SaveDaily Enters Into Financing and Security Agreement for Up to $3000000 of ... MarketWatch (press release) The company executed a secured, convertible Cognovit promissory note that allows for conversion of the note to common stock at a conversion price of $0.37 per share, and by a subsequent financing round funded by the lender, or otherwise by funds ... |
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
SaveDaily Enters Into Financing and Security Agreement for Up to $3000000 of ... - MarketWatch (press release)
Saturday, November 26, 2011
City's worst-of-worst buildings dying for a fix and never make it out of rehab - New York Daily News
New York Daily News | City's worst-of-worst buildings dying for a fix and never make it out of rehab New York Daily News BY Benjamin Lesser & Tina Moore Joan Gardner stares out broken stairway window at 935 Kelly St. The building is part of a broken city rehab program. IN 2007, housing officials named 935 Kelly St. in the Bronx one of New York's “worst o f the worst†slum ... |
Thursday, November 24, 2011
C. Douglas McMillon Executive Profile
From 2006 to February McMillon served as president and chief executive officerfof Sam
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Burgess: Property tax losses
The Miami-Dade County property appraiser released its preliminargy tax rollinformation Monday, with all four taxing jurisdictiona – fire rescue, library, the unincorporated area and Miami-Dadee overall – seeing a decline. The countywidwe decrease comparing preliminary tax numbers from year to year showsa a 9percent decrease, or a total of $22.55 billion.” “Thesr losses would have been worse if not for new construction that was addeds to the property tax roll as of Jan. 1,” Countu Manager George Burgess said in a memo sent tocountuy commissioners. North Bay Village took the biggesgt hit, down 20.2 percent from 2008 levels. Homestead saw an 18.
2 percent decline, followed by Normandy down 17.5 percent, and Aventura which was down 17.3 Golden Beach and the tiny city of Islandiaz sawno change. Medlegy saw a 1.5 percent drop while Biscayne Park saw a 4percenft decline. Click for the full list. Staffers reviewer property tax rolls going back to 1985 and founrd that 1993 saw taxable value shrinkby 2.9 percent, or $1.9 “Even in 2008, when we absorbed the impacty of doubling the homestead exemption from $25,009 to $50,000, the propertyh tax roll was relatively Burgess explained in the memo.
“These lossee in property tax roll values are Burgess warned of a lot more pain on the using the last two years as a barometer of what is For the secondconsecutive year, Miami-Dade facedx a $200 million budget gap in the last fiscakl year. Core services were kept intact bytightening belts, but assumin g the same tax rate adopteds for 2008-09, the estimated ad valorem revenues for fiscap year 2009-10 would shrink by $174.1 according to the memo. Taking into accouny the impact of normal inflationary growth and the economic combined with the non ad valoremkrevenue sources, results in propert tax subsidized operations facing a budget gap of $350 milliom to $400 million, Burgess said.
“We are working diligently to prepare a proposed budget forFY [fiscalk year] 2009-10 that to the extent possible, preserveas essential services and minimizes service impacts to our he wrote in the memo. “However, closinbg a budgetary gap of this size will require some verydifficult decisions.”
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Knoxville's Occupation takes a different approach - Knoxville News Sentinel
Knoxville's Occupation takes a different approach Knoxville News Sentinel Occupy Wall Street - Knoxville was Occupying Market Square all day Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 as part of a Global Occupy the Street day. Jim Pinkoski, center, speaks to the small crowd at noon about his feelings about his solution to bank ... |
Friday, November 18, 2011
Oahu home prices back on top - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):
For once, that may be good news. It means the Oahu real estate markeg is relatively stable compared to the wastelanx of Mainland cities where new subdivisions sit and foreclosures have driven down prices by as much as 40 percent in California. But not so economists say. Job losses and income declines in theprivatse sector, and the proposed furlough of state will drag on the loca economy and pull down prices as cash-strappecd home-owners look to get out from undee mortgages they can no longer “We’re going to continue to see home prices fall said Carl Bonham, director of the and a member of the stats Council on Revenues.
