is happening?
Book Review: 'Capitalism On Campus' By Ron Roberts
Review by Russell Whitehouse Sex and student debt are viewed as two inevitable facets of university-student life. Kingston University’s Dr. Ron Roberts writes about the disturbing connections between these two and the state of academia as a whole in CAPITALISM ON CAMPUS. Dr. Roberts writes about the growing phenomenon of uni students partaking in sex work (mainly stripping, camming & prostitution).
It’s time for facts, not fear, to guide Colstrip conversation
I am very saddened to see a great deal of misinformation circulating regarding Puget Sound Energy’s plans for the future of Units 1 and 2 at the Colstrip generation station. I know this creates uncertainty and added stress.Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has been a part of the Colstrip community for close to five decades. Over the years, we’ve seen Montana Power Company go away and we’ve seen three changes in the operator of the plant in the last 24 months.
Guest opinion: Facts, not fear, must guide Colstrip discussion
I am very saddened to see a great deal of misinformation circulating regarding Puget Sound Energy’s plans for the future of Units 1 and 2 at the Colstrip generation station. I know this creates uncertainty and added stress.Puget Sound Energy has been a part of the Colstrip community for close to five decades. Over the years, we’ve seen Montana Power Co. go away and we’ve seen three changes in the operator of the plant in the last 24 months.
Defeat of Measure A raises tough transit questions
San Diego County residents made their voices heard Nov. 8 at the polls, and 57 percent of them voted to support a 40-year, half-cent sales tax increase to fund transportation improvements and environmental conservation.
How Construction Contractors can Turn Risks into Rewards
Successful risk management can turn what could be a loss into a reward There is a financial rule of thumb that almost always holds true: risk and reward go together. The greater the risks you take the greater the rewards (or losses). Unfortunately that rule relationship doesn’t hold well for contractors. In construction, risk seems to be aligned exclusively to loss. The more chances you take the more likely you will lose your shirt.
Willingboro Fire Department - Tidslinje
A very hot period will continue through early next week. It will be hot each day through Monday regardless if advisories/ warnings are in effect. Take precautio...ns to stay safe from the heat. The advisories and warnings indicate the potential for heat index values to reach or exceed 105 outside of the Philadelphia metropolitan region and for high impact heat to occur in the Philadelphia metropolitan region.
Why Construction Companies Should Strive to Become a Monopoly
Why should you strive to become a monopoly? Because monopolies do not suffer pricing pressure due to competition. There are limits to what monopolies can charge for their products and services, but the limits are not forced by someone else slashing their price to get work or make sales. As you are running a business one of your goals should be to pursue the obvious: strive to create a monopoly. Don't reject this advice out of hand. To do so is throwing in the towel — waving the white flag.
Willingboro Fire Department
After each day, Chief Anthony Burnett checks in with the cadets to see what was learned but to also offer words of encouragement. Each day the cadets have learned different aspects of firefighting, followed up by hands on training. The cadets are doing a modified Firefighter 1 program, which when ran to certify firefighters is 160 hours. Our program delivers most of that program in a fraction of that time.
How Celebrating Wins Motivates Your Construction Employees
Keeping a staff motivated is not easy. In most businesses work is a real grind. There are exceptions, of course. Businesses that are growing rapidly are exciting places to work. Fast growth businesses have an energy in them that other businesses don't. There is an urgency to keep the ball rolling and expectations for quick advancement, fantastic pay raises and bonuses. Alas, rarely is a construction business in rapid growth mode. Construction businesses are a dogfight.
How to Effectively Manage Construction Employees to Drive Profitable Results
No matter how perfectly you set up your business, two things will rise up and create headaches every now and then: the economy and your people. The economy is the economy. You have no control over the volume and quality of construction opportunities that are available at any point in time. Heck, even the Fed has limited control over that.
