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Labor & Economy
Fixing Our Infrastructure — and Rebuilding the Middle Class
Across the country, chronic underinvestment has left roads, bridges, water systems and other critical infrastructure in need of replacement or costly repair. Public financing is the least expensive way to meet these needs. But to fund the gap, some states and cities are turning to contracting arrangements called "public-private partnerships," or "P3s" for short, which use private capital to finance public projects.
If done right, infrastructure projects—however they're financed—can tackle inequality by boosting economic growth and providing quality jobs for disadvantaged communities. But since capital in P3s is more expensive than in public financing, and the public loses control over many aspects of P3-financed infrastructure, we should demand even more public benefit in return.
Thursday, along with the Partnership for Working Families (PWF), we released a report to help make sure P3s provide much-needed pathways to the middle class. The report, Building America While Building Our Middle Class, outlines best practices for policymakers considering infrastructure projects—whether publicly or privately financed—to make real economic and social impacts in their communities.
If they include job quality and equity policies, P3 infrastructure projects can be vehicles for creating career opportunities for low-income families, women, people of color and those with a criminal record. The report describes successful publicly funded projects that have done just that, including the largest project in Seattle's public works history.
We've got a lot of work to do. Last week the credit rating agency Fitch estimated that replacing the country's lead pipes—the sort that are contaminating water in Flint, Michigan—will cost as much as $50 billion. And that's only a fraction of the $3.6 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has estimated it would cost to make all our roads, bridges, water systems and other critical infrastructure safe by 2020.
As we close this gap and rebuild America, we can also rebuild the middle class. But that means we can't lose sight of maximizing both economic and social benefits for our communities.
Here's a summary of the report.
(Photo by David Brodbeck)
Labor & Economy
Government Shutdown's Silver Lining: A Corporate Hiring Guru Speaks Out
Co-published by Fast Company
Ending the shutdown won't curtail the hiring opportunities for corporate recruiters, says one expert. It's like divorce: Once you start thinking about leaving, the odds that it will happen go up dramatically.
In the new economic climate, even the most mission-driven of federal workers might be forgiven for abandoning the nation's parks, airways and regulatory agencies.
Co-published by Fast CompanyWhen the federal government shut down for 16 days in 2013, corporate hiring guru John Sullivan advised companies on how to raid federal government workplaces for talent.
A blog post he penned at the time caused some to charge him with being unpatriotic, he said recently, while others thanked him for the reminder that federal workers were ripe for the plucking.
This time around, the climate is even better for corporations looking to cull staff from a workforce that is already well-trained and also known for its loyalty, Sullivan tells Capital & Main by phone. He describes the current moment—with hundreds of thousands of federal employees forgoing paychecks and, in many cases, sitting at home — as tantamount to "a sale on Black Friday."
Congresswoman: The shutdown could have a long-term impact on the federal government's ability to attract workers with IT skills.
"If you've been screaming for the last two years" about the skills-and-talent shortage, "this week there isn't one," says Sullivan, who heads the human resource management program at San Francisco State University's College of Business.
The partial shutdown, that began on December 22 when President Trump failed to secure funding from Congress for his border wall, has impacted employees at a host of federal agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and Treasury and the NASA.
What makes this particular shutdown so suitable for raiding federal workplaces? It's not just that employee morale has taken a nosedive, thanks to a president who is at war with many of the agencies he oversees. Nor is it only the fact that Trump threatened to keep the government closed for as long as a year, a notion that "really scares people," says Sullivan.
With Amazon's opening new offices in the District of Columbia area, three out of four IT workers in DC say they would consider leaving their current jobs for the tech behemoth.
It's also the economic climate. Companies are growing. Unemployment is low. Remote work is increasingly an option. Technical advances have made looking for a job easier than it was in 2013. "You can say 'boo' to your phone and apply for a job," adds Sullivan, delivering his matchmaking pitch with such force that even the most mission-driven of federal workers might be forgiven for abandoning the nation's parks, airways and regulatory agencies.
Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Information Technology, worried, in a statement last week, that the shutdown would have a long-term impact on the federal government's ability to attract workers with IT skills. The federal government has generally struggled to attract young tech workers, and Amazon's new offices in the District of Columbia area has three out of four IT workers in DC saying they would consider leaving their current jobs for the tech behemoth.Tech workers — and upper-salaried talent — are not the only employees coveted by the private sector, says Sullivan. Forest Service employees. Coast Guard workers. Transportation and Safety Administration agents. Any unpaid workers could be lured away, especially in states like California and Texas, where economies are strong, he maintains. An employment agency for California's casinos recently put this shout out on Twitter: "Any @TSA employees looking for new opportunities, PTGaming is hiring!" along with the popular hashtag, #shutdownstories.
The shutdown could also prompt federal employees to throw scruples to the wind and step into the infamous revolving door that leads workers from government jobs to the private sector and back again. When Sullivan was advising companies in 2013, he helped firms hire from agencies that regulated them.
"And by the way," asks Sullivan, persisting with his siren song, "if I was a regulator, [with] President Trump eliminating all those regulations, why am I needed? Why not go to the private sector?"
Sullivan, who says he is an underpaid government worker in his own right, is concerned about the public cost of his and others' efforts to lure away the federal government's top talent. The best employees will leave first, and "literally billions" in training dollars will be lost, he predicts.
But he puts the blame squarely on a public sector that undervalues its workers. Corporations that pilfer federal government workforce for talent offer a kind of public service and corrective by demonstrating the price that must be paid "for degrading public service and unnecessarily frustrating federal employees," he wrote in his 2013 post.
Ending the shutdown won't curtail the hiring opportunities for corporate recruiters, says Sullivan. "It's like divorce. Once you start thinking about [leaving], the odds [that it will happen] go up dramatically."
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L.A. Teachers Strike
L.A. Teachers' Potential 'Meta-Strike' Reveals Battle Lines in U.S. Public Education War
Co-published by the American Prospect
Superintendent Austin Beutner and his allies have made it clear they do not believe that the L.A. Unified School District in its current incarnation is worth investing in – or even preserving.
Co-published by the American ProspectSometimes strikes are exactly what they seem to be – battles over wages and working conditions, with relatively few implications for anything or anyone else. But sometimes a strike is about something much bigger: a fundamental clash over vision and values, with repercussions that extend far beyond the warring parties. Call it a meta-strike.
See More Strike Coverage
If Los Angeles teachers walk off the job January 14, as widely expected, it will be a meta-strike with extremely high stakes not only for teachers, students and parents in L.A., but for public education across the U.S. The stalemated negotiations over wages, class size, staffing and other issues matter – but they are proxies for an epic fight that has been playing out in American school districts for more than a decade.
The head of the country's second-largest school district is aggressively advancing a controversial blueprint that could make LAUSD almost unrecognizable.
On one side of this divide are those who believe that public education as an institution should be preserved more or less in its current form, with a greater infusion of money to address chronic underfunding and understaffing. On the other side is an array of forces that want to radically restructure public schools, and who have made it clear they do not believe that the L.A. Unified School District in its current incarnation is worth investing in – or even preserving.
Austin Beutner, LAUSD's superintendent, is nothing if not a proponent of radical restructuring. He was appointed to his post not because of his experience in education – he has never held a position in that field – but because he is a fervent advocate of an approach that has its roots in the private sector, where he spent the bulk of his career. Beutner made his considerable fortune in business, starting at the powerhouse private equity firm Blackstone and then co-founding the investment banking company Evercore Partners.
Selected by a divided school board in May, Beutner is now arguably the most powerful figure in the national movement to upend traditional public education. As head of the country's second-largest school district, he is aggressively advancing a controversial blueprint that could make LAUSD almost unrecognizable.
