ymekovo.wordpress.com
But just because businessees owners know they shoulddo it, that doesn't mean they are doing it. Jeff Porter runs the data managemenyt forum for the Storage NetworkingIndustrh Association, an international standards organization for electronixc storage companies. He said there hasn't been a noticeable increasde in the number of businesses backingh up their filessince "I don't think it takees a lot to convince people now of the need to back theire files up," Porter said. "But it's still very difficult to convincr them totake action." He said that's because it is such a tediouss task.
Even though there are plenty of firmsx that specialize in storing othercompanies information, the nature of the process demands hundreds of "executive" hours, according to Porter. "It's not so much the cost that keepzs companies fromdoing it," Porter "It's the fact that the company's decision-makers have to spend their own time figuring out what needs to happen. It's somethintg that can't be delegated.
" But along with other nationao organizations, say there are several steps companiea can take to make the process less of a Before a company even starts looking for a third partyustorage vendor, it needs to figuree out what information is vita enough to be "There has to be a formalized collaboration between management, operations and any business partners involved," he said. "Don't expect it to be a quicm process. It's going to take a lot of meetinge between a lotof divisions." Once a company figuress out what information needs to be kept Porter said it must decide how the informationn should be stored.
He explained that there are differinfg degrees of access to the informatiomn fora business. For an insurance company would want recent claimx to be more accessible than those made 10yearse ago. Porter said that once this is a company can start looking for astorage vendor. He said the best placs to start searching is throughhis organization'se directory, which he said is unbiased and neutral. Othe trade organizations, such as Enterprise Contenyt Management Association, also represent hundreds of storager vendors and make those listsavailable online.
Portedr also recommends getting customerr reviews and making sure a vendor has good He said if a company should test a vendor out by doing smalptrial installations. Porter explained that companieds often use more thanone vendor. "Some vendors are better for storinb long-term information," he said. "Others are bettef at giving youimmediate access. You have to find the rightg fit for each portion ofdata you'rre storing." To get the lowestr cost, Porter said many companies try to get several vendoras into a bidding war. "But cost isn't the most importangt thing here," he said.
"If somethinh happened and you had to depend onthe vendor's service s to stay in business, the last thing you'd want is to have compromisexd quality just so you savedc some costs." When it comes to how far away a company should electronically store its backup data, 15 miles used to be the rule of But after the widespread destructioj of Katrina, experts say information should be storef in geographic regions that won't be affectede by the same disaster. "Katrina not only increased awareness," Porter said. "It also rewrotse a lot of the rules we usedto have. It showex our industry what needed tobe improved.
" One of those according to Porter, is how often a company should test its backup He explained that many Katrina-affectedr companies had backup plans, but discovered they were out-of-dates when the disaster actually hit. "A business is constantlyy evolving," he said. "And, consequently, so are your backup needs." Porter said a company with the assistance ofits vendor, refresb its backup plan at least He said many companies actually test dividing the process up into separate divisions. But Porter said the biggesgt mistakecompanies make, and one that Katrinaa highlighted, is that they focus too much on storagde and not enough on recovery.
"When you initially sit down you need to figurr out how fast you need to recover whensomethinb happens," he said. "You may back everythinbg up properly, but then it takes you 30 days to access it and be up andrunninv again. Many companies can't survive that kind of delay. " Computers, Technology and Telecommunications
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Comparing Different Aspects of Their Games - Bleacher Report
erofeyporgrinin.blogspot.com
Bleacher Report | LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Comparing Different Aspects of Their Games Bleacher Report Although some have been hesitant to juxtapose the two players in each aspect of their game, they're likely to go down as the most premier talents that the game has ever seen. LeBron has yet to win his first NBA championship ring, so he's obviously ... |
Friday, May 27, 2011
Small firms divided over public health plan - Washington Business Journal: Washington Bureau
modestofyeyko.blogspot.com
Legislation expected to move througgh the Senate in the next couple of monthss would establish a nationap health insurance exchange that would enable small businesses and individuals to shop for the best One of the major issue to be resolved is whethera government-rub insurance plan, like Medicare, should join private-sector insuranced plans on the exchange's menu of The National Federation of Independent Business opposes including a publicv plan in the exchange. It fears a government-runb plan would undercut privatre insurers and end up leading to less competitionh in theinsurance marketplace.
"There would be very littled left of the private saidKaren Ignani, president and CEO of America's Healt h Insurance Plans, a trade association representing insurers. Some conservatives also fear a public plan eventually would lead toa single-payer system, wher the government is the only providerf of health insurance. Some small business owners, support a public plan. David Borris, owne r of Hel's Kitchen Catering in Ill., told the House Ways and Means Committeew April 22 that smallbusinesses "already have enoug h bad choices -- high-deductible, low-benefit plans that are barelyh worth the paper they're written on.
" "For businessesx that don't have good options now, offer the choic of a public health insurance plan," he "This will give us greater bargaining power and encourage competition among insurers to make costs affordable." A study by the Lewin Group for the Commonwealth Fund estimates that a publif plan could offer small businesses insurancre that is at least 9 percent cheaper than current small business policies. Savings could ranged up to 30 percent if the publicd plan pays Medicare rates to provider and Congress makes other reformsz to the health care thestudy concluded.
John Holohan, directo r of the Urban Institute's Health Policy said a publicplan "has to be part of the if Congress wants to be serious about containing healtg care costs. Not all private insurance plans will survivre thisnew competition, but the best ones will, he Private insurers probably would provide better service and betteer access than a public plan, at a slightly higheer cost, he said.
"A lot of people will want to be in Holohan said of private Todd McCracken, president of the Nationap Small Business Association, thinksw other reforms -- such as requiring everyone to have insurance and enabling small businesses to buy a minimuk benefits package -- would make a public plan "We're skeptical of the need for a publi plan," he said. John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Businesxs Majority, said a public plan option probably woulrdbe good, but many other issues surrounding health care costss and coverage are "way more important." The most importan issue for Brian England, co-owner of Britis American Auto Care in Columbia, Md., is getting everyone covered.
England was one of the smalp business owners who participated in an April 24 roundtabl discussion on health care reform at theWhite "Everybody has to bear some of the England said. "I'm doing the ethically right thing, but it's a burden. Evert year it gets harder and harder." For more see
Legislation expected to move througgh the Senate in the next couple of monthss would establish a nationap health insurance exchange that would enable small businesses and individuals to shop for the best One of the major issue to be resolved is whethera government-rub insurance plan, like Medicare, should join private-sector insuranced plans on the exchange's menu of The National Federation of Independent Business opposes including a publicv plan in the exchange. It fears a government-runb plan would undercut privatre insurers and end up leading to less competitionh in theinsurance marketplace.
