Is Al Gore now a help or hindrance to the global warming cause? - The Guardian (blog)

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Is Al Gore now a help or hindrance to the global warming cause? The Guardian (blog) However, I still think there is an important, if difficult, question to be asked: despite all his efforts over the past three decades to raise awareness on this issue, is Gore now a help or a hindrance to the cause he cares so passionately about? ... and more »

LendingTree expands product offering - Washington Business Journal:

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According to the company, its customer-retention technology identifies customers byloan loan-to-value ratio, loan purpose and FICO “With refinancing activity from borrowers representing a significant portiomn of overall origination volume, our lender networik has expressed a desire to capture and retain currenft mortgage customers,” says Bob Harris, president of the LendingTree “As part of the LendingTrer network, banks and lenders that use our new customer-retention initiativse will be able to significantly impact the ratiio of overall mortgage portfolio retained, just as effectively as they can attracyt new borrowers.
” LendingTree is ownedc by Charlotte-based (NASDAQ:TREE), an online lending and real estatr company. Tree.com’s principle businesses are which matches potential mortgagde borrowersto lenders, and RealEstate.com, whichg works with individuals seekinhg homes and real estate agents. LendingTree says it has facilitatefd more than 25 milliob requests for loans onlineand $185 billiom in closed loan transactions.

Virginia Key plan sent back to drawing board - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The city's Planning Advisory Board voteed 8-0 this week to reject the proposed master plan thatFort Lauderdale-basef consultant put together. The project has the potential to creatre construction jobs as a result of several buildings plannecd forthe site, including 11 garages and severapl sports facilities tied to baseball and tennis. But the boar d and the city don’t see eye to eye. The planningt board passed a motion to communicatew to the city commission that the master plan does not reflectpublicx input, which focused on passiver uses such as hiking The commission, which has the final word, is to review the masteer plan next week.
The Advisory Board also askefd commissioners to direct staff to take more time and revamop the master plan so that it more closelh aligns withthe public's focus on passives uses. "Nobody is denying there was a publicx process,” said board Chairwoman Janice Tarbert. “Yohu didn’t listen to the residents.” EDSA principakl Paul D. Kissinger, who is overseeingy the VirginiaKey project, and city officiale said both parties worked to preserve the park’sz natural beauty and expand its drawingf potential by adding baseballl fields, tennis courts and other uses.
More than 30 memberse of the public, many of whom had participateed in past masterplan workshops, spoker out against the plan. Many cited concerns over the city' lack of focus on preserving current passive uses aroun the MiamiMarine Stadium. As the Business Journalp reportedlast year, the city's stated through the master plan, is to make the waterfrontr and the land more accessible and But, multiple ownership and leases are limitin factors. But the proposals have prompte some concerns from conservationistsand preservationists. Some have raisede concerns aboutproposed dorms, ball fields, restaurant space, garages and othedr non-natural uses of the 1,000-acre key.
The city had proposesd transforming a landfill into ball fieldsd and otherathletic uses, whicnh would be the basizs for a regional park. Additional possibilities included mountain bike trails anda world-class facilityh for enthusiasts of bicycle motocross, or BMX, which was includefd in Olympic competition for the first time this The city also discussed increasing both its wet slip and dry stacm opportunities on Virginia Key. Currently, it has 2,550 slip s and 2,300 racks.

Flowers Foods cooks up a strong first quarter - Business First of Louisville:

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The Thomasville, Ga.-basked goods company (NYSE: FLO) posted net incomer of $35.8 million, or 39 cents share, comparec with net income of $28.5 or 31 cents a in the first quarterof 2007. First-quarter sales increased 10.9 percent to $676.8 million. "Our results in the firstf quarter once again prove the strength of our our team, and our operating strategies," said Georgee E. Deese, Flowers Foode chairman, CEO and president. "Sales of our branded productsw were robust and our internal data showsx unit growthof 2.6 Increased sales to fast food restaurantsx partially offset lower unit sales to casual dining In other news, the companhy promoted Gene D.
Lord to chief operating officer. Lord startedd with Flowers in 1966. In 2002, he was namedf president and COO ofthe company's Bakerie s Group, which represents 80 percent of company Allen L. Shiver has been tappe as chiefmarketing officer. Shiver became a full time employer at Flowers in 1979 afterr working part time during high school and In 2003, Shiver was namecd president and COO of the Specialty Bradley K. Alexander is the new president ofFlowerw Bakeries. Alexander began his career with Floweresin 1981. In he was named regional vice president.

Wine questions, terminology - Coeur d'Alene Press

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Wine questions, terminology Coeur d'Alene Press ... dry and fruity or any other questions about wine and wine-making stop by the shop and ask or check with your favorite wine professional to better ensure you are purchasing a wine you will like, and to understand the terminology. ... and more »

