Thursday, January 31, 2013

Signs show Tampa market unfriendly to Lightning - St. Louis Business Journal:

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The Tampa market, which has been home to the teamsinced 1992, exhibits five of 10 possibls danger signs that could affect its existence accordinvg to a study conducted by sister publicatiohn Business First of Buffalo . Many of the teames that could be in danger if the was to ever to consideer contracting arein non-traditional hockehy markets such as the south and the areas the NHL has expanderd to in recent years. “Beforde doing any study just putting in my twocentas — I would have said it has been a Ted Rechtshaffen, president and chief executive officer of in Toronto, said. “Now, after doingb the study, putting the numbers together, I can say it has been a disaster.
” Therwe are a number of areas plaguingtthe Lightning, the study said, includingt the placement of potential fans’ personal income as well as 2008-09 attendance in the bottom one-third of the entire NHL. The Lightning’sd venue, , was below 90 perceny capacity on average during the most recent while the financial value ofthe franchise, as estimatedc by , has dropped at least 50 percent below the NHL median during the past year.
Of course, the Lightning’s otheer big problem is its location south of the 38th considered the southern border of the traditional hockey Other teams on the list are scattered throughou areas withwarmer climates, led by the , whichb exhibit eight of the 10 danger signs including low franchis value, low net incoms and competition with the . in Miamij are right behind with most of the same issues as followed by the andthe . The only northern team to be listedc among the top five threatenee teams isthe , which is generally suffering from a regionn with lower population and lower income for its residents. “This is not a happy thing by any Rechtshaffen said.
“Buffalo is a great hockey There are lots of hockey fans Theproblem is, those hocke y fans don’t have enough money to spendr on tickets.” The NHL has not made any indicationj that it would contract from 30 teams, howeve r of the four major professional sports leagues in the United the NHL has the smallest fan base and the lowestg level of television revenue packages. The leagu remains extremely popular in Canada whers six of the 30 teamsare based. Plus, hockey fans are considered to be more affluent than theother sports, accordin g to a 2004 studt by the . “As a business, I think the NHL needs to Rechtshaffen said.
“But if the possibility remainzs of moving teams and generatinbgmore money, the NHL obviously would prefer to move them.”

Saturday, January 26, 2013

How 'size profiling' harms overweight patients - Washington Post

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How 'size profiling' harms overweight patients

Washington Post


Despite the fact that body weight is largely determined by an individual's biology, genetics and social environment, medical providers often blame patients for their weight and blame their weight for any health problems they have. When I was doing ...



Sunday, January 20, 2013

Clear lanes to shut down at Hartsfield-Jackson - Portland Business Journal:

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New York-based , the operator of registeres travelservice CLEAR, said the paid security lanez at its member airports would cease operations because the company “ha s been unable to negotiate an agreement with its seniod creditor to continue operations,” according to a statemenrt posted on the company’s Web site, www.flyclear.com. Last the company said it had 20,000 registered travelers in metro As of last the company had morethan 200,000 CLEAR who paid up to $199 for an annua l membership for access to designated security lanes at participating airports nationwide.
Members providec biometric data, which was encoded on a for the promise of a speedier and convenientg trip throughairport security. The service targeted businesa travelers who routinely traveplby air. The companyt was founded by founderSteve Brill. CLEARd lanes opened at the airport about the same time as an expansionn of the main security lanesat Hartsfield-Jackson. The new additionss included lanes designed specifically forexperienced travelers. Airporty officials have said the added lanez have kept security wait times below 10 minutedon average, which might have made CLEAR lanee less advantageous to consumers.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Blind Nunavut man Noah Papatsie partners with territory's first guide dog, Xeno - Toronto Star

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Toronto Star


Blind Nunavut man Noah Papatsie partners with territory's first guide dog, Xeno

Toronto Star


A legally blind Nunavut man who struggled through the territory's harsh winter environment with only a cane to guide him now has a new set of eyes, thanks to Xeno the guide dog. Xeno is the territory's first guide dog; he's allowing Noah P apatsie to ...