Though Beutner has yet to unveil his proposal, he has tipped his hand in a big way with the hiring of consultant Cami Anderson, the former superintendent of Newark, New Jersey public schools. In Newark, Anderson pushed through a disruptive plan called the "portfolio model." As the L.A. Times reported in November, under the portfolio model the district would be divided into 32 networks. These networks, observed reporter Bill Raden on this site, "would be overseen like a stock portfolio. A portfolio manager would keep the 'good' schools and dump the 'bad' by turning them over to a charter or shutting them down much like a bum stock. The changes in Newark included neighborhood school closures, mass firings of teachers and principals, a spike in new charters and a revolt by parents that drove out . . . Anderson."
Why Beutner and the board majority that hired him think that the portfolio model will be more successful in L.A. than it was in Newark is uncertain. They don't see the unchecked growth of largely unregulated charter schools as a problem, despite more and more evidence that charters discriminate against disabled students, increase racial stratification and on the whole do not perform better than traditional schools. On the contrary, they view charter expansion as elemental to the future of the district.
This is in stark contrast to United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers union, which sees investment — in the form of higher salaries, reduced class sizes, more support staff including psychologists and nurses – and the regulation of charters and community schools as the linchpin of progress. They do not see the public school as a failed institution, but as an egregiously underfunded one whose challenges have been made significantly worse by the rise of charter schools that drain resources from traditional schools. While some influential philanthropic and community organizations have embraced Beutner's restructuring plan, the teachers union has been somewhat successful in building community support for its vision of reinvestment, particularly for the idea of public oversight and for schools that address all the complex needs of an overwhelmingly poor student population.
While the two sides continue to negotiate, they could hardly be farther apart in how they view the future of public education. Which is why a teachers strike is almost certain.
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Labor & Economy
Wall Street Investors Intensify Affordable Housing Crisis
Co-published by Splinter
Research shows that corporate landlords are contributing to a rise in housing prices.
The housing affordability crisis has happened in tandem with Wall Street's home buying spree.
Co-published by SplinterWall Street firms drove up housing and rent prices while depressing homeownership rates after the financial crisis, according to a new study of economic data.
The analysis from researchers at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve found that after the collapse of the housing market a decade ago, institutional investors such as Blackstone, Cerberus Capital and Golden Tree seized on the opportunity to buy up homes and convert them into rental units.
In all, the researchers found that institutional investors' purchases of residential properties represented nine percent of the overall housing price increases since the crisis — and 28 percent of the decline in homeownership rates.
"Institutional investors have helped local house price recovery but depressed local homeownership rates," the study concluded. Such "buying and selling in the single-family housing market affected the local rental market, raising rental price growth rates."
In mid-2018, housing prices hit their least affordable rates in a decade, according to data compiled by ATTOM Data Solutions. Meanwhile, between 2001 and 2015, America saw a 19 percent increase in the number of households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts.The housing affordability crisis has happened in tandem with Wall Street's buying spree. Federal Reserve researchers noted that "the institutional investor-purchased share of single-family homes has been mostly flat during the early 2000s but picked up significantly since the mortgage crisis broke out in 2007."
Corporate investors own roughly 200,000 single-family homes, according to industry data. In the last year, major Wall Street firms have continued buying up single-family homes, adding to the financial sector's growing real estate empire.
At the same time, many of those same investment firms pumped big money into the campaign to defeat a California ballot measure that would have allowed local communities to enact rent control laws. In some cases, the resources backing the campaign came from investment firms managing public pension money.
The Fed study did offer one silver lining: It found that institutional investors' presence in the housing market did contribute to declining unemployment rates, particularly in construction.
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Labor & Economy
House-Hunting for 3.5 Million People
Advocates say California's new governor can use his bully pulpit to support affordable housing — and to build on 15 housing bills Jerry Brown signed in 2017.
See Jessica Goodheart's story, Can Newsom Make a Dent in California's Affordable Housing Crisis?
