Friday, August 31, 2012

VIDEO: Honey Boo Boo Fame Has Been 'Surreal,' Says 'Mama' June - People Magazine

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New York Daily News


VIDEO: Honey Boo Boo Fame Has Been 'Surreal,' Says 'Mama' June

People Magazine


Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star "Mama" June says instant stardom is "surreal," but the family members are still just "regular everyday people." But ask Alana Thompson â€" the 7-year-old fun, feisty heart of the TLC hit â€" and she has a differe nt answer ...


Alana of 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' knows she is famous

Examiner.com



 »

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Confidential - Dallas Business Journal:

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• Teams from local corporationse recently did battle in perhaps the nerdiesybenefit ever. Yep, it was the third-annualk Adult Spelling Bee for Literacy Instruction forTexas , held May 14 at Firstt Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Teamzs from , Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP , , , the Dalla s Chamber of Commerce and the DBJ risked flashbacks to the fourth gradee and took their seatson stage. Hilarity Particularly when emcee KLUV-FM personalitt Mitch Carr gavethe round-one word to the Chamber team hotel. The Dallas Chamber was a vocak supporter of the controversial conventiomcenter hotel.
“I so wanted to use that in a Carr said after Jon Gilloon spelled it The Chamber team went on to win the trophtywith psoriasis, which was a much easier word than I blame missing that one on Mr. Carr. Leslie Clay with LIFT said the bee raisedaboutt $1,600 for adult literac programs. LIFT helped 8,500 adults to learm to read for free last yearin Dallas, Tarranrt and Collin counties. • Fort Worth’s Tim Love , chef and owneer of the and The LoveShack , will compete on “Topo Chef Masters,” a spin-off series of the Emmy Award-winningh “Top Chef” cable television show.
The reality which premieres June 10on Bravo, will pit 24 world-renownedx chefs against each The winners get money for charity. Guest judgeas will include Neil PatrickHarris , Zooey Deschaneol and Jeff Lewis , as well as past “Top winners. Love will be the only Texad chef onthe show. Let’s hope he won’ty have to pack his knives and go. • The is holdinhg its 22nd-annual Charity Golf Classic June 5 to benefifDallas Children’s Charities .
The outing will be held at in The $200 entry fee includese lunch, fees, gifts, food, libations and “surprises all over the And the society will continue the “best-dressedc hole” contest with decorations and antics at each hole. “All players will vote on which grouop put together the mostentertaininyg hole,” said John Kranz , tournamen t chairman. There are several things in this item in combination, make me nervous. Regardless, for more go to www.dallaschildrens­charities.org.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

PAMF

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to the feds’ new Health Information TechnologyPolicy Committee, which was created as part of the economi c stimulus package, PAMF said Tang, an early promoter of electronic medical records, is an internakl medicine physician, vice president and chief medicalk information officer at Palo Alto Medicao Foundation, part of the a medical group and clinicapl network with approximately 900 physicians on The new 13-member committee will advise the U.S.
Healtb and Human Services secretaryy and the head of the Officre of the National Coordinator for Health Informatioj Technology on creating a policy framework for the adoption of electronixc health records and development of anationwide health-care IT infrastructure to permit electronic exchange and use of health Tang told the San Francisco Business Times on Thursday that a numbeer of key issues need to be resolved relatively soon in orded to meet the Obama administration’s and the stimulus package’sx “aggressive timetable” for moving hospitals and doctor s into the era of electronic medicine.
Those include defining a key term in the which requiresthat health-care providers show they’re making “meaningful of IT in their operations, and determiningb what criteria to use for certifying electronic health records systemws that qualify for reimbursement. “It’sd definitely an aggressive timetable,” Tang told the Business Times, “but I don’tf think it’s impossible.” Hospitalsa and doctors are hoping to qualify forfederal health-care IT stimulud funds by 2011, but the exacr timing of when stimulus fundes will start to flow is also uncertain at present.
Another Bay Area representative, David Lansky, president and CEO of San Francisco’s , was also named to the committee, whic h is expected to play a significant role in framingnationak health-care IT policy. Lansky will represent health-care’sw purchasers’ perspective. The economic stimuluw act includes $17.2 billion in grants and incentives for hospitalas and physician practices thatare “meaningful of EHRs to improve care and enhance The Recovery Act requirexd the comptroller to name committee memberse to represent 10 sectors of the health-care industry, including consumer groups, labor unions, health plans, researchers and IT Tang was selected to represent health-care Tang oversees the foundation’s EHR and integrated personal health record system, PAMFOnline, officials said.
Undert his leadership, PAMF became an early adopter of an EHR systenmin 1999; the majority of U.S. hospitals and many clinics and medicall offices have yet todo so. Tang is a membere of the Institute of Medicine and was one ofthe “50p Most Powerful Physician Executives in 2008” named by Moderhn Physician magazine. Christine vice president, National Partnership for Woman and Families. Arthur Davidson, director, Public Healthn Informatics, Denver Public Health Department, Adam Clark, research and policy director, . Marc chief information officer, Intermountain Healthcare.
Scott White, assistanf director and technologyproject director, Local 1199 SEIU Training and Employment Fund. LaTanya Sweeney, director, Data Privacy Lab, Carnegies Mellon University. Neil Calman, presidentf and chief executive officer, Institute for Familgy Health. Connie Delaney, University of Minnesota Schoolof Nursing. Charles Kennedy, vice president of Health Information . Judith Faulkner, founder, CEO, presidenyt and chairman of board, Epic Systems. David medical director for clinical andqualitg analysis, Partners HealthCare/ .

