FIVE heart patients have died at a hospital from a killer bug contracted following surgery. They died after operations to fit artificial valves at Nottingham City Hospitals Trent Cardiac Centre. A total of 12 people developed the bug which causes a blood infection that leads to inflammation around the heart valve. The deaths occurred over a period of months, with the latest just before Christmas.
ALEX McLEISH believes his new Spanish signing Michel could prove to be his third double-yourmoney buy of the season. The Birmingham manager struck gold by picking up Scott Dann and Roger Johnson from Coventry and Cardiff for pounds 8million and turning them into one of the divisions best defensive duos. Now hes ready to work his magic again with the pounds 3m midfield man from Sporting Gijon, who joined at the start of January. “Hes fitted in well, he keeps the ball, and keeps the traffic moving. You know you can give him the ball under pressure and there will never be any need to panic.”
PARK CITY — Ten days, nine “screenings,” five snowstorms, two bottles of eye drops and one parking ticket later, Sundance Twentyten is history, for me anyway. Arrivederci, Sundance. (Subtitle: So long, Sundance.) I came into the annual film festival to see if I could get what its about. I came away still not quite sure, which should make Robert Redford relieved. What if guys like me figured it out? Once the mystery goes, there goes the festival.
PARK CITY — Ten days, nine “screenings,” five snowstorms, two bottles of eye drops and one parking ticket later, Sundance Twentyten is history, for me anyway. Arrivederci, Sundance. (Subtitle: So long, Sundance.) I came into the annual film festival to see if I could get what its about. I came away still not quite sure, which should make Robert Redford relieved. What if guys like me figured it out? Once the mystery goes, there goes the festival.
Use of Automated CPR Device Continues to Expand in Brazil and Latin
America
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of medical
devices and related software solutions, announced today that SAMU
Brasilia (Servico de Atendimento Movel de Urgencia—Emergency Mobile
Treatment Service), based in the capital city of Brazil and one of the
largest EMS services in the country, has equipped its ambulances with
the AutoPulse® Non-Invasive Cardiac Support Pump.
SAMU Brasilia, which is part of the country-wide public EMS service, has
installed AutoPulse units in its fleet of ambulances, one for each
vehicle plus four spare training boards, in a contract valued at
$500,000 (U.S.). The AutoPulse was granted health clearance in January
2009 and is the only automatic chest compression system available for
sale in Brazil.
“The AutoPulse, besides promoting more effective compressions, is a
solution for one of the biggest challenges of conventional
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the inability to transport a patient
while performing manual chest compressions,” said Rodrigo Caselli, SAMU
Manager. “With this device we are able to perform both actions
simultaneously, ensuring a faster response time for the application of
treatment without compromising the effectiveness of compressions.”
“Use of the AutoPulse continues to expand internationally,” said
Jonathan A. Rennert, President of ZOLL. “We’re seeing more and more EMS
services and hospitals realize the important value that delivering
high-quality, mechanical CPR can have on patient care and rescuer
safety.”
OREGON CITY, Ore. — An Oregon couple who practice faith healing testified they did everything they could for their 16-year-old son before he died, but a jury decided it was not enough, especially just months after the death of their granddaughter. Jeff and Marci Beagley were convicted of criminally negligent homicide this past Tuesday after prosecutors argued they failed in their duty to get medical help for their son, Neil, in June 2008. The teenager died of complications from a congenital urinary tract blockage that doctors testified could have been treated up until the day he died. Instead, Neil and Ava were anointed with oil while the family prayed and laid on hands.
DEAR AMY: My mother is my fathers third wife. My father loves my mother very much, and were quite comfortable with his discussing his first wives because we know he loved them very much. Both of my fathers earlier wives died while vacationing with other family members, girlfriends, etc., and this has terrified my father into the belief that this will happen to my mother, too. He doesnt allow her to go on vacations without him. This is the only “controlling” thing he does. After this, my siblings and I tried to convince him that what happened with his first wives was coincidence and would not happen to my mother, but he refuses to see this. Weve considered paying for counseling, therapy or anything that might help him. Your advice? — Worried Kids
THE dilemmas of youth are universal. Consider Nicholas and Victoria, a pair of late-blossoming youngsters currently making their way toward adulthood at a multiplex near you. Respectively male and female, American and English, middle-class and filthy rich, they nonetheless face a nearly identical set of difficulties as they navigate the choppy seas of adolescence. Both have foolish mothers and malign, controlling stepfather-figures. Both are variously ignored, manipulated, and bullied by many of the other adults around them. Both are virgins with a strong romantic streak. And both are separated from the girl/guy of their dreams by distance, legal obligations, and even language barriers. Well, fine, maybe their situations arent quite identical. Nicholas is Nick Twisp, the lovesick hero of Youth in Revolt, which fancies itself the thinking teenagers sex comedy. Its American Pie rewritten for Juno fans and Arrested Development obsessives–complete with Michael Cera, star of both, as the deadpan, quietly desperate hero. His milieu is West Coast suburbia; his mother is a divorcee who takes up with truck drivers and police officers; and his lady love is Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), the precocious daughter of trailer-park evangelicals, who shares his interest in old movies, world travel, and grand romantic gestures. Victoria, meanwhile, is Alexandrina Victoria Hanover, best remembered as a formidable widow presiding over the British Empires peak, but portrayed by Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria as a glowing girl-queen with a lot to learn. Her milieu is the palaces of 1830s Europe; her menacing stepfather-figure is Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), who hoped to become Britains de facto regent by dominating Victoria through her mother; and her would-be lover is her cousin, His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who shares Victorias interest in opera, horseback riding, and programs of social reform. If this description makes The Young Victoria sound like the more snobbish of the two movies, do not be deceived. No double feature is more likely to instill a fondness for the aristocratic pomposities of the 19th century, and a weariness with the smug pretensions of the 21st.
Ila M. Stanworth Illa Maxwell Stanworth, 88, beloved mother, grandmother, great- grandmother and friend, went home peacefully Feb. 2, 2010, to be with cherished family who preceded her in death. God saw she was Born May 11, 1921 in Peoa, UT, daughter of Elmer and Mercy Milliner Maxwell. Grew up in Park City, UT where she met her sweetheart, Alfred Duane Stanworth. It was love at first sight. They married Nov. 4, 1937 and enjoyed Heber City, Charleston, Mapleton and then finally settling in Delta, UT where they were involved in ranching, cattle business and farming. After retiring, they sold the farm and enjoyed the beauty and fishing of Henrys Lake, ID and their residences in West Jordan and South Jordan before returning to their family and friends in Delta. Mother and Dad were known as “Grandma and Grandpa” in every neighborhood they lived in and had many “adopted” neighborhood grandchildren. Many children would knock on the door at anytime to receive a hug or kiss and a piece of candy. Neighbors cried each time they moved because their generosity, love and great example would be missed. Duane and Illa were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. What a glorious day this was, sharing it with family and friends. They were best friends and loved each other more than life itself. Duane passed away Feb. 22, 2002 after almost 65 years of marriage. Now they are together again for all eternity.
in the raw WHAT: Planet Raw Organic, Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurant HOURS: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday
Eagle Hill Exploration Corp., (”Eagle Hill” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: EAG) is pleased to announce that it has completed its first 3D geological model of the Windfall Lake gold deposit in Quebec (the “Model”). The Model has identified wide areas of gold mineralization which would be amenable for bulk tonnage mining.
“Eagle Hill believes the true potential of the Windfall Lake Property lies with the wide mineralized gold zones that we have identified in the Model. The focus on the wide zones is an approach that has been overlooked in the past at Windfall,” said Brad Kitchen, President and CEO of Eagle Hill. “This first exploration phase marks a complete shift in focus at Windfall Lake. Instead of chasing narrow and discontinuous high grade veins, Eagle Hill is focusing on the wide, consistently mineralized zones of lower grade material that hosts these veins.”
Eagle Hill is confident that the size of the gold mineralized area will expand as there are gaps in the historic information relating to the previous approach of exploration for high grade veins. Some of this missing information may be filled in with assay results from the previously drilled but unsampled core. Assay results from roughly 6,000 meters of this core will be available over the next month. More importantly the identified mineralized zones appear to be open to the East, West and below the current discoveries. Eagle Hill is initiating a 7,000 meter drilling program intended to help further define the existing mineralized zones and to expand the size of the gold mineralized zones. This drilling program is scheduled to begin during the week of February 8, 2010.
Dr. Jean-Philippe Desrochers, P.Geo. and Vice-President of Exploration for Murgor Resources Inc. is a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-101 that supervised the field work reported in this press release and reviewed the technical information it contains.
Slovenia Insurance Report provides industry professionals and
strategists, corporate analysts, insurance associations, government
departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and
competitive intelligence on Slovenias insurance industry.
This report differs from its predecessors in several respects. In the
authors analysis of competitive conditions, they provide a much more
comprehensive ranking of insurance companies in the major segments from
the point of view of the organisation that is providing the data (in
practice almost always the national insurance regulator or the national
insurance trade association). In Slovenia, for instance, the three
largest non-life companies in the first half of 2009 in terms of gross
written premiums written were Triglav, Vzajemna and Adriatic Slovenica,
whose market shares were 39%, 16% and 15.5% respectively. In the life
segment, the leaders in the first half of 2009 were Triglav, KAD and
Maribor, whose market shares were 34.7%, 22.6% and 11% respectively.
Over time, the authors hope to derive insights from observing how market
shares change. They emphasise though, that a decline in share of Gross
Written Premiums is not automatically a bad thing and is often the
result of a deliberate corporate decision to focus on more profitable
business lines.
In this report, the authors also provide a breakdown of the insurance
sector by line from the point of view of the regulator or the trade
association. In Slovenia, for instance, the largest non-life lines in
2008 were health, compulsory motor third party liability (CMTPL) and
land vehicles voluntary insurance (CASCO). These accounted for 26%, 23%
and 16.7%, respectively, of total non-life premiums. Over time, the
authors should be able to use this information to bring greater
sophistication to the forecasting process.
Writing in November 2009, they have been able to ensure that the report
includes actual data for 2008. They have generally been able to use data
that has been published over the course of 2009 to adjust the forecasts
for the year as a whole. The authors have also extended the forecasts
out to 2014. They are looking for total premiums in 2009 of EUR2,214mn
This includes non-life premiums of EUR1,543mn and life premiums of
EUR671mn. In 2014, the corresponding figures should be EUR2,981mn,
EUR2,088mn and EUR894mn. In terms of the key drivers that underpin the
forecasts, the authors are looking for non-life penetration to rise from
4.30% in 2009 to 4.60% in 2014, and for life density to rise from USD430
to USD532. The proprietary Insurance Business Environment Rating for
Slovenia is 59.4.
Sebelius Promotes “The Secretary’s Challenge: Connecting Kids to
Coverage”
WASHINGTON — Exactly one year after President Obama signed the Children’s Health
Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that 2.6 million
more children were served by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance
Program (CHIP) at some point over the past year and released The
Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act One Year Later:
Connecting Kids to Coverage, a comprehensive review of the past
year’s accomplishments in finding and enrolling children in health
coverage.
Sebelius also highlighted The Secretary’s Challenge: Connecting Kids
to Coverage, a five-year long campaign that will challenge federal
officials, governors, mayors, community organizations, tribal leaders
and faith-based organizations to build on this success and enroll the
nearly five million uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or
CHIP but are not enrolled.
As part of the Secretary’s challenge, Vilsack and Sebelius announced
plans to work with state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs
(SNAP, formerly the food stamp program), to encourage them to work with
their state’s Medicaid and CHIP programs to share data and identify
uninsured children who are potentially eligible for coverage through
Medicaid or CHIP. Leaders from the Departments of Agriculture and HHS
will provide guidance to state officials on how to better share data and
reach families in need.
“One of President Obama’s first actions as President has proven to be a
tremendous success,” said Sebelius. “Now we must build on our
accomplishments. Today, I am calling on leaders across the country –
from federal, state and local officials to private sector leaders – to
join our effort to insure more children. We all have a stake in
America’s children and together, we will ensure millions more children
get the care they need.”
Zachery Alan Survived by his mother Debbie Shields, grandparents Alan and Lenna Syphus and Joyce Shields; along with many other family and friends. He was preceded in death by his father Ronnie, grandfather Paul and his aunt Linda.
TELEVISION Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, MLBN, 5:30 p.m.
“How is it you’re being so great big?” ~ Tweedledee to
Alice—she’s eaten far too much cake and grown to enormous heights
WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND BUENA VISTA RECORDS JOIN FORCES WITH HOT
TOPIC, KIIS-FM, MYSPACE AND MUSICAL ARTISTS FROM “ALMOST ALICE” FOR
ULTIMATE FAN EVENT FEB. 19, 2010, AT HOLLYWOOD HIGHLAND CENTER
Film Stars, Filmmakers and Artists 3OH!3, Metro Station, Family Force
5, Kerli and Never Shout Never on Concert Roster; Entire Event to be
Streamed Live on MySpace
Miep Gies used to say she was just an ordinary housewife. Austrian by birth, and Catholic, she married a Dutchman named Jan Gies and lived in Amsterdam. In the war, Miep and Jan helped hide Otto Frank and his family in a secret room, daily risking their own lives to do so. For Miep, Otto Franks young daughter Anne was a girl “full of the joy of just being alive,” and she remembered seeing Anne writing her diary with a look of utter intensity in her face.