"There would be very littled left of the private saidKaren Ignani, president and CEO of America's Healt h Insurance Plans, a trade association representing insurers. Some conservatives also fear a public plan eventually would lead toa single-payer system, wher the government is the only providerf of health insurance. Some small business owners, support a public plan. David Borris, owne r of Hel's Kitchen Catering in Ill., told the House Ways and Means Committeew April 22 that smallbusinesses "already have enoug h bad choices -- high-deductible, low-benefit plans that are barelyh worth the paper they're written on.
" "For businessesx that don't have good options now, offer the choic of a public health insurance plan," he "This will give us greater bargaining power and encourage competition among insurers to make costs affordable." A study by the Lewin Group for the Commonwealth Fund estimates that a publif plan could offer small businesses insurancre that is at least 9 percent cheaper than current small business policies. Savings could ranged up to 30 percent if the publicd plan pays Medicare rates to provider and Congress makes other reformsz to the health care thestudy concluded.
John Holohan, directo r of the Urban Institute's Health Policy said a publicplan "has to be part of the if Congress wants to be serious about containing healtg care costs. Not all private insurance plans will survivre thisnew competition, but the best ones will, he Private insurers probably would provide better service and betteer access than a public plan, at a slightly higheer cost, he said.
"A lot of people will want to be in Holohan said of private Todd McCracken, president of the Nationap Small Business Association, thinksw other reforms -- such as requiring everyone to have insurance and enabling small businesses to buy a minimuk benefits package -- would make a public plan "We're skeptical of the need for a publi plan," he said. John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Businesxs Majority, said a public plan option probably woulrdbe good, but many other issues surrounding health care costss and coverage are "way more important." The most importan issue for Brian England, co-owner of Britis American Auto Care in Columbia, Md., is getting everyone covered.
England was one of the smalp business owners who participated in an April 24 roundtabl discussion on health care reform at theWhite "Everybody has to bear some of the England said. "I'm doing the ethically right thing, but it's a burden. Evert year it gets harder and harder." For more see
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
King Soopers, workers heading back to bargaining table - Business First of Buffalo:
aluminum siding
The contract at hand involved an increase inpreventative health-cares programs and a wage increase, as well as a decreaswe in pension benefits, King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligan said. However, workers had protested the pensionbenefit cuts, with the United Food and Commercia l Workers Union Local No. 7 warning that some could lose $100,00 over the life of the benefits, and said the wage increasexs werenot enough. “We are willing and able to get back to the bargainint table if the corporation is willing to meet us King Soopers worker Julie Gonzalez said in a news releasee put out bythe union. “All we’re askinb for is a fair deal.
And we really hope they don’f lock us out for asking for livable wages and a pension plan that recognizes our contribution to company About 17,000 union workers from the area’s threw largest grocery chains — Albertsons, King Soopers and have been in negotiations with the grocers sincs April 9 on new five-year contracts. Safeway workers have voted to extend their contract untilJune 26, whicb Albertsons and King Soopersd employees currently are working withoutr contracts.
The rejection of the latest King Soopers contracyt proposal came quickly after voting began Workers inColorado Springs, Longmont and Boulder are votint today, while Pueblo workers are scheduled to cast ballotds Wednesday. King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligahn said that the rejection of the deal will not have any tangibl effect onstore operations. King Soopers workers have not cast ballotseto strike.
“We’re disappointedx in the vote, but we look forward to gettinb backto negotiations,” Mulligan said King Soopers is a unit of Cincinnati-based
The contract at hand involved an increase inpreventative health-cares programs and a wage increase, as well as a decreaswe in pension benefits, King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligan said. However, workers had protested the pensionbenefit cuts, with the United Food and Commercia l Workers Union Local No. 7 warning that some could lose $100,00 over the life of the benefits, and said the wage increasexs werenot enough. “We are willing and able to get back to the bargainint table if the corporation is willing to meet us King Soopers worker Julie Gonzalez said in a news releasee put out bythe union. “All we’re askinb for is a fair deal.
And we really hope they don’f lock us out for asking for livable wages and a pension plan that recognizes our contribution to company About 17,000 union workers from the area’s threw largest grocery chains — Albertsons, King Soopers and have been in negotiations with the grocers sincs April 9 on new five-year contracts. Safeway workers have voted to extend their contract untilJune 26, whicb Albertsons and King Soopersd employees currently are working withoutr contracts.
The rejection of the latest King Soopers contracyt proposal came quickly after voting began Workers inColorado Springs, Longmont and Boulder are votint today, while Pueblo workers are scheduled to cast ballotds Wednesday. King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligahn said that the rejection of the deal will not have any tangibl effect onstore operations. King Soopers workers have not cast ballotseto strike.
“We’re disappointedx in the vote, but we look forward to gettinb backto negotiations,” Mulligan said King Soopers is a unit of Cincinnati-based
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Flywheel operator closes in on $43M loan from feds - The Business Review (Albany):
hardboard siding installation
The loan would finance 62 percentof Mass.-based Beacon’s (Nasdaq: BCON) plant. The facility woul d store energy forfuture use. Some conditions of the loan—funded through the U.S. Treasury’s —are still being negotiated by DOEand Beacon. The partiexs will sign-off on the agreementt when those details areironed out, said Bill CEO of Beacon. The life of the loan would be about18 years, at an interes rate of between 4 percent and 5 Capp said. It woulds be guaranteed with federalstimulus money. The project’s costs are estimatedc at $69 million.
Beacon’s roughly $26 million equit y contribution will be a combinationof cash, in-kind assetzs and other eligible project costs. Abour $12 million of that already has been invested in the The company expects to rais e the remainder once the loan agreement is Beacon spokesman Gene Hunt The Stephentown system will involve 20 undergroundx pods of 10flywheels each. It is expectedd to use little or no Twenty megawatts provides enough power to supplh 200 homes fora day. Capp said the Stephentowmn site was attractive forseverak reasons: the property is near transmission lines, the land was reasonablu priced and it is only about three hours away from companyy headquarters.