Monday, August 27, 2012

Holland & Hart moving its S.E. Denver offices - Denver Business Journal:

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The firm signed a long-term lease for 24,143w square feet at the first building at VillageCenterr Station, currently under construction at 6380 S. Fiddlers Greej Circle in Greenwood Village near the Arapahoe Statio lightrail stop. Developer Shea Properties expectsz the building to be ready for occupancyin June, and the law firm plan to relocate in August. Village Center Station’s first buildinbg will include 232,000 square feet of space in nine It’s pre-certified for LEED Silver certification, but may get Gold LEED stands for Leadership in Energy andEnvironmentalo Design, and is the U.S.
Green Building Council’sd rating for environmentally efficient, sustainable “Not only will the proximity to the light rail make our southeas suburban office more accessible to it will also enhance our contribution to sustainability by reducing the commuter downtownby car,” Tom O’Donnell, Hollans & Hart’s managing partner, said in a statement. “Inj addition, the building’s LEED certification, and the green-buildin g components that we are incorporating intoour space, will help us recruiy the best and brightest attorneys who valure working for an eco-friendly firm.
” The phasex Village Center Station project is to include threde office towers with ground-floor retail spacd totaling nearly 1 million square feet, according to Holland & Hart’s southeastern satellite office currentlh is located at 8390 E. Crescent Parkwayh in the DenverTech Center. Jim McGrath, senior vice president, branchn manager and tenant-representation broke at in Denver, represented Hollande & Hart in the leasde deal. The law firm’s headquarters offic is located at 55517th St. in downtown Denver. The firm has a totap of 15 offices nationwide, in marketzs such as Washington, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Santaz Fe.
Holland & Hart has more than 400 attorneys, roughlu 200 of them in metro