MIAMI — On behalf of Campbell Soup Company, football hall of famer Troy Aikman
makes a donation of 1,000 cans of Campbell’s Chunky Soup to
Anthea Pennant, Director of Development, Feeding South Florida food bank
to mark the end of another successful year of the Chunky/NFL Tackling
Hunger® program. This season Campbell will donate
over 50,000 cans of hearty and nutritious soup to Feeding America food
banks across the country to help close the nutrition gap among families
in need.
Zapproved Inc., a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
provider with a platform that adds accountability to business
communications, announced today that the Office of the City Attorney in
Portland has chosen Legal Hold Pro to manage litigation hold notification
and compliance tracking for the City Government. As a SaaS-based tool, the
City Attorneys Office is able to rapidly roll out Legal Hold Pro because
no software installation or configuration is necessary.
The Office of the City Attorney has a staff of more than 50, including 34
attorneys and more than 21 paralegals and legal assistants. The City
Attorneys Office handles all litigation that involves the city and its
bureaus. This broad scope of responsibility leads to a high number of legal
holds being issued regularly and requires a thorough system for management
and compliance. The Legal Hold Pro system will be used jointly by the staff
of the City Attorneys Office and Portlands Risk Management Division to
improve compliance and tracking of litigation preservation notices.
“Our office handles cases for the entire city government so we frequently
need to issue holds across multiple departments and bureaus,” said Linda
Meng, Portlands City Attorney. “We anticipate that Legal Hold Pro will
help us to better manage our high volume of legal holds while reducing our
expenses through improved efficiency. We believe it will enable our
attorneys, risk managers and records managers to collaborate and ultimately
lower our risk.”
A legal hold, or litigation preservation hold, is an action taken by an
organization to prevent alteration or destruction of data and documents
that may be relevant to a lawsuit or governmental investigation. Failure to
properly implement a legal hold by sending timely notifications to
custodians of information and tracking their acknowledgment and compliance
can jeopardize a case and lead to sanctions by the courts.
“Having an opportunity to collaborate with the Portland City Attorneys
Office allows us to show the efficacy of Legal Hold Pro in a public
agency,” said Monica Enand, President and CEO of Zapproved. “We see the
public sector at all levels as natural customers for our SaaS-based system
due to productivity enhancements and ease of implementation.”
PHOENIX, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ — Anthem College in Phoenix will begin offering three new degree programs, with a class start set for Feb. 1, 2010 for all programs. Anthem College Phoenix will launch new Associate of Science degree programs in Paralegal, Accounting Technology and Business Management. The Associate of Science degree program in Paralegal is designed to develop qualified paralegals who have a fundamental understanding of the legal system and are eager to meet the growing needs of the legal field and competent in assisting legal professionals in delivering quality legal services. Students are exposed to civil law and litigation, criminal law and adversarial process, family law and property, transactional law, business law, estate planning and probate, administrative law and alternate dispute resolution. Employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 22 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008-2009 Occupational Outlook Handbook. The Associate of Science degree program in Accounting Technology is designed to prepare students with a solid foundation of accounting knowledge and technological skills so that they can seek entry-level employment in the accounting industry. The Accounting Technology program is built upon a solid set of core accounting courses that provide the competencies needed for graduates to be successful at the entry level. Graduates from the Associates program are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as: Bookkeeper, Accounts Receivable/Payable, Inventory Analyst, Payroll Specialist, Collection Specialist, Sales Analyst, and Tax Associate.
NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings expects to assign the following ratings to CarMax Auto
Owner Trust 2010-1:
–$110,000,000 class A-2 AAA; Outlook Stable;
–$142,000,000 class A-3 AAA; Outlook Stable;
–$69,050,000 class A-4 AAA; Outlook Stable;
NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings has published its U.S. CMBS Focus Performance Report on
LB-UBS Commercial Mortgage Trust, series 2007-C2 (LBUBS 2007-C2). The
report provides a detailed and up-to-date perspective on key credit
characteristics of the LBUBS 2007-C2 transaction and property-level
performance of the related trust loans.
Sectors >> Structured Finance >> CMBS >> Research
ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND
DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING
THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS.
IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE
AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCYS PUBLIC WEBSITE WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM.
PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS
SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCHS CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS
OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES
AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE CODE OF CONDUCT SECTION OF
THIS SITE.
Unique, personalized lending experience, seasoned team of mortgage
professionals
NEWPORT, R.I. — Embrace
Home Loans, a prominent leader in the mortgage industry and a direct
lender for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, approved by FHA and VA, and an
issuer for Ginnie Mae, officially opened a new branch in Miami, Fla. The
branch is located at 11440 North Kendall Drive, Suite 405 and is managed
by Manuel DeArmas, branch manger and Gene Swindle, vice president.
“Our team of experienced loan officers has been helping the Miami area
with its financing needs for more than 30 years,” said Gene Swindle,
vice president of the Miami branch. “We understand this diverse market
and have the tools to help people find the right loan product for their
needs and more importantly, close in a very timely manner. We are
excited to be a part of Embrace Home Loans and to introduce this strong,
value-driven lender to the Miami market. Our specialized team of loan
officers speaks multiple languages and maintains the unique training and
knowledge required to meet the needs of this niche market. We are ready
and willing to assist the Miami community with its mortgage financing
needs.”
Despite the tumultuous market, Embrace Home Loans remains a profitable,
privately owned company and is rapidly expanding its operations in the
consolidated market. The Miami-branch provides the entire loan process
from application to closing, and because it is not a broker, the process
is much quicker. The branch offers conventional, FHA, VA and many of the
bond loans offered by the state of Florida. Additionally, the company
has been recognized as one of the “Best Medium Companies to Work for in
America,” as well as one of the “INC 5,000 Fastest Growing Private
Companies in America.”
“Embrace Home Loans is a lender you can trust,” said Manuel DeArmas,
branch manager of the Miami branch. “What makes us different from the
rest of the market is the combination of sophisticated technology that
enables us to close loans faster, combined with one-on-one, personalized
service, which is rare in today’s financial environment. When you call
the branch, you’ll get a person – not a recording – and when you come
into the branch – we will sit down and discuss your individual financing
needs until we’ve answered all questions and exhausted all options.”
THE dilemmas of youth are universal. Consider Nicholas and Victoria, a pair of late-blossoming youngsters currently making their way toward adulthood at a multiplex near you. Respectively male and female, American and English, middle-class and filthy rich, they nonetheless face a nearly identical set of difficulties as they navigate the choppy seas of adolescence. Both have foolish mothers and malign, controlling stepfather-figures. Both are variously ignored, manipulated, and bullied by many of the other adults around them. Both are virgins with a strong romantic streak. And both are separated from the girl/guy of their dreams by distance, legal obligations, and even language barriers. Well, fine, maybe their situations arent quite identical. Nicholas is Nick Twisp, the lovesick hero of Youth in Revolt, which fancies itself the thinking teenagers sex comedy. Its American Pie rewritten for Juno fans and Arrested Development obsessives–complete with Michael Cera, star of both, as the deadpan, quietly desperate hero. His milieu is West Coast suburbia; his mother is a divorcee who takes up with truck drivers and police officers; and his lady love is Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), the precocious daughter of trailer-park evangelicals, who shares his interest in old movies, world travel, and grand romantic gestures. Victoria, meanwhile, is Alexandrina Victoria Hanover, best remembered as a formidable widow presiding over the British Empires peak, but portrayed by Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria as a glowing girl-queen with a lot to learn. Her milieu is the palaces of 1830s Europe; her menacing stepfather-figure is Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), who hoped to become Britains de facto regent by dominating Victoria through her mother; and her would-be lover is her cousin, His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who shares Victorias interest in opera, horseback riding, and programs of social reform. If this description makes The Young Victoria sound like the more snobbish of the two movies, do not be deceived. No double feature is more likely to instill a fondness for the aristocratic pomposities of the 19th century, and a weariness with the smug pretensions of the 21st.
DEAR AMY: I am a married mother of two young boys. I grew up in a volatile home, because my mother was verbally (sometimes physically) abusive toward us, especially my father. We had to live according to her obsessive cleaning schedule. We never knew when her next blowup would occur. Because of the way she has mistreated her immediate and extended family, I am the only one left who will see her voluntarily and/or talk to her. And I do it for my sons, not myself. Because she no longer has outbursts or uses foul language, there is no reason she shouldnt see them. Because she is mentally unstable, it has always been very hard to confront her. How can I get her to realize that I cannot see her every weekend, or even every other weekend? — Weary Daughter Dear Weary: Your mother is toxic, but according to you, her abusive behavior has changed and she is no longer a threat — at least to your kids.
The initial Maine Recovery Web site launched on Feb. 4, 2009 and
delivered regularly updated American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of
2009 (Recovery Act) information as well as overview of the funding
awarded to Maine state agencies. The enhanced site offers an expanded
degree of detail about funded projects and programs in addition to
specific expenditures to date for each project. Data for awards,
projects and expenditures are provided directly by state agencies on a
quarterly basis and include additional details beyond those required for
federal reports.
“Putting this information at the fingertips of Maine citizens gives them
the transparency they want and deserve about how we are putting Recovery
Act funds to the best possible use in Maine,” said Governor Baldacci.
“Maine’s enhanced transparency site reflects our commitment to make this
information searchable, user-friendly, and easy to understand. We are
pleased that we are able to deliver this level of detail and
accountability.”
Maine’s expanded transparency Web site includes several user-friendly
new features:
The United States Sports Academy, the first and
only freestanding, accredited school of sport in America, has selected
Software Secures Securexam Remote Proctor System to ensure the integrity
of the Academys online examinations.
Beginning 1 February 2010, students in the Academys degree programs will
use the Remote Proctor, a hardware device that connects to a students
computer. The device contains a biometric finger scanner that authenticates
a students identity before providing access to an online exam. A
microphone and 360-degree webcam helps ensure that integrity is maintained
during an online exam regardless of the students choice of location and
time.
The Remote Proctor hardware, combined with the Academy technology that
ranks at the top of higher education, assures students that their
examinations will be secure and protects the integrity of their work.
The Remote Proctor meets federal regulations requiring online programs to
take steps to authenticate the identity of students and ensure the
integrity of the academic programs. Purchase of the device can be covered
through financial aid.
“We were well aware that the cost and inconvenience of human proctoring
didnt meet the needs of students,” said Academy Vice President Dr. T.J.
Rosandich. “A technologically-based solution allowing students to take
exams in the comfort of their homes or offices while meeting the new
federal requirements was ideal. We found the solution with Securexam Remote
Proctor.”
SALT LAKE CITY — A man who injured his 13-month-old son was sentenced to a year in jail Monday. After serving 36 months of probation, the man will be deported to Mexico. Humberto Enrique Alvarez, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of inflicting serious physical injury on a child intentionally, both third-degree felonies. Third District Judge Robert Faust imposed two prison terms of zero to five years each on the counts that Alvarez pleaded guilty to, but the judge suspended the prison time.
Updates Allow Parents to Monitor Chat/Instant Messaging and Social
Networking Activity
“Internet and technology dangers are growing rapidly and can be far more
serious than parents realize due to the growing prevalence of trends
such as social networking and IM,” said Jack
Sunderlage, ContentWatch CEO. “It is our mission to continually
address these issues with tools to help parents protect their children’s
safety online.”
A recent study from the U.S. Department of Justice reports that more
than 50 percent of teenagers receive requests for personal information
and have frequent personal conversations with strangers online through
IM. Likewise, 50 percent of teenagers say their parents are unaware of
their online activities and have never discussed Internet safety with
them.
Net Nanny 6.5 offers the following new features and enhancements:
One Saudi Arabian braved flash floods in Jeddah to rescue two family members and dozens of strangers from drowning. This act of heroism was made more remarkable by the fact that the driver, who threw a rope to stranded cars and then dragged them out, was a woman–which makes it a violation of Saudi Arabias ban on woman drivers.
Prime Office Furniture, a leading
online and offline retailer and distributor of distinctive, European design
office furniture , has
dominated the industry with their top-of-the-line executive office desks , office
cabinets and reception desks, and is now turning their focus to office
chairs. Office executives can now sit in the lap of luxury — literally –
with the all-new, expanded selection of luxury executive
office chairs at PrimeOfficeFurniture.com.
“Previously we had a very limited number of styles and offerings of
executive chairs, however we have decided to expand this area of our
business to better serve our valued customers,” said a Prime Office
Furniture representative. “All of our new office chairs are of the highest
quality and design, but very affordable in price.”
The expanded selection will include additions to Prime Office Furnitures
lines of executive office chairs, guest office chairs and general office
chairs. Each new high-quality executive chair will feature the style,
functionality and value synonymous with the Prime Office Furniture name.