Transit tax would invest in region’s future
Residents in the San Diego region enjoy a great quality of life, including fantastic weather, a strong economy, and a robust transportation system. The latter didn’t happen by chance. Nearly 30 years ago, voters approved a half-cent sales tax to invest in transportation projects. These TransNet funds have supported completion of more than 650 transit, highway, bike, pedestrian, habitat conservation, local street repair, and grant projects and programs that have kept San Diego moving forward.
Keep Your Construction Master Schedule Relatively Unchanged to Preserve Your Bottom Line Intact
What are the odds of your projects staying in budget if your master schedule is constantly changing? Have you thought in depth about why projects don't come together as planned, or have you just accepted that life is like that in the construction industry as you don't control all of the variables — most prominently you don't have complete unimpeded control of scheduling. Master schedules fall apart through chain reaction.
Improving Your Construction Office Efficiency
One of the most common errors contractors make is to severely under-estimate the impact front office effectiveness has on field productivity. Delayed task completion by the front office magnifies itself in the field. Front office delays lead to field crews standing around. They lead to field crews changing the work sequence away from the most efficient sequence to a far less efficient sequence all in the attempt to stay busy and keep the project moving forwards.
Why Construction Contractors Should Focus on Strengths Not Weaknesses
The concept of strengthening a person's weaknesses is folly. It simply doesn't work. The current accepted practice is to identify each employee's strengths and position the employee to be spending as much time as possible performing tasks that play to those strengths. Don't let a peer, friend or book tell you what role you should be playing in your business (I would be remiss not to encourage you to listen to your business coach as he or she should know what role fits you best).
Connecting communities with better transportation choices
If you think of yourself as a futurist, or simply like to plan for tomorrow, you’ll want to know everything you can about San Diego Forward: The Regional Plan.In April, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) released the draft version of San Diego Forward: The Regional Plan. At its core, this comprehensive plan is about guiding growth in ways that will preserve what we love about our communities. It’s about connecting our communities with better transportation choices.
3 Steps to Create a Self-running Construction Company
Creating a self-running business is the single most challenging task a business owner will ever face. I’ve personally met only five self-running businesses who were smaller than $15 million in annual sales. To build a self-running business you need to progress through a few stages. Stage 1: Profitability The first stage is figuring out how to be profitable. Not surprisingly, this is the hardest stage to pass through. Over 95% of small businesses close their doors within 10 years of starting up.
Why Construction Work-In-Progress Reports are Essential for Profitability
The purpose of the Work In Progress (WIP) report is to determine whether you are over-billed or under-billed on the jobs under way. This is an important piece of information to know. Your bank account looks good when most of the jobs are about halfway to completion. Your profitability falls apart when several of the jobs simultaneously near completion. Projects often run out of billing while they near punch list.
3 Problems with Using Incentives to Motivate Construction Employees
It seems like such a common sense solution: offering small financial incentives to get someone to do the things you want them to do. However, there are three problems with using small financial incentives. The first is that once you start a reward system, stopping it inevitably upsets employees. You have probably seen the movie Christmas Vacation. It is a family tradition in many homes (ours included) to watch it every year shortly before Christmas.
How to Interview Potential Employees to See if They Fit the Job
There is a lot of risk involved when adding a new employee. That's why construction contractors should always interview for fit. Interviewing for fit means interviewing to make sure the person you might hire fits the current position you are trying to fill and not worrying about how that person may do in a higher position further down the road. A lot of construction companies hire new employees that turn out not to be a good fit for the position he or she was hired for.
How to Keep From Blowing Construction Bids
Blowing a bid has got to be about the most frustrating error a contractor can make. Frankly there is no decent excuse for majorly blowing a bid. Your estimating must be solid. If your estimator blows a bid that means he succumbed to one or more highly avoidable mistakes including overlooking scope, not analyzing historical job cost data and failing to account for all the costs of the project. Estimating must be based on the reality of your crew's field performance.