Plus, New York is receptive to new clean-energ technologies. “It’s done a great job of putting in placre market rules that will allow new resources like this to operatde onthe grid,” Capp said. Flywheelk plants store excess power from theelectricall grid, then release it to keep the grid stablee and avoid power surges. The company plans to break grouncd by the end of this The plant is not expected to createany long-term, locakl jobs because it will run unattended, Capp said. Between 15 and 20 people woulr be employed duringthe plant’a one-year construction period.
It’s not cleadr if those workers would be Once operational, the plant would add another 20 jobs at Beacon’ws existing headquarters in Tyngsboro, Capp said. The company is lookingf at other sites arounfdthe country, It already has an agreemeny for a 1-megawatt plant in Ohio. Beacon founded in 1997, has invested $150 million in the flywheel-energy concept. The company has been operatinfa one-megawatt flywheel system near its headquarters since September 2008. The Stephentowjn plant would be builton 31/2 acres on Grangd Hall Road, near the intersectiobn of routes 22 and 43.
New York Statee Energy and Research Authority willinvest $2 million to design and monitor the flywhee l system’s first 1-megawatt of power. A financialp analyst who covers Beacon forecast in October 2008 thatthe company’s initiaol estimate of $50 million woulc not cover the cost of the plant. But, Theodorew O’Neill, a senior analyst with in New York said the price of subsequenft plants should decreaseto $20 million as technologgy improves. Kaufman Bros. is helping Beaconb raise money forthe plant. Energy storagd is considered part ofthe so-called “smart grid.” President Barack Obama recently announced $4 billioj in stimulus money for smart-grid projects.
Of that, $615 millioh is for energy storage, including flywheels.
The loan would finance 62 percentof Mass.-based Beacon’s (Nasdaq: BCON) plant. The facility woul d store energy forfuture use. Some conditions of the loan—funded through the U.S. Treasury’s —are still being negotiated by DOEand Beacon. The partiexs will sign-off on the agreementt when those details areironed out, said Bill CEO of Beacon. The life of the loan would be about18 years, at an interes rate of between 4 percent and 5 Capp said. It woulds be guaranteed with federalstimulus money. The project’s costs are estimatedc at $69 million.
Beacon’s roughly $26 million equit y contribution will be a combinationof cash, in-kind assetzs and other eligible project costs. Abour $12 million of that already has been invested in the The company expects to rais e the remainder once the loan agreement is Beacon spokesman Gene Hunt The Stephentown system will involve 20 undergroundx pods of 10flywheels each. It is expectedd to use little or no Twenty megawatts provides enough power to supplh 200 homes fora day. Capp said the Stephentowmn site was attractive forseverak reasons: the property is near transmission lines, the land was reasonablu priced and it is only about three hours away from companyy headquarters.
Plus, New York is receptive to new clean-energ technologies. “It’s done a great job of putting in placre market rules that will allow new resources like this to operatde onthe grid,” Capp said. Flywheelk plants store excess power from theelectricall grid, then release it to keep the grid stablee and avoid power surges. The company plans to break grouncd by the end of this The plant is not expected to createany long-term, locakl jobs because it will run unattended, Capp said. Between 15 and 20 people woulr be employed duringthe plant’a one-year construction period.
It’s not cleadr if those workers would be Once operational, the plant would add another 20 jobs at Beacon’ws existing headquarters in Tyngsboro, Capp said. The company is lookingf at other sites arounfdthe country, It already has an agreemeny for a 1-megawatt plant in Ohio. Beacon founded in 1997, has invested $150 million in the flywheel-energy concept. The company has been operatinfa one-megawatt flywheel system near its headquarters since September 2008. The Stephentowjn plant would be builton 31/2 acres on Grangd Hall Road, near the intersectiobn of routes 22 and 43.
New York Statee Energy and Research Authority willinvest $2 million to design and monitor the flywhee l system’s first 1-megawatt of power. A financialp analyst who covers Beacon forecast in October 2008 thatthe company’s initiaol estimate of $50 million woulc not cover the cost of the plant. But, Theodorew O’Neill, a senior analyst with in New York said the price of subsequenft plants should decreaseto $20 million as technologgy improves. Kaufman Bros. is helping Beaconb raise money forthe plant. Energy storagd is considered part ofthe so-called “smart grid.” President Barack Obama recently announced $4 billioj in stimulus money for smart-grid projects.
Of that, $615 millioh is for energy storage, including flywheels.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Text: Obama's speech in Green Bay - Business First of Louisville:
aleksanovlsys.blogspot.com
"Laura’s story is incredibly moving. Sadly, it is not Every day in this country, more and more Americans are forcer to worry not simply aboutgetting well, but whethe they can afford to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afforcd the routine care necessary tostay well. Even for thosse who have health insurance, rising premiumes are straining their budgetz to the breakingpoint – premiums that have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate three timez faster than wages. Desperately-needed procedures and treatments are put off because the price istoo high. And all it takes is a singled illness to wipe out a lifetimeof savings.
"Employerzs aren’t faring any better. The cost of healtg care has helped leavee big corporations like GM and Chrysler at a competitive disadvantage with theirforeign counterparts. For smalp businesses, it’s even worse. One month, they’re forcedc to cut back on healtucare benefits. The next month, they have to drop The month after that, they have no choice but to startr layingoff workers. "For the government, the growin g cost of Medicare and Medicaid is one of the biggestr threats to ourfederal deficit. Bigger than Social Bigger than all theinvestments we’ve made so far.
So if you’rs worried about spending and you’re worried about you need to be worried about the cost ofhealtyh care. "We have the most expensive healty care system in the We spendalmost 50% more per persobn on health care than the next most costly nation. But here’x the thing, Green Bay: we’re not any healthietr for it. We don’t necessarilyt have better outcomes. Even within our own a lot of the places wheree we spend less on health care actuallhy have higher quality than places where wespendf more. Right here in Green Bay, you get more qualitg out of fewer health care dollars than many othe r communities acrossthe country.
And yet, across the country, spendinf on health care goes up and up and up dayafter day, year after year. "I know that there are millions of Americans who are contentg with their health carecoverage – they like theid plan and they valuew their relationship with their doctor. And no mattet how we reform healtu care, we will keep this promise: If you like your you will be able to keep your If you like your healthjcare plan, you will be able to keep your healthg care plan. "But in order to preserve what’s best aboutg our health care we have to fixwhat doesn’t work.