Sunday, August 26, 2012

An interview with a newsmaker: Jon C. Goldfarb, Attorney, Wiggins, Childs, Quinn & Pantazis - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Inc. case. The landmark case led to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair PayRestorationn Act, which was signef into law by President Barack Obamaa just one week after he took office. Goldfarb receivesd an undergraduate degree from and earnedr his law degree from theof Law. BBJ : Explainj the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoratiob Act and how it will benefit workers who want to file pay discriminationn lawsuits againsttheir employers?
Lilly Ledbetter didn’t realize she was gettinfg paid less than a felloew male employee who had the same The act will allow someonew to bring a lawsuit againsr their employer based on pay discrimination and every time you receivew a paycheck that is less than a man’z paycheck, it is considered a new violation. Employees can also now seek back pay for up totwo BBJ: What are some of the benefitd of the new act? Goldfarb: It gets rid of the There was a weird fluke in the law that allowedr employers to pay somebody less because they were a womanb and now it’s fixed.
I hope now that employersz hear that this new act is out therre and more women will raise questions to make sure they are being paid fairly. BBJ: Do you believe the new law will help quelol problems associated with women beingpaid fairly? Goldfarb: I think it will make it easier for women to file a claim without it beintg kicked out of court because it’s filed withib a certain time frame – but they’ve got to come out and challengde it. Some people are scared to do I hope it willfix things.
BBJ: Since another employee’s salary or hourly wage is not publicc information ina workplace, is there a way an employee coulcd find out that they are beinfg paid less to do the same job? If so, would that merir a discrimination lawsuit. Goldfarb: Right now, you can’t go to your boss and say hey, “Amn I being paid less and how much is thispersonm making?” The boss can simply say no, I can’r tell you that. The only way you can try to find out is to file a charg e withthe . However, a company has plenthy of reasons to pay somebody less othertthan gender.
The other person coul d have more experience or been on thejob BBJ: Are there other problems related to wome not receiving equal pay for thei r work in Alabama? The statute of limitations in Alabama allowsd women to only go back 180 days to file a pay discriminationb lawsuit while African Americane can go back up to four years. The other issue is there are caps in place that allowq people to collect upto $300,000 in damagess from the large companies.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Woodland Corporate Center building gets LEED gold certification - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The building, which opened early last year, was designexd and built to meet the second highesrt ranking ofthe Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental was the general contractor. Liberty Property Trust Vice President Jody Johnstom estimates the cost of building to greebn standards added an additional 5 percent to the overalldevelopment costs, but that will be more than offse by lower energy Special features include showerse and lockers for workers who need to wash or chang clothes after they bike or jog to A deck made of recycled plastic bordersa the back of the building, overlookingy a wetlands area that provides Landscaping incorporates drought-resistant plants nativde to Florida.
A white reflective roof deflectsthe sun. Bins for recyclingg are placed near trash binsfor accessibility. Restroom urinals conserve water by relying on gravity and a filterf insteadof water. That featurer is expected to save 360,00 gallons annually since each urinak uses anestimated 40,000 gallonsz annually, Johnston said. Grass surrounding the parking lot soakwsup rainwater. And Flexi-pave, a recycled rubber, was used insteads of asphalt around the large oak trees that linethe lots. The porous rubber allows water to soak intothe ground. The located at 4631 Woodland Blvd.
, receivedc the “Office Building of the Year” Award from the Tampqa Bay Chapter of the andthe “Green Building Design from the Hillsborough City-County Plannintg Commission in Tampa. Libertt (NYSE: LRY) has developed and leased 19 buildings with nearlyg 1 million square feet of space in the parksincde 1996. Key park tenants include , Travelers, Travel and .

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Six Flags files for Chapter 11 - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The New York-based chain of parks has been tryinyg unsuccessfully this year to renegotiate terms with lender on hundreds of millions of dollarsin debt. Six Flagsx parks, including its in Largo., will continue to operatd as usualunder reorganization. “The currenyt management team inheriteda $2.4 billion debt load that cannot be particularly in these challenging financiak markets,” said Six Flags chief executive Mark Shapiro in a “As a result, we are cleaning up the past and positioning the companyg for future growth.
” Snyder, who took controlo of the company in a board room battle more than threes years ago, and the management team he appointedr have been unable to returhn Six Flags to profitability. The companyu reported a $146.3 million first quarter loss and a sharp drop in despite a modest two percent increase in park attendanced compared to ayear ago. Six Flagsx is seeking bankruptcy court approval for a prearranged restructuring that woulf cut its debtby $1.8 billion and wipe out more than $300 million in preferred shareholder stock. Six Flagsa failed to win creditor approval for a plan to swap debt for equit y inthe company.
As a resulf of its bankruptcy filing, that exchange offer is no longer onthe table, it said. Six Flags sold several properties last year to raise It still operates 20 amusement parksz inNorth America.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Chamber keeps Inter City Visit at home - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Political and business leaders announce plans Tuesday to keep the annual Inter City Visitin Charlotte, shelving plans for a three-dayg trip to Boston in June. The reason: economic woes. “We’vr decided to be internally focused,” says Tim chamber chairman and chief executive ofthe department-store “We want to be sensitive about the budgert situation.” Last year, the chamber took 130 politicalo and business leaders to Chicago.
Each paid $2,10p to go on the Inter City This year, the group likely to exceed last year’s becaus of the local focus will spend three days discussing and examininh various issues and taking tourx of important landmarks inlocal tourism, business and politics. An agend a for the three-day meetingf should be determined in a For the next two organizers will be gleaning ideaes from the public through a survey offeredat charlottechamber.com. Though stayinf home saves on travel costs, chambeer executives expect to charge an undetermined fee for mealas and logistical costs associated with thelocal agenda.
Chamber leaderzs made the decision to skip the Bosto n trip after a recent survey of 20past participants. Four peoplde said they planned to skip the eight were undecided and the remainint eight wanted to move ahead with the Boston Public officials were adamantly againstg using taxpayer money to fundtheir “For government, we do not have the money to trave l right now,” Mayor Pat McCrory said. Coupledr with corporate belt-tightening, the chambef decided a typical trip woulc suffer too many absencexs tobe productive. The chamber hopes to re-schedule the Boston trip for 2010, depending on economidc conditions.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Registering for Justice - New York Times (blog)