Prime Office Furniture specializes in selling outstanding office furniture
at true factory direct prices. Their unique, high quality European designed
executive office
furniture is available with free insured delivery anywhere in the
contiguous 48 United States and Canada within 5 business days after
processing each order. Prime Office Furniture offers a one-year limited
warranty for material, workmanship, and functionality, and a 100%
Satisfaction Guarantee (restrictions apply).
BETHESDA, Md. — First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE:FPO) announced today that CORT Business
Services Corporation (CORT Furniture Rental) has signed a seven-year
lease at Cavalier Industrial Park in Chesapeake, Virginia. CORT will be
occupying 23,580 square feet at the Company’s recently completed 96,000
square foot warehouse building, bringing the approximately 400,000
square foot Cavalier Industrial Park to 100% leased.
“We are very pleased to have CORT Furniture Rental lease the balance of
our new warehouse building,” said Tony Beck, First Potomac’s Regional
Vice President for Southern Virginia. “This transaction adds to an
already impressive roster of tenants at this property.”
Completed just one year ago, the new warehouse building is located at
3732 Cook Boulevard and is part of the Company’s three-building,
Cavalier Industrial Park located in the submarket in Chesapeake,
Virginia.
WMIs UK
Furniture Market Data Forecast to 2013 market profile is the
essential source for top-level retail industry data and analysis
covering UK.
The report provides historical data and forecasts for the UK Furniture
industry in the period 2004-2013, analysis of the competitive landscape
and profiles of the major market players, plus top-level analysis of the
key factors driving the industry.
Scope of the report:
WEST VALLEY CITY — Its been almost two months since Susan Powell disappeared. Reminders that the mother of two is still missing can still be found around her home. A “missing” poster is taped to the front doorway. Shards of broken glass and a window screen remain underneath the now-fixed front window where police originally had to break in on the day she was reported missing. But friends and family members continue to hold out hope she is alive. On Wednesday, Susans friends returned to her vacant house to hang purple ribbons and streamers. Two large signs saying, “We Will Find You” and “We Will Bring You Home” were posted on the front lawn while smaller signs were hung on the garage.
SALT LAKE CITY — A woman who stole a sport utility vehicle in Magna and drove off with someone elses 3-year-old child in the car has been sentenced to prison. Third District Judge Robert Faust sentenced Melissa Sue Irish, 21, to a one-to-15-year term in prison for kidnapping, which was amended from a first-degree felony to a second-degree felony. The judge also imposed a prison term of zero to five years behind bars for joyriding, a third-degree felony. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The childs mother ran up to the vehicle, pounded on the windows and screamed, “My baby!” according to court documents.
For Wendell McKines, basketball remains the easy part. Now a junior at New Mexico State, the 21-year-old Oakland native made his annual trip home Saturday for a game at San Jose State. The Aggies lost 93-84, but they are 8-2 since the return of McKines, a 6- foot-6 forward who is averaging 12.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. “Ive been playing this game for like 14, 15 years,” said McKines, who averaged 35 points per game as a senior at Richmond High, totaling more than 3,000 in his prep career. “This is what I do.” Recently, McKines found life is a bit more complicated than that.
Loan Modification Company Responds to Rapid Rise of Homeowners
Opting to Short Sell Instead of Foreclose
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — US Home Loan Advocates, Inc. (USHLA) a leading loan modification
company, is extending their expert loss
mitigation negotiation services to real estate agents.
The number of homeowners with upside down mortgages is growing
rapidly. The credit recovery period for a short sale is two-three years
as opposed to the lengthily seven-year stay of a foreclosure. For
that reason, more homeowners are opting to short sell their properties
instead of facing foreclosure. A short sale will reflect
negatively on a homeowner’s credit report; however, compared to
foreclosure, it is the lesser of the two evils.
“As the number of homeowners forced to short sell rises, our
support will enable real estate agents to concentrate on listing and
selling more properties; thereby, increasing the number of distressed
homeowners the agents are able to help,” explains David Bartels,
president of USHLA.
The short sale process is time consuming and requires persistence
and experience. USHLA’s experienced professionals will conduct the
required financial consultation with the seller, collect the paperwork
and appropriately package all of the documentation for the lender.
Thereafter, an USHLA expert will work with the lender to quickly
and successfully negotiate the purchase price and the real estate
agent’s full commission for the short sale transaction.
“Signature Properties trusted relationship with USHLA
substantially improves my ability to efficiently manage the increase in
short sale activity. USHLA provides my customers with consistent quality
and expert service,” explains Judy Dunham of Signature
Properties in Coronado, California.
AT THE END of October, the White House released figures claiming that money from the $787 billion stimulus package pushed by President Obama had “created or saved” 640,000 jobs. A closer look suggests that the number was inflated dramatically by human error, confusing federal forms, double counting, and dubious assumptions. In Wisconsin, for example, $7.3 million was allocated to the Parkland Sanitary District for work that will not begin until spring. That money is credited with 100 jobs. The correct figure was five jobs. District treasurer Eric Shaffer filled out the form incorrectly, writing down 50; that number was then counted twice, since the money was part grant and part loan. “We are volunteers, and we made a mistake,” Shaffer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
SUPPORTERS OF health care reform need money–a lot of money–to pay for it. So its not surprising that they would try to get it from the people with the most money to spare. Hence the so-called millionaires tax, a levy embedded in the House health care bill. As the noted philanthropist (with other peoples money) and House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), explained, lawmakers are targeting big earners because it “causes the least amount of pain on the least amount of people.” Thats the theory, anyway. In fact, the millionaires tax is a good example of how poorly some politicians understand the policies they propose. At press time, the Senate was still debating the bills details. But the health care bill that the House narrowly approved in November included a 5.4 percent tax on the portion of gross income (which includes capital gains and dividends) that exceeds $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for a couple. The surtax would apply to tax years that begin after December 31, 2010. So the first sign that the tax will hit more than millionaires is the fact that it targets half-millionaires from the get-go. The ideas main selling point is that the increase would hit only 0.3 percent of tax fliers–roughly 400,000 people–yet would raise $460.5 billion over the next 10 years. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the new rate would affect only 1.2 percent of relatively small business owners, including sole proprietorships (that is, businesses owned by just one person), partnerships (owned by a few people), and S corporations (which have up to 75 shareholders). But because the tax isnt indexed for inflation, over time it will apply to more taxpayers as inflation affects income levels. Sound familiar? It should, because this is how the alternative minimum tax (AMT) became such a nightmare. The AMT was created in 1969 to prevent just 155 wealthy taxpayers from using deductions and credits to avoid paying any federal income taxes. Because it was not indexed for inflation, it came to affect an ever-growing share of the population, prompting Congress to pass a patch each year limiting its reach; next year, without the patch, it is projected to strike 27.4 million Americans–nearly 20 percent of the countrys taxpayers. And even with the patch, the AMT hits far more than just millionaires: In 2009, it swept up 4 million
Kaiser/VA/DoD partnership piloting a nationwide EHR network Early testing encouraging; improvements in quality anticipated “The ability to share critical health information is essential to interoperability,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki in announcing the program. “Utilizing the NHINs standards and network will allow organizations like VA and the Department of Defense to partner with private-sector health care providers to promote better, faster, and safer care for veterans.” The pilot program currently connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VAs electronic health record system, VistA, two of the largest electronic health record systems in the country. The DoDs ALTA system will be linked to the other two shortly.
Follow-up calls help avoid readmissions In an effort to improve transitions of care, the nurse care coordinators at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston make follow-up calls to patients who have been discharged, identify problems and solve them, and answer questions the patients may have about medication, symptoms, or their discharge plan. The hospital has an average of 53,693 discharges and 59,323 emergency department visits each year and had a 30-day readmission rate of 8.79% for medical-surgical patients in 2009.
Studies show decrease in senior care continuity If the discharge planning communitys ideal is to begin the discharge process at the door, when patients are admitted to the hospital, then community provider input is necessary for a smooth care transition. But care continuity has been low, and its decreasing for older adults, recent studies show..sup.1,2
ON NOVEMBER 13, a clot of journalists stands in a hailstorm outside a Portland, Oregon, business called Rumpspankers Beyond Broth. Were awaiting a press conference rechristening the business the Cannabis Cafe, the first restaurant where patients licensed by the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) can publicly use marijuana. The event is a half-hour late in starting. Perhaps theres cleaning to do. Rumpspankers, a soup restaurant by day, was until recently an adult entertainment venue by night, hosting a bondage club and a monthly event called “Pants Off Dance Off.” Maybe those already inside–the cafes owners, representatives from the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a guy carrying a raft of French pastries–dont hear the banging on the door. Maybe, judging from the skunk smell that rolls out once the door is opened, everyone inside is too euphoric to realize what time it is. “Welcome to freedom!” says Madeline Martinez, all good cheer as she finally presents the cafe, a cavernous room of dinged-up furniture and paper lanterns. As the executive director of Oregon NORML, Martinez previously hosted bimonthly socials for marijuana patients in the ballroom above Rumpspankers, but a seven-day-a-week place to congregate and medicate? That is her dream come true.
ON NOVEMBER 13, a clot of journalists stands in a hailstorm outside a Portland, Oregon, business called Rumpspankers Beyond Broth. Were awaiting a press conference rechristening the business the Cannabis Cafe, the first restaurant where patients licensed by the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) can publicly use marijuana. The event is a half-hour late in starting. Perhaps theres cleaning to do. Rumpspankers, a soup restaurant by day, was until recently an adult entertainment venue by night, hosting a bondage club and a monthly event called “Pants Off Dance Off.” Maybe those already inside–the cafes owners, representatives from the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a guy carrying a raft of French pastries–dont hear the banging on the door. Maybe, judging from the skunk smell that rolls out once the door is opened, everyone inside is too euphoric to realize what time it is. “Welcome to freedom!” says Madeline Martinez, all good cheer as she finally presents the cafe, a cavernous room of dinged-up furniture and paper lanterns. As the executive director of Oregon NORML, Martinez previously hosted bimonthly socials for marijuana patients in the ballroom above Rumpspankers, but a seven-day-a-week place to congregate and medicate? That is her dream come true.
Popular Printer Model Now Offers Optional IPDS Functionality
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Source Technologies, a world-class provider of MICR and secure printing
solutions, announced its ST9620
magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) printer is now available in an
Intelligent Printer Data Stream™ (IPDS) compatible model, expanding
support and productivity for transaction applications. Since its
introduction in early 2009, this robust printer has become a favorite
with organizations requiring a high-level of quality and functionality
with a budget-friendly price point. Now, this popular printer offers
seamless integration that maximizes printer utilization to companies
using IPDS application architecture.
“The ST9620 printer continues to gain market share by quickly developing
a reputation for packing optimum performance into a simple and cost
effective solution. Adding IPDS compatibility extends the reach of this
powerhouse printer, providing AS/400 system users impressive
capabilities to support transaction-printing requirements,” advised
Sarah Burkhart, Director of Product Marketing.
The exceptional quality assurance features, small form-factor and
attractive price point have already made the ST9620 an ideal print
solution for many customers, including branch locations, staffing
agencies, insurance offices, and pharmacies. Organizations now have a
full breadth of solutions from which to choose when looking for a
high-quality MICR printer for their IPDS environment. The ST9620
compliments the Source Technologies line-up of IPDS-compatible printers
by offering a value-conscious solution for users whose performance
requirements are exceeded by the current ST9630
and ST9650 MICR printer offerings.
Glenn Hansen, president and CEO of BPA Worldwide, on January 28th celebrated his 30-year anniversary with the global auditor of print, screen and live media. While the media industry has experienced its share of ups and downs in that time, Hansens tenure with BPA has been highlighted by forward-thinking initiatives with an eye toward providing independent and accurate data to the marketplace.
“Ive spent 30 years endeavoring to do what BPA does best–providing truth in an ever-challenging business environment,” Hansen explained.
But as BPAs goal remains constant, the playing field is an ever-moving target. With Hansens leadership, BPA has maintained its focus in the marketplace. “[Glenn] has shown he has the vision to innovate as the media industry evolves to ensure that BPA upholds its standards and remains relevant,” said Gaye Sussman, ID Media President and current BPA Board Chairman.
Hansen joined BPA in January 1980 as an auditor in New York. He was promoted to Manager of Market Comparability Programs in August of 1982 and held a number of management positions until he was promoted to President/CEO of the global media auditor in August 1999.
He is a graduate magna cum laude of John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a BS in Planning Administration. Prior to joining BPA, Hansen served with the U.S. Customs Service. He began his career as an Assistant Director of Government Funding for the Boy Scouts of America.
New England Grocery Threatens Workers and Communities with Misguided
Advertisements for Replacement Grocery Workers
NEW ENGLAND — Thousands of grocery workers throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut — members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local
Unions 1445, 328, 371, 1459, and 919 — are bargaining with their
employer, Stop Shop, for a fair contract. But Stop Shop is taking an
adversarial and confrontational position by placing advertisements in
local papers, announcing the company is hiring temporary replacement
workers.
This tactic is unnecessary and unproductive. Stop Shop should focus
its energy into negotiating a good contract with the local workers it
already has — the same workers who have made Stop Shop the number one
supermarket in the areas in which it operates. Those workers and their
communities deserve the company’s loyalty in return, not scare tactics
that needlessly frighten workers and customers. Stop Shop can and
should do better by its workers and customers.