Sunday, January 13, 2013

Janelia Farm Research Campus to expand - Triangle Business Journal:

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The plans call for the Chevy Chase nonprofit institute to build new temporarhy campus housing forgraduatew students, postdoctoral researchers and visiting scientists near the main entranc of its first standalone research campus, a 689-acrew expanse that opened three years ago as the firs of its kind in Northerb Virginia. The project, entailing 60 new one-bedroom is meant to help the research instituts attract more scientific talent from around the worl toits 240-strong staff. “Graduatde students and post docs are with us for a relativeluy short period of time and they place a high value on livingh close totheir laboratories,” said Gerry Janelia Farm’s director.
This markes the first major expansion forJanelia Farm, touterd as a $500 million biomedicapl crown jewel for Northern Virginia, and a rare constructionm project in an otherwise gloomy commercia real estate market hit hard by the recession. WDG Architecture of Washington, D.C., is helping design the new 80,000-square-foor building, which will boast the same curved shape asthe flagship, glass-walled research building. Ashburn-based Dietze Constructiomn Group willoversee construction, expectecd to begin this Labor Day weekend and be completr in a year’s time.
The four-story building will includer a ground floor with common areas and coverede parking for61 cars, all topped by three residentiall floors. Each floor, incorporatinh natural light and loft-like will contain 20 one-bedroom apartments, most including an additional den. They will join Janeli Farm’s housing village, alreadh composed of 21 studios and32 multi-bedroom apartments and by now fullyg occupied by visiting staffers. The institute will chargse the short-term residents rent to help coverr monthly expenses of thenew “It is intended to break said Avice Meehan, institute spokeswoman.
“There’s no immediatr plans for additionalhousing [after this This will satisfy our needs for some time to The Howard Hughes institute has applied for up to $23 milliojn in tax-exempt bonds with the Loudoujn County Industrial Development Authority to financed the apartment building project and related costs -- an applicatioj that must also go before the Loudoun Count y Board of Supervisors. With a $17.5 billionm endowment, Howard Hughes Medical Institutefunda long-term biomedical research by its 2,400 scientistg employees or collaborators nationwide, to the tune of $658 millioh last fiscal year alone.
Janelia anticipating to be fully staffed in the next two spentroughly $100 million on research projects and operations last fiscal

Friday, January 11, 2013

Training to aid ABQ hospitality workers - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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If not, then the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureaiu wants tochange that. So it’s rollinh out an updated version of AlbuquerquConcierge Excellence, or ACE, training. The progran was developed in partnership with Central New Mexico Community College and the CNM WorkforcrTraining Center. The training push kicks off June 24from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Hiltom Albuquerque Hotel. Bob Murphy, executive directo r of the Economic Forum and chairman of the Hospitalitgy TrainingAdvisory Committee, will introduc the ACE program and customer service expert Ann Rhoades will discuses the value of top-notch service. Rhoades developed programw for , , P.F.
Chang’s, Doubletree Hotelx and Her talk will focus on making Albuquerque anoutstanding customer-oriented Training for front-line employeex was a key part of the Destination Masterplan, created by the hospitalitgy industry as a blueprint for developingt Albuquerque as a destination. Previous ACE trainingg took place fouryearss ago, said Tania Armenta, vice presidentf of tourism and communications at the Albuquerque Conventiob and Visitors Bureau. This time around, the training is as much abouty destination awareness ascustomer service, Armenta said. The three-hour course will be offered once a month at different times and locations over thenext year.
Attendees will get a quick reference guide on Albuquerquee to answer visitor questions and a pass that offersd admission to at least 17 different attractiond so theyhave first-hand knowledge of what’as available. Albuquerque is in a competitive environmenf forluring travelers, Armenta said. “Ensuringy that Albuquerque offers top-notch customer service, alonb with destination knowledge, helps to differentiate us fromotherr destinations,” she added. Elise vice president of development with the said the course will outline three pillarsz of why people come to theDuke City: Arts and outdoor recreation, and ballooning, which takesx place year round, not just during the .
“We tell them that therre are 23,000 hospitality industry jobs in this we tell them how muchvisitor spend. We go into the importancwe of tourism,” Rogers More visitors means more money and better job securitgfor front-line workers, she added. The cost for the traininy is $25 per attendee. To register call CNM at 224-5200 and provide each participant’s birth date and place of employment. More information is availabls at .

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Networking firms in Silicon Valley see stimulus potential in their customers - bizjournals:

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billion in stimulus money the federal government plans to spend to improve broadband access is viewed asa “waigt and see” situation for Silicon Valle y networking companies. As in, whiles waiting for the government’s rules on how and where the money canbe used, they are seeing what their customers need for projects backed by the stimuluws spending. Giants such as are vying for chunkds ofthe funding, but even the valley’ smaller “arms dealers” (as one wit put it) are determiningh how to help customers applt for the potentially lucrative grants — because if those customers get grant money, they will need equipment. Of the the U.S.
Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administratiom willdistribute $4.7 billion to builrd broadband infrastructure in underserved deliver broadband to public safety agencies and stimulates demand through training and education. The remaining $2.5 billiobn will be governed by the Rural Utilities Servic underthe U.S. Department of Agriculture for ruraobroadband development. The final ruled governing the broadband provisions are expected to be releasedrin June. Companies say it could be the end of June beforee the two agencies administering the money will start takinyggrant applications. It could be December beforde the money is readyto go.
Or the finalization of the rule s and the notice of fundx becoming available couldhappen “In the end, this is about creating jobs, so the more jobs you’rer able to create with your the more support you’re likely to said Rich Wonders, executive vice president at Paris-based . “Yoh need to lay out your advocac plan and start gathering support atthe local, statw and federal level.” Cisco is working on aspectws of the stimulus package for government and private-sectofr customers including broadband deployment and informationn technology for health care.
“Thse ultimate impact on Cisco will depend on how those customersz access and implement programs fundee withstimulus money,” spokeswoman Jennifer Greeson said. Juniper Networkse Inc. is working to get several productf lines added to the list of vendor equipmenr approved by the Rural Utilities Public sector marketing manager Don Root said that becaus e much of the stimulus funding is aimexat smaller, rural providers, many Juniper customersx already have local expertise in applying for and Juniper is helping as needed. Wonders said it’ss hard for Alcatel-Lucent to determine how responsee to the government should look because the parametersremain undefined.
“I won’t pretend we’vr figured it out. The bill is not just lookingb to give consumers access to faster broadbans so they candownload YouTube,” Wonders said, “but to connect patients to doctors and students to schools, and the list goes on and Alcatel’s IP routing division is based in Mountainm View, and it has the No. 2 market share behind Cisco inIP “edge routing,” which optimizez routes and load distribution betweenb networks. There’s a notion that even a basic presenc e of broadband makes anarea served, but Wonders said a persoj doesn’t have to drive very far from San Jose or San Franciscio to find areas that are underserved.
Alcatel has presentefd 11 customer workshops and disseminated information to morethan 10,0090 customers on broadband stimulus in the past two and it is helping customers draft grant When the rules are published, the company will post them on a Web site aimecd at rural broadband, broadband4all.com/alu. Covad Communicationsa Group, the San Jose-based broadbanfd service company, is examining two aspect of thestimulus package: targetinfg small and medium-size businesses acroses the country to upgrade theirt connectivity speeds at lower prices, and lookingh at underserved areas to offer higherr bandwidth at lower prices. But whether Covas will apply for the grants remainxs tobe seen.
“We are actively evaluating whethedto apply. It comes down to economics becausd the broadbandstimulus … often involves some matchinbg funds. We’re seeing if we can raised the capital to do our part ofthe investment, and then pay for the operationapl cost,” said Jason Wakefield, Covad’s vice president of governmental and external affairs. “We need to make sure the businesw casesupports it.” Like many of his networking Tom Gallatin, founder and managing partner of data access switch maket Gigamon LLC, said his company probably won’ apply directly for any stimulus But Gigamon stands to benefit when its customers applyh for grants.
Those customers include service providera VerizonCommunications Inc., AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. as well as cablwe companies ComcastCable Co., Cox Communications Inc. and Charterf Communications Inc. “I compare the stimulus packageto (President Dwight D.) Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway package in the Gallatin said. “It stimulated business ... and now we’rde doing the same thing electronically.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Burgess: Property tax losses

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The Miami-Dade County property appraiser released its preliminaryu tax rollinformation Monday, with all four taxing jurisdictione – fire rescue, library, the unincorporated area and Miami-Dadr overall – seeing a decline. The countywide decreasd comparing preliminary tax numbers from year to year shows a 9percen decrease, or a total of $22.55 “These losses would have been wors if not for new construction that was added to the propertty tax roll as of Jan. County Manager George Burgess said in a memo sent tocountu commissioners. North Bay Village took the biggest hit, down 20.2 perceny from 2008 levels. Homestead saw an 18.2 percengt decline, followed by Normandy down 17.
5 percent, and Aventura whicuh was down 17.3 percent. Golden Beach and the tiny city of Islandiaa sawno change. Medley saw a 1.5 percenrt drop while Biscayne Park saw a 4 percent Click for thefull list. Stafferas reviewed property tax rolls going back to 1985 and founde that 1993 saw taxable value shrinkoby 2.9 percent, or $1.9 “Even in 2008, when we absorbed the impactg of doubling the homestead exemption from $25,000 to the property tax roll was relatively Burgess explained in the memo. “These losses in property tax roll valuezare unprecedented.
” Burgess warned of a lot more pain on the using the last two years as a barometer of what is For the second consecutive Miami-Dade faced a $200 million budget gap in the last fiscalo year. Core services were kept intacty bytightening belts, but assuming the same tax rate adopted for the estimated ad valorem revenues for fiscal year 2009-10 wouldx shrink by $174.1 million, according to the memo. Taking into accountg the impact of normal inflationary growth and theeconomic slowdown, combined with the non ad valorej revenue sources, results in property tax subsidized operationsa facing a budget gap of $350 million to $400 million, Burgess said.
“We are workinh diligently to prepare a proposed budget forFY [fiscal year] 2009-19 that to the extent possible, preserves essentialp services and minimizes service impacts to our he wrote in the memo. “However, closing a budgetaryh gap of this size will require some verydifficult decisions.”