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New York Times (blog)


Registering for Justice

New York Times (blog)


Jason Goldberg and Christian Schoenherr are having their wedding Saturday evening at the acclaimed Manhattan restaurant Craft, where roughly 100 guests will dine on lobster, squab and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, and the couple is registered at Sur ...


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and more »

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Department of Commerce picks top business recruiter - Triangle Business Journal:

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Richard Wiley, who most recently served as a seniod adviser to Commerce SecretaryJim Fain, now will be in chargw of the government team that helpw land new businesses in North Carolina. "Richard's extensivd public and privatesector experience, his proven leadershipl skills, personal relationships and knowledge of economic developmentt make him an outstanding choice for this role," Fain said in a written statement.
"I believe that he will serve the Commerce Department and NorthCarolina well, and will be a real asseft in our continuing efforts to increass the number of well-paying, top-quality jobs in our Wiley spent 34 years at Charlotte-basedr Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) before retiringb in 2006. He also has served as presidenyt ofthe N.C. Economic Developers Association and as a boars member ofthe N.C. Agribusiness and he's currently co-chair of the Nort h Carolina Chamber's economic development committee. He comesz on board as the Department of Commerce facee the loss of anothertop recruiter. Assistang Secretary Tony Copeland recently left the department to take a position with Raleigbcompany .

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Washington Convention Center Authority wants city to finance $550M hotel - Washington Business Journal:

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On May 29 the convention center’s board directed CEO Greg O’Delkl to seek authority for the sale of as muchas $750 millionn in bonds to cover the price of the hotel, interes during construction, insurance and othed costs. The city had planned to finance about 25 percentr of the cost of the hotel througha $187 million tax increment financint package the passed in which would have provided $134 million in constructionb costs. The rest was supposesd to come from private debt and equitypartner -- a difficult find in the frozenb credit markets. O’Dell said developmeny partners and Capstone Development had been dogges but unsuccessful in their pursuit of investorxfor months.
“They’ve been pursuing privates financing and inthis market, you know, that is very They’ve spent millions of dollars on this projecy to try to move it It really is shovel ready with the exception of O’Dell said. With the city losinh convention business, he said, buildintg a city-owned hotel was the best He envisions it will still contaijnabout 1,100 rooms and be operated by Marriott had previouslhy said it would be a Marriott O'Dell began briefing members of the D.C. Council on the board’e proposal Monday. “Our ultimate goal is to get this projecrt done and get it started as soon as he said.
In particular therde is increased pressure from National Harbo r inPrince George’s County, which opened last year with a pricse tag of more than $2 Its developer, the Peterson Cos. announced May 18 that the WaltDisneyg Co. had purchased land to build a 500-rookm resort hotel on 15 acres Convincing the council to approve that amountof spending, will be a tall task for O’Dell. He had been considered a top candidat to replace Neil Albert as deputg mayor for planning andeconomic development, but a source closer to O'Dell says he was offered the job and turnesd it down. O’Dell would not confirm that, but indicated he would remain in hiscurrent post.
“Thwe board and the mayor have everyu expectation of me completing all the tasks I have he said. The conventiojn center authority has an independent boardr and the ability toissue bonds, but O’Dell said the council would need to expand its authority to issue bonds for the hotel. The council and D.C. Mayor Adriabn Fenty just finished closing a budget gapof $800 millionm for fiscal 2010 and the city faces a gap approaching $1 billionb for fiscal 2011. In addition, D.C.
Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi said he will not supportr issuing that amountof debt, which he said woul immediately violate a 12 percentt cap on city debt as a mark of expendituresd the city created on his recommendation last year. Gandhi is a memberr of the convention center board and attendedc theFriday meeting. “To be very blunty about it I was very clear in sayingt to them that if you were toborroww $750 million that would put us way beyond the 12 percengt cap we have envisioned for the city...andd I cannot be a party to that,” Gandhui said.
The CFO said that he “very much” wants a hotekl for the city, “but I would not agree to a deal like See we made a commitment to Wall Street that we would not borroq more than 12 percent againsrour budget.” Gandhi, who has won accolades for helping the city snag a AAA bond rating on Wall said he has already begun re-emphasizin g the importance of the debt cap with memberw of the council. “I do not think we want to take this We should not borrow any more than we are able to he said.
He suggested that O’Dell and his partners continure to seek private financing Building a hotel to accompany the conventionn center has always been part of the plan for the city but has languishec from a seriesof complications. Construction on the Walteer E. Washington Convention Center, as it was namef in 2007, began in 1998 and openexd fiveyears later. D.C. planned a 1,400-rooj hotel, but did not control the needed In 2007, the city gained finap site control after a land swap with developet Kingdon Gould III.
To prevent further delays Mayor Adrian Fenty downsized the project laterthat year, announcing a deal between the Marriott and RLJ Development LLC on a smaller 1,100-roojm hotel. Since then, the development team has also changed. RLJ Development, foundedd by BET founder Robert Johnson, was part of the deal Fentyg announced in September 2007but isn’t any longer. A main drivefr of the deal, Marriott Senioe Vice PresidentNorman Jenkins, left the company late last year to star t Capstone, now a certified business entity that partners with Quadrangle.
Speakingg for the development team, Jenkins said it was his preferencew to continue seekingprivate financing, and said design was entitlements were in place and therr equity partners ready to invest if debt were Capstone and Quadrangle are separately planning a Courtyarsd by Marriott adjacent to the hotel on land they “We could still get there, but we got to get the bankws to play and they move at their own pace,” he Still, he said, “if the city decidese to pursue the public deal we will support Jenkins said Johnson’s RLJ, with which Jenkins partnered whilde at Marriott, pulled out of the deal shortly after taking an interest in it.
“They studied it spent some resources, but their bread and butterf is acquisitions and repositionin g rather thannew development,” Jenkins Richard Bradley, executive director of the Downtown Business Improvement District, said it is unfortunate that the hotel project ran into the recession but that the city needs to “bitwe the bullet” and move the project citing the opportunity to grow D.C. as a touris destination, make it a major playef in conventions and grow itstax base.
“There’s a whols set of good thingx about movingthis forward,” he

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Workers at two MillerCoors plants ratify new deals - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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and Fort Worth, Texas, have ratifiedf new, three-year contracts. The agreements coverf more than 900 employees at the two breweriesw and provide wage and pension increasesx over the course ofthe “Our members overwhelmingly ratified these contracts at MillerCoord because they provide stability for their said Jack Cipriani, director of the Teamsterss Brewery and Soft Drink Workers Conference, which represents workers at the breweries.
“For the next threr years, our members at MillerCoors know that theitr wages and pension benefitswill increase, which is sayinf a lot in today’s The contracts call for no healthb care cost increases for workers in the firstg year of the contract and only minor increases for the second and third years, accordinvg to the union. The new deal also guarantees that employees who have retired or who will retire duringv the course ofthe three-year contracts won’yt be required to pay health care “We value all generations of our members, so we made sure that thers were improvements for both active membersa at MillerCoors and the retirees who had paved the way befor e with their long years of service,” Cipriani The Teamsters union represents 1,200 MillerCoors worker nationwide.
The union also represents workers at the MillerCoors brewer yin Irwindale, Calif. Negotiations for a new contract covering employees at the plant areunder way. MillerCoors is a jointr venture between MillerBrewing Co., Milwaukee, and Coorsz Brewing Co., Golden, Colo., that launched in July 2008. MillerCoors operatee a major brewery and regional officeon Milwaukee’s west Workers at the Milwaukee brewery are represented by Brewerg Workers Local 9 of the United Auto Workers union.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

First on CNN: Atheist group targets presidential candidates' faith with billboards - CNN (blog)

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My Fox 8


First on CNN: Atheist group targets presidential candidates' faith with billboards

CNN (blog)


“Our political system is rife with religion and it depends too much on religion and not enough on substance," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists, sponsor of the ads. "Religion is silly and religion has components that are inherently ...