Nonprofit organizations seeking volunteers should submit items to Volunteering, Contra Costa Newspapers, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596 or fax 925-933-0239. Announcement forms may be obtained by calling 925-943-8235. — American Cancer Society — Drivers needed two to three hours each week from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays to transport cancer patients to treatment. Spanish-speaking drivers especially needed. Volunteers should have a valid drivers license, insurance and a good driving record. 925-754-1987. — Annas Program — A specialized program of Hospice and Palliative Care of Contra Costa, which provides support to women diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer. Volunteers are needed to provide companionship and practical assistance. Free training provided. 925-887-5678.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — People are planning to shop for deals when buying for loved ones this
Valentine’s Day. According to PayPal’s fourth annual “Can’t Buy Me Love”
survey, nearly half of shoppers plan to spend less than $50 this
Valentine’s Day, compared to 2008, when 75 percent of shoppers planned
to spend more than $50 on gifts.
Saving money is a priority for shoppers in 2010. Forty-two percent of
couples surveyed say their partner spends too much money year-round. To
help cash-strapped couples, PayPal and Bill Me Later today announced
great deals and special offers on Valentine’s
Day gifts for couples and singles. Shoppers can receive up to 25
percent off purchases from major retailers, including RedEnvelope,
Zales.com and ProFlowers
by visiting paypal.com/shopping.
“Couples are committed to saving money this year but the good news is
that there are plenty of great gifts at great prices out there,” said
Hillary Mendelsohn, online shopping expert and PayPal spokesperson.
“Invest some thoughtfulness and take advantage of great online deals –
it’s the easiest way to feel the love without breaking hearts or the
bank.”
According to the survey, money continues to be the leading cause of
arguments among couples, more than in-laws, sex and work. The 2009
survey found that 27 percent of people have experienced some sort of
significant financial change in the last year, causing more frequent
arguments related to money.
Valentine’s Day Gifts through PayPal
and Bill Me Later
Muslim civil rights group seeks confirmation of troubling new policy WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to clarify whether Islamic head scarves, or hijab, will now automatically trigger additional security measures for Muslim travelers. CAIR made that request after a Muslim woman traveler taking a flight Tuesday from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Los Angeles (LAX) reported that TSA personnel first requested that she take off her hijab, then put her through a “humiliating” public full-body pat-down search when she refused. After the pat-down, the Muslim travelers luggage, coat, shoes, laptop, and cell phone were searched and tested for bomb-making chemicals. When the traveler, a resident of Maryland, questioned TSA staff about the way she was being treated, she was allegedly told that a new policy went into effect that morning mandating that “anyone wearing a head scarf must go through this type of search.” In a letter to TSA Acting Administrator Gale D. Rossides, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in part:
LOS ANGELES — Perry Ellis International (NASDAQ:PERY) has entered into an exclusive
license agreement with Nolan Glove Company (Nolan) to manufacture,
design and distribute women’s Laundry by Shelli Segal® year-round
accessories, including: hats, caps, earmuffs, gloves, mittens, scarves
and wraps.
Headquartered in New York City, Nolan is one of the oldest glove
companies in America. Founded in 1920, the company has a heritage of
creating fashion in an industry segment that traditionally focused on
utility. “We are very excited to partner with the Nolan Glove Company
and benefit from their ninety years of experience in year-round
accessories manufacturing,” stated Oscar Feldenkreis, President Chief
Operating Officer of parent company, Perry Ellis International. “Nolan’s
head and handwear expertise ranges from the finest leather to complex
knitting, ensuring the superior quality expected by our Laundry by
Shelli Segal customer.”
Michael P. Nolan, President of Nolan Glove Company, added, “We consider
Laundry by Shelli Segal to be the most forward fashion platform in the
contemporary market today. The driving force at Nolan has been exquisite
execution of product and we have found the same aesthetic at Laundry by
Shelli Segal. It is truly an organic partnership that will reinvigorate
our market with luxurious energy.”
Launching fall 2010 in-store, Laundry by Shelli Segal year-round
accessories will be distributed to better department stores and
specialty stores. The collection will launch to the trade at the end of
January.
About Laundry by Shelli Segal®
MIDDLESBROUGH 0 CUP King Roberto Mancini saluted his makeshift Manchester Citys march into the FA Cup fourth round with their 1-0 win at Middlesbrough. Mancini, winner of 10 Italian Cups as a player and manager, joked: “It was very cold.
ATLANTA — The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding small businesses
affected by the severe storms, flooding, tornadoes and straight-line
winds that occurred between May 3-20, 2009 that March 1 is the
filing deadline for Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Small businesses and most private non-profit organizations in the
following counties are eligible to apply for SBA Economic Injury
Disaster Loans: Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Lee,
Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Wolfe in Kentucky;
Buchanan, Dickenson and Wise in Virginia; and Mingo in West
Virginia.
Loans are available up to $2 million for eligible entities that suffered
substantial economic injury from the disaster. These working capital
loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and
other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.
These loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits.
The interest rate on these loans is 4 percent, with a maximum term of 30
years. The SBA determines the amount of economic injury and the terms of
each loan based on the financial circumstances of the borrower.
Eligibility for the program is based on the size and type of business,
and its financial resources.
NEW YORK — Despite performance improvements late last year, loss frequency will
remain heightened for U.S. prime auto ABS in 2010 with unemployment
expected to remain in the 10% range for much of 2010, according to Fitch
Ratings.
After hitting record highs in 2009, U.S. prime auto loan ABS loss rates
posted improvements in the final months of last year. Prime annualized
net losses (ANL) were at 1.52% in December 2009, a 6% improvement
compared to November. On an annual basis, loss levels have improved 23%
against December 2008, supported by improving and stable used vehicle
values which drove recovery rates higher throughout most of 2009.
December posted the fourth consecutive year-over-year improvement in ANL.
Prime auto loan ABS exhibited solid rating performance in 2009, despite
declining asset performance and elevated loss levels. Fitch issued 33
rating upgrades in 2009 versus 36 in 2008. There were six prime
downgrades issued on just two transactions in 2009, virtually unchanged
compared to 2008. Stable ratings performance is attributed to several
features present in auto loan ABS including transaction loss proxies
being derived utilizing performance data from the weakest performing
vintages (2007 and 2008); and structural features including quick
amortization along with building credit enhancement levels.
Fitch expects both delinquency and losses to improve in the first
quarter of 2010 driven solely by seasonal patterns. Workers getting
back to work from the holidays, bonuses, and also tax refunds and
rebates all aid consumers during the first few months of the year, said
Senior Director Hylton Heard.
Fitch believes that loss severity will be less of a factor in 2010, as
the new and used vehicle markets adjusted capacity by severely cutting
production levels and thus reducing supply into the used vehicle market.
Risks that could drive loss severity higher in 2010 include weakness at
the manufacturer level, which would then affect brand values and
ultimately depress recovery rates on defaulted loans.
Net loss available to common shareholders of $0.34 per share for
fourth quarter
Non-performing assets ended the quarter at 2.38% of total assets
Deposits increased $225 million, or 3%, during fourth quarter, and
13% for full year
Non-interest bearing demand deposits increased 5% during fourth
quarter, 12% for full year
Reduction in loans past due 30-89 days of 10% during fourth quarter,
30% for full year
Enough Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza and Stuffed Pizza to feed 30,000
servicemen and women, provided at-cost by The Original Gino’s East of
Chicago and Edwardo’s Natural Pizza, along with 7,000 bottles of high
protein Honey Milk and 500 footballs from America’s Dairy Farmers, will
leave Chicago, Ill. on January 29th, headed for several bases
throughout Iraq in time for Super Bowl events.
“As a retired member of the military, I appreciate the support of my
local community and patriots across the country who have donated to this
cause and help us bring reminders of home to our U.S. troops stationed
thousands of miles away,” said Ret. MSgt. Mark Evans. “The reactions
that we continue to get for this effort from families, friends of the
military and the troops themselves are always heartfelt and encouraging.”
In addition to the global delivery, Evans will be distributing pizzas
from local vendors to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC;
Audie Murphy Veterans Memorial Hospital as well as other VA
hospitals around the country.
“As the specialists in international shipping, DHL Express is pleased to
continue our partnership with “Pizzas 4 Patriots” and leverage our
global network to transport these care packages that lift the spirits of
our servicemen and women,” said Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S.”
SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of retailers, manufacturers and just- plain outdoor geeks milled around the Salt Palace Convention Center floor last weekend looking at the latest and greatest outdoor gear and ideas. An economic impact of millions of dollars was felt in the Salt Lake area, and trends for the 2010-11 winter outdoor season were set in motion. Keeping with that spirit, the Outdoor Retailer trade show, for the fourth time, invited a handful of college students to participate in a 48-hour design competition to help create the next wave of innovation on the clothing rack for the active outdoorsperson. And this years competition had the designers focused on the “on- the-go female outdoor enthusiast on any adventure from the mountain to a dinner appointment.”
This report covers the market for spirits in the Peoples Republic of
China. The report covers all alcoholic spirits (including traditional
Chinese white spirits, rice “yellow” wine and imported spirits):
The Chinese spirits market is large but is facing the threat from
consumers shifting allegiance over to beer and wine, largely thanks to
consumers becoming more aware of health issues concerned with
consumption of strong spirits. However, the market still supports some
large companies, competing for an increasingly high-end market. The
market is also competitive with over 1,100 Chinese spirit producers
competing for the custom of increasingly sophisticated alcoholic drinks
consumers.
NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings takes the following rating action on Roanoke County,
Virginia as part of its continuous surveillance effort:
–Approximately $14.6 million general obligation (GO) bonds affirmed at
AA;
–Approximately $57.9 million Economic Development Authority of the
County of Roanoke (EDA) lease revenue bonds (public facility projects)
series 2008 affirmed at AA-.
IWATCH sounds like a sleek new timepiece designed by Apple, but its actually a campaign, launched nationwide in October, urging citizens to report each others suspicious activities. Former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and city police Commander Joan McNamara have teamed up to bring mutual surveillance to 63 cities across North America in what Bratton calls “the 21st-century version of neighborhood watch.” What sorts of suspicious behavior are you supposed to report to the iWatch websites? The program mentions people drawing buildings, wearing clothes that are too big, or otherwise engaging in activities that, in the words of the American Civil Liberties Union, “could be innocuous.” In Los Angeles, a viral video of actors playing concerned citizens focuses on discouraging critical thinking: Instead of recommending careful consideration of a potential danger, a chubby nerd in the online video urges you to “let law enforcement determine if its a threat,” while a skinny, sensitive guy insists that we “let the experts decide.”
Office Liquidators, Colorados largest
provider of new, used and refurbished office furniture, today announced the
details of its plans to donate $35,000 worth of furniture and related
services for Denver-area, non-profit organizations.
Nominees will be judged on the basis of their devotion to ethical business
practices in pursuit of the non-profits mission, on the positive influence
the organization has made on the community, and on the organizations need
for efficient office space. Winners will be determined by public vote and a
panel of judges including Former Colorado First Lady Frances Owens, KCNC-TV
news anchor Jim Benemann, Denver Post business columnist Penny Parker,
Gensler Principal Linda Nelson and Colorado Business Bank President Andy
Bacon.
“So many charitable organizations are doing so much with so little in this
economy, Office Liquidators is eager to help advance their good causes,”
said Dennis Meyer, CEO and founder of Office Liquidators. “Our goal is to
provide the office settings that will make these organizations more
productive, and we anticipate that the Office Liquidators Office Makeover
will become an annual event.”
Office Liquidators and contest co-sponsors The HON Company and Allsteel Inc.
encourage any Denver-area 501(c)3 organization to direct its members,
volunteers, donors, patrons, staff, etc. to go to the Office Liquidators
website and complete the nomination form. Anyone with knowledge of the
organizations good works is eligible to make the nomination, beginning
tomorrow.
Bonnie Shiner Bonnie Jewel Atkin Shiner, 81, passed away January 23, 2010 in Richfield, Utah.She was born June 7, 1928 in Salina, Utah to Ralph Sharon and Trilba Allen Atkin. She married Dee Shiner, they later divorced. She is survived by: grand-daughters, Laurie (Warren “Buddy”) Wynn, South Jordan; Michelle (Matt) Graves, Matthews, NC; three great-grandchildren: Emma and Ellie Wynn, Zach Graves; sister: Mignon Payne, West Valley; sister-in-law: Martha Atkin, Torrance, CA; many nieces and nephews.
“The service we offer is completely unique in that clients get all
the benefits of hiring a traditional decorator, but without the hassles
of scheduling appointments, driving around the city for samples, and
dealing with high-pressure commission salespeople,” says Sasha
Stricker, President and Creative Director of DecorateITOnline. “For
less than the price of one poorly chosen accessory, we offer
professional guidance and custom design solutions specifically targeted
to our clients tastes and needs.”
Users simply upload photos and measurements of the room they would like
to decorate, and complete a brief questionnaire (known as the StyleFinder
Guide) to indicate their style, color, and lifestyle preferences. In
about a week, clients receive a detailed custom design Portfolio
outlining the decorator’s recommendations for color, space planning,
furniture, accessories, and lighting along with explanations, tips, and
a detailed shopping list.
