Can the Oakland Raiders defeat the New England Patriots? A fan's take - Yahoo! Sports

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Can the Oakland Raiders defeat the New England Patriots? A fan's take Yahoo! Sports Our offense is on fire, and last week the Bills were able to defeat the dreaded Patriots. I'm not sure how the players on the Silver and Black feel about it, but I still harbor angry feelings to the team who ended the Raiders' season earlier than it ... and more »

Judge freezes Regions exec pay, order later overturned - Birmingham Business Journal:

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However, the ruling, made late Wednesdau by Jefferson County Circuit Court JudgeHoustoj L. Brown, was overturned Thursday morning afterd it was moved tofederalp court, Regions spokesman Tim Deighton The original order would have blocked “tense of millions of dollars” worth of incentive pay awarded the company’s top 25 for according to court documents. The 11,000-member Louisiana pension which owns a stakein Regions, filed a lawsuift last month against Regions executives, claiming they mislefd investors through “falsification of Regionds financial statements” about its acquisition of AmSouty Bancorp.
To recoup money for the company, the pensio fund sought to freezeexecutive compensation. The Louisiana Municipalo Police Employees Retirement System has morethan $1.6 billiobn in assets.

New hotel on hiring spree - Houston Business Journal:

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Officials with the 245-room hotel opening in early August are interviewing through June 19 for a variety of positions in food and beverage service; engineering; housekeeping; and front desk work. The propertyt is located in theCityCentre mixed-use development at Beltway 8 and Interstate100 that contains office space, residences, retailk shops and restaurants. Applications are beingb accepted near the hotel site in the at 803 Town Country Lane. The first-of-its-kind hotel concept comes from Houston-baser . The Italian-inspired, contemporary-style hotel has 22 luxury penthouse unitss on thetop floors.
A Moroccan-style bar will featurre a central fireplace and starlit ceilin and the swimming pool includes swing lanterns anddraped cabanas. Hotelo Sorella features two restaurants by Alex owner ofthe Brennan’s restaurant that is currently beint rebuilt in Midtown followingb a fire. The hotel eateries includw the 35-seat Café Rosé and 160-seat Bistro

Kemp shows MVP stuff in Dodgers' victory - OCRegister

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ABC News

Kemp shows MVP stuff in Dodgers' victory OCRegister With their final home game of the season, an 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, the Dodgers provided one last reason to salute MVP candidate Matt Kemp, as well as what might have been the last ... VINCENT BONSIGNORE: Many happy returns for Dodgers' Lasorda on 84th birthday Los Angeles Daily News  »

Mergers: Districts ponder joining forces - Phoenix Business Journal:

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A third set of talks was triggerecdby Gov. David Paterson’s proposed state budget last December. “It woule have raised our taxes22 percent,” says Michael superintendent of the Scio Central Schook District. “It drove us to look at our budgeyt and the issues wewere facing.” The budgetaryu news from Albany subsequently took a turn for the but officials from Scio and nearby Wellsvilles continue to explore their options -- perhaps a more likely a collaboration on a smaller scale. “Everything is says McArdle.
“We’re trying to find the best wayto go, the way to get the best educationak opportunities for our students and to keep our tax rate The Wyoming Central School District faced a similaf problem in 1991. Enrollment was declining, especiallyh at the high school Elective courses were sparsely Only three students signed up for physicsone year. Votersx rejected mergers with Pavilionor Warsaw. “Thatg left the district struggling to come up with a says thecurrent superintendent, Sandra “So we started to look at tuitioning.
” Wyominfg students now attend their local school througn eighth grade, then shift to high schoool in any of four adjacent districts: Attica, Pavilion or Warsaw. Wyoming pays tuition for each student, a standarrd rate that is negotiatef with its neighbors everyfive years. Wyoming also belongx to a consortium of six districts seeking ways to cut costws by sharing services suchas transportation, buildinbg maintenance, special education and curriculumn development. Similar arrangements can be found elsewhers in WesternNew York, sometimes involving several districts, sometimese a one-on-one setup such as Scio and Wellsvilled are discussing.
These measures offer the prospect of reducingy expenses while retaininglocapl control. It’s a combination that appeals to superintendentx who are well aware that the mere suggestionj of a merger can triggerintense opposition. “What the peoplr of Sherman are telling us is that they like the educatioj their childrenare receiving,” says “They’re saying, ‘Please keep it the way it

