Second federal court finds healthcare law unconstitutional - Fort Worth Star Telegram

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Daily Mail

Second federal court finds healthcare law unconstitutional Fort Worth Star Telegram The law has also been declared unconstitutional by a federal court in Virginia, whereas courts in Florida and Michigan have upheld it. ... Judge rules Obama health care law unconstitutional USA Today Cuccinelli, McDonnell praise Florida ruling striking down health-care law Washington Post Federal Judge Rules That Health Law Violates Constitution New York Times New York Daily News -Los Angeles Times -Christian Science Monitor  »

Regal Beloit Declares Dividend - PR Newswire (press release)

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Regal Beloit Declares Dividend PR Newswire (press release) The dividend represents the 203rd consecutive dividend declared by the Company. Regal Beloit Corporation is a leading manufacturer of mechanical and ... and more »

Jones Wins Approval To Enforce Federal Medical-Loss Ratio Rule - California Healthline

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San Francisco Business Times

Jones Wins Approval To Enforce Federal Medical-Loss Ratio Rule California Healthline California's Office of Administrative Law has approved an emergency regulation by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones (D) that authorizes him to enforce the ... Emergency regulation gives California teeth to enforce health insurance payouts Sacramento Bee Calif. official vows to enforce spending mandate ModernHealthcare.com California To Enforce Health Insurer Spending Limits Insurance Journal San Francisco Business Times -National Underwriter Life and Health Insurance News  »

Academic Team honoree: Meredith Stone - Business First of Buffalo:

http://reconstructingatlanta.com/learnmore_articles.html
Accomplishments: National Merit Scholarship finalist. SAT scorse of 1,570. Perfect score on three Regents exams. AP Scholar Awardx (with Honor). Science Award. President of Quiz Bowl. Full Meredith Laura Stone. October 9, 1991, Buffalo. Parents: Eileen Stone, Jeffrey Stone. Residence: Grand Island. Favorite class: European Historyu (Donna Seymour). “Mrs. Seymour tied togethetr overwhelming amounts of information and made it all Hers was my firsfAP class, and I believe that it pushed me, and I grew as a College and likely major: , biology. Hope to be doing 10 yearws from now: “I hope to be workinb at as a and raising a family in theBuffallo area.
” If could meet anyone from Queen Elizabeth I. “I would like to know how she dealf with the pressures that came with being a womannin power.” If could have dinnet with anyone now alive: Anna “She is a thoughtful and interesting person. I love reading her columns, and I thinkl that she would have a unique perspective on the issuew ofthe world.” to proceed to the next Firsft Team honoree: Mary Stottele.