Controversial atheist billboards up in Charlotte

WSOC Charlotte


Atheist billboards in Charlotte causing controversy

My Fox 8


Atheist billboards mock Romney, Obama religion

Democratic Underground


PolicyMic


 »

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Bernanke denies pressuring BofA - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Bernanke made the comments Thursday morning to a congressional committee investigating his rolein BofA’se purchase of the troubled brokerage. documents leaked to several media outlets suggest Bernankse tried to hide his role in the deal fromothe regulators. He began to responsd to questions fromthe U.S. Houss Committee on Oversight and Government Reforjm at10 a.m. “The committeed has already learned that Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve made inappropriate threatws to fire Bank of Americq management unless they went ahea withthe ‘shotgun wedding’ that was the Merrilp Lynch acquisition,” Darrell Issa, the committee’s ranking Republicam from California, said in a statemenyt Thursday morning.
“The Federal Reservs also engaged ina cover-up and deliberately hid concernse and pertinent details regarding the merger from othefr federal regulatory agencies.” Two weekss ago, Lewis testified to the same committee. He told lawmakers he considerec backing out ofthe deal, but felt pressurse from Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Paulso n to move forward for the benefit of both companiezs and the economy. Paulson is expected to testify on the matted at afuture date. Charlotte-based BofA bought Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.q1 billion. The deal resulted in BofA’s receivinfg an additional $20 billion in federal fundsx under the Troubled AssetRelief Program.
BofA, Maryland'z largest bank, has received a total of $45 billion in TARP funds. Lewis has been undere intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosintg the depthof Merrill’s financial difficulties befors the merger. Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourthy quarter. Click to see Bernanke'sa written testimony.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Hillary Clinton puts forward US priorities in tackling Syrian crisis - Xinhua

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USA TODAY


Hillary Clinton puts forward US priorities in tackling Syrian crisis

Xinhua


ISTANBUL, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday put forward here three points the United States deems as priorities of the efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria. Hillary Clinton made the statement during a ...


Middle Eas t's Rwanda

MENAFN.COM



 »

Thursday, August 9, 2012

GM files for bankruptcy, plans to transfer operations to Wentzville - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Some operations and equipment from a steekl stamping plant inGrand Rapids, Mich., whicuh is slated to close as part of the automaker'ds restructuring, will be transferred to Wentzville, accordinyg to Bob Wheeler, a spokesmabn for the Wentzville plant. It'as not yet known how many, if any, Michigan employee will opt to transferto Wentzville, he said. GM officialss called Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi at9 a.m. Monday to assure him the locak plant wouldremain open. "It's good that they are shippingy in work forthis plant," Lambi said.
"That's a positive that corporatre thinks this plant willbe Still, Lambi said, rival automaker Chrysler plans to shutter its Fenton factors after investing $130 milliob in them, so it was importantt for Wentzville to not rely on GM so much and diversifg its revenue stream. When Lambi took officre seven years ago, Wentzville counted on GM for abourt 55 to 60 percent of itstotal revenue. that's more like 15 percent of the city's $24 million genera fund, because GM pays the city abouyt $3 million a year in real estate property taxes andother fees, he GM on Monday by the end of but the Wentzville plant was spared because it’as the only plant where Chevrolet Express and GMC Savanz vans are made, The Wentzville plant will still undergol a previously announced and other production cuts in June and July that will resulf in the layoffs of 300 Monday’s Chapter 11 filing by the 101-year-old automaker is amonbg the largest in U.
S. history and largest-ever U.S. manufacturing bankruptcy. GM listed $173 billion in liabilities and $82 billionj in assets, according to the filed in New York. GM to St. largest privately held company, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and to Chapteer 11, which allows the compan y to operate while protected from its pushes GM intoa fast-traclk bankruptcy and provides $30 billion of additional taxpayerf funds to restructure. The GM plan as detailedf by U.S. officials would allow a much smaller GM to emergde from court protection withinb 60 to90 days. The automakefr has not provided an updated target for job cuts but was lookiny toeliminate 21,000 U.S.
factory jobs from the 54,000p union members it now General Motorsemploys 92,000 in the United States and is indirectly responsible for 500,000 retirees. The U.S. governmen t would hold a 60 percent financial interest in areorganized GM, and the UAW woulds take a 17.5 percent stake. The governments of Canadwa and the province of Ontario have agreed to a 12 percent ownershil stake in exchange forfinancialk aid. GM bondholders would get 10 percent. "It’s a bitterswee thing," Wheeler said.
"You hate to have to go throughg the process of closing plantws andeliminating jobs, but look that’s what's going on with a lot of Hopefully we can hire people in the future and be the vibrant company we once were." Download a copy of the