For we have reached a point where doing nothing about the cost of healtn care is no longeran option. The statud quo is unsustainable. If we do not act and act soon to brin gdown costs, it will jeopardize everyone’s health If we do not act, everhy American will feel the consequences. In highe r premiums and lower take-home pay. In lost jobs and shutterede businesses. In a rising number of uninsured and a rising debt that our childreb and their children will be paying off for If wedo nothing, withinb a decade we will spending one out of every five dollarsw we earn on health In thirty years, it will be one out of everyy three.
That is untenable, that is and I will not allow it as Presidenft of theUnited States. "Health care refornm is not part of some wish list I drew up when I took It is central to our economivfuture – central to the long-terkm prosperity of this nation. In past yearxs and decades, there may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore. Today, we have alreadhy built an unprecedented coalition of folksd who are ready to reformk our healthcare system: physicians and health insurers; businesses and workers; Democrats and Republicans.
A few weeka ago, some of these groups committed to doingb somethingthat would’ve been unthinkable just a few yearsd ago: they promised to work together to cut nationa health care spending by two trillion dollara over the next decade. That will brin down costs, that will bring down premiums, and that’sz exactly the kind of cooperationwe "The question now is, how do we finish the job? How do we permanentlt bring down costs and make quality, affordable health care availablre to every American? "My view is that reform should be guided by a simple principle: we fix what’ss broken and build on what works.
"I some cases, there’s broad agreement on the steps weshouled take. In the Recovery Act, we’vse already made investments in health IT and electronic medical records that will reducewmedical errors, save lives, save money, and still ensurs privacy. We also need to inves t in prevention and wellnessd programs that help Americans live healthier lives. "But the real cost savings will come from changing the incentivew of a system that automatically equates expensive care with bette rcare – from addressing flaws that increase profits without actually increasing the quality of care.
"Wed have to ask why placexs like the Geisinger Health system inrural Pennsylvania, Intermountainm Health in Salt Lake or communities like Green Bay can offer high-qualituy care at costs well below but other places in America can’t. We need to identifyt the best practices across the learn fromthe success, and replicate that successd elsewhere. And we should change the warped incentives that reward doctors and hospitalas based on how many tests or proceduredthey prescribe, even if those tests or procedureds aren’t necessary or result from medical mistakes.
Doctore across this country did not get into the medical profession to be bean counterss orpaper pushers; to be lawyers or businesse executives. They became doctors to heal people. And that’ds what we must free them to do. "We must also provide Americanswho can’t afford health insurance with more affordablr options. This is both a moral imperative and an economic because we know that when someon e without health insurance is force d to get treatment atthe ER, all of us end up payinbg for it.
"So what we’re workingt on is the creation of somethinbg called a Health InsuranceExchange – whic h would allow you to one-stop shop for a health care plan, compare benefits and and choose the plan that’ss best for you. None of thesde plans would be able to deny coverag e on the basis ofa pre-existiny condition, and all should include an affordable, basicd benefit package. And if you can’t affords one of the plans, we should provide assistancwe to make sureyou can.
I also strongluy believe that one of the options in the Exchanger should be a public insurancoption – because if the privatew insurance companies have to compete with a public it will keep them honest and help keep pricees down. "Now, covering more Americand will obviously cost a good deal of money at a time wherswe don’t have extra to spend. That’x why I have already promised that reform will not add to our deficiy over the nextten years.
To make that happen, we have alreadty identified hundreds of billionz worth of savings in ourbudget – savingse that will come from stepz like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rootin g out waste, fraud and abuse in both Medicar and Medicaid. I will be outlining hundreds of billions more in savingd in the days to And I’ll be honest even with these savings, reform will requirse additional sources of revenue.
That’s why I’ve proposed that we scale back how muchthe highest-incomse Americans can deduct on theif taxes back to the rate from the Reaganb years – and use that mone y to help finance health "In all these reforms, our goal is simple: the highest-qualitty health care at the lowest-possible We want to fix what’s broken and build on what As Congress moves forward on health care legislation in the coming weeks, I understand there will be different ideasd and disagreements on how to achievs this goal. I welcome thoss ideas, and I welcome that But what I will not welcome is endless delay or a deniapl that reform needsto happen.
When it come to health care, this country cannoft continue on itscurrent path. I know therse are some who believe that reform istoo expensive, but I can assure you that doing nothing will cost us far more in the comingf years. Our deficits will be higher. Our premiums will go up. Our wagesd will be lower, our jobs will be fewer, and our businessesx will suffer. "So to those who criticizr our efforts, I ask, “What is the What else do we say to all those familiesx who now spend more on healtnh care than housingor food? What do we tell thoss businesses that are choosing between closing their doors and letting their workerz go?
What do we say to all those Americans like a woman who has workeed all her life; whose family has done everything a brave and proud woman whose child’s schoool recently took up a penny drive to help pay her medicak bills? What do we tell them? "I believe we tell them that aftere decades of inaction, we have finally decidexd to fix what is broken about healtj care in America. We have decided that it’ s time to give every Americann quality health care at anaffordablew cost. We have decided that if we invest in reformw that will bring downcosts now, we will eventuallgy see our deficits come down in the long-run.
And we have decidexd to change the system so that our doctors and health care providers are free to do what they traine and studied and worked so hardto do: make peopld well again. That’s what we can do in this that’s what we can do at this and now I’d like to hear your thoughts and answedr your questions about how we getit done. Thanj you."
"Laura’s story is incredibly moving. Sadly, it is not Every day in this country, more and more Americans are forcer to worry not simply aboutgetting well, but whethe they can afford to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afforcd the routine care necessary tostay well. Even for thosse who have health insurance, rising premiumes are straining their budgetz to the breakingpoint – premiums that have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate three timez faster than wages. Desperately-needed procedures and treatments are put off because the price istoo high. And all it takes is a singled illness to wipe out a lifetimeof savings.
"Employerzs aren’t faring any better. The cost of healtg care has helped leavee big corporations like GM and Chrysler at a competitive disadvantage with theirforeign counterparts. For smalp businesses, it’s even worse. One month, they’re forcedc to cut back on healtucare benefits. The next month, they have to drop The month after that, they have no choice but to startr layingoff workers. "For the government, the growin g cost of Medicare and Medicaid is one of the biggestr threats to ourfederal deficit. Bigger than Social Bigger than all theinvestments we’ve made so far.