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Labor & Economy
Report: IRS Enforcement Could Reap Billions in Unpaid Revenue
Audits of the wealthy and corporations have steeply declined at the same time the agency has begun withholding tax refunds for low-income recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Congressional analysts say that for every $2 spent on tax enforcement, the government could expect to reclaim more than $5 in unpaid taxes.
The federal government could raise more than $1 trillion in new revenue by beefing up tax enforcement and by cracking down on carbon emissions, according to congressional budget analysts. Those two moves alone could help finance progressive lawmakers' Green New Deal, or they could cover the lion's share of the cost of the massive infrastructure investment package proposed by President Donald Trump.
The data was included in a new report by the Congressional Budget Office released Thursday.
The study found that if lawmakers reversed recent budget cuts to the Internal Revenue Service, the agency could recover tens of billions of dollars in revenue that is owed to the government — but that is not being paid. If the agency's budget were increased by $20 billion over the next 10 years, the CBO says auditors would be able to reclaim more than $55 billion that could be used to shore up federal programs or reduce the deficit. Put another way, the analysts said that for every $2 spent on tax enforcement, the government could expect to reclaim more than $5 in unpaid taxes.
"Many taxpayers who are not compliant under the current tax system would pay the taxes they owe" if the enforcement budget is increased, the CBO said.
A recent ProPublica investigation found that as lawmakers have slashed the IRS enforcement budget in recent years, the agency has had far fewer resources with which to scrutinize the tax returns of corporations and high-income individuals. In all, the news organization estimated the IRS has not collected $95 billion in taxes that it may have otherwise collected, had Congress given it its previous level of enforcement resources.Audits of the wealthy and corporations have steeply declined at the same time the agency has begun withholding tax refunds for recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit. The decreased scrutiny of the wealthy and tougher posture toward the poor has occurred even though CBO notes that "the amounts collected from audits of higher-income taxpayers are, on average, much larger than collections from audits of taxpayers with lower income."
A 2015 Inspector General report urged the IRS to focus more of its limited enforcement resources on high-income filers.
"It appears that the IRS is spending most of its audit resources on auditing tax returns with potentially lower productivity," the report concluded.
The CBO noted that stronger enforcement would not necessarily halt tax cheating over the long haul.
"Taxpayers would gradually become aware of some of the changes in the IRS's enforcement techniques associated with the initiatives," the analysts wrote. "In response, they would shift to other, less detectible forms of tax evasion."
In a separate part of the report, the CBO says a $25 per metric ton tax on carbon emissions would raise roughly $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years. That calculation factors in both the possible costs of the tax from potentially reduced economic activity and higher fossil fuel prices, as well as positive economic effects of the tax. In the first year alone, such a tax would raise $66 billion — or more than the budget of the entire U.S. Department of Education over the same time period.
"To simplify implementation, as well as to provide incentives to deploy technologies that capture emissions generated in the production of electricity, the tax could be levied on oil producers, natural gas refiners (for sales outside the electricity sector), and electricity generators," CBO analysts wrote. "A well-designed tax that covered most energy-related emissions would be expected to reduce emissions."
In October, ExxonMobil announced that it will spend $1 million to support an advocacy group that is pushing for a carbon tax.
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Labor & Economy
Behind Kaiser's Mental Health Breakdown
"The best practices of psychotherapy state that patients should be seen weekly or every other week," says one clinical psychologist. But at Kaiser, his average patient must wait five weeks between appointments.
A strike by mental health professionals is impacting more than 100 Kaiser clinics and medical facilities. The union has proposed that Kaiser increase staffing and cut patient wait times.
When clinical psychologist Mickey Fitzpatrick thinks about his job, the image that comes to mind is not of a hospital or a doctor's office, but that of a conveyor belt. Since 2015, the 45-year-old has worked at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in the Northern California city of Pleasanton, where he sees an endless stream of patients dealing with serious mental illnesses: post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. Each week he sees four to five new patients, and estimates that last year he counseled between 800 and 900 people, who represented a blur of needs that weren't always easy to keep straight.