Keeping up with the schemers - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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If Ponzi’s heavyweight status rivaled thatof Joe” Frazier, Bernie Madoff’s scam arose in the ring of internationaol fraud in the manner of Muhammac Ali. As the new symbolic face of deceit, Madoft is certainly not alonrin 2009. In fact, the numbee of Ponzi schemes recently uncovered is atan all-time Enter the term “Ponzi” in the Departmenft of Justice and FBI Web sites and you will receivwe 750 and 225 hits, respectively. In response to the Madoff case and and the public and legislative outcr y directed at regulators for failing to protect the additional investigative scrutiny hasalready begun.
Any company that even swervee lanes onthe ’s highway needs to be prepared for a bumpy ride. With some types of like Madoff’s or Ponzi’s, it is easy to see why the underlyint conduct iscriminal — if it’s It is inherently criminal to lie to investord by taking their money (based on promisess to invest it in a certain legitimatew way), never invest it, and use the money for personakl gain or for paying off returns to priorr investors to perpetuate the scheme. In extreme fraud the strike zoneis clear.
In many other complex business arrangements may appear confusingor fraudulent, but the ground rules of appropriatee behavior are fuzzy and there may be no intenr to defraud. Rather than the black-and-whitr violations in Ponzi schemes, most business-fraud investigations involve shades of The challenge for investigators is separating the whea fromthe chaff. Another challenge facing investigators is determininf who was a knowing participanyt inthe scheme, as compared with a collateral victimm who may have been kept in the dark by the true All players in a regulated industry are judged by the companyu they keep. Participants should watcb out for guiltby association.
Madoff’s crimes were not discovereed by regulatorsor investors, but by family members who turned him in. Fueled by angry investore and voters, and armed with the benefitg of hindsight, Congress predictabluy started pointing fingers at the SEC for not catchinbonto Bernie. With a new chairwoman and a new director of the SEC responded with an aggressive startin 2009. More the SEC has initiated 287 investigations since the end ofJanuary (a 32% increase from the same period last year); and has obtainer emergency orders to freeze the assets of 27 fraud suspectss since February (vs. seven obtained during the same periodein 2008).
Haunted by the Madoff the SEC is reinvigorated and committed to conduc prompt andthorough (code word: aggressive) Just like past swings of the enforcement the prior era of deregulation is beinv replaced by reregulation in a variett of corporate-compliance arenas. Thus, any executive wanting to preservw value, protect liberties and preserve reputationas must prioritizecorporate self-governance through prevention, verification and early response. In this new, reinvigoratee securities-enforcement climate, executives and regulated companiesw need to protect themselves througheffectivee self-governance and compliance.
In particular, this requirese designing, implementing, investing in and monitoring objective measures to concretely demonstrate good corporate citizenship — like a Passover mark or merit badge. Once the investigation bell has it’s far too late. The main thrust involvesx preventing problems and preparinvto respond. The political and legal spearsz arebeing sharpened. How stront is your armor, and how sturdy is your shield??

NACS teachers union leaving state alliance - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

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NACS teachers union leaving state alliance Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Northwest Allen County Schools' teachers union announced Friday it's cutting ties with the Indiana State Teachers Association and National Education Association. The Northwest Allen County Education Association voted 111-17 Thursday to dissociate with ... and more »

Med students

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That leaves just 14 percentr of 2009 graduates who plan to be a primargy care or familymedicine It’s the second consecutive year the KU medical schoolk has seen fewer than 15 percent of its graduate s interested in primary care. The number of U.S. med studentw choosing family practice care has been dropping sincethe mid-1990s, accordinvg to the . And with more primary care providers approaching some say the shortage coule get worse and make health careless accessible. “Thayt spells disaster for the future,” says Dr. Rick Kellerman, chair of the department of family and community medicins atKU Medical. “There’s a lot of issuese that need to belooked at.
We can’t keep doinb business as usual.” President Barack Obama’s administration has takej aim at addressing the nationwide shortage of primaryhcare physicians. Federal officials are consideriny several proposals to counter the including measures that would increase enrollment in medical schools and residency training programs. Another plan calls for using more nurser practitioners and physician assistants totreat patients. industry professionals are working to convinc e med students to go into general practice rather than The is at the center ofthat effort. The nonprofitg consortium is a partnership between the KU medical and .
WCGME-trained physicians go on to serve 70 of 105 counties. That’s why the program is important, its supportersw say. “We’re very shortt on primary care (providers) throughou t most of Kansas,” says Penny Vogelsang, WCGME’s chief operating officer. industry professionals say the cost of medicak education has forced people into higher specialized jobs where they canmake two-and-a-half times more moneh than they would as a primaryt care provider. Medical students commonly graduatrewith $140,000 or more in Family doctors are trying to bridgw the pay gap by pressing Congress for highet Medicare reimbursement rates. But medical specialistsa opposethe effort.
Organization such as the Medical Society of Sedgwicm County say people should have a medicalo home where a primary care providef can see them on aregular basis. The goal is to keep peoplr from going to emergency rooms forroutinew treatment, which runs up the cost of healtgh care. “Primary care doctors are at the core of our healthn caredelivery system,” says Steve Harris, CEO at . “Wd have to make sure we are gettinfg people into the primary care The shortage of family doctors affects rural areas butthat doesn’t mean placed like Wichita aren’t hurtingh for doctors, says Laura Hill, executive directodr of medical staff operations and physician employment at the .
“There’s a demaned and a need for primary care and physician serviced inthe community,” she “The supply and demand of physicia availability is getting worse.” A Via Christi community needs assessment survey found the Wichita metropolitan statistical area is shorg almost 35 primary care doctors. Primary care includeds family medicine, urgent care and internal medicine. The number is based on a Centers forMedicarwe & Medicaid Services formula that definee need based on a specific service which in this case was more than 980 squarse miles. That area needs 351 primary care physicians, but only has abouft 317, according to the study.
based on population, will need 1,064 primary care physician by 2010, according to a studty by the . To date, the state has aboutf 800, according to the study. The Associatiom of American Medical Colleges says Kansasd has nearly 81 active primary care physicians per 100,000 people, which ranks 33rd out of 50 The national average is 88, but the AAMC doesn’t have specific benchmarks it Closing the gap on the shortage won’t be easy, Kellermab says.
He estimates between 30 and 40 primar y care physicians in Kansas will retire in the next thre to five years and the trend coulsd continue at that pace for several Offering more incentives for medical studentas to go into primary care could help offsetgthe shortage, some say.