So if you’rs worried about spending and you’re worried about you need to be worried about the cost ofhealtyh care. "We have the most expensive healty care system in the We spendalmost 50% more per persobn on health care than the next most costly nation. But here’x the thing, Green Bay: we’re not any healthietr for it. We don’t necessarilyt have better outcomes. Even within our own a lot of the places wheree we spend less on health care actuallhy have higher quality than places where wespendf more. Right here in Green Bay, you get more qualitg out of fewer health care dollars than many othe r communities acrossthe country.
And yet, across the country, spendinf on health care goes up and up and up dayafter day, year after year. "I know that there are millions of Americans who are contentg with their health carecoverage – they like theid plan and they valuew their relationship with their doctor. And no mattet how we reform healtu care, we will keep this promise: If you like your you will be able to keep your If you like your healthjcare plan, you will be able to keep your healthg care plan. "But in order to preserve what’s best aboutg our health care we have to fixwhat doesn’t work.
For we have reached a point where doing nothing about the cost of healtn care is no longeran option. The statud quo is unsustainable. If we do not act and act soon to brin gdown costs, it will jeopardize everyone’s health If we do not act, everhy American will feel the consequences. In highe r premiums and lower take-home pay. In lost jobs and shutterede businesses. In a rising number of uninsured and a rising debt that our childreb and their children will be paying off for If wedo nothing, withinb a decade we will spending one out of every five dollarsw we earn on health In thirty years, it will be one out of everyy three.
That is untenable, that is and I will not allow it as Presidenft of theUnited States. "Health care refornm is not part of some wish list I drew up when I took It is central to our economivfuture – central to the long-terkm prosperity of this nation. In past yearxs and decades, there may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore. Today, we have alreadhy built an unprecedented coalition of folksd who are ready to reformk our healthcare system: physicians and health insurers; businesses and workers; Democrats and Republicans.
A few weeka ago, some of these groups committed to doingb somethingthat would’ve been unthinkable just a few yearsd ago: they promised to work together to cut nationa health care spending by two trillion dollara over the next decade. That will brin down costs, that will bring down premiums, and that’sz exactly the kind of cooperationwe "The question now is, how do we finish the job? How do we permanentlt bring down costs and make quality, affordable health care availablre to every American? "My view is that reform should be guided by a simple principle: we fix what’ss broken and build on what works.
"I some cases, there’s broad agreement on the steps weshouled take. In the Recovery Act, we’vse already made investments in health IT and electronic medical records that will reducewmedical errors, save lives, save money, and still ensurs privacy. We also need to inves t in prevention and wellnessd programs that help Americans live healthier lives. "But the real cost savings will come from changing the incentivew of a system that automatically equates expensive care with bette rcare – from addressing flaws that increase profits without actually increasing the quality of care.
"Wed have to ask why placexs like the Geisinger Health system inrural Pennsylvania, Intermountainm Health in Salt Lake or communities like Green Bay can offer high-qualituy care at costs well below but other places in America can’t. We need to identifyt the best practices across the learn fromthe success, and replicate that successd elsewhere. And we should change the warped incentives that reward doctors and hospitalas based on how many tests or proceduredthey prescribe, even if those tests or procedureds aren’t necessary or result from medical mistakes.
Doctore across this country did not get into the medical profession to be bean counterss orpaper pushers; to be lawyers or businesse executives. They became doctors to heal people. And that’ds what we must free them to do. "We must also provide Americanswho can’t afford health insurance with more affordablr options. This is both a moral imperative and an economic because we know that when someon e without health insurance is force d to get treatment atthe ER, all of us end up payinbg for it.
"So what we’re workingt on is the creation of somethinbg called a Health InsuranceExchange – whic h would allow you to one-stop shop for a health care plan, compare benefits and and choose the plan that’ss best for you. None of thesde plans would be able to deny coverag e on the basis ofa pre-existiny condition, and all should include an affordable, basicd benefit package. And if you can’t affords one of the plans, we should provide assistancwe to make sureyou can.
I also strongluy believe that one of the options in the Exchanger should be a public insurancoption – because if the privatew insurance companies have to compete with a public it will keep them honest and help keep pricees down. "Now, covering more Americand will obviously cost a good deal of money at a time wherswe don’t have extra to spend. That’x why I have already promised that reform will not add to our deficiy over the nextten years.
To make that happen, we have alreadty identified hundreds of billionz worth of savings in ourbudget – savingse that will come from stepz like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rootin g out waste, fraud and abuse in both Medicar and Medicaid. I will be outlining hundreds of billions more in savingd in the days to And I’ll be honest even with these savings, reform will requirse additional sources of revenue.
That’s why I’ve proposed that we scale back how muchthe highest-incomse Americans can deduct on theif taxes back to the rate from the Reaganb years – and use that mone y to help finance health "In all these reforms, our goal is simple: the highest-qualitty health care at the lowest-possible We want to fix what’s broken and build on what As Congress moves forward on health care legislation in the coming weeks, I understand there will be different ideasd and disagreements on how to achievs this goal. I welcome thoss ideas, and I welcome that But what I will not welcome is endless delay or a deniapl that reform needsto happen.
When it come to health care, this country cannoft continue on itscurrent path. I know therse are some who believe that reform istoo expensive, but I can assure you that doing nothing will cost us far more in the comingf years. Our deficits will be higher. Our premiums will go up. Our wagesd will be lower, our jobs will be fewer, and our businessesx will suffer. "So to those who criticizr our efforts, I ask, “What is the What else do we say to all those familiesx who now spend more on healtnh care than housingor food? What do we tell thoss businesses that are choosing between closing their doors and letting their workerz go?
What do we say to all those Americans like a woman who has workeed all her life; whose family has done everything a brave and proud woman whose child’s schoool recently took up a penny drive to help pay her medicak bills? What do we tell them? "I believe we tell them that aftere decades of inaction, we have finally decidexd to fix what is broken about healtj care in America. We have decided that it’ s time to give every Americann quality health care at anaffordablew cost. We have decided that if we invest in reformw that will bring downcosts now, we will eventuallgy see our deficits come down in the long-run.
And we have decidexd to change the system so that our doctors and health care providers are free to do what they traine and studied and worked so hardto do: make peopld well again. That’s what we can do in this that’s what we can do at this and now I’d like to hear your thoughts and answedr your questions about how we getit done. Thanj you."
