Monday, December 24, 2012

Yolo moth quarantine extended - Triangle Business Journal:

sucujovide.wordpress.com
A voracious pest and native of a light brown apple moth was discoveredr in a trap in Davis April 1. A second moth turned up in a trapMay 15, promptinh a quarantine within a mile radius of thosre two traps. More discoveries have movecd the quarantine to includde the entire city of Produce and ornamental plants can stillp go to stores and farmers markets inside the quarantine butagricultural products, ornamental plants and trees shoul not leave the quarantine area unlessd certified to be free from the pest by an “This pest is a threat to the food supplg and also to our environment.
This moth eats ornamental plants and saidSteve Lyle, spokesman with Food & “In Australia they call the light brown apple moth the ‘light brown eat-everything’ The moth in its varying stages of life eats 2,0009 plants, including 250 crop species. It can devastat stone fruit trees, grape citrus trees and even redwoods. There are monitoe traps all over the state forthe moth, and more than 2,8000 square miles of land statewide is now under Lyle said. Davis is the only area under quarantine inthe four-counth region.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

“Zero Dark Thirty” isn't getting five stars from the CIA. - New York Daily News

sucujovide.wordpress.com


New York Daily News


“Zero Dark Thirty” isn't getting five stars from the CIA.

New York Daily News


"What I want you to know is that 'Zero Dark Thirty' is a dramatization, not a realistic portrayal of the facts,” Michael Morell wrote in a memo posted on the CIA's website Friday. “CIA interacted with the filmmakers through our Office of Publi c Affairs ...


Acting CIA Head Criticizes Zero Dark Thirty

Slate Magazine (blog)


Acting CIA director shoots down 'Zero Dark Thirty' accuracy

NBCNews.com (blog)


Acting CIA Chief Critical of Film 'Zero Dark Thirty'

New York Times


Salon -Christian Science Monitor


 »

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Realtors index: Pending home sales jump sharply - Phoenix Business Journal:

8511ysu.blogspot.com
NAR’s latest Pending Home Sales Index jumpef sharplyin April, a strong indication that the U.S. housingv market should continue its slow recovery throughbthe summer. The index is a forward-looking indicator basede on contracts signedin April. It rose 6.7 percent to 90.3 from a readinh of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2 percenr above April 2008 when itwas 87.5. An indec of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activityduringt 2001. That was the first year data was collected, as well as the firstr of five consecutive record yearsfor existing-home sales. Lawrencd Yun, NAR chief economist, said buyers are respondingf to very favorablemarket conditions.
“Housing affordability conditions have been athistoric highs, but now the $8,0090 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impacgt the market,” he said. “Since first-time buyers must finalizse their purchaseby Nov. 30 to get the credit, we expecy greater activity in the months and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.” While pending home sales gained in the West, it was to a lesserf extent than other areas of the country. The indezx rose 1.8 percent in the West to but is 2.9 percent below Aprill 2008. The index in the Northeast shotup 32.6 percentf to 78.9 in April and is 0.8 percenft above a year ago. In the Midwesyt the index rose 9.8 percent to 90.
4 and is 11.1 percent above April 2008. The index in the Southj slipped 0.2 percent to 93.0 in Aprilo but is 3.5 percent higher than a year ago. According to the NAR, the Pendingg Home Sales Index is based on a largernational sample, typically representing abouf 20 percent of transactions for existing-homee sales.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Fairly back with Garmin in late-hour addition - velonews.competitor.com

ernstiryastrov.blogspot.com


velonews.competitor.com


Fairly back with Garmin in late-hour addition

velonews.competitor.com


Caleb Fairly finds himself back in the WorldTour after joining Garmin. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com. Caleb Fairly is a late addition to Garmin-Sharp for the 2013 season. The 25-year-old becomes the latest SpiderTech-C10 rider to find a ...


< p size="-1" class="p">


and more »

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Packers sticking with Mason Crosby - ESPN

disqualify-sida.blogspot.com


San Francisco Chronicle


Packers sticking with Mason Crosby

ESPN


GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers are sticking with Mason Crosby, although that decision has as much to do with their personnel philosophy as it does with their faith in the struggling kicker. After missing a pair of field-goal attempts during ...


Green Bay Packer s taking risk with Mason Crosby

NFL News


Green Bay Packers: Slumping Mason Crosby under fire again - TwinCities.com

Pioneer Press


Notebook: Despite clinching, McCarthy won't let up

Green Bay Press Gazette


Rant Sports


 »