Clients also have the option to choose a premium 3D package,
which also features computer-generated 3-dimensional renderings of their
room, complete with all the recommended changes, as well as a video
presentation and a virtual tour of the finished room. “Our 3D
portfolios are an ideal option for people who haven’t had a lot of
decorating experience, or for those that might be reluctant to start a
new project without being able to see the final product,” says
Stricker.
PHOENIX, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ — Anthem College in Phoenix will begin offering three new degree programs, with a class start set for Feb. 1, 2010 for all programs. Anthem College Phoenix will launch new Associate of Science degree programs in Paralegal, Accounting Technology and Business Management. The Associate of Science degree program in Paralegal is designed to develop qualified paralegals who have a fundamental understanding of the legal system and are eager to meet the growing needs of the legal field and competent in assisting legal professionals in delivering quality legal services. Students are exposed to civil law and litigation, criminal law and adversarial process, family law and property, transactional law, business law, estate planning and probate, administrative law and alternate dispute resolution. Employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 22 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008-2009 Occupational Outlook Handbook. The Associate of Science degree program in Accounting Technology is designed to prepare students with a solid foundation of accounting knowledge and technological skills so that they can seek entry-level employment in the accounting industry. The Accounting Technology program is built upon a solid set of core accounting courses that provide the competencies needed for graduates to be successful at the entry level. Graduates from the Associates program are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as: Bookkeeper, Accounts Receivable/Payable, Inventory Analyst, Payroll Specialist, Collection Specialist, Sales Analyst, and Tax Associate.
QUINCY, Mass. — MerlinOne is pleased to offer the legal industry an electronic discovery
solution with a new pricing model that eliminates per GB charges and
user fees.
The MerlinOne system
is so versatile and powerful that lawyers and paralegals can use it for
early case assessment, e-discovery processing and the organization and
management of millions of documents, e-mails, transcripts, photos,
graphics, voicemails, and deposition videos. MerlinOne is available as
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or an in-house solution.
MerlinOne’s easy-to-navigate web interface allows users with just a few
clicks to de-dupe an entire case, view emails by threads and mark
relevancy and rank. Searching through millions of documents takes just
seconds to find witnesses, entities, topic keywords or email addressees.
Speech-to-text recognition allows you to search depositions or voicemail
messages and automatically cues up the video or audio file Merlin
locates right to the location of the spoken phrase. Merlin saves you
time and lets you review multimedia documents simply and efficiently.
MerlinOne customer Dave Tiller, partner at Studeo Legal, comments.
“Studeo Legal’s experience with MerlinOne has been, as our law firm
client stated: “off the charts positive!”. We discovered MerlinOne in
early 2009 and knew we found a well-kept secret for our clients. From a
unique and low cost pricing structure, to the powerful hosting,
processing and review system, MerlinOne provided Studeo Legal a flexible
solution for our legal clients. The project management and support has
been outstanding. We are looking forward to adding many new cases in
2010 and beyond.”
She was a successful physician held in high esteem by colleagues and patients alike, but as a victim of domestic violence, Nicki felt her life was hopeless. When she died almost a decade ago, more than 1,000 people attended her wake. Nickis memory lives on through Volunteer Legal Services Projects Nickis Hope Legal Clinic. Each month, staff attorney Mary Beth Conway, assisted by pro bono attorneys and paralegals, conducts the clinic at Alternatives for Battered Women. The myriad legal and financial issues that can arise as a result of domestic violence are addressed. Women attending the clinic can ask questions and consult with Conway and the VLSP volunteers. Full case referrals to pro bono attorneys are available for divorce, tax and debt issues, among others. Nickis Hope Legal Clinic strives to increase the physical safety of victims of domestic violence as well as their economic empowerment and financial literacy. Those goals are shared by the Allstate Foundation, which recently awarded VLSP a $25,000 grant though its Economics Against Abuse Program, ensuring the clinics existence for the coming year. “At Allstate, we protect people from lifes uncertainties and prepare them for the future. Our research indicated that there was a significant gap in financial empowerment programming for victims of domestic violence,” Allstate Foundation Representative Kelly Costanza explained recently.
Results for Our Community Will Require Strong Leadership by the
White House and Congress
WASHINGTON — The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
(NALEO) issued the following statement following Wednesday’s State of
the Union Address by President Barack Obama:
“We appreciate that President Obama is committed to addressing the needs
of American families as they face the worse economic downturn in recent
history. Latinos have been disproportionately affected by job loss and
home foreclosures and deserve the opportunity to take care of their
families. It is our hope that as President Obama develops policies aimed
at strengthening America’s working families, he also fulfills the clear
and unequivocal commitment he made during his campaign to fix our
nation’s broken immigration system.
During his address, President Obama talked about the “ideals’ and values
that allowed us to forge a nation of immigrants.” The leadership of this
nation is failing to address this pressing need. We call upon President
Obama and Congress to act swiftly to enact fair and comprehensive
immigration reform that provides a path to U.S. citizenship for law
abiding, tax-paying newcomers. NALEO has adopted principles on comprehensive
immigration reform that provide a road map to the work that needs to
be done on this important national issue; we urge the President and
Congress to use them as a guide for making the critical changes that are
needed in our immigration policy.
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — ZOLL Medical Corporation (NasdaqGS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of medical
devices and related software solutions, announced today that HealthTrust
Purchasing Group, LP (HealthTrust), a leading healthcare group
purchasing organization (GPO), has entered into a purchasing agreement
with ZOLL for its therapeutic temperature management equipment.
Under the terms of the agreement, HealthTrust members will be able to
purchase ZOLL’s intravascular temperature management (IVTM™)
system, which includes the Thermogard XP® temperature
management console and a family of cooling/warming catheters
with triple lumen central venous capability.
“We are extremely pleased that this large group purchasing organization,
which has very high member commitment to buying products under its
contracts, recognizes the advantages of our IVTM solution, and is
offering its members the opportunity to incorporate this technology to
improve the treatment of critical care patients,” said Richard A.
Packer, Chairman and CEO of ZOLL.
Today, major medical societies recommend temperature management as the
standard of care treatment for many critically ill or surgical patients.
IVTM provides cooling and warming from a catheter inserted into the
patient’s vein. This provides better control of the core body
temperature by direct cooling or warming the patient’s blood as it
circulates through the body. Since it is efficient, precise and easy to
use, IVTM frees up nursing time.
IVTM provides a variety of catheter options depending upon the specific
patient needs. It is ideally suited for the temperature management of
fever, intracranial pressure control and induced hypothermia. IVTM is
also effective for therapeutic warming as required in treating trauma,
burns, perioperative procedures and accidental hypothermia.
Additionally, recent publications have described cost reductions for
hospital systems, based upon the reduced length of stay in the ICU with
the implementation of aggressive fever management protocols.
McCormick Helps Make Food Fun and Flavorful with Cupid’s Cuisine for
the Entire Family
HUNT VALLEY, Md. — A red letter day, sometimes called a “scarlet day,” is any day of
special significance. This year, Valentine’s Day happens to fall on a
Sunday, and what better way to celebrate than with a special “Red Letter
Day” menu – filled with fun and flavorful McCormick recipes and tips for
the entire family. From a colorful twist on a breakfast favorite to a
signature red velvet cake for dessert, McCormick has created treats to
start and end your “Red Letter Day.”
“Sure, Valentine’s Day is about love and romance, but why not make it
about fun and food too,” says Mary Beth Harrington, Senior Culinary
Specialist, McCormick Kitchens. “Infusing the signature color of the day
– red – into baking and activities is a great way to bring everyone
together to celebrate.”
Jump start your day of red with a hearty and warm family breakfast by
serving up “Love Bug” Cinnamon Pancakes spiced up with the
flavors of cinnamon and vanilla, topped with red strawberries or
raspberries and a sprinkle of red colored sugar or coconut.
Cinnamon-spiked Hot Cocoa with Red Sugar-Crusted Marshmallows is
the perfect way to share a heart-warming moment with everyone in the
family. Say ”I love you” for dessert with rich and delicious Red
Velvet Cupcakes, and get the kids involved by personalizing each one
with a special love note.
McCormick offers these Valentine’s Day tips…from Cupid himself:
Hall of Fame deadline today Today is the deadline for nominations to the Alameda County Womens Hall of Fame Nominations are being accepted for outstanding women in 11 categories: business and professions; community service; culture and art; education; environment; health; justice; nontraditional careers; science; sports and athletics; and youth. The program raises money for local charities addressing womens health issues.
According to a new survey by photo cards and thank you cards
retailer Cardstore.com and Kelton Research, over a third of women (37%)
appreciate Valentines Day cards with a love note more than a romantic
date, flowers or candy — meaning guys, your wallets can breathe a big sigh
of relief. In fact, even a third of men (31%) would prefer a greeting card
with a love note over a dinner date, proving that many mens hearts are not
in their stomachs.
Below are a few tips from Cardstore.com about how to pick the perfect card
and write something to make the one you love smile on the big day.
– Get Some Style: Dont try to be something youre not. If red roses and
soft lighting are not your thing, then dont be afraid to go for something
more contemporary and fun, like a playful design or photo card. As a woman,
its also important to note that your other half may also not have the same
tastes as you, as in, pink may not be his favorite color. Try finding a
masculine design that could go over better.
– Keep it Short and From the Heart: Youre not writing a novel. A
paragraph or two about how awesome he/she is will go over better than pages
of vague rambling about soft hair in the moonlight. Also, dont even dream
of typing “love letter” into Google and copying Elizabeth Barretts words
to Robert Browning. Fill your love letter with the genuine, warm feelings
that matter to you — its the little things that matter the most.
– Practice Makes Perfect: Plan out what you want to say in an outline
before you sit down to write. Once you have a solid idea or draft, sleep on
it, let it percolate, then make your edits in the morning. Love letters
should never be written in haste.
Enables 51-Year Old Man to Breathe Without Ventilator
SHREWSBURY, N.J. — The Plastic Surgery Center today announced that in a highly rare
procedure for spinal cord injuries, a New Jersey medical team led by Dr.
Matthew Kaufman enabled a 51-year-old man to breathe on his own –
without a ventilator – for the first time since becoming paralyzed.
The multi-process procedure, which was performed on Edward Silcox of
Langhorne, PA, was completed on Friday, January 22 at Somerset Medical
Center. At that time, Dr. Kaufman activated a diaphragm pacemaker, which
allowed Mr. Silcox to immediately breathe on his own. The procedure is
also intended to improve Mr. Silcox’s speech, his ability to eat and
will lower infection rates in his lungs.
“We are thrilled with Edward’s successful outcome, and the significant
opportunity it represents for the thousands of people who suffer spinal
cord injuries every year,” said Dr. Kaufman, who is currently the only
surgeon in New Jersey to perform this procedure. “In addition to
improved quality of life, eliminating the ventilator significantly
reduces the risk of lung infection, which is a leading cause of death in
spinal cord injuries.”
Friday’s procedure followed an initial surgery on December 29, also at
Somerset Medical Center, where Dr. Kaufman and his team performed a
microsurgical decompression of the phrenic nerve and implanted the
pacemaker. Through rehabilitation, Mr. Silcox will continuously be
weaned off the respirator in order to replace his dependency on the
ventilator. Mr. Silcox was paralyzed from the neck down as a result of a
motorcycle accident in 2008.
KIKA Clinical
Solutions announced record-breaking growth in 2009, with service
bookings up by 97% over 2008. KIKA is the leading provider of advanced EDC solutions for Clinical Asset Management
for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device markets.
KIKA was awarded 28 new trials from new and existing customers in
therapeutic areas including electrophysiology, interventional cardiology,
cardiovascular; interventional radiology; neuroradiology; oncology;
orthopedics; thoracic/vascular surgery; and, urology. Significantly, 57% of
bookings came from existing customers who have used KIKAs EDC system
successfully on previous trials.
KIKA CEO Linda Beneze said, “Our tremendous growth in 2009 was based on a
number of factors. Existing customers conducted multiple clinical trials
with Veracity because it delivers a reliable, advanced EDC
solution with extremely robust reporting tools enabling sponsors to track
the progress of their trial like no other solution on the market.
Additionally, our online adjudication capabilities continue to
differentiate KIKA from others in the market. With the ability to have
images imbedded into the patient record, CEC members can efficiently make
decisions about the cause of adverse events.”
Additional 2009 KIKA highlights included:
Veracity 3.7, New Version of Advanced EDC Solution for Clinical Trial
Management
NEW YORK — On Thursday, January 28, 2010, the Board of Directors of Dreyfus
Strategic Municipals, Inc. (NYSE: LEO) declared from net investment
income a monthly cash dividend of $0.049 per share of common stock,
payable on February 26, 2010, to shareholders of record at the close of
business on February 12, 2010. The ex-dividend date is February 10,
2010. The previous dividend declared in December was $0.049 per share of
common stock.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Chattem, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) announced that, pursuant to the terms of
the indentures (the “Indentures”) governing its 2.00% convertible senior
notes due 2013 and 1.625% convertible senior notes due 2014
(collectively, the “Notes”), it anticipates that a Fundamental Change
(as such term is defined in the respective Indentures) may occur on or
after February 9, 2010 (the “Fundamental Change”) as a result of the
proposed transactions contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger,
dated December 20, 2009 (the “Merger Agreement”), among Chattem,
sanofi-aventis, a French société anonyme (”sanofi”), and River
Acquisition Corp., a Tennessee corporation and an indirect wholly-owned
subsidiary of sanofi (”Merger Sub”).