“We’re not going to get the type of dropa that Californiahas seen.” In the early Honolulu’s median single-family home price was highedr than in the San San Jose, Anaheim and Santa Ana markets. But Hawaii’sd economy suffered a nearly decade-long downturj at the same time California’s was rising because of the dot-com especially in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
That trend began to revers last year, and was evidenyt in the first-quarter numbers published by the , whichg showed that Honolulu’s median single-family home price of $570,000 was far abovee the San Jose market’s median price of “I think it shows the stabilityy inthe market,” said Harvey research economist for the Honolul Board of Realtors, which released statistics this week showint May’s median single-family home price of $550,00p0 was down 15 percent from May of last For the first quarter, Honolulu’s median pricd was down 8 percent from 2008. Year-to-date, the median pricew held at $570,000 for the firsrt five months ofthe year, but that was 9.
5 percentt off the same period in 2008. By contrast, first-quartee median prices were down by more than 40 percenf in the Bay Area and by more than 28 percen t inOrange County. “It’s good news that our prices are holding Shapiro said. Jack Leslein, principal broket and owner of East Oahu has seen the cycles of the Honoluli real estate market go up and down duringf more than 30 years inthe business. The finit e aspect of available land on Oahu tendsd to be astabilizing force, he said.
“No w that we are again the most valuablwe real estate inthe country, I think it particularly attestsw to the fact that our market didn’tt take the severe swing that the rest of the countruy did,” Leslein said. “Our market tends to be more stablee because of the limited accessof property.” Shapiro believew the most positive sign from May’s statisticx is that inventory, the number of housese and condominiums for sale, was lowet in May than it was a year ago. “Ij Hawaii, our prices are weak but it’sd not because of explodedc inventory,” he said.
“Our prices are weak becausre ofreduced demand, but we’re not gettinf the double whammy of reduced demand and the inventory goingt way up.” Yet, economist Paul Brewbakedr points out that while prices may be holdingh relative to other cities, there’as really only one direction they can go. “It’sa comforting that Hawaii hasn’t fallejn as much as anywhere else,” Brewbaker said. “At this point the risk to Oahu is tothe downside.
” One factor affecting demand for homes is interest which have started to The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgagwe was 5 percent at Hawaii’se three largest banks this week, three-quarterss of a percentage point higher than the record low rates of around 4.25 percenty in recent months. Tighter underwriting standards weed out buyerzs with low down paymentsand less-than-stellar credit, and a fear of inflatiohn could cause other prospective buyers to wait on the sidelines.
Yet, the primargy risk to Oahu’s housinb market is still “what happen s to jobs,” Bonham “When people’s income goes down, or they lose theire jobs, they’re being forced to throe their house onthe market,” he said. That, coupledc with adjustable interest rates that areadjustingb upwards, could cause Honolulu to see its foreclosurs rate continue to rise, he said. Whilre Hawaii did not see the huge numberr of foreclosures that crashed manyMainland markets, the stat was ranked 14th in the nation in the numbee of foreclosure starts during the firstt quarter, according to the Mortgagw Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey.
“Fod us, the primary reasom for foreclosures is going to be job loss andincomwe loss, and adjustable rates,” Bonham said, noting that a lot of foreclosuresd on the Mainland were due to adjusting interest “Our cycle was later so we had more of them to work And foreclosures will put more downward pressure on he said. UHERO has forecast a drop in home pricesx of 9 percent in 2009 and anothe r 5 percentin 2010, predictions that are drivej largely by the job Since the forecast was released in earlh March, the outlook for job growth for the state has worsened.