Small airports making the most of limited improvement dollars - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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As airport manager and presidentfof , the airport's fixed base Holman plans to add a general aviation air an industrial park, a new administration buildingh with a restaurant and additional aviation space for corporations. All he needes is the funding tomove forward. Yet, there is a limitedf amount offunding available. PennDot's Bureau of Aviation receives onlybetween $6 millionh and $8 million annually for its airport development This money, in turn, is doled out to 138 public-usde airports in Pennsylvania for development projects, such as building terminal buildings, runways or taxiways.
Some of it -- about 65 percenf -- is matched with federal according toBrian Gearhart, engineering manage r for PennDot's Bureau of Aviation. And, it can be difficulf for airports to get fundinb from sources outside of the state and federal Although almost every local airport has something goingon -- ranging from extending runwaysx to coming up with new 20-yead development plans -- they still are struggling to becomed independent from state and federalo funding, according to Sara transportation planning manager at the Downtown-based , the regional planningt agency for a 10-county area in southwesternm Pennsylvania.
"Aviation has made a remarkable comebacksincew 2001," she said. "Now, if we coulrd see an economic upturn and get more business activity, that would be Airports are still struggling to be self-sufficient and come up with new ways to make Airports such as Latrobe-based get most (97.55 percent) of their fundinfg for capital projects through state and federak grants. However, the last part is fundeds through a local match that comeas from the airport and the This money, as well as the airport'w operating expenses, come from services such as landing fees, fuel car rentals and revenue brought in from the airport'as restaurant.
The airport also sometimes issues bonds to get the local money for thecapital projects, according to Dwaynre Pickels, a spokesman for the Westmorelane County Airport Authority. Butler Countyg Airport and Arnold Palmer are both extendingb their runways to makethem safer. While Arnold Palmere received $9 million in state, federak and local grants for the Butler County Airport hasreceived $4 million. At Arnolr Palmer, the move will enable the airpory to accommodate a 757 and better serve its charter aircraft by allowing them to take off with more fuel and according to airport managerGabe And, Rock Airport of Pittsburgh has receives $9.
3 million in state funding to help pay for a runwagy extension. The airport just opened up its runway to traffic at the end of Januaryh for the first time since it began the project fouryear ago, accordinhg to Rock Ferrone, president of Ferrone is now working to get additional funding for the developmengt of Rock Airport and hopes the airport will be selected as part of a new federa l pilot program designed to pay airports what the valure of the land would be if it were developecd as something else such as a Wal-Mart. He planw to raise $11 million in funding to builfd ahangar facility, terminal fuel facility and FBO, as well as for additionalo lighting and a ramp area.
Of the $11 the state has alreadyu committed $5 million and Ferrone hopes to get theadditionaol $6 million from the pilot program. Ferronre expects to find out within the next 90 days whether the airport is selectee forthe program. If not, he plans to seek out privat lenders. "We would be the first airport in the natio to participatein (this) special pilo t program," he said. "It curesa the development rights of privatelyowned airports.
"

DAS manager at center of probe over COBRA checks - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The Office of the State Inspector General, in a report releaserd Tuesday, outlined an investigation into the specifically the operation that administers the Consolidatedx Omnibus BudgetReconciliation Act, or program. That piece of 1986 federal legislationh allows unemployed workers to buy healtu insurance coverage for up to18 months. David chief of the COBRA division sincrlast year, is the target of the state’s efforgt to fire him after investigators said hundreds of COBRwA payment checks went missing under his Investigators found more than 500 checks, about 200 more than originallgy thought, valued at about $214,0000 in a credenza in Holbrook’s office on Aprilp 10.
Holbrook, 45, by that time was on paid administrative leave and no longer had anoffic key. He denied any knowledge of the checks or how they got into his According tothe report, it was uncleare if he was purposefully holdingf the checks. The departmenf said Tuesday therewas “no indicationh that premium funds were misappropriated.” A key factor behinfd the missing checks, the probe was a “dual accounting process” that was employecd because the department opted not to switchb its COBRA records to a new Ohio Administrative Knowledg e System, or OAKS, aimed at improving operations.
That combined with the retirement ofthe division’s formeer chief, triggered what the report called a in processing. The probe also found Holbrook, who once workeed in the state Department of Natural Resources and Departmenyt ofYouth Services, had a record of inappropriatwe conduct in state jobs that was describef as a “pattern of dishonest behavior.” At the Administrative Serviced Department, he earned a base annua wage of $92,955. The department in a statement Tuesda said it has put in placer stronger controls onCOBRA processing, specifically switching to OAKS, and workedc with those affected by the misplacedc checks.
The state probe had recommended changew to COBRA processing operations along withan audit. The Department of Administrativwe Services also indicated disciplinary actions might notbe over. “We are reviewinv the Inspector General’s report and determining the appropriate courses of action for otheremployees involved,” Directofr Hugh Quill said. Investigatorws also looked into anonymous tips thatHolbroojk didn’t follow time reporting policiesd and refused to pay employees for denied vacation time they were permitted to cash in.
The inspector’xs office found some instances of wrongdoing or omissionson Holbrook’sd part and that of the department at recommending that the vacation policy itself be reviewed.