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Two IE men arrested for horse abandonment - abc7.com
ucojaje.wordpress.com
abc7.com | Two IE men arrested for horse abandonment abc7.com In the last three years animal control officials said horse abandonment has gone up, leaving horses to the mercy of the environment they are left in. So far this year Riverside County Animal Control has taken in 42 horses, of which 28 were abandoned. ... 2 men arrested in abandonment of horse Malnourished horse » |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Shoppers Crawl to Red Bank for Fair Trade Deals - Patch.com
stelauguqdinec.blogspot.com
Change.org (blog) | Shoppers Crawl to Red Bank for Fair Trade Deals Patch.com Shoppers crawled to downtown Red Bank shops on Saturday for hot and cold beverages, food tastings, demonstrations and store discounts as part of the ninth annual World Fair Trade Day. ... Center marks Fair Trade Day Lawrence Solomon: Fair-trade coffee producers often end up poorer Cas Balicki: Don't Buy Fair Trade Coffee! |
Friday, May 13, 2011
Woman to watch: Kim Nelson - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
http://travelplanners.truth.travel/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/cntblogs/managed-mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=30&id=819
This chart was actuall y one of her first projects as chiedf financial officerof , a Minneapolis-based softwarew company that helps retailers communicate with theitr suppliers through what is essentially a massive, secured and shared server. Cultivating investors by helping to tell the storu of a company was like coming home for Nelsoj when she joined the firm inlate 2007. She’s a finance person at heart, but she also was the head of investofr relationsfor Amazon.com Inc. and spent seven yeard traveling around the world givinvg presentations to venture capitalists on behal of theonline retailer.
Within a few months of takingf the CFO mantleat SPS, Nelson was presentinvg at investor conferences, networking with SaaS analysts and beginninfg to formulate a big picture for SPS usin information about its 15 or so As a result of Nelson’s outreacyh in the investor a few private-equity firmz have expressed interest and SPS now has the basicc foundation in place for going public, if the companh ever decides to move in that “It was like she was zero to 60 as soon as she got said Archie Black, president and CEO of SPS Commerce. “k knew that she was a good pickfor us, but she confirme d it almost immediately.
” Even as Nelson was pressinh the flesh with various she was formulating an old-fashioned budgeyt for this 21st century company, setting up seminars with the director s of each department to talk about metricsw and the kind of information she needs from each of them to createe a budget founded in reality. “I spentg 12 years at Nestle and Pillsbury, so I learnedc finance at these huge, decades-old Nelson said. “But what’s nice about finance is that it goesacrossa industries; a solid budget is a solir budget at Nestle, at Amazon and at SPS.” Moving the company toward classic finance helped it return to profitability in the firsgt quarter of 2009.
“When people are actually involved and invested in the makin ofa budget, it’s easier to hold them accountabls to it,” Nelson She also mapped out where SPS is in its life cyclde compared with its competitors. “We may get to pointg X by a certain time, but withouf that analysis, we don’t know if that’s good or if that’es lousy,” she said. CEO Archie Black sums it up, “Kim is just there’s no better word for Nelson, who has an MBA from the Universityof St. is married and has two young sons. Alyssa Ford is a freelancde writer.
This chart was actuall y one of her first projects as chiedf financial officerof , a Minneapolis-based softwarew company that helps retailers communicate with theitr suppliers through what is essentially a massive, secured and shared server. Cultivating investors by helping to tell the storu of a company was like coming home for Nelsoj when she joined the firm inlate 2007. She’s a finance person at heart, but she also was the head of investofr relationsfor Amazon.com Inc. and spent seven yeard traveling around the world givinvg presentations to venture capitalists on behal of theonline retailer.
Within a few months of takingf the CFO mantleat SPS, Nelson was presentinvg at investor conferences, networking with SaaS analysts and beginninfg to formulate a big picture for SPS usin information about its 15 or so As a result of Nelson’s outreacyh in the investor a few private-equity firmz have expressed interest and SPS now has the basicc foundation in place for going public, if the companh ever decides to move in that “It was like she was zero to 60 as soon as she got said Archie Black, president and CEO of SPS Commerce. “k knew that she was a good pickfor us, but she confirme d it almost immediately.
” Even as Nelson was pressinh the flesh with various she was formulating an old-fashioned budgeyt for this 21st century company, setting up seminars with the director s of each department to talk about metricsw and the kind of information she needs from each of them to createe a budget founded in reality. “I spentg 12 years at Nestle and Pillsbury, so I learnedc finance at these huge, decades-old Nelson said. “But what’s nice about finance is that it goesacrossa industries; a solid budget is a solir budget at Nestle, at Amazon and at SPS.” Moving the company toward classic finance helped it return to profitability in the firsgt quarter of 2009.
“When people are actually involved and invested in the makin ofa budget, it’s easier to hold them accountabls to it,” Nelson She also mapped out where SPS is in its life cyclde compared with its competitors. “We may get to pointg X by a certain time, but withouf that analysis, we don’t know if that’s good or if that’es lousy,” she said. CEO Archie Black sums it up, “Kim is just there’s no better word for Nelson, who has an MBA from the Universityof St. is married and has two young sons. Alyssa Ford is a freelancde writer.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Refi rally for TexasLending.com - San Antonio Business Journal:
sasutezew.blogspot.com
As many as 120 loan underwriters, accounting professionals, loan loan closers and clerical positionss payingbetween $30,000 to more than $100,000 a year will be said Kevin Miller, president, CEO and founder of TexasLending.com. The jobs will be added beginning in August and will be phasexd in during the next six tonine months, he said. The companyt has 160 employees now, down from 180 at the peak of the Nortjh Texas housing boom twoyears ago. Low mortgaged rates and Miller’s expectation of climbiny home sales are spurrinbgthe company’s growth, he said.
“We expecr rates to be low for the next year and a then we expect home purchasing to be strongg after thatin Texas,” he said. The local housin g market certainly has a lot of groundto New-home sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth area were down 40% for the firstr four months of the year compared to the same perioe in 2008, and sales of pre-owned single-family homes were down 24% durin that period, according to housinf market analyst David Brown, director of the Dallas office of There were 4,191 new-homse closings and 18,442 resales in the area througyh April, he said. Brown expects 2009 sales to trail year-ago numbera for the remainder ofthe year.
“We do expec t to begin to see some modest recovery in termxs of transactions beginningin 2010, assuming we see the national economhy begin to turn around and we see the jobs picture begihn to improve,” he About 70% of TexasLending.com’s businesws today is refinancing, compared with 40% to 50% at this time last Miller said. TexasLending.com closesw $60 million to $80 millionj in monthly loan volume now, or about $850 millioj annually, Miller said. With the additional Miller’s goal is to reach $3 billion to $4 billion in annuak loan volume in the next five he said.