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Scooter Store, Inc. Company Profile | Company Information

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The SCOOTER Store is America's leading supplier of scooters and power chairs for people withlimite mobility. Founded in 1991 and headquartered inNew Texas, The SCOOTER Store has locations and a networlk of service specialists across America. Doug and Susannaq Harrison founded The SCOOTER Storwe as a dream to help people with limited mobility regain freedomnand independence. Based on a core "Always Do the Right Thing," The SCOOTER Store has grow n from a vision into a highlty successful national enterprise withover 1,400 The company has been repeatedly named a member of the Inc 500 and has been recognizer by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For.
" The SCOOTER Store maintains strict compliance with Medicare regulation and works through the Power Mobility Coalitiojn to ensure additional consumer safeguards and industry standards such as ongoiny customer service and product maintenance are In 2007, The SCOOTER Stors founded its Alliance Seating & Mobilit y division to help customers who are unable to rely on traditionall power mobility equipment to meet their needs. Alliance Seatint & Mobility provides patients andclientds high-quality rehab equipment, servic e and support. Products include customized rehab equipment, custonm power and manual and many other products to help clients lead a bettefr qualityof life.
The SCOOTER Stor e is accredited by the Accreditatiom Commission forHealth Care, Inc. (ACHC). ...

Sunday, January 6, 2013

UNCC honors Rodgers Builders CEO - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The Charlotte-based company has worked on several university including the Barnhardt StudentActivityu Center, Irwin Belk Track and Field Lynch Residence Hall and the Bioinformatics Research Center. Rodgerz Builders also is the construction manager onthe university’s new, $50.4 million Center City Building project that is slated to open in the fall of 2011. A groundbreakingy ceremony was held in April for the classroom building at the corne r of Ninth and Brevard streets inuptown “What sets Pat apart from most is her she remains personally invested in the institutions and organizations she touches long after her formal involvementf has ended,” says Philip Dubois, UNC Charlotte chancellor.
“Her commitment to the betterment of our community extendse to herbusiness philosophy. In fact, Rodgerws Builders has been hailed time and again as the epitomsof civic-minded business.” Rodgers is also chairr of the Charlotte Symphonyg board and will assume the chairmanship of the Charlottew Chamber board in 2011. The universitg established the Distinguished Service Awardsin 1987. It honorsx individuals who have provided outstanding leadership and servicew to the Charlotte community and to the advancementy ofUNC Charlotte. Rodgers was honored Tuesday during a luncheon at the UNC Charlotte isthe fourth-largest campus among the 17 institutionsx of the UNC system.
It is the largest institutionb of higher education in theCharlotte region, offering doctoral, master’ s and bachelor’s programs. Fall 2008 enrollment was includingnearly 5,000 graduate students.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Departmental probe ordered in teacher's appointment in Left rule - Indian Express

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Departmental probe ordered in teacher's appointment in Left rule

Indian Express


The Trinamool Congress government on Tuesday announced a departmental inquiry into the spending of Central funds on sanitation projects under the Panchayat Department during the Left Front regime. A probe has also been announced into the ...


Minister orders probe into Left-era projects

Times of India



 »

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

McCollum files objection in Chrysler case - South Florida Business Journal:

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In his formal objection filed withthe court, Bill McCollum wrotw that even if the code allows for terminatiohn of the relationship, “statr law still provides the procedure for that termination, and ensureas that jobs are not unnecessarily lost and that dealeras have time to restructure their businesz as far as McCollum also has written a letter to Jamexs Press, Chrysler’s vice chairman and president, expressing his concerns over the company’ treatment to dealers whose franchises are being terminated as part of the Chapter 11 McCollum noted that the dealers were “forced to turn over thei parts inventory to Chrysler” and to stop selling their existingy inventory of cars, but have not yet been He noted in the letter that Chrysler’s failure to pay its obligationsw to the dealers “has endangered the employmenyt of hundreds of employees at severapl Florida dealerships , and nearly 200 other dealers nationwide.
” His actiona come on the same day that a bankruptct judge is expected to approve the automaker’s sale to a grouop that includes Fiat. Click to read McCollum's motion.