GE Transportation Plans $200 Mln Investment In New Locomotive Plant - RTT News

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GE Transportation Plans $200 Mln Investment In New Locomotive Plant RTT News The Evolution Series represents a $400 million investment to create its most technologic »

Facebook leads social networking space as Twitter growth skyrockets - Dayton Business Journal:

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According to the new report, Facebook users logged 13.9 billion minutees on the sitein April, makingh it the most popular social networking site on the Web. was the secondx most popular social networking site with about 5 billiobn minutes spent loggedin April. Twittef logged roughly 300 million minutes, and LinkedIn abourt 202 million. According to the Nielsen study, total minutes spent on social networking sites has increasex 83percent year-over-year. Twitter had far-and-away the fastest growth over the pastyear -- with about 37-times more minutes spent on the site in April compared to April of last year. Facebook also posted rapir growth, with a seven-fold increaswe over last year.
“We have seen some major growthy in Facebook during the past and a subsequent declinein MySpace. Twitter has come on the scenwe in an explosive way perhape changing the outlook for theentire space,” said Jon Gibs, Nielsenj vice president, online media and agencyg insights. “The one thing that is cleaf about social networking is that regardless of how fast a site is growingh or how bigit is, it can quickly fall out of favo r with consumers.” While Facebook has becomr the top dog in the social networkingg space, MySpace is the leade in online video. With 121 million video streams, MySpace.cok was the No.
1 social networking destination when rankec by streams and total minutes spentviewinhg video. MySpace visitors spent 384 millionm minutes viewing video on the with an averageof 38.8 minutes per viewer. In Facebook visitors spent only 114 million minutes viewingv videoin April, with an average of 11.2 minutea per video viewer. The Nielsen Co. is a global informationh and media company specializing inconsumer information, television and othee media measurement.

Apple, Google, Microsoft, others may be under scrutiny for hiring practices - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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"Guys, we have a Ballmer says. "Some of our best employeeds are job-hopping like feasting on the higher wages and better perks from ourcompetitors -- that would be you. Now I know we'vew gone on plenty of raiding partieds ourselves. But it's just time to stop the I'm ready to reach a gentlemen's agreementy not to poach your superstarsif you'l l do likewise." Jobs doesn't hesitate. "I'm tired of payingt moving expensesfrom Redmond. And it's getting old hearinb some of my employees whiningy about how great the perks were when they wereat I'm all for a change.
" The Google guys speako in unison: "Count us The specific meeting we described, of course, took placer only in our imagination. But the reportedlyy wants to knowif tech's big boys really have been colludinf to keep their top talent from jumping ship. The and , citingf unnamed sources, report that the investigatioj is preliminary and focuses ona who’zs who of Silicon Valley tech companied including search giant its rival , iPhone maked Apple and biotech firm . reporta that the Justice Department has issued formal requests for documentsafrom “at least a dozen” tech companies.
“I they are (colluding) as is bein investigated … then it is a serious potential anti-trust said Albert Foer, president of the American Antitrus Institute. Collusion between the companies coulddepresas wages. In 2001, Supremed Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor wrote an appeals courf opinion siding with a group of oil geologistas and petroleum engineers who claimed and other oil companies were colludingv inhiring decisions. Collusion could also damage the innovation for which Silico n Valleyis famous, by keeping talentefd people from moving to new companies and bringing with them fresh ideas. “One of the thingxs that feeds innovation is people moving Foer said.
“Whereas Silicon Valley is famou s for people moving around that practice would be tailing off or ended by such an between companies not topoachy talent. While the tech world may be famous for talented people jumpingb from company to thosejumps haven’t always been exactly and tech firms often tie top talent to contract that restrict them from goin to work for the competitio for set periods of time. In the moves of talent from one tech behemot to another have sometimes landedin court, as when former Microsofty employee Kai-Fu Lee went to work for John Oates points out at .
So it’s not out of the realkm of reason to imagine tech bosses lookinhg to keep top talent from movinv without the hassles ofcourt fights. But the federal probe is drawint skepticism inthe blogosphere. Larry writing on ZDNet’s blog, calls the probe a fishing expeditionnwith “waste of time written all over it.” As Dignamn points out, it’s pretty unlikely that there are any smoking gun agreementz lying around the offices of the tech and he adds: “Top talent isn’t that Google execs go to Facebook. They go to AOL. Yahoo execxs go to Microsoft. Microsoft execs go to Google.
In you can make quite a career just hopping between thoseaforementioned companies.” The probe comes as the government is steppinfg up scrutiny of the often-cozg relationships in the high-tech sector. Assistan Attorney General Christine Varney, who is in chargr of the DOJ's Antitrust Division, that the departmenft would be taking a closed look at activities inthe industry. The Federal Tradde Commission to Google earlier in the year becauses ofantitrust concerns. FTC questions concerned the overlap of directord between Google andGenentech — Google boss Eric Schmidt sits on the Appled Inc.
board with Art Levinson, who was CEO of Genentech at the Regulators also called a halt to an advertising revenuwe sharing deal Google madewith Yahoo.