As previously announced, on January 11, 2010, Merger Sub commenced a
tender offer (the “Offer”) for all outstanding shares of common stock of
Chattem (including the associated preferred stock purchase rights) (the
“Common Stock”) at a purchase price of $93.50 net per share in cash,
without interest and subject to any required withholding taxes. The
Offer is scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on
February 8, 2010, unless extended. The consummation of the Offer is
conditioned on the tender of a majority of shares of Common Stock on a
fully-diluted basis (as defined in the Merger Agreement), as well as the
receipt of certain customary closing conditions.
Following the successful consummation of the Offer, Merger Sub is
expected to merge with and into Chattem (the “Merger”), and the
outstanding shares of Common Stock not tendered in the Offer will be
converted into the right to receive $93.50 net per share in cash,
without interest and subject to any required withholding taxes, as paid
in the Offer.
Chattem anticipates that the Fundamental Change will occur on the date
that Merger Sub accepts shares of Common Stock for payment pursuant to
the Offer (the “Fundamental Change Effective Date”), which is expected
to occur on or after February 9, 2010. Pursuant to the Indentures, the
holders of the Notes have the right to convert their Notes according to
the terms of the Indentures at any time before the close of business on
the business day immediately preceding the 45th day after the
Fundamental Change Effective Date. Each of the Offer and Merger is
subject to certain closing conditions and there can be no assurance that
the Offer or the Merger will be consummated on the expected dates, or at
all.
Chattem has specified a Cash Percentage (as such term is defined in the
respective Indentures) of 100% to be in effect for any conversion
occurring in connection with the Fundamental Change until such time as
Chattem provides notice of retraction of such election, to the extent
permitted by the Indentures. Therefore, unless and until Chattem
provides notice of retraction of the Cash Percentage election, holders
of the Notes who choose to convert their Notes will receive only cash
upon conversion.
American Manganese Inc. (formerly: Rocher Deboule Minerals Corp.) (TSX VENTURE: AMY)(PINK SHEETS: AMYZF) (the “Company”) wishes to clarify its previous news release dated January 25, 2010.
The Company is raising by way of non-brokered private placement, up to $1,000,000 through the issuance of up to 5,000,000 units (”Units”) at a price of $0.20 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (a “Share”) and one-half of a share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.30 for two years from the date of issue.
This private placement could be subject to finders fees which will be paid in accordance with TSX-Venture Exchange policies and is subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.
American Manganese Inc. is a diversified exploration and development company focusing its attention on mineral properties and commodities used in the steel manufacturing industry.
ANYONE WHO HAS expended energy arguing for free trade, market competition, and the open exchange of ideas has repeatedly encountered the same obstacle: zero-sum assumptions misapplied to dynamic, nonlinear phenomena. Almost anywhere you see statism advancing–in economic policy, national security, even the basic conditions for free speech–you can bet that underneath theres a faulty zero-sum argument. All complicated matters of life, according to this way of thinking, can be reduced to a simple binary scale: Press your thumb down on the bad end, and the good one will go up. So when President Barack Obama slaps a 35 percent tariff on Chinese tires, as he did on September 11, he does it in the name of ensuring that (as he put it in a campaign promise) “China is no longer given a free pass to undermine U.S. workers.” In this yin-yang formulation, there is a single pie of domestic American tire consumption, and Chinas slice is growing bigger at the expense of domestic producers. Forget the over-all U.S. economy, with its 99.9 percent non-tire-industry workers (and its government-owned, money-hemorrhaging auto companies), all of whom are happy to take advantage of cheaper tire prices. And forget a once-starving country that has catapulted more human beings out of poverty within a generation than any nation in the history of the world. Most of all, forget the famous formulation by Adam Smith, dating back to the Declaration of Independence: “If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry employed in a way in which we have some advantage.” You might have thought that the New Democrats routed those zero-sum arguments years ago, perhaps when then-Vice President Al Gore eviscerated Ross Perot while debating the North American Free Trade Agreement on Larry King Live. But Old Democrat economics made a rousing and depressing comeback during the 2006 congressional elections, to the point where Hillary Clinton felt the need to actively campaign against the policies (including NAFTA) of her husband. Ideas long marginalized to the Ralph Nader slice of the left are back in vogue in the mainstream, and everywhere you look you see a pie. “The truth is,” first lady Michelle Obama said in April 2009, “in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.”
The Texas Business Leader Brings Forty Years of Successful
Entrepreneurial Stewardship, Data Mining Development and Mapping
Expertise to Cartifact’s Growing Location-Based System Design and
Application Businesses
LOS ANGELES — Cartifact announced today that J. Fred Baca has joined the executive
team of Cartifact as CEO. Mr. Baca’s leadership, management and
marketing skills will provide a solid basis for Cartifact’s accelerated
development as a major player in the areas of web and mobile mapping,
worldwide.
“I am thrilled to welcome Fred to our diverse and talented team,” says
Graham Marriott, President of Cartifact. “Fred’s depth of knowledge in
the fields of data mining and cartography will be a vital ingredient in
our growth and expansion into new markets.”
Prior to joining Cartifact, Baca was President of Colliers International
in Houston, Texas (2001 – 2009). Within 8 years, under Baca’s
leadership, the company grew fourfold in revenue; more than doubled its
size to include over 40 brokers and emerged as a dominant
multidiscipline commercial brokerage house in the highly competitive
Houston market.
In the 1990s Mr. Baca, as Baca Landata, a co venture with Houston based
Stewart Title Company, purchased both the Wilson Maps and Zingerey Map
Company, making Baca the sole provider of Houston parcel and ownership
mapping services. Baca Landata developed the first Internet “smart” map
of The Greater Houston Area and the first Internet distributed GIS
mapping product for the Harris County Appraisal District. Baca Landata
also created the first public record back end to the MLS system allowing
Houston area Realtors to instantly research over 2.5 million properties
via their proprietary listing tool.
First the RACs, now wait for whats coming next Medicaid, commercial insurers starting their audits By the end of the year, its likely that every type of medical record in your hospital will be scrutinized by one auditor or another, predicts Brian Flood, managing director for KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfares Bureau of Program Integrity has been auditing fee-for-service Medicaid claims for the past three years, using one of the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) contractors for the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) demonstration project, reports Charleeda Redman, RN, MSN, ACM, director of corporate case management for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, an integrated health system with 20 acute care hospitals.
Tonight, LIVESTRONG released the following
statement from its President and CEO Doug Ulman, a three-time cancer
survivor, regarding President Barack Obamas State of the Union address:
“Tonight, President Obama renewed the drive for comprehensive health care
reform, calling for a reexamination of the plan on the table but opening
the door for other options.”
“The cancer community doesnt care about the method, whether its piece by
piece or in an omnibus bill. What we care about is change that creates
affordable care and an end to unethical practices by insurers that wreak
havoc on our lives.”
“The President made clear that hes heard our call for reform and will
continue to make a just, affordable system a priority.”
Follow-up calls help avoid readmissions In an effort to improve transitions of care, the nurse care coordinators at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston make follow-up calls to patients who have been discharged, identify problems and solve them, and answer questions the patients may have about medication, symptoms, or their discharge plan. The hospital has an average of 53,693 discharges and 59,323 emergency department visits each year and had a 30-day readmission rate of 8.79% for medical-surgical patients in 2009.
Nurses improve medication administration accuracy The study involved the implementation of the Integrated Nurse Leadership Program (INLP), which provides frontline nurses and other hospital staff with training, resources, and authority to devise and implement solutions. In addition to showing the importance of empowering frontline nurses, the most significant finding of the study is that “significant improvement in outcomes can be accomplished without very expensive fixes,” says Julie Kliger, MPA, BSN, RN, INLP creator and program director at the Center for the Health Professions, University of California, San Francisco; principal and founder of The Altos Group; and lead author of the article. “Thats important because there are a lot of financial and resource pressures today, and people sometimes think they need to spend millions for bar-coding; this demonstrates through almost old-fashioned QI and engaging the people who are doing the work and providing them with tools, skills, and resources, that they can make statistically significant improvement.”
LOS ANGELES — Transformational Development Agency (TDA) has immediately deployed a
medical team of 40 doctors, surgeons, nurses, EMTs and other medical
experts from Los Angeles to Haiti to help fill the medical need within
the earthquake devastated country. TDA, an international
non-governmental/non-profit agency committed to bring and empower change
globally, quickly responded and developed its “Hope For Haiti” campaign.
“The need is overwhelming, and the scenes of devastation are
unimaginable. The people of Haiti are so grateful for any help, and
their resilience is amazing in the face of such tragedy,” said team
leader Rikki Alakija. “We have already heard and witnessed scenes of
hope and stories of reconciliation. Our commitment at TDA is for the
long haul. We are privileged to be able to respond in their time of
need,” he continued.
The team of phase one arrived in Haiti on January 24, 2010, and is
currently working in Port-au-Prince, setting up makeshift medical
clinics in the tent cities crafted from bedsheets and wooden sticks, and
performing urgent medical procedures on patients suffering from
injuries, including spinal cord injuries, pelvic fractures, and skull
fractures, and hunger, stomach illnesses and dehydration. While some
team members perform medical work and distribute medicines, other TDA
members are sharing compassion and giving love wherever it is needed.
Yesterday the team was posted at the Christian Light Ministry’s “Broken
House” orphanage and saw over 100 patients.
“We have seen some serious injuries and infections that could have been
avoided had there been hospitals standing with medical staffing. One boy
I saw yesterday had a serious gash on the back of his head that was
getting badly infected and needed immediate attention. I am glad we were
here to make certain he was given proper medical care,” said Jolie
Pfahler, MD, an ER doctor from St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica and
member of TDA’s phase one team.
Today the team is setting up multiple clinics in village outskirts and
in downtown Port-au-Prince, the capital and epicenter of the January 12th
earthquake that killed an estimated 150,000 people. New Life Children’s
home has generously given the TDA team a “home base” to set up its own
“tent city” as it works to bring some relief to many devastated people.
One team was able to reunite a Haitian-born young man with his family
who he had not seen since before the earthquake.
Despite yesterdays powerful aftershock, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION continue to make progress on the ground. Aid operations are taking place on an ongoing basis and reaching thousands of Haitians.
Todays updates from the HUMANITARIAN COALITION include:
- 16.5 tons of drugs and medical supplies were provided to health technicians in Leogane and to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.
- 40 tonnes of aid materials delivered; another 50 tonnes expected on Friday
- Emergency Response team members were issued local cell phones
The government of Riverside County, California, has paid Salvador Pina, a retired sheriffs deputy, $125,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit. Pina claimed sheriffs deputies illegally beat and detained him at his home, even after former colleagues recognized him and a sheriffs technician told them they were at the wrong address.
Medefis, Inc., one of the nations
largest providers of end-to-end workforce solutions, announced today that
it has signed an exclusive vendor management services agreement with
Genesis Rehab Services (GRS), a leader in the long-term care rehabilitation
industry.
GRS is a patient-centric, rehabilitation services organization serving over
800 skilled nursing centers, assisted living facilities, hospitals, home
health companies, adult day care programs, and outpatient clinics
throughout the United States.
“The demand for rehabilitation professionals needed to meet the challenges
of todays patient care environment continues to increase exponentially,”
said Jill Noto, Sr. Director of GRS. “After conducting a lengthy and
in-depth review of the market offerings for workforce solutions, we are
pleased to exclusively engage Medefis to provide GRS with its customized
technology offering. Streamlining our staffing with Medefis allows us to
focus on what we do best — providing the highest quality care to our
patients.”
Medefiss web-based vendor management platform will enable GRS to
effortlessly manage their internal and external labor utilization. GRS will
also benefit from Medefiss easy to use, online technology solution, which
will provide GRS with an unmatched control over their staffing process.
“We have tremendous respect for GRS and their rich tradition of providing
quality and compassionate care to the elderly population, and are very
excited to begin our partnership,” stated Eric Christenson, Vice President
of Operations and co-founder of Medefis. “Managing multiple staffing
vendors is a time consuming process that often causes financial strains for
healthcare organizations. Medefis will provide GRS with the necessary tools
to successfully manage the staffing process and in turn drive quality
patient care.”
Sun Healthcare Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNH) today
announced that Richard K. Matros, the companys chairman and chief
executive officer, and L. Bryan Shaul, the companys chief financial
officer, will present at the UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference on
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern, 11:30 a.m. Pacific. The
conference is being held at the Grand Hyatt New York, Park Avenue at Grand
Central, New York City.