Treat Your Business Like a Game
How you perceive your business goes a long way in determining its long-term success. Perception becomes reality. The horizon you ride off into at the end of your journey evolves from the way you view your business. Will you be riding off on the shoulders of your team or slinking off with your head hanging low? Do you view your business as a job? Do you view it as an obligation? Do you view it as a game? You should view it as a game. Do you know why sports are so popular? Because games are FUN.
How to Manage High Achievers
High achievers are a breed apart. They are driven. They are focused. They have an unparalleled work ethic. They set a standard that is hard for all, including the owner, to match. They also are a pain in the rear. They tend to complain — a lot — about other workers. They are demanding. They are hard headed. They are arrogant. They are humorless. They can suck the life out of a room. They are also very, very valuable to your business. The most successful companies are stocked with high achievers.
Are campaign contribution limits for county supervisor races the right thing to do?
Former state Republican Party chair Ron Nehring rightly states that “San Diego voters have a right to know who is trying to influence our local elections.” (Commentary, U-T San Diego, Jan. 29). But his prescription for accomplishing that — allowing unlimited political contributions to be funneled through political parties directly to local candidates — does not accomplish this objective.
It Takes a Team To Build a Business
I think the biggest challenge for the very small contractor is that he has to do everything himself. By definition that means he doesn't have a team. Unfortunately it takes a team to build a business. A lot of owners open their construction firms because they want to work for themselves and can't stomach working for someone else. I suspect that is sometimes due to their lack of trust in others' decision making.
Why It's Important to Measure Employee Performance
How do you know whether your employees are as productive as you need them to be? The impact associated with not measuring worker performance is probably much bigger than you realize. If you can't tell how productive each of your workers is you can't possibly know which ones to pay higher wages to, which ones to give more responsibility to and which ones to jettison. Although measuring employee performance is very, very hard you had better figure out a way to do it that works.
Putting Tablets To Work In The Field
One of the two greatest challenges in construction is getting field workers to track their time and work accurately. I have seen many approaches used and yet to find one that works perfectly. The major hurdles are well known. Field workers feel paperwork takes away from the real work. Tracking their time is boring and bothersome. They get to the end of the day, are fatigued and are thinking about getting home. Knowing how fast your crews work is essential to your financial success.
4 Critical Success Factors
In order to run a successful business, one that generates solid profits year after year, you will need to be do several things right day after day, week after week, and month after month. You will need to keep your costs down, meet customer expectations and avoid major mistakes. You will also need to consistently meet four critical success factors: follow a sound strategy, set the right priorities, hire a committed staff and have a strong self-discipline.
It's Time to Start Grooming Your Replacement
If you haven't started thinking about it already at some point in time you will begin pondering your exit strategy. Will you sell the business to your employees? Hand it over to a son or daughter? Sell it to a competitor? Sell it on the open market to someone looking to buy into the industry? Naturally, the more systematically your business runs the higher the price a buyer will pay and the greater the odds your successors will be able to run a thriving business long into their future.
The Benefits of Having a Business Partner
Contractors love to go it alone. They are often driven to start their own business because they know they can do it better than their current employer and, frankly, they don't like taking orders from anyone else. I've had far more contractors tell me they started their business because they wanted to work for themselves than ones who went into business to make a lot of money. This is a common driver among all small business owners.
Unbillable Hours Cost Contractors Money
I've recently discovered a new trick for improving the bottom line of construction companies: focus on unbillable hours. They turn out to be a key indicator of financial performance. Unbillable hours are all field hours that weren't or aren't billable. Management and supervisor hours are not unbillable hours. They are overhead hours. Unbillable hours are associated with your field workers. A billable hour is an hour that is covered by the project's estimate.
How Outstanding Change Orders Impact Your Numbers
Change orders sure mess things up don't they? They keep your crews on-site longer than scheduled. They force you to scramble for extra materials. They mess with your project budgets and financial reviews. And worst of all, you may not get paid fairly, or not at all, for the extra work. We're going to look at how outstanding change orders impact your numbers and how to track them. This issue was brought to my attention while reviewing financial performance with one of my coaching clients.
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