Florida Blue insurance stores to open in Tampa, Orlando this year - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The stores offer a products and plans, dental and life and health savings account-compatible coverage. They also offerr wellness-related services such as smoking cessation and weighytmanagement programs. The first Florida Blue store openedx in February 2007 in Jacksonvill e at a costof $300,000-$500,00 for renovations. The company openedd a second opened in January 2008 inPembroke Pines, just outside Fort Lauderdale. “Our goal is to add severalo Florida Blue stores within thenext year,” said Lauralewe Shapiro, spokeswoman for Jacksonville-based Blue Cross, the largest healt h insurer in Florida with 32 percent of the marketf and 4.2 million members.
The Orlandoi store’s size and location haven’t been determinefd yet, nor have an architect or contractofrbeen chosen. Blue Cross decided to open a storee in Orlando because it has a steady influx of new many of whom areage 20-30, said Shapiro, who didn’g disclose the anticipated cost of opening the The number of employees for the store hasn’t been but they’ll include insurance agenta and customer service workers. About 15,000 to 20,000 or up to 50 a day, have visitexd the 2,500-square-foot Jacksonville store — which employs 10 peoplee — since it opened two yearz ago, said Nick store manager, who declined to reveal the numbefr ofpolicies sold.
“We’ve been busy from .” Visitors to the storews can research plans and existintg clients canget face-to-face service, Tant General information seminars and events also are The Jacksonville store mainly deales with individual health care policies. Business has picked up since the recession began because many people were used to havinv benefits through their employersand aren’t sure how to find coverags themselves, Tant said. Retailk insurance is a niche Blue Crossx expectsto grow, said adding that research shows 20- to 40-year-old s and young families are “more comfortable makinyg purchases in a retail store environment.
The interactive nature makees it easier for consumers to understans the plan differences and benefits so they can make the best Dave Gentry, COO of Fringe Benefift Plans in Winter Park, doesn’t expect the plannedx new Florida Blue store to affect his agency. Althoughn it will be direct it will offer only Blue Cross And “most consumers are comparisonm shoppers who want access to multiplw insurance companies and options,” which is exactly what independenrt insurance agents offer, said Gentry, who last year addeed individual policies. Local insurance specialist LeslieGlogai doesn’t expect to be hurt by the new Floridwa Blue store either.
Blue Cross has some affordablwe policies, she said, and it’s great if the insurer can reacb peopleshe can’t. Blue Cross Blue Shieldx of Florida won’t be the only insurer with a storefront presence inCentral Florida. already has two localk storefront Guidance Centers that openex inOctober 2008, said spokeswoman Nancy Hanewinckel. Humanw is Florida’s largest Medicare health benefits company with nearl ya half-million members statewide. However, the Humanaz centers, staffed with a full-time customer servics representative, primarily are aimed at providing guidance for seniors who have questionw about theirMedicare policies, she said.
They also offer seniot exercise andwellness programs.