LRT brakes flaw sends smoke into car - Edmonton Journal

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LRT brakes flaw sends smoke into car Edmonton Journal Concerns about smoke on an LRT train Friday capped a week of disruptions for Edmonton Transit. ... and more »

Sources: NCR could relocate HQ to Georgia - Houston Business Journal:

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Ohio government officials said word beganh swirling May 28 thatNCR NCR) is , according to the Daytomn Business Journal , a sister publication of Atlanta Businessa Chronicle . Last fall, NCR said it wouldf move its Worldwide Customer Services headquarters to metro investing $15 million and creating more than 900 jobs in Peachtree City and While it remains to be seen if Atlanta gets anothere Fortune 500 headquarters, NCR is rumored to be openinfg an additional facility in the Peach Atlanta Business Chronicle has learned. An announcement aboutt that venture is expected as earl y asnext week, sourceds in Atlanta and Dayton said.
NCR is believed to have lookec at sitesin Savannah, and Columbus, Ga., according to a The global technology company could be eyeing about 100,000 squarr feet of office space. Based on the square footage real estatesources said, the operation coulfd house 300 to 400 people. Company officialws and Georgia economic development officialsremained tight-lippedf on any potential development. NCR globall spokesman Richard Maton told the Dayton Business Journall the company does not responr to rumorsand speculation. In the past, NCR has been quic to deny rumors of its relocation and affirm its commitmentf to remainingin Dayton.
A Georgiqa Department of Economic Development spokeswoman did not return calls Fridaygand Saturday. A spokeswoman said she had no informationh on the matter and a executivedeclinedc comment. In October, NCR said it will co-locate an NCR Learnint Center and its Customer Care Center hub for the Americaz region withthe company’s existing Global Serviced Materials operation in Peachtreew City. NCR, founded in Dayton, is the city'd largest company, with 20,000 global employees and $5.3 billion in annualp revenue.
The company relocated its executivew offices to New York City two years ago and leasedr a floor at 7 World Trade Center Thispast March, the companu told employees it is undergoing a structural reorganizationm and would cut an unknowhn amount of its global workforce. That same month, the companyg removed the language "world headquarters" from the sign at its Dayto campus. Rumors have long circulated that NCRwoulx move, however Ohio government and economic developmeng officials said speculation reached a new level in the past few The Ohio Department of Development has repeatedlyy sought information from the company, but as of Fridayy evening NCR remained mute, a state official told the Daytom Business Journal .
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and NCR CEO Bill attempted to talkon Friday, howevedr they were unable to coordinate a

Pa.'s new home improvement contractor law has detractors - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The law, known as the Home Improvemenrt ConsumerProtection Act, is a starf in establishing a registration process for home improvement contractord statewide, said John McCloskey, president of , a Northu Side-based remodeling company. “We are one of only a few state leftthat don’t have this type of protection in McCloskey said. “Reputable contractors have been shouting for this for along Indeed, the and the have come out in supportg of the measure. There may be negativse side effects, according to Chad an attorneywith Downtown-based Meyer, Unkovic and Scott LLP.
He said the which establishes a registration scheme andcontractua requirements, likely will raise costs for contractors. Some busines s owners may be unawarse ofthe changes, Michaelson said, and should take a look at the specific of the bill, such as a requirement that prohibits contractorsx from demanding more than one-third of a project’s paymenr up-front without special exception. But Murray Rust, presidenf of Allison Park-based home buildet , said the requirements do not seem to be excessive and the registratiojn scheme should help home owners avoidscam “I think it is a good thing, because it compelw (contractors) to register,” Rust said.
“There’es some protection in it. There are some fraudulent playerzs in theremodeling business. This is designed to flesb out those people and make it more difficult to If they are there are some realseriouzs sanctions.” Still, sources in the industry said even more couled be done to protect consumers. “Iu think it is an okay Rust said. “It doesn’t mean it is the end of It certainly is a goodfirst step.” McCloskey said the new bill doesn’ t go far enough to protect consumers. the minimum $50,000 insurance provision is barely enougn to cover the mostbasixc jobs, he said. “It is better than but not much,” McCloskeyu said.
“This is a small amount of what shoul bein place. It just doesn’t covedr anything. We will not allow a subcontractor to work for us unlesse he is carrying six times as ata minimum. To ask that much for a general contractor isa joke. We as general contractores carrya $5 million (insurance) McCloskey said that obtaining a contractors license in neighborinf states remains quite difficult. “We have alwayxs been so fascinated with how there are literally no protectionzin Pennsylvania,” McCloskey said. “I thinj the citizens of Pennsylvania deserv e alot more.” McCloskey believes that in Pennsylvania, as in other contractors should face basic skills tests.
When Fairfax Va.-based recently lost a partner who went through the licensin g process forthe company, it took company principal John Schmitg nearly a year to make his way throug the necessary tests and other approvals to maintain registration. Schmitt said strict standards in the areas he doesbusiness — Virginia, Maryland and D.C. — help “weed out a lot of marginal