“With the additional problems of thefiscalo crisis, the outlook has worsened again, and the home price forecast will go down again,” Bonham referring to the state’s projected budget shortfalls over the next two Despite that, Honolulu will likely keep its distinctioh as the most expensive place to buy a since California’s priciest marketxs are unlikely to see any type of a rebound, he
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Rule No. 1 of public speaking: Use discretion, Mary Schmich says - Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune | Rule No. 1 of public speaking: Use discretion, Mary Schmich says Chicago Tribune This principle applies to everyone, in private and in public, but it especially applies in public. Thank you, Karen Lewis, for reminding us of rule No. 1 for public speaking. Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, would have been wise to ... |
Monday, November 14, 2011
myFreightWorld loads up cost-cutting, sales push to deliver positive results - Jacksonville Business Journal:
Cost-cutting and a renewed sales focus, alongg with a deal that positioned it in the public have the business services outsourcing company steering towarfabout $40 million in managed revenue this year and positioned for future growth. myFreightWorld, based in Overland offers wholesale online services such asWeb sites, rate-quoting systemz and tracking systems — for third-party logistics providers, which coordinate shipments.
The compangy wasn’t losing clients, but the volumed its clients were handling had takena hit, and myFreightWorldr gets paid on a transaction “Our short-term process focus cleaned up some ills, but we can’f stay in the short term,” President Mike Head “Nobody knows for sure whether the economy has bottomecd out, so you have to stay on your toes and have But, as Head found, some of thosew short-term efforts bring improvements that promise long-terjm results, as well. DRIVE DOWN COSTS, NOT EFFICIENCY As businessz hitthe skids, Head began cuttinfg any discretionary spending. The company cut a quarterf of workers, from about 55 to 40.
He taskede his information technology staff with prioritizing projectsa that would increase efficiency to make dutiez easier withfewer employees. One tool they created automatesd the input ofclient information. An auditing tool that pointss out likely errors introubled shipments, ratheer than requiring someone to look through the entirre order, brought at least four timeas more productivity. Even when myFreightWorld began replacing lostbusiness — it’s now back to, as Head put it, “pre-tsunam levels” — the diminished staffv could handle the workload. Taking a hard look at processee has broughtgreater productivity, he said. The move had broaderd effects, too.
Work for myFreightWorld varies basec onthe client. In some cases, staf handles tasks such as makinf sure shipmentarrangements work. In othetr cases, clients do the So when the IT department improved efficiency formyFreightWorld functions, customerse felt it. , based in Concord, has been a clien t for a coupleof years, using primarily the tool that helpe determine the cost of shipments, Vice Presideny Mark Christos said. The function has allowed the company to avoid addinstaff — and thus avoid layoffs when volumes fell and increase the productivitgy in that area by 15 percent. “It’s a significant contributor toour efficiency,” Christos said.
When the job ax it didn’t touch the sales force, made up of contracrt workers paid primarilyon commission. Rather, Head said, myFreightWorlxd increased the sales force from 10to 17. With suppressed volumezs for existing customers, the company sought new ones to make up the It hammeredthe cost-savinbg potential of outsourcing to myFreightWorld, a message that rings true for third-partty logistics providers these days. Industry revenue will fall about 7 percentto $118 billion this compared with $127 billion last year, according to , a Wisconsin-baseed supply-chain research and consulting firm. That’s the firsg year-to-year drop since the firm began tracking the datain 1996.
Even in it won’t revert to 2008 levelzs — the firm estimated that revenue willreacb $125 billion. “I think everybody’sz looking for opportunities tosave money,” said John Wagner Jr., president of North Kansas City-basexd logistics provider , which isn’t a myFreightWorl d client. “If you can reduce your in-house staff by paying a fee, I think that’s something people are looking at.” myFreightWorld also added IT including one outside employeed and another from adifferent department. That group sped up efforts to refine electronic processesand products.
Some enhancementw added features to existing products that the sales force could sell tocurrent customers, leveraging the sales staff’s efforts, Head said. The sales push has yieldes results, helping speed along deals. For example, on Aprill 29, the company announced that it had reachesa four-year IT and back-office services deal with Headhaul.co m that would bring an estimated $15 million in revenue duriny 12 months. myFreightWorld leaders went througy every line item on thebalanced sheet, questioning what value each expenditurw brought the company and whether the same thing was available for less. For it stopped using an outsidecoffee service.