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Progress Energy seeks small rate decrease - Triangle Business Journal:

sucujovide.wordpress.com
The proposal also asks regulators to adjustf other components of the rate toreflectt energy-efficiency programs and other renewable energy Under the proposal, a typical Progress household that uses 1,009 kilowatt hours a month would see the total bill drop 10 centxs $106.78 to $106.68. North Carolinsa utilities are permitted a fuel charge oncustomer bills, which is a way for the to recover the cost of the fuel for its plants. Utilitie s do not profit from the charge. Raleigh-based Progresx says it asking the North Carolina Utility Commission to lower the fuel chargw because global energy prices have stabilized from recorsd highs ofrecent years.
According to the a household using 1,000 kWh a montu would see the fuel portionm of the bill drop by17 cents. Energy efficiench will drop the bill by 19another cents. But the renewablee energy portion of the bill will rise by 26 That increase pays for solar and biofuel contracts that Progress has signed to complyu witha state- mandated renewable energy target. If the new rates will take effectt Dec. 1. Progress (NYSE: PGN) servezs 1.25 million customers in North Carolina.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Small business bridge loans likely to go quickly - Denver Business Journal:

fusajacuxejilyp.blogspot.com
The SBA will begin accepting applicationws from lenders for itsnew America’s Recovery Capital loanw June 15. The loans, which were create d by the economicstimulus legislation, will help smal l businesses make payments on existing loans. Through this program, small businesses can borrow upto $35,000 to make up to six monthzs of payments on qualifying loans, including credif cards if that debt was used for business The loans will be made through private-sector not the SBA itself. Borrowers won’t have to stargt repaying the ARC loans until a year after they receivr their last ARC loan They then will pay back the principalk on the ARC loan infive years.
Small businesses won’t have to pay interestr on the loans. Instead, the SBA will pay the lendedr a monthly interest rate of prime plus 2percentage points. The SBA also will guarante 100 percent ofthe loan’s To be eligible for the small businesses must show they were profitable or had positivr cash flow in at leasgt one of the past two years. Future cash flow projections must demonstrat that the businesses will be able to repaytheirr debts, including the ARC loan. Borrowers can’t be more than 60 days past due on any loan beingh paid through anARC loan, and they must have a businesx credit score that is acceptabls to the SBA.
ARC loans can’g be used to make paymentsz on an SBA loan made priorto Feb. 17, the date the economicx stimulus billbecame law. To be eligible, small businesses also must showthat they’re experiencing an immediate financia l hardship, such as declining sales or difficulty makintg payroll. The SBA hopes small businesses will use the ARC loanwsas “breathing room to rework their businessz strategy in order to position themselves for futurs success,” said Eric who heads the agency’s Office of Capital Access. Most of the loansd probably will be made through lenders that alreadu have a business relationshio withthe borrowers, Zarnikow said.
Small businesse s that are interested in an ARC loan should firsg contact theircurrent lender, according to the SBA. Lenders that currentlyu don’t make SBA-guaranteed loans can join the in a process that takes about a he said. The agency has enough fundingh for the ARC program to makeabout 10,000 loans. Zarnikow expects high demand for these but said it may take some time for some lenders to ramp up for this new The loans will be availablde until the money for the program runs out oruntil Sept. 30, 2010, whichever comes Zarnikow expects theloans “will go pretty quickly.
” Tony Wilkinson, presideny and CEO of the National Association of Government Guaranteedd Lenders, agreed the “funding will be exhaustedx rather quickly.” For lenders who have customers who were profitables in 2007, took a hit in 2008 and coulde survive this year with a little “this is the product,” Wilkinson The chair of the House committed that oversees the Small Business Administration criticized the agency’s new loan program for automobilre dealers. The SBA recently announcef that it temporarily will alloww auto dealers to useits 7(a) business loan program to finance vehiclw inventory.
Many lenders had stopped makingthese so-called “floorplan” loans to auto dealers. Rep. Nydia D-N.Y., who chairs the Housw Small Business Committee, fearsa “there is a significantly higher risk ofloan defaults” on these floorplan This could force the SBA to increase the subsidyh rate for 7(a) loans, which would make the loans costlier for future borrowers. In a June 2 letterr to SBA AdministratorKarem Mills, Velazquez noted the SBA had “lon prohibited the use of its financing programs for the purpose of wholesal e lending, and for good reason.
Becausee lenders are limited in their abilitgy to exercise full control over thefinanceed items, the exposure to loss in floorplamn loans is greater than in other types of financing.” Vehicles servde as collateral for floorplan loans, and the valuer of this collateral “will depreciate rapidly” given the glut of inventoruy facing auto makers in the wake of the bankruptcy reorganizationz of Chrysler and General Motors, Velazquea wrote.
“While clearly there is a need to providse this industry withtransitional assistance, doing so by focusingb on inherently risky financial arrangements seems questionable,” she “The potentially negative impacts of this policg change are likely to extend well beyonsd the auto industry.” But Tony Wilkinson, president and CEO of the Nationaol Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, said the floorplan loanss shouldn’t be any riskier than other types of 7(a) loans if lenderss administer the loans responsibly.
“Ij think it’s appropriate for the SBA to look at everything they can do for all smalp businessesright now, givenh small businesses’ inability to access credit,” Wilkinson Velazquez also contended the time the agency spenf on developing a complex new loan program shoulx have been spent on implementing overdu e programs called for in the economic stimulus bill. The floorplabn loans will help onlya “very limited group” of small businesses, she noted. Had the SBA insteax focused more on thestimulu programs, “thousands of smalo businesses that can no longer wait for help woulfd have seen assistance,” Velazquez wrote.