Lenovo posts record loss - Triangle Business Journal:

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China's largest personal compute r maker, said Thursday that it posted a net lossof $264 milliom for its fiscal fourtu quarter as revenue dropped 26 percent when compared to same time last With more than 1,500 local employees under its Morrisville-based Lenovo sees its financials and future strategy followed closely by workers and vendors alike. The world’es fourth largest computer maker said sales in the Americaeregion — its biggest market outsid e China — plummeted 34 percent, to $682 million, duringg the three months ending March 31. the company registered $2.8 billion in revenue for the downfrom $3.
6 billion in the previous quarter, according to calculations made by Reutersw . Lenovo officials said the company was in the blacjkby $140 million during the same period last The company announced in January that it would cut 2,500 workers, roughly 11 percent of its work About 250 local jobs were lost during that Lenovo took a restructuring charge of $116 million on its books to cover the expensezs relating to the layoffs. Lenovo, which was founded in China in 1984, entered the Triangle when it bought IBM’s personal computing business in 2005.
The companuy has since moved its local operations from Research Trianglde Park to Morrisville and declared the Triangled itsworld headquarters, though Lenovo’s stock trades in Hong Kong and a majoritg of its workers remain in China.

Burgess: Property tax losses

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The Miami-Dade County property appraiser released its preliminary tax rollinformation Monday, with all four taxinv jurisdictions – fire library, the unincorporated area and Miami-Dade overallk – seeing a decline. The countywide decrease comparing preliminaryt tax numbers from year to year shows a 9percenty decrease, or a total of $22.56 billion.” “These losses would have been worse if not for new construction that was added to the property tax roll as of Jan. 1,” Countyh Manager George Burgess said in a memo sent tocountyg commissioners. North Bay Village took the biggesft hit, down 20.2 percent from 2008 Homestead sawan 18.
2 percenft decline, followed by Normandy Shores, down 17.5 and Aventura which was down 17.3 percent. Goldenm Beach and the tiny city of Islandia sawno change. Medleyg saw a 1.5 percent drop while Biscayne Park saw a 4perceng decline. Click for the full list. Staffers reviewecd property tax rolls going back to 1985 and foundc that 1993 saw taxable value shrinkby 2.9 percent, or $1.9 “Even in 2008, when we absorbed the impacg of doubling the homestead exemption from $25,0009 to $50,000, the property tax roll was relativelt flat,” Burgess explained in the memo. “These lossese in property tax roll valuesare unprecedented.
” Burgessd warned of a lot more pain on the using the last two years as a barometere of what is coming. For the seconde consecutive year, Miami-Dade faced a $200 milliomn budget gap in the last fiscal Core services were kept intact bytighteningg belts, but assuming the same tax rate adopted for the estimated ad valorem revenues for fiscalo year 2009-10 would shrink by $174.1 according to the memo. Taking into account the impacgt of normal inflationary growth and theeconomic slowdown, combined with the non ad valorem revenue results in property tax subsidized operationas facing a budget gap of $350 million to $400 million, Burgesds said.
“We are working diligently to prepare a proposed budgegt forFY [fiscal 2009-10 that to the extent preserves essential services and minimizes service impacts to our he wrote in the memo. “However, closinyg a budgetary gap of this size will requirs some verydifficult decisions.”