Sun Healthcare Group, Inc.s (NASDAQ: SUNH) subsidiaries provide nursing,
rehabilitative and related specialty healthcare services principally to the
senior population in the United States. Our core business is providing
inpatient services, primarily through 183 skilled nursing centers, 14
assisted and independent living centers and eight mental health centers. On
a consolidated basis, Sun has annual revenues of more than $1.8 billion and
approximately 30,000 employees in 46 states. At Nov. 30, 2009, SunBridge
centers had 23,205 licensed beds located in 25 states, of which 22,423 were
available for occupancy. We also provide rehabilitation therapy services to
affiliated and non-affiliated centers through our SunDance subsidiary,
medical staffing services through our CareerStaff Unlimited subsidiary and
hospice services through our SolAmor subsidiary.
Kaiser/VA/DoD partnership piloting a nationwide EHR network Early testing encouraging; improvements in quality anticipated “The ability to share critical health information is essential to interoperability,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki in announcing the program. “Utilizing the NHINs standards and network will allow organizations like VA and the Department of Defense to partner with private-sector health care providers to promote better, faster, and safer care for veterans.” The pilot program currently connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VAs electronic health record system, VistA, two of the largest electronic health record systems in the country. The DoDs ALTA system will be linked to the other two shortly.
Kaiser/VA/DoD partnership piloting a nationwide EHR network Early testing encouraging; improvements in quality anticipated “The ability to share critical health information is essential to interoperability,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki in announcing the program. “Utilizing the NHINs standards and network will allow organizations like VA and the Department of Defense to partner with private-sector health care providers to promote better, faster, and safer care for veterans.” The pilot program currently connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VAs electronic health record system, VistA, two of the largest electronic health record systems in the country. The DoDs ALTA system will be linked to the other two shortly.
Organizations will leverage actual real-estate utilization, workplace
business intelligence, alternative workspace, video conferencing, and
SaaS for accelerated cost savings and ROI
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — PeopleCube, provider of intelligent workplace management technology,
today foretold five business trends that it believes will emerge—or
continue to gain ground—in 2010. These include capturing actual
utilization of space to better understand corporate real-estate
requirements, leveraging workplace
business intelligence to gain insight into current and future space
needs, implementing alternative
workspace programs for economic and environmental benefits,
leveraging video
conferencing to facilitate collaboration while minimizing costs and
energy usage, and continuing adoption of the software-as-a-service
(SaaS) delivery model for quicker ROI with less risk.
Executives with responsibility for overseeing corporate real estate can
save their companies thousands, sometimes even millions, of dollars by
managing their real estate portfolio efficiently. The key to pulling
this off is to know how space is actually being used.
Momentum and Growth Continue for Real Living as Phoenix-Area Firm Is
Second in as Many Weeks to Join This Innovative Franchisor
“Real Living is a national real estate company known for being
innovative and forward thinking,” said Pam Rankin, broker/owner of Real
Living Premier Partners. “The industry is looking for a company to step
up, be unique and be a leader — we’re extremely happy to be a part of
Real Living’s national growth.”
Rankin said, “Our Canadian clients are especially happy that we are now
part of Real Living, an affiliate of Brookfield Residential Property
Services which is also the parent company to Royal LePage, one of
Canada’s largest real estate franchisors.”
Studies show decrease in senior care continuity If the discharge planning communitys ideal is to begin the discharge process at the door, when patients are admitted to the hospital, then community provider input is necessary for a smooth care transition. But care continuity has been low, and its decreasing for older adults, recent studies show..sup.1,2
THE GREEN BIBLE misses an opportunity to extol Noahs embrace of mass transit over less environmentally friendly modes of disaster evacuation, but it does highlight the parts of the Good Book “that speak to Gods care for creation” in a verdant shade of soy-based ink. In Bible Illuminated: The Book, the Holy Scriptures are paired with glossy photographs of Angelina Jolie, Al Gore, and Bono, among others, and supplemented with a section inspired by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals project, titled “Eight Ways to Change the World.” Naturally, such efforts to present the Bible in progressive contexts have not gone unnoticed by more right-leaning believers. Claiming that “liberal bias has become the single biggest distortion in modern Bible translations,” Andrew Schlafly, the fourth begotten son of Phyllis, launched the Conservative Bible Project in August 2009. An online collaborative effort, the project aims to produce “a fully conservative translation of the Bible” that will avoid gender-inclusive language, favor conciseness over “liberal wordiness,” use “conservative” terms like volunteer rather than comrade, and render “the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning.” Whatever concise, narrowly gendered language Schlafly and his comrades, er, volunteers conjure to illuminate the free-market meaning of, say, the Parable of the Vineyard Consultants (Matthew 20:1-15), theyll be hard-pressed to match the pedagogic power of the story of the Bible publishing industry itself. It wasnt always this way. In the 16th century, when William Tyndale translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English, thereby unlocking the Word of God to the common man, he was rewarded for his efforts by being burned at the stake. So were most of the copies of his translation. In colonial times, it was illegal to print Bibles in North America; only certain printers in England and Scotland were authorized to publish the holy book. During the Revolution those imports stopped, creating, according to The Centennial History of the American Bible Society, a “famine of Bibles.” So in 1782 the Philadelphia printer Roger Aitken printed 10,000 copies of Americas first complete English Bible. The book came with a congressional endorsement, but when the war ended, cheap imports resumed, domestic competition exploded, and thousands of copies of the Aitken Bible failed to sell. In 1791, he wrote a letter to Pennsylvanias tax man stating that hed lost $4,000 on the venture.
SUPPORTERS OF health care reform need money–a lot of money–to pay for it. So its not surprising that they would try to get it from the people with the most money to spare. Hence the so-called millionaires tax, a levy embedded in the House health care bill. As the noted philanthropist (with other peoples money) and House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), explained, lawmakers are targeting big earners because it “causes the least amount of pain on the least amount of people.” Thats the theory, anyway. In fact, the millionaires tax is a good example of how poorly some politicians understand the policies they propose. At press time, the Senate was still debating the bills details. But the health care bill that the House narrowly approved in November included a 5.4 percent tax on the portion of gross income (which includes capital gains and dividends) that exceeds $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for a couple. The surtax would apply to tax years that begin after December 31, 2010. So the first sign that the tax will hit more than millionaires is the fact that it targets half-millionaires from the get-go. The ideas main selling point is that the increase would hit only 0.3 percent of tax fliers–roughly 400,000 people–yet would raise $460.5 billion over the next 10 years. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the new rate would affect only 1.2 percent of relatively small business owners, including sole proprietorships (that is, businesses owned by just one person), partnerships (owned by a few people), and S corporations (which have up to 75 shareholders). But because the tax isnt indexed for inflation, over time it will apply to more taxpayers as inflation affects income levels. Sound familiar? It should, because this is how the alternative minimum tax (AMT) became such a nightmare. The AMT was created in 1969 to prevent just 155 wealthy taxpayers from using deductions and credits to avoid paying any federal income taxes. Because it was not indexed for inflation, it came to affect an ever-growing share of the population, prompting Congress to pass a patch each year limiting its reach; next year, without the patch, it is projected to strike 27.4 million Americans–nearly 20 percent of the countrys taxpayers. And even with the patch, the AMT hits far more than just millionaires: In 2009, it swept up 4 million
PONTYPRIDD bagged 14 tries to thrash little Felinfoel 94-0. Former Cup winners Ponty led 59-0 at the interval and scored a further 35 points before the ref took pity on the Division One West side by blowing up 10 minutes early. Matthew Nuthall and Chris Clayton led the way, with a hat-trick each, and Dean Gunter converted 12 out of 14 touchdowns to set up a third round tie at home to Swansea next month. BARGOED beat visiting CORUS 19-9. Gareth Dares try was converted by Steffan Jones, who also put over three penalties. Daniel Jones scored a penalty in the tie.
LONDON IRISH 11 CHRIS MALONE was left devastated after his last-gasp attempted drop goal flew just wide – and with it went London Irishs European dreams. Champions Leinster dumped Irish out of the Heineken Cup with fly- half Jonny Sextons late drop goal squaring the match and breaking the home sides hearts.
ARSENAL head to Stoke for a tough FA Cup tie today. The Gunners are 3/4 to win the game but you know Stoke wont roll over. Man of the moment is Cesc Fabregas (left), now 2/1 to win Player of the Year. He is on fire, with five goals in his last four games, and is 7/2 to score Arsenals first. But for once the FA Cup has been playing second fiddle to the Carling – and the comical Nev-Tev spat.
SOUTHEND 1 JOSH PAYNE secured a point for Wycombe just 24 hours after joining on loan from West Ham. The home side took the lead 15 minutes into the second half as Alan McCormack headed home.
BENFICA are the latest club to ask Manchester City about the availability of Robinho – and have been told by the Blues to make them an offer. New boss Roberto Mancini has already run out of patience with the Brazilian – and City are already holding talks with Barcelona and Santos about the possibility of allowing the pounds 32.5million British record signing leave on loan.
MIDDLESBROUGH 0 MANCHESTER CITY 1 CUP King Roberto Mancini saluted his makeshift Manchester Citys march into the FA Cup fourth round with their 1-0 win at Middlesbrough. Mancini, winner of 10 Italian Cups as a player and manager, joked: “It was very cold. I could have done with two scarves today! “Thats three times Ive worn that scarf, but I dont know if its a lucky scarf.” Since taking over Mancini has a 100 per cent winning record from three games with a Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United coming up on Wednesday.
— At the Martinez Library, Story Time programs are free. Over the Moon Story Time: 1:30-2 p.m. through Dec. 14 featuring stories and songs to tickle the funny bone and stretch the imagination. A simple craft will round out the afternoon. Book Buddy: 2-4 p.m. Tuesdays. Drop in for childrens stories told by the Book Buddy.
Rookie Sundiata Gaines hit an amazing buzzer-beater! OK, now that that obligatory reference is out of the way, here are five things the Jazz think they need to improve on so the second half of the season is better than the 23-18 first half: Moral of the story: Be steady, ready and play up to all of their competition.
Potato Soup with Caramelized Onions
Acquires Banking Operations of EvergreenBank
PORTLAND, Ore. — Umpqua
Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:UMPQ) today issued the following
statement regarding the news that Umpqua Bank will acquire the banking
operations of EvergreenBank in a purchase and assumption agreement with
the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
“Umpqua Bank has always been committed to the financial health of the
communities we serve,” said Ray Davis, Umpqua Holdings Corporation
president and CEO. “As one of the nation’s strongest community banks,
Umpqua is well positioned to assume the deposits and loans of
EvergreenBank, and we will work quickly to make this transition as
smooth as possible for customers and employees.”
About Envision Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.
About Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Symetra Financial Corporation (the “Company” or “Symetra”)
announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of its common
stock at $12.00 per share. The offering will consist of 20,699,510
primary shares to be sold by the Company, and 9,700,490 secondary shares
to be sold by existing stockholders. Affiliates of White Mountains
Insurance Group, Ltd. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc., who led the investor
group that formed Symetra in 2004, are not selling any shares in the
offering.
Symetra common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange
on Jan. 22, 2010 under the ticker symbol “SYA.” The offering is expected
to close on or about Jan. 27, 2010.
The Company intends to use the net primary proceeds from the offering
for general corporate purposes, which may include contributions of
capital to its insurance and other subsidiaries. Symetra will not
receive any proceeds from the sale of secondary shares by existing
stockholders.
BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Goldman, Sachs Co., and Barclays
Capital are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The
underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional
4,560,000 shares of common stock from the Company at the public offering
price, less the underwriting discount, to cover over-allotments, if any.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — More aftershocks rumbled through Port- au-Prince Thursday, rattling an already spooked population of survivors and damaging the hospital where members of the LDS Churchs medical team were working. The two minor tremors were shorter and considerably smaller in magnitude than Wednesday mornings 5.9 quake that shook the capital city area for nearly 20 seconds. The quake sent patients, medical staff and a reporter and photographer running in a panic as they rushed to exit the five- story hospital as concrete and metal shook and glass and plastic panels rattled. A number of cracks in the hospitals main interior walls were visible afterward, and there was talk of first moving all operations and surgeries from the interior rooms and hallways outside into a large, open courtyard that was already filled with tents housing post-operative patients and less-injured individuals seeking early, limited treatment.
Follow-up calls help avoid readmissions In an effort to improve transitions of care, the nurse care coordinators at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston make follow-up calls to patients who have been discharged, identify problems and solve them, and answer questions the patients may have about medication, symptoms, or their discharge plan. The hospital has an average of 53,693 discharges and 59,323 emergency department visits each year and had a 30-day readmission rate of 8.79% for medical-surgical patients in 2009.
NEW YORK — Deerfield Management, a leading healthcare investment management firm in
New York City, announced today an unrestricted grant of $750,000 to
Partners In Health (PIH) to support emergency relief efforts in Haiti.
The grant was made through Deerfield Partnership Foundation which has
previously supported Partners In Health’s efforts to build healthcare
infrastructure throughout Haiti.
“After several years of working with Partners In Health we understand
its unique capability to serve injured and displaced Haitians after the
recent earthquake. At this time, Partners In Health, along with other
relief organizations, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, are faced
with desperate circumstances and extreme need. It is essential that we
all do what we can to support the relief and reconstruction efforts,”
said James E. Flynn, Deerfield’s President.
