diff --git a/tests/src/common/JsHelpers.scala b/tests/src/common/JsHelpers.scala
index 414b490..55476d5 100644
--- a/tests/src/common/JsHelpers.scala
+++ b/tests/src/common/JsHelpers.scala
@@ -14,31 +14,25 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+// This is a copy of the JsHelpers as a trait to allow
+// catalog tests to still work until they are migrated
 package common
 
-import scala.language.postfixOps
-import scala.util.Try
-
 import spray.json.JsObject
 import spray.json.JsValue
 
+/**
+ * @deprecated Use {@link whisk.common.JsHelpers} instead.
+ */
+@Deprecated
 trait JsHelpers {
     implicit class JsObjectHelper(js: JsObject) {
         def getFieldPath(path: String*): Option[JsValue] = {
-            if (path.size == 1) {
-                Try {
-                    js.fields(path(0))
-                } toOption
-            } else if (js.getFields(path(0)).size > 0) {
-                // current segment exists, but there are more...
-                js.fields(path(0)).asJsObject.getFieldPath(path.tail: _*)
-            } else {
-                None
-            }
+            whisk.utils.JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, path.toList)
         }
 
         def fieldPathExists(path: String*): Boolean = {
-            !js.getFieldPath(path: _*).isEmpty
+            whisk.utils.JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, path.toList)
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/src/common/WskTestHelpers.scala b/tests/src/common/WskTestHelpers.scala
index bca6b12..9bfabe2 100644
--- a/tests/src/common/WskTestHelpers.scala
+++ b/tests/src/common/WskTestHelpers.scala
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@
                 implicit wskprops: WskProps): Unit = {
 
         val activationIds = wsk.pollFor(N, Some(entity), since = since, retries = (totalWait / pollPeriod).toInt, pollPeriod = pollPeriod)
-        withClue(s"did not find $N activations for $entity since $since") {
+        withClue(s"expecting $N activations matching '$entity' name since $since but found ${activationIds.mkString(",")} instead") {
             activationIds.length shouldBe N
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/src/services/KafkaConnectorTests.scala b/tests/src/services/KafkaConnectorTests.scala
index 95dba00..769acc2 100644
--- a/tests/src/services/KafkaConnectorTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/services/KafkaConnectorTests.scala
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 import org.scalatest.Matchers
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
 
-import akka.event.Logging.DebugLevel
+import akka.event.Logging.ErrorLevel
 import whisk.common.TransactionId
 import whisk.connector.kafka.KafkaConsumerConnector
 import whisk.connector.kafka.KafkaProducerConnector
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@
     val producer = new KafkaProducerConnector(config.kafkaHost, ec)
     val consumer = new TestKafkaConsumerConnector(config.kafkaHost, groupid, topic, sessionTimeout = sessionTimeout)
 
-    producer.setVerbosity(DebugLevel)
-    consumer.setVerbosity(DebugLevel)
+    producer.setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
+    consumer.setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
 
     override def afterAll() {
         producer.close()
diff --git a/tests/src/system/basic/CLIPythonTests.scala b/tests/src/system/basic/CLIPythonTests.scala
index b0417d6..9369e65 100644
--- a/tests/src/system/basic/CLIPythonTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/system/basic/CLIPythonTests.scala
@@ -27,14 +27,12 @@
 import common.TestHelpers
 import common.WskTestHelpers
 import common.WskProps
-import common.JsHelpers
 import common.WhiskProperties
 
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class CLIPythonTests
     extends TestHelpers
     with WskTestHelpers
-    with JsHelpers
     with Matchers {
 
     implicit val wskprops = WskProps()
diff --git a/tests/src/system/basic/Swift3WhiskObjectTests.scala b/tests/src/system/basic/Swift3WhiskObjectTests.scala
index 41a86d3..c04c516 100644
--- a/tests/src/system/basic/Swift3WhiskObjectTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/system/basic/Swift3WhiskObjectTests.scala
@@ -29,13 +29,11 @@
 import common.WskTestHelpers
 import spray.json.DefaultJsonProtocol.StringJsonFormat
 import spray.json.pimpAny
-import common.JsHelpers
 