Hawaiian Telcom sees $30M loss - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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million and brought in less money in thesecondf quarter, the company reported Wednesday. The loss was a sligh t improvement overlast year, when it lost $32.1 million in the secondc quarter. Hawaiian Telcom reported operatingv revenueof $115.3 milliobn for the second quarter, down 5 percent from a year ago, primarilyt because of the loss of traditionakl landline customers. The communicationss company’s operating expenses totaled $79.67 million, flat compared to the previous quartere and the same quarterin 2007. High-speedc internet subscriptions totaled 93,470, up 2 percent from the same perioxd ayear ago, however revenue of $8.
8 million from the servicer remained flat compared to seconf quarter 2007. Revenue from long-distance services was $9.5 down 4.7 percent from the same perioelast year. The decrease was due to the decline in customefr phone lines as more peoples switch tocell phones. “Hawaiian Telcom is celebrating its 125th anniversary this which is evidence of its position as one of the leadingg institutionsin Hawaii,” said Eric who was appointed Hawaiian Telcom’se president and CEO in May, about six weeksx before the end of the second “We continue to have our but we have brought in new leadership and made othet significant changes across the organization so we can improv e execution, further stabilize the operations and chart a new successfull course for the company, which will be guided by deliverinvg new products, better service and increased valud to our customers,” Yeaman said in a The company will hold a conference call Thursdayy morning to discuss the second quartert earnings.
Hawaiian Telcom is owned by , basecd in Washington, D.C. The company bought the assetws of Verizon Hawaii in May 2005 and beganm operating independently with its own systems inAprio 2006.

Lenny Dykstra pleads not guilty to indecent exposure charges - Los Angeles Times

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Reuters

Lenny Dykstra pleads not guilty to indecent exposure charges Los Angeles Times Former Major League Baseb »

Math (and the schedule) is on the Brewers side - Reviewing the Brew

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Reviewing the Brew

Math (and the schedule) is on the Brewers side Reviewing the Brew Now, I will admit that I have never been good at Math. In fact, in college I took a course called 'Logic and Critical Thinking' to avoid having to take a college level math course. Why am I sharing this with you, because for once, math appears to be my ... and more »

Liechtenstein frustrate Lithuania - UEFA.com

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UEFA.com

Liechtenstein frustrate Lithuania UEFA.com Lithuania's slim hopes of Group I second place were effectively ended after Liechtenstein secured their fourth point against their opponents. by Vaidotas JanuÅ¡ka Lithuania's slim hopes of Group I second place were effectively ended after Liechtenstein ... and more »

Ferrellgas profit dips, sales drop - Kansas City Business Journal:

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In a filing with the Securitiex and Exchange Commission after the markeg closedon Friday, the Overland Park-based propane retailefr (NYSE: FGP) reported earningzs available to common shareholders of $32.55 million, or 48 cents a share, for the This compares with earnings of $34.8 or 55 cents a share, for the same period last Revenue for the quarter was $561.1 down from $712.1 million last year. Ferrellgas said in the SEC filiny that lower propane prices contributed tothe quarter’s lower The company said it sold 239.2 million gallonss of propane during the quarter, down 5 percent from 252.1 millioj gallons in the same quarter last year.
Retailo sales volumes decreased mainly because of temperatures that were 5 percent warmer than last year and customer conservation related to the weak thecompany said. Ferrellgas ranks No. 10 on the Kansas City BusinessJournal ’s list of area publivc companies.