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Informal poles: Totems add flair to Lolla fest - Chicago Tribune

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Informal poles: Totems add flair to Lolla fest

Chicago Tribune


An inflatable totem pole, held aloft, its rubber quivering at the bass thump from the Perry's electronic dance music stage. A headless rubber bat, painted with fake blood, fluttering above the headbangers at Black Sabbath on Friday. All were spotted ...



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Good sports: WNY

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Don’t take that to however, that East Aurorwa High Schoolis one-dimensionally bookish. It also happens to have the in WesternjNew York, according to a Business First analysizs of records from 2005 to the present. “We’vde been on a roll the last few years, whicyh has been just great,” says Jay East Aurora’s principal. “The people here expec us to have a comprehensiv eathletics program. They support the They’ve given us first-ratwe athletics facilities. It’s clearlgy a priority for the community.
” East Auroraa has won 17 sectional championships in team sportssince 2005, a record unmatched by any competitor in Section VI, which includes all public high schoolx in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties and a couple in Orleans County. The result is a decisive victory onBusiness First’x scale of athletic which awards anywhere from one to four points for each sectional title, givingg the highest credit for championships won during the most recent East Aurora emerges as the region’s best high school in team sportsd with 42 points. Orchard Park is second with 30 and Randolph, Clarence and Maple Grover round out the top five.
for the list of the top 50 sportx programs inSection VI. The correlation between these standings andBusiness First’s academic ratings is surprisingly Four of the top five schoolx for sports also rank among Westerb New York’s 20 best high schoolzs academically. “To some extent, success in one area can breef successin another,” says Hoagland. “If kids experienc success outsidethe classroom, they develop a sensr of pride and self-worth.
I think that carries over and helps them in the Business First tallied the Sectiom VI champions in 18 interscholastic team sportz over the pastfour years, beginning with the sprin g season of 2005 and extending through the winter of 2009. (Thagt timeframe was selected because spring 2009 championsd had not been determined by the deadline forthis publication.) Basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer and which are played separately by boys and accounted for 12 of the 18 sportsw in the study.
The other six were football and wrestling for field hockey and softballfor girls, and which has coed The study did not include sport s that crown individual, but not team champions, such as tennis and track and field. Section VI slots schoolsa into a variety of enrollment classifications fordiffereny sports. Five champions are crownex each yearin football, for example, but only three in fielrd hockey. Champs in all classifications were counted equall y inthis study, yielding a mixture of big and smallo schools in the top 10. Business First based each school’sw final ranking on two factors -- its number of sectionao titles and the years in which theywere won.
Four pointds were awarded for each victory during the most recenfyear (spring 2008 through winter 2009), down to one poinr for each title in the most distang year (spring 2005 through winter 2006). Ties were brokenb by the total numberof championships. Sixty-eight schools won a totall of 296 titles in team sportes duringthe four-year period. This is the first time that Businessa First has analyzed the athletics programs at localohigh schools. The resulting ratings are more limiteds in scope than theacademic rankings, whicg encompass all eight counties of Western New York.
Sectionm VI is closed to private schools, and its boundaries exclude three ofthe region’s easternmost Allegany, Genesee and Wyoming. Yet the 93 high schoole eligible for the sports rankings still account for morethan three-quartersd of Western New York’s total enrollment -- 78 percenft of all students from grades nine through 12.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Ramirez singles to give Dodgers 7-6 win over Cubs - Yahoo! Sports

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Ramirez singles to give Dodgers 7-6 win over Cubs

Yahoo! Sports


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hanley Ramirez lined an RBI single over a drawn-in infield in the ninth inning, and Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a seesaw 7-6 victory on Sunday. Shawn Camp (2-5) walked Matt Kemp ...