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class Swift3WhiskObjectTests
     extends TestHelpers
-    with WskTestHelpers
-    with JsHelpers {
+    with WskTestHelpers {
 
     implicit val wskprops = WskProps()
     val wsk = new Wsk
diff --git a/tests/src/system/basic/WskBasicNodeTests.scala b/tests/src/system/basic/WskBasicNodeTests.scala
index 29b4811..9225584 100644
--- a/tests/src/system/basic/WskBasicNodeTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/system/basic/WskBasicNodeTests.scala
@@ -16,23 +16,21 @@
 
 package system.basic
 
-import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import scala.concurrent.duration.DurationInt
+
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
 
 import common.JsHelpers
 import common.TestHelpers
 import common.TestUtils
 import common.TestUtils.ANY_ERROR_EXIT
+import common.TestUtils.RunResult
 import common.Wsk
 import common.WskProps
 import common.WskTestHelpers
-import spray.json.DefaultJsonProtocol.StringJsonFormat
-import spray.json.pimpAny
-import spray.json.pimpString
-import spray.json.JsString
-import common.TestUtils.RunResult
-import spray.json.JsObject
+import spray.json._
+import spray.json.DefaultJsonProtocol._
 
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class WskBasicNodeTests
diff --git a/tests/src/system/basic/WskRuleTests.scala b/tests/src/system/basic/WskRuleTests.scala
index 6ab6604..7c7c0bb 100644
--- a/tests/src/system/basic/WskRuleTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/system/basic/WskRuleTests.scala
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
 
-import common.JsHelpers
 import common.TestHelpers
 import common.TestUtils
 import common.Wsk
@@ -32,7 +31,6 @@
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class WskRuleTests
     extends TestHelpers
-    with JsHelpers
     with WskTestHelpers {
 
     implicit val wskprops = WskProps()
diff --git a/tests/src/system/basic/WskSequenceTests.scala b/tests/src/system/basic/WskSequenceTests.scala
index f9721df..d993a54 100644
--- a/tests/src/system/basic/WskSequenceTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/system/basic/WskSequenceTests.scala
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
 
-import common.JsHelpers
 import common.TestHelpers
 import common.TestUtils
 import common.TestUtils._
@@ -47,7 +46,6 @@
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class WskSequenceTests
     extends TestHelpers
-    with JsHelpers
     with ScalatestRouteTest
     with WskTestHelpers {
 
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/SequenceMigrationTests.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/SequenceMigrationTests.scala
index ad6aaa3..c28f876 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/SequenceMigrationTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/SequenceMigrationTests.scala
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import scala.concurrent.duration.DurationInt
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
-import common.JsHelpers
 import common.TestHelpers
 import common.TestUtils
 import common.Wsk
@@ -45,7 +44,6 @@
     extends TestHelpers
     with BeforeAndAfter
     with DbUtils
-    with JsHelpers
     with ScalatestRouteTest
     with WskTestHelpers {
 
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/WskActionSequenceTests.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/WskActionSequenceTests.scala
index 56be417..99297f9 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/WskActionSequenceTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/cli/test/WskActionSequenceTests.scala
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
 
-import common.JsHelpers
 import common.TestHelpers
 import common.TestUtils
 import common.Wsk
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class WskActionSequenceTests
     extends TestHelpers
-    with JsHelpers
     with WskTestHelpers {
 
     implicit val wskprops = WskProps()
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/container/test/ContainerPoolTests.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/container/test/ContainerPoolTests.scala
index 81be9c0..afb5474 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/container/test/ContainerPoolTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/container/test/ContainerPoolTests.scala
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 import org.scalatest.FlatSpec
 import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
 
-import akka.event.Logging.InfoLevel
+import akka.event.Logging.ErrorLevel
 import whisk.common.TransactionId
 import whisk.core.WhiskConfig
 import whisk.core.WhiskConfig.dockerEndpoint
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 
     assert(config.isValid)
 
-    val pool = new ContainerPool(config, 0, InfoLevel, true, true)
+    val pool = new ContainerPool(config, 0, ErrorLevel, true, true)
     pool.logDir = "/tmp"
 