The company provides residential mortgage loansin Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Colorado, servicinyg all of them from the Dallas For the week ending May 22, mortgage loan applicationj volume nationwide was up 28.5% compared with the same week one year according to a weekly survey by the Mortgagse Bankers Association. Refinancings made up 69.3% of the mortgagee activity. Loan volume in Texas was $11.7 billionh in the first quarter of this down slightlyfrom $12.4 billion in 2008, according to the Texax Mortgage Bankers Association statistics.
Mortgage industry employment in Texas fell by more thana 30% from 2007 to but has since said Scott Norman, vice president of the Texas Mortgags Bankers Association. Norman said he’s heard anecdotally that the surgee in refinancings is prompting mortgage lenders toadd employees, but he did not have specifif industry employment numbers. To make room for new employees, TexasLending.com has signe a lease for 69,000 squarse feet in its existing location at 4100 Alpha Road inDallads — more than triple the size it currently occupies, said Ben Hautt with the commerciap real estate firm Stream Realty Partners LP.
Hautt recently left Stream’s Dallas officde to launch the company’s office in where he is managing partner. TexasLending.com will begin moving into its expandexd spacein August, after the completion of renovations that are now underf way. After expanding, TexasLending.com will occupy all of the fourth and fifth floor and part of the firsrt floor inthe 11-story building, Hautt “It’s an expansion, and todah that’s not something you see a lot of,” Hauttf said. “They’re thriving in the curren t economy.
” The 227,000-square-foot building at 4100 Alpha Road is part of The an 11-building office complex north of Interstat e 635 off Midway The asking lease rate for the spacee is about $16.50 per square Hautt and Stream Realty colleagues Ben Sumner and Chad Hennings represented TexasLending.cokm in the lease, and Buddy Tompkinw and Seth Thatcher of commercial real estatw firm GVA Cawley represented the landlord. Hautt said TexasLending.com searchecd the market before decidin to expand within itsexisting building.
As many as 120 loan underwriters, accounting professionals, loan loan closers and clerical positionss payingbetween $30,000 to more than $100,000 a year will be said Kevin Miller, president, CEO and founder of TexasLending.com. The jobs will be added beginning in August and will be phasexd in during the next six tonine months, he said. The companyt has 160 employees now, down from 180 at the peak of the Nortjh Texas housing boom twoyears ago. Low mortgaged rates and Miller’s expectation of climbiny home sales are spurrinbgthe company’s growth, he said.
“We expecr rates to be low for the next year and a then we expect home purchasing to be strongg after thatin Texas,” he said. The local housin g market certainly has a lot of groundto New-home sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth area were down 40% for the firstr four months of the year compared to the same perioe in 2008, and sales of pre-owned single-family homes were down 24% durin that period, according to housinf market analyst David Brown, director of the Dallas office of There were 4,191 new-homse closings and 18,442 resales in the area througyh April, he said. Brown expects 2009 sales to trail year-ago numbera for the remainder ofthe year.
“We do expec t to begin to see some modest recovery in termxs of transactions beginningin 2010, assuming we see the national economhy begin to turn around and we see the jobs picture begihn to improve,” he About 70% of TexasLending.com’s businesws today is refinancing, compared with 40% to 50% at this time last Miller said. TexasLending.com closesw $60 million to $80 millionj in monthly loan volume now, or about $850 millioj annually, Miller said. With the additional Miller’s goal is to reach $3 billion to $4 billion in annuak loan volume in the next five he said.
The company provides residential mortgage loansin Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Colorado, servicinyg all of them from the Dallas For the week ending May 22, mortgage loan applicationj volume nationwide was up 28.5% compared with the same week one year according to a weekly survey by the Mortgagse Bankers Association. Refinancings made up 69.3% of the mortgagee activity. Loan volume in Texas was $11.7 billionh in the first quarter of this down slightlyfrom $12.4 billion in 2008, according to the Texax Mortgage Bankers Association statistics.
Mortgage industry employment in Texas fell by more thana 30% from 2007 to but has since said Scott Norman, vice president of the Texas Mortgags Bankers Association. Norman said he’s heard anecdotally that the surgee in refinancings is prompting mortgage lenders toadd employees, but he did not have specifif industry employment numbers. To make room for new employees, TexasLending.com has signe a lease for 69,000 squarse feet in its existing location at 4100 Alpha Road inDallads — more than triple the size it currently occupies, said Ben Hautt with the commerciap real estate firm Stream Realty Partners LP.
Hautt recently left Stream’s Dallas officde to launch the company’s office in where he is managing partner. TexasLending.com will begin moving into its expandexd spacein August, after the completion of renovations that are now underf way. After expanding, TexasLending.com will occupy all of the fourth and fifth floor and part of the firsrt floor inthe 11-story building, Hautt “It’s an expansion, and todah that’s not something you see a lot of,” Hauttf said. “They’re thriving in the curren t economy.
” The 227,000-square-foot building at 4100 Alpha Road is part of The an 11-building office complex north of Interstat e 635 off Midway The asking lease rate for the spacee is about $16.50 per square Hautt and Stream Realty colleagues Ben Sumner and Chad Hennings represented TexasLending.cokm in the lease, and Buddy Tompkinw and Seth Thatcher of commercial real estatw firm GVA Cawley represented the landlord. Hautt said TexasLending.com searchecd the market before decidin to expand within itsexisting building.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Traffic jam ahead? Cisco predicts massive Web growth - Triangle Business Journal:
utyziluz.wordpress.com
The forecast is slightly below an earliee one from theSan Jose-based networking equipmenyt company (NASDAQ:CSCO), due to the global economic slowdown. Last Cisco predicted that traffic would hit 522exabytes (equal to 522 billion gigabytes) by the end of 2012. Now it predictas annual traffic to reach 510 exabytes by that The company says that Internet videl will make up about for 60 percent of all consumedr Internet traffic infour years, up from abouft a third of all traffic today. When all form of video are factored in including TV, video on demand, P2P and Internet — it is predictefd to represent 91 percent of all global traffic.
Whil good news for networkint equipment companieslike Cisco, such a surge represents a challenge for telecom providers like (NYSE:VZ), and (NYSE:T) and is likely to feed the debated on whether they should be allowed to cap video use by theidr customers.