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Saturday, August 4, 2012

BC Partners invests in Office Depot - South Florida Business Journal:

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The transaction gives BC Partners three seats on the boardr and a 20 percent stake in theBoca Raton-basede office supply company. BC Partners is knownn for specializing in buyouts and acquisitionse so the deal raises the question of whether more changew might be ahead forOffice Depot. "They have a very successfulo investment track record and consistently demonstrated a commitment to working with companies toimplement long-termk strategic plans,” Steve Odland, Office Depot’s chairman and chief executive officedr said in a statement.
BC Partner's investment in Officew Depot comes at a challenging It has suffereddeclining revenue, quarterly losses, storer closings, and allegations it has overcharged variouws government accounts with which it has BC bought $275 million of the company'es Series A convertible perpetual preferred stock and anothefr $75 million of its Series B conditionap convertible perpetual preferred The investment represents about a third of Officre Depot's stock market capitalization, listex at $1.07 billion on Yahoo finance. The Boca Raton-based office supply company said it will use the proceeds for generaolcorporate purposes.
The Series A stockj is immediately convertible into shares ofthe company’x common stock at a conversion price of $5 a which represents a 32 percent premium to the closing prics of $3.79 a share on June The Series B sharesa will become convertible into shares of the company’s common stocmk on the same terms as the Seriese A stock if shareholders approve. As part of the BC Partners’ Raymond Svider, managing James Rubin, senior partner; and Justin Bateman, partner, have joineed the Office Depot board, which was expandeed to 14 members. The trio works in BC Partner'sa New York office. The Bermuda company also has officesin Paris, Milan, Hamburg and Geneva.
The company's current investmenrt portfolio lists15 companies. They are all in Europe, excepft for satellite provider Intelsat, which is headquartered in Bermuda. Amonbg the other holdings listed onthe company's Web site are a supermarket chain in Turkey, an operatoer of nursing homes in France, a casinoi operator in southeastern Europe, and the second-largest cable company in Some of Wall Street'se most powerful investment banking and legal firms were involved in puttingv the Office Depot deal together: Peterr J. Solomon Co. L.P. and Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. served as financiaol advisors toOffice Depot. Goldman, Sachs Co. served as financial advisotr toBC Partners.
servesd as legal advisor to Office Depot and LLP served as legal advisor toBC Partners. The investmenty is important to shore upOffice Depot' s balance sheet. On May 13, downgraded Officew Depot’s corporate family and probability of defaulg ratings to B2from B1, and the company's seniore unsecured notes to Caa1 from B3. "While the firsr quarter outperformedthe company's expectations, results were stilp significantly below the comparable prio year period,” Moody’s VP and seniord analyst Charles O'Shea noted at the "Given that a potential recovery in this segment may not occu r until late 2009 or early 2010, and Officde Depot's concentration in the still hard-hit Californiaz and Florida markets, Moody's feels it likely that the company'w credit profile could continuwe to deteriorate for the balance of 2009," O'Sheaw said.
Shares were up 4 cents in morninb tradingto $3.83. The 52-week high was $12.31 on June 23. The 52-week low was 59 cents on March 9.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Knight Capital's trading glitch traced to software; Will cost it $440 million ... - mysask.com (press release)

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Knight Capital's trading glitch traced to software; Will cost it $440 million ...

mysask.com (press release)


NEW YORK, N.Y. - It's turning out to be one costly glitch. A technical problem that briefly threw dozens of stocks into chaos Wednesday will cost Knight Capital Group $440 million, the trading firm said Thursday. Knight's stock plunged for a second day ...



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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Region

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percent last month, the state reporte Monday. The jobless rate in the seven-countyh area was up from a seasonally adjusted 8 percent in Marchand 4.6 percent a year The last time Centrap Ohio’s unemployment rate topped 8 percenf was in 1984, according to state data. Unemploymen in the region ranged from a highof 10.4 percenr in rural Pickaway County to 6.6 percentt in developing Delaware County, the lowest in the Jobless rates for Franklin County and Columbus climbed to 8.1 percent. The state’s othef major cities saw their jobless rates increaseas well, Cincinnati’se unemployment hitting 8.4 percent while Cleveland’sx jobless rate reached 11 percent.
The state’sd jobless rate last month rose to a seasonalladjusted 10.2 percent, from 9.7 percentf in March and 6.2 percenf a year earlier. Unemployment data for May are set to be releasedfJune 19.