“We are incredibly grateful for the steadfast commitment from the
Deerfield Foundation to Partners In Health and the people of Haiti.
Deerfield has been a long-term partner, supporting PIH’s work in Petite
Rivière de l’Artibonite, Haiti. They have once again shown leadership
and generosity by responding so quickly and significantly to PIH’s
emergency relief efforts,” said Paul Zintl, Chief Operating Officer,
Partners In Health.
About Partners In Health: PIH is an international non-governmental
organization dedicated to delivering quality health care to people and
communities devastated by the joint burdens of poverty and disease.
PIH’s work has three goals: to care for patients, to alleviate the root
causes of disease, and to share lessons learned around the world. This
vision is implemented across 11 countries through 49 health facilities
by a staff of more than 11,000 people, over half of whom are trained and
compensated community health workers who themselves are poor. In
partnership with local governments, PIH has become the health care
provider for more than 2.3 million people living in destitute conditions
and has served many more millions around the world by changing and
influencing global health policy and practice at the highest levels.
About Deerfield Partnership Foundation: DPF seeks to support effective
organizations providing healthcare services to disadvantaged
populations. The Foundation emphasizes projects that benefit children.
First the RACs, now wait for whats coming next Medicaid, commercial insurers starting their audits By the end of the year, its likely that every type of medical record in your hospital will be scrutinized by one auditor or another, predicts Brian Flood, managing director for KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfares Bureau of Program Integrity has been auditing fee-for-service Medicaid claims for the past three years, using one of the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) contractors for the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) demonstration project, reports Charleeda Redman, RN, MSN, ACM, director of corporate case management for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, an integrated health system with 20 acute care hospitals.
Acquires Banking Operations of EvergreenBank
PORTLAND, Ore. — Umpqua
Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:UMPQ) today issued the following
statement regarding the news that Umpqua Bank will acquire the banking
operations of EvergreenBank in a purchase and assumption agreement with
the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
“Umpqua Bank has always been committed to the financial health of the
communities we serve,” said Ray Davis, Umpqua Holdings Corporation
president and CEO. “As one of the nation’s strongest community banks,
Umpqua is well positioned to assume the deposits and loans of
EvergreenBank, and we will work quickly to make this transition as
smooth as possible for customers and employees.”
Kaiser/VA/DoD partnership piloting a nationwide EHR network Early testing encouraging; improvements in quality anticipated “The ability to share critical health information is essential to interoperability,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki in announcing the program. “Utilizing the NHINs standards and network will allow organizations like VA and the Department of Defense to partner with private-sector health care providers to promote better, faster, and safer care for veterans.” The pilot program currently connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VAs electronic health record system, VistA, two of the largest electronic health record systems in the country. The DoDs ALTA system will be linked to the other two shortly.
California regulators will announce new rules today aimed at limiting the long wait times for patients in health maintenance organizations to see a doctor. In most cases, HMO doctors will be required to see a patient for a primary care appointment within 10 business days. Specialists will be required to see patients within 15 business days. Those with urgent problems requiring prompt attention should be seen within 48 hours. The regulations, to be announced in Los Angeles, will make California the first state in the nation to provide such consumer protections.
InterSystems Corporation today
announced that Oxbow, an InterSystems application partner, has introduced
the Oxbow EMR system. With the InterSystems CACHÉ ®
high-performance object database as its foundation, the Oxbow EMR is
specifically designed to enable optimal primary care practice management.
The global leader in software for connected healthcare, InterSystems
develops and markets innovative database, integration, and business
intelligence products. Oxbow, based in Laramie, Wyo., is composed of a team
of practicing primary care physicians, IT specialists and security experts
focused on providing family practice physicians and small healthcare
practices with real-time, easily usable, cost-effective practice management
automation.
Quality of Care — EMR Benefits Without Compromise
The Oxbow EMR stands out by enabling improved quality of care via an EMR
thats easily usable in a practical way by busy family practitioners,
according to Dr. Shawn Moyer, President of Oxbow. “There are literally
hundreds of EMR systems available, but primary care physicians always had
to compromise between the functionality provided by the application and the
time required to work with the EMR, which cut into the time that can be
spent with the patient,” he said. “I know of physicians who spent as much
as $100,000 for an EMR system and then went back to paper because the
system required entirely too much time to use effectively.”
The CACHÉ-based Oxbow EMR, in sharp contrast, provides all of the
functionality expected from an EMR with a low user time investment.
Leveraging multiple patent-pending technologies, the Oxbow EMR delivers
real-time decision support, automatic documentation of notes and
screenings, drug-drug interaction and allergy alerts, electronic
prescriptions and virtually any information tied to patient age, gender and
medical history that will be useful to quality care delivery by the family
physician.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ecolab Inc. announced today that it will contribute more than $500,000
to Haiti relief efforts in the form of product donations and a special
associate matching gift program by the Ecolab Foundation.
“Ecolab’s cleaning and sanitizing products, including waterless hand
sanitizers and surface sanitizers, are critical during disasters such as
this,” commented Douglas M. Baker, Jr., Ecolab’s chairman of the board,
president and chief executive officer. “The extraordinary impact of the
earthquake’s devastation is a reminder of our common humanity. Ecolab,
along with our global associates, is pleased to be able to send our
products and dollars to provide assistance to the people of Haiti.”
Ecolab said it will contribute $500,000 of cleaning and sanitation
products to help meet needs in Haiti, including hand sanitizers and
surface sanitizers. In addition to the product donation, the Ecolab
Foundation has offered a global matching gift program, through which it
will match all Ecolab associate contributions to the Red Cross up to
$1,000 per associate up to a total of $25,000. As previously announced
through internal company communications, Ecolab associates can make
contributions to the Red Cross International Response Fund for relief
efforts in Haiti.
MADISON, Wis. — Scarab Genomics has now launched the White Glove IS Detection Kit to
test for the presence of transposable Insertion Sequence (IS) elements
in a DNA of interest. Numerous IS elements are naturally present in the
genomes of E. coli strains commonly used for protein and plasmid
production, but are not present in the Scarab Genomics Clean Genome®
strains. IS element transposition is known to be stimulated by the cell
stress response and can lead to the “hopping” of IS elements into
plasmid DNA and or into other regions of the bacterial chromosome. The
transposition of IS elements into an expression vector can interfere
with the expression of a foreign protein in E. coli. IS element
transposition can also contaminate pDNA isolated for vaccine purposes.
To alleviate these undesired transposition events, Scarab Genomics
previously produced the Clean Genome® E. coli strains.
These strains are devoid of all known IS elements thereby creating the
ideal hosts for the production of foreign proteins or plasmid DNA. The
White Glove IS Detection Kit can be used to detect the presence of IS
elements in the genomes of commonly used E. coli strains. The kit
can also be used to determine which elements have transposed from these
genomes into a plasmid of interest propagated in these strains.
Scarab Genomics, a Madison, WI biotechnology company, offers unique
Clean Genome® E. coli Strains for next generation DNA
and protein production. Based on Dr. Fred Blattner’s expertise in the
new technology of genome engineering, the K-12 genome has been reduced
to remove non-essential genes and problematic DNA elements. Genome
reduction provides enhanced genetic stability and improved host safety,
while retaining robust growth on minimal media, making these strains
ideal for biotherapeutic production. Additional reduced strains are
currently being produced and tested. Please inquire for additional
information.
Ban unnecessary Does breathing secondhand smoke put nonsmokers at risk? Is there an acceptable level? According to OSHA, there is. In matters of protecting the health and safety of employees, it is the responsibility of OSHA to not only set the standards, but to continually monitor the workplace to ensure employees are not being subjected to undue risk. To test secondhand smoke levels, OSHA measures nicotine levels. Nicotine is the only unique chemical in secondhand smoke. Other chemicals present in cigarette smoke can come from other sources such as carpet, furniture, burning foods in the kitchen or diesel exhaust from outdoors. The OSHA permissible exposure limit for an eight- hour work day, 40 hours per week is 0.5 milligrams of nicotine per cubic meter. Based on that standard, how do businesses that permit smoking measure up? The Cancer Society tested the quality of air for workers in New York state in restaurants, bars and taverns, bowling centers and bingo halls. The results ranged from 20 nanograms of nicotine per cubic meter to 940 nanograms per cubic meter. A nanogram is .000001 of a milligram. The highest concentration of nicotine in the worst of these locations was still 532 times safer than the OSHA limit of 0.5 milligrams of nicotine per cubic meter.
CONTENTS of a recentlysold stately home are to go up for sale. Auctioneers Christies will sell a treasure trove of items from Newton Hall, in Northumberland. The mansion, built in 1722, was the home of the Widdringtons – an influential landowning family associated with Northumberland as far back as the 12th Century. The sale will take place in London on January 20. Estimates for items range from pounds 200 to pounds 50,000 and the event is expected to raise pounds 400,000.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — If your vehicle gets stolen or totaled while you owe more on the loan
than it’s worth, having GAP insurance guarantees that your full loan
will be paid off.
As part of its Auto Finance tips and advice, Edmunds.com,
the premier online resource for automotive information, gives consumers
helpful information on GAP insurance coverage—what it is, who needs it,
and how to get it.
“We strongly recommend GAP insurance for anyone who leases a vehicle,
makes a down payment of less than 20 percent, finances a lengthy loan
term or a vehicle that depreciates quickly, or rolls negative equity
from a past car loan into a new loan,” stated Philip Reed, Senior
Consumer Advice Editor at Edmunds.com.
Some other highlights of Edmunds’ GAP insurance primer include the
following:
NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings has withdrawn the BB- Insurer Financial Strength (IFS)
rating of Mortgage Guaranty Investment Corp. (MGIC) and the B-
long-term issuer rating of its parent company MGIC Investment Corp.
(MGIC IC). In addition, the ratings of MGIC ICs senior notes and
convertible junior subordinated debentures have also been withdrawn.
Fitch has withdrawn the following ratings:
SALT LAKE CITY — Kaysville-based Barnes Bancorp Inc. was closed Friday by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions after several troubled months and a formal investigation by federal regulators. Barnes Bank is the first Utah financial institution to have failed in 2010. The last local bank to fail was Laytons America West Bank, which went under in May of last year. The Barnes Bank Web site refers customers to the FDIC for information. Deposits and some special accounts are insured up to $250,000, according to federal law. Other accounts are fully insured. Checks written through Barnes Bank will be honored until Feb. 12, according to the FDIC, and ATMs will be open until Jan. 29. Customers with loans financed by Barnes Bank are encouraged to continue making regular payments.
With more people losing jobs and health benefits, essential oils
have become the health care alternative of choice for thousands in
Arizona. However, it is so important to know what oils to use and how to
use them safely. Three companies have come together to bring training
and certification to people in Arizona.
MESA, Ariz. — Poppy’s Home Decor, Scentsational Health Wellness and the Botanical
Education Foundation have joined to bring world-class essential oils
certification classes to Arizona. Medicinal applications of essential
oils are being used by the general public without full knowledge of how
these oils affect the body or react with synthetic medications. Safety
is the main goal of three companies who want to show the public how to
use essential oils safely and effectively.
Poppy’s Home Decor is not the first place you think of when you want to
learn about your health. But with people losing jobs and health
benefits, more people are turning to complementary medicine,
specifically essential oils. Every Wednesday from noon–2 p.m., beginning
this week, January 13, 2010, Amy Lindquist, a certified oils instructor
and medical aroma therapist, and Jacque Gurney, founder of the Botanical
Education Foundation, will be teaching classes aimed at safety and uses
of medicinal essential oils. These classes cost $25 each week. Anyone is
welcome.
With many different brands of essential oils on the market and no real
local certified education about them, there has been much confusion
about the therapeutic value. These classes will serve to dispel the
myths and teach the truth about what medicinal grade oils can do to aid
in healing the human body. No matter what brand of oils or type of
essential oils company a person is affiliated with, the information in
these classes will be beneficial to all.
SARES REGIS Group has reached an agreement to
lease and redevelop a former furniture showroom site in the city of
Huntington Beach. The tentative concept for the 11-acre site envisions a
mixed-use retail and luxury apartment home community.
The site is at 7441 Edinger Avenue and is adjacent to recently renovated
Bella Terra, a 48-acre open air mall containing restaurants, shops and a
20-screen megaplex theater which would provide future residents of the
project with excellent access to shopping and entertainment, said Bill
Montgomery, president of SRGs Multifamily Acquisition Investments
Division.
Montgomery said the company and city are in discussions regarding
entitlements for the parcel, which will be developed in the Town Center
Core and Neighborhood segments of the new Beach and Edinger Corridors
Specific Plan in process with the city.
“We are very excited by the prospect of bringing a new luxury apartment
home community to the City of Huntington Beach. The citys concept as
outlined in the Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan is truly
visionary and will position Huntington Beach for new and revitalized growth
in the years to come,” Montgomery said.
SARES REGIS Group is no stranger to the city, having completed the
conversion and successful sell-out of the Seabridge Condominium community
on Beach Boulevard in 2004.
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