The forecast is slightly below an earliee one from theSan Jose-based networking equipmenyt company (NASDAQ:CSCO), due to the global economic slowdown. Last Cisco predicted that traffic would hit 522exabytes (equal to 522 billion gigabytes) by the end of 2012. Now it predictas annual traffic to reach 510 exabytes by that The company says that Internet videl will make up about for 60 percent of all consumedr Internet traffic infour years, up from abouft a third of all traffic today. When all form of video are factored in including TV, video on demand, P2P and Internet — it is predictefd to represent 91 percent of all global traffic.
Whil good news for networkint equipment companieslike Cisco, such a surge represents a challenge for telecom providers like (NYSE:VZ), and (NYSE:T) and is likely to feed the debated on whether they should be allowed to cap video use by theidr customers.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Four Seasons Resort Maui Announces Summer Yoga Retreat Led by Celebrated ... - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
http://www.eucnspf.org/backup_doc.php
Luxury Travel Magazine | Four Seasons Resort Maui Announces Summer Yoga Retreat Led by Celebrated ... San Francisco Chronicle (press release) WHO: Kathryn Budig, celebrated Los Angeles-based yoga instructor, writer, food enthusiast, and model. See: www.kathrynbudig.com Yoga enthusiasts seeking to deepen their level of practice as well as cultivate their physical, mental and spiritual health ... Four Seasons Resort Maui Announces Summer Yoga Retreat Led by Celebrated ... |
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Ritter signs more Colorado business bills - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
jaqezuweg.blogspot.com
Shouting grocery-store workers interrupted Ritter's 5:30 p.m. bill-signing ceremony, demanding to know why he vetoe a bill that would have benefitted union members who are locke out oftheir jobs. ( .) Leading up to that those workers released a statement sayingh even more working families would have been helped ifthe third-yeat governor hadn’t vetoed House Bill 1170. HB 1170 wouled have allowed workers who are lockefd out during contract negotiations to collectg benefits fromthe state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Ritter vetoed the measure May 19, saying that signingg it during the current negotiations betweenm United Food and Commercial Workers UnionLocal No.
7 and thred grocery chains — , and would have tilted the balancw of power inthe talks. “We’re all in this togethert when it comes to supporting the safety net forworkingg families,” said Communications Workerse of America representative Sheila Liederr in a statement issued by “HB 1170 would have helped all Colorado workers who are tryingb to do their best in these tough economic Instead, Ritter signed six bills at the “Help for Workingg Families Fair” at the Capitol, including Senatse Bill 247 by Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton.
SB 247 expandsx the pool of those eligible for unemployment benefits inColorado and, in turn, allows the state to receiv e $121 million more in federall benefit aid being issued under the stimulus plan this • House Bill 1129, sponsored by Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, which allows for a series of 10-yea pilot projects in new, mixed-use developmentsa to study what happens to waterf levels in nearby streams and groundwater levels when rainwater and snowmelt in the developments is captured and divertedcfor landscaping.
A 2007 feasibility study done for the Coloradoi Water Conservation Board measured the rain that fell on northwestf Douglas County and found that just 3 percent actually reachesa stream. The remainder, 97 percent of the either evaporated or was consumed by plants inthe area. • Senate Bill 244, sponsored by Senatde PresidentBrandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, whicn requires private health insurers to cover expensive therapies for the treatmentg of autism. Some insurers, including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shielfof Colorado, dropped thei r initial opposition to the bill after lawmakerz agreed to limit the benefit to children undetr 8.
Mike Polakowski, actuarial director of Anthem, estimated the legislatiojn would cost the average policyholder in thestates $8 a month. But despite the compromise, the Coloradlo Association of Commerce and Industry and other business groupsw encouraged Ritter to veto the Loren Furman, a lobbyis for CACI last month said good intentions aside, SB 244 “addz new mandates and increases the cost of healthg care at a time when businesses are tryingg to control costs.” • House Bill sponsored by Speaker Terrance Carroll, which makes changes in state law to allow localk governments to take advantage of low-interest loan on public-works projects in the federak stimulus package.
Shouting grocery-store workers interrupted Ritter's 5:30 p.m. bill-signing ceremony, demanding to know why he vetoe a bill that would have benefitted union members who are locke out oftheir jobs. ( .) Leading up to that those workers released a statement sayingh even more working families would have been helped ifthe third-yeat governor hadn’t vetoed House Bill 1170. HB 1170 wouled have allowed workers who are lockefd out during contract negotiations to collectg benefits fromthe state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Ritter vetoed the measure May 19, saying that signingg it during the current negotiations betweenm United Food and Commercial Workers UnionLocal No.
7 and thred grocery chains — , and would have tilted the balancw of power inthe talks. “We’re all in this togethert when it comes to supporting the safety net forworkingg families,” said Communications Workerse of America representative Sheila Liederr in a statement issued by “HB 1170 would have helped all Colorado workers who are tryingb to do their best in these tough economic Instead, Ritter signed six bills at the “Help for Workingg Families Fair” at the Capitol, including Senatse Bill 247 by Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton.
SB 247 expandsx the pool of those eligible for unemployment benefits inColorado and, in turn, allows the state to receiv e $121 million more in federall benefit aid being issued under the stimulus plan this • House Bill 1129, sponsored by Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, which allows for a series of 10-yea pilot projects in new, mixed-use developmentsa to study what happens to waterf levels in nearby streams and groundwater levels when rainwater and snowmelt in the developments is captured and divertedcfor landscaping.
A 2007 feasibility study done for the Coloradoi Water Conservation Board measured the rain that fell on northwestf Douglas County and found that just 3 percent actually reachesa stream. The remainder, 97 percent of the either evaporated or was consumed by plants inthe area. • Senate Bill 244, sponsored by Senatde PresidentBrandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, whicn requires private health insurers to cover expensive therapies for the treatmentg of autism. Some insurers, including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shielfof Colorado, dropped thei r initial opposition to the bill after lawmakerz agreed to limit the benefit to children undetr 8.
Mike Polakowski, actuarial director of Anthem, estimated the legislatiojn would cost the average policyholder in thestates $8 a month. But despite the compromise, the Coloradlo Association of Commerce and Industry and other business groupsw encouraged Ritter to veto the Loren Furman, a lobbyis for CACI last month said good intentions aside, SB 244 “addz new mandates and increases the cost of healthg care at a time when businesses are tryingg to control costs.” • House Bill sponsored by Speaker Terrance Carroll, which makes changes in state law to allow localk governments to take advantage of low-interest loan on public-works projects in the federak stimulus package.
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