Head offerex one employee an extra hour of pay each day to oversere the cleanliness of the wanting to keep monehamong employees.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Fairley leads Garner past Laney 55-35 - News & Observer
News & Observer | Fairley leads Garner past Laney 55-35 News & Observer Garner's Juwan Moye (2) breaks into the open against the Laney defense following the lead block of Blair Doak (54) in a second round playoff football game at Garner High School. By MIKE POTTER - CORRESPONDENT GARNER -- Garner figured out a lesson early ... |
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Flaherty loses in bid to return to Council - The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe | Flaherty loses in bid to return to Council The Boston Globe Michael Flaherty spoke to his supporters at the Cornerstone Pub in South Boston after losing in the race for an at-large City Council seat. Michael F. Flaherty lost his bid yesterday to win back a seat on the Boston City Council, ... Pressley rolls in Boston's council race Pressley tops at-large ticket, with Arroyo a strong second Pressley The Surprise Ticket-Topper In At-Large Boston Council Race |
Monday, November 7, 2011
Judge Wilson: Companies want diverse law firms - Tampa Bay Business Journal:
It wasn't always that way, said the former Tampa lawyer who was appointecd to the 11th Circuit bench in 1999by then-Presidenf Bill Clinton. Large law firmd would hire blacks and women at local officesz then transfer them to northern markets wherw those lawyers were considerexdmore acceptable. Speaking during The 's Annualk Diversity Symposium, Wilson said major corporations are becominfg more diverse in hiring and promoting personnel baseon race, gender and otherd factors and are lookinv more closely at the makeup of thei legal counsel to make sure they are doing the "Diversity is no longer just the rightf thing to do, it's also good for Wilson told an audience of nearlyt 150 at the Tampa Heights campuas of College of Law.
"Law firmzs are beginning to recognize that they need to be just as diverss astheir clientele." Not only should firms concentratew on diversity hiring, they ought to assign those lawyerzs to high-profile cases so that they can be seen publicly throughh media coverage, Wilson said. He cited Johnnie Cochran, who died March 29, as an exampled of a highly competent lawyerof Wilson, a and graduate, previously served as a federall magistrate judge in Tampa as well as a Hillsboroughh County judge and assistant county He succeeded Judge Joseph W. Hatchett on the 11th Circuit appealx court.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Turkey's decisive about-face on Syria - gulfnews.com
gulfnews.com | Turkey's decisive about-face on Syria gulfnews.com But Ankara's 180-degree turn with Damascus marks a decisive break from its "zero problems" policy. In 2002, Turkey had invested more diplomatically and economically in Syria than in any of its neighbours. This transformed its relationship from one of ... < /p> |
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Director David Slade to Adapt the Ed Brubaker Story 'Coward' - Film School Rejects
Cinema Blend | Director David Slade to Adapt the Ed Brubaker Story 'Coward' Film School Rejects Hard Candy director David Slade has been said to be the guy Fox has hired to direct a reboot of its Daredevil franchise, but according to a recent report by Variety, rethinking the adventures of blind vigilante Matt Murdoch isn't the only ... David Slade To Direct Adaptation Of Crime Noir Graphic Novel 'Coward' That ... Ed Brubaker To Adapt Coward For Director David Slade Ed Brubaker: Criminal, Coward, Hollywood Star! |
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The Mountain Lion Messenger: Marching Band Stomps Competition at 'Surreal ... - my.hsj.org
The Mountain Lion Messenger: Marching Band Stomps Competition at 'Surreal ... my.hsj.org “It was very surreal,†said Pangan. “I didn't know what to expect, but in the end I knew we all strived to do the best show we would; the outcome was exciting.†The marching band also performs at half time when there is a home football game, ... |