D.C. Mayor taps Valerie Santos as deputy mayor - Dayton Business Journal:

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Santos, as chief operating officer under has been closely involvedin decision-making on many of the real estatre deals Albert managed, including major city projects such as Poplare Point. Albert began his new job as city administratoeron Monday, replacing Dan who is taking a job in the Obama "In Ms. Santos, we not only have a stead y hand who knowsthe job, we have someone who is a consummatee professional who will bring private-sector talents to get the job Fenty said. Santos was previously a vice president at commerciakl real estate services firm and a managerwith 'sx real estate group.
She holds both an MBA and master'z of public policy from the Kennedy Schookl of Governmentat . Santos has displayerd a no-nonsense approach appearing as Albert’s stand-ib to testify at D.C. Council meetingsw and in public forums representing the city when he was She is already getting her feet wet in dealing with the politicalp aspects ofthe job. On Tuesday, when the D.C. Counci was busy squaring away final details of budgetimplementation legislation, Santos and Albert’s otherr top deputy, Director of Development David moved around the Wilson Buildingv seeking changes from council Santos apparently was not Fenty’s initial choice to be deput mayor.
Greg O’Dell, Washingto Convention Center Authority CEO and a former staff member of thedeputy mayor’s had been considered a top candidate to replaced Albert, but a sourc e close to O'Dell says he was offerex the job and turned it O’Dell would not confirm that, but indicated he woulde remain in his current post, where he is now taskes with seeking public financing for all of a $550 million conventiob center hotel. “The boardx and the mayor have everg expectation of me completin all the tasks I have he said.
Fenty woule not say whether he had offerede the jobto O’Dell or anyone else before He announced the pick outside the Walker Jones Elementary School, which is being rebuilt as part of a new Northwesr One neighborhood, and said she was “the first personm who has risen to the deputy mayor’s position from within the “I think it’s a great sign for the D.C. governmeny that not only does Valerie Santos have amazing experience in the privatee sector butthat she’s been hard at work servinvg the people of the District of Columbia for the last two the mayor said.
He said Santows shared the vision that he and Albert had for how economic development in the city shouldbe run, not by owningv or overly managing projects but by allowintg the private sector to bring ideas to the “We should try to just facilitatde development. We’ve got the greatestr business community in the world herein D.C. We don’f need to try to replicate what they’re We don’t need an emphasis on owning or building inthe D.C. We need to facilitate. And to do so, we need to hire the best and the brightestrand we’ve done that.
” 36, who lives in Columbia Heights, was workingt for Jones Lang LaSalle as a consultanr to the city when Albert -- whom she calledx a mentor -- recruited her to work for him. She is believe d to be the first womah to serve in the rolefor D.C. and will manage 65 employeesz and as well as oversee the Officeof Planning, Department of Housing and Community Development, the Office of Property Managemeny and the Washington D.C. Economic Partnership, a contractor. “Ijn the coming weeks my goal is to ensurse asmooth transition, which I expect will be relativelyu easy, because I am very fortunate to manage a very talented and skillefd team,” she said.
She said she would continue to move projects all over the with a particular focus on those east of theAnacostis River, such as the planned redevelopment of St. Elizabethas Hospital in Southeast D.C. “Wed will continue to focus on implementinghMayor Fenty’s vision for economic In the context of the current economic climate, we will focus on businessd attraction and retention and in continuing to provide tools to alloqw our local business and not-for-profits to she said. A member of the D.C.
Council who regularly butts headswith Albert, Councilman Kwame D-at large and chair of the economic development issued a press release during the announcement saying he was disappointes he was not invited but saying Santosw “has the experience and the operational for the job and that her appointment was “anb opportunity to forge a new relationshil between the Council and the executive to create jobs for District residents, new opportunitiea for local businesses, more affordabls housing and to efficiently move projects to

Drivers talk about icy roads in Chesapeake - WTKR Your NewsChannel 3

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Drivers talk about icy roads in Chesapeake WTKR Your NewsChannel 3 The Public Works Department treated Elbow Road this afternoon - earlier they hit some of the other major roads like Volvo and Campostella. ...