     val datastore = WhiskEntityStore.datastore(config)
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ActionsApiTests.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ActionsApiTests.scala
index 03da7a7..49820a7 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ActionsApiTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ActionsApiTests.scala
@@ -416,7 +416,9 @@
         val stream = new ByteArrayOutputStream
         val printstream = new PrintStream(stream)
         val savedstream = authStore.outputStream
+        val savedVerbosity = entityStore.getVerbosity()
         entityStore.outputStream = printstream
+        entityStore.setVerbosity(akka.event.Logging.InfoLevel)
         try {
             // first request invalidates any previous entries and caches new result
             Put(s"$collectionPath/$name", content) ~> sealRoute(routes(creds)(transid())) ~> check {
@@ -453,6 +455,7 @@
             stream.reset()
         } finally {
             entityStore.outputStream = savedstream
+            entityStore.setVerbosity(savedVerbosity)
             stream.close()
             printstream.close()
         }
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/AuthenticateTests.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/AuthenticateTests.scala
index b73fa41..7f8aadb 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/AuthenticateTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/AuthenticateTests.scala
@@ -66,7 +66,9 @@
         val stream = new ByteArrayOutputStream
         val printstream = new PrintStream(stream)
         val savedstream = authStore.outputStream
+        val savedVerbosity = authStore.getVerbosity()
         authStore.outputStream = printstream
+        authStore.setVerbosity(akka.event.Logging.InfoLevel)
         try {
             val user = Await.result(validateCredentials(Some(pass))(transid()), dbOpTimeout)
             user.get should be(creds)
@@ -80,6 +82,7 @@
             stream.reset()
         } finally {
             authStore.outputStream = savedstream
+            authStore.setVerbosity(savedVerbosity)
             stream.close()
             printstream.close()
         }
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ControllerTestCommon.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ControllerTestCommon.scala
index a55ce3b..ad8160d 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ControllerTestCommon.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/controller/test/ControllerTestCommon.scala
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 import org.scalatest.FlatSpec
 import org.scalatest.Matchers
 
-import akka.event.Logging.{ InfoLevel, LogLevel }
+import akka.event.Logging.{ ErrorLevel, InfoLevel, LogLevel }
 import spray.http.BasicHttpCredentials
 import spray.json.DefaultJsonProtocol
 import spray.json.JsString
@@ -143,12 +143,12 @@
         }
     }
 
-    setVerbosity(InfoLevel)
-    Collection.initialize(entityStore, InfoLevel)
-    entityStore.setVerbosity(InfoLevel)
-    activationStore.setVerbosity(InfoLevel)
-    authStore.setVerbosity(InfoLevel)
-    entitlementProvider.setVerbosity(InfoLevel)
+    setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
+    Collection.initialize(entityStore, ErrorLevel)
+    entityStore.setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
+    activationStore.setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
+    authStore.setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
+    entitlementProvider.setVerbosity(ErrorLevel)
 
     val ACTIONS = Collection(Collection.ACTIONS)
     val TRIGGERS = Collection(Collection.TRIGGERS)
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@
     }
 
     override def afterAll() {
-        println("Shutting down cloudant connections");
+        println("Shutting down db connections");
         entityStore.shutdown()
         activationStore.shutdown()
         authStore.shutdown()
diff --git a/tests/src/whisk/core/entity/test/SchemaTests.scala b/tests/src/whisk/core/entity/test/SchemaTests.scala
index 0db33c6..d659e42 100644
--- a/tests/src/whisk/core/entity/test/SchemaTests.scala
+++ b/tests/src/whisk/core/entity/test/SchemaTests.scala
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import whisk.core.entitlement.Privilege
 import whisk.core.entity._
 import whisk.core.entity.size.SizeInt
+import whisk.utils.JsHelpers
 
 @RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
 class SchemaTests extends FlatSpec with BeforeAndAfter with Matchers {
@@ -554,4 +555,26 @@
         assert(ActivationId.unapply(id).isEmpty)
         assert(Try { ActivationId.serdes.read(JsString(id)) }.failed.get.getMessage.contains("too short"))
     }
+
+    behavior of "Js Helpers"
+
+    it should "project paths from json object" in {
+        val js = JsObject("a" -> JsObject("b" -> JsObject("c" -> JsString("v"))), "b" -> JsString("v"))
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js) shouldBe true
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, "a") shouldBe true
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, "a", "b") shouldBe true
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, "a", "b", "c") shouldBe true
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, "a", "b", "c", "d") shouldBe false
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, "b") shouldBe true
+        JsHelpers.fieldPathExists(js, "c") shouldBe false
+
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js) shouldBe Some(js)
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, "x") shouldBe None
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, "b") shouldBe Some(JsString("v"))
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, "a") shouldBe Some(JsObject("b" -> JsObject("c" -> JsString("v"))))
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, "a", "b") shouldBe Some(JsObject("c" -> JsString("v")))
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, "a", "b", "c") shouldBe Some(JsString("v"))
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(js, "a", "b", "c", "d") shouldBe None
+        JsHelpers.getFieldPath(JsObject()) shouldBe Some(JsObject())
+    }
 }