"The best practices of psychotherapy state that patients should be seen weekly or every other week," Fitzpatrick told me. But at Kaiser, he's never been able to get anywhere near that goal. With his heavy caseload, the average patient must wait five weeks between appointments, a figure that is consistent with other Kaiser therapists I spoke to. "We're giving them the care that we can with the resources that we can, but we're not able to do what we're trained to do."
This isn't a new problem for Kaiser. In 2013, the California Department of Managed Healthcare (DMHC) fined the nonprofit medical-care giant $4 million after completing a routine medical survey and discovering what it called "serious deficiencies in providing access to mental health services" and the company's failure to promptly correct the problems. The survey found that patients often did not have timely access to appointments and that their educational materials "included inaccurate information that could dissuade an enrollee from pursuing medically necessary care."
In 2015, a follow-up report by DMHC revealed that Kaiser still regularly failed to provide mental health services as required by state law, which mandates that patients with urgent problems receive an appointment within 48 hours; those with non-urgent issues should be seen within 10 business days (or 15 business days if the appointment is with a specialist physician, such as a psychiatrist).
In a review of nearly 300 patient records, the agency found that 22 percent of cases in Kaiser's northern region failed to meet the state's requirements, along with nine percent in the southern region. Among the randomly selected files was a patient with suicidal ideation who waited 16 days for an appointment, and a therapist for another individual who wrote in their notes, "patient wants regular ongoing treatment so may look outside Kaiser."The goal of providing "regular ongoing treatment" for Kaiser patients by hiring new therapists is one of the principal demands of mental health care professionals like Fitzpatrick, who has joined 4,000 of his colleagues this week in a five-day strike. The strike, organized by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, is impacting more than 100 Kaiser clinics and medical facilities, and comes amidst contract negotiations that began in June but have stalled. During those negotiations, the union has proposed that Kaiser increase staffing with the goal of eventually seeing returning patients within two weeks, as opposed to over stretches of time that now routinely exceed one month.
Kaiser Permanente disputes the claims that it hasn't made significant strides in providing timely access to mental health care. "We have been hiring therapists, increasing our staff by 30 percent since 2015 – that's more than 500 new therapists in California – even though there's a national shortage," said John Nelson, the vice president of communications for Kaiser Permanente, in a prepared remark. Nelson also challenged the union's assertion that the strike had anything to do with patient care, stating that one of the union's demands was to reduce the amount of time therapists spend seeing patients, which now averages 75 percent of their days.
For Clement Papazian, a licensed social worker at Kaiser for 30 years who works in Oakland, reducing the time spent seeing patients would dramatically improve the quality of care given to patients, by allowing therapists to check in on family members by phone, write up more thorough notes and create a work environment that didn't feel like a "patient mill." Papazian said that he has seen many dedicated therapists drop out due to the "relentless pressure to see more patients" — what he describes as "rapid access to no care."
Papazian acknowledges that Kaiser has hired new therapists, but argues that those new hires haven't impacted the workload, due to Kaiser's rapid growth — its number of enrolled patients in California has increased by nearly 11 percent since 2015. He also argues that Kaiser is well positioned to staff-up its mental health department, as the company made $3.8 billion in profit last year. "Kaiser is a big player that can really shape the industry," he said. "What we want is to deliver on the care that Kaiser members deserve."
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Labor & Economy
Lights Out, Clean Green: How Janitors Are Boosting High-Rises' Sustainability
A Los Angeles-based program—the only one like it for janitors in the country—has helped align janitorial staffs with the sustainability goals of office building owners.
"Janitors can tell you down to the tenant – to the desk – who doesn't care and just throws everything in the trash or contaminates the recycle bin."
Janitors, who are often the unseen eyes and ears of the commercial office buildings they clean, are on the front lines of an innovative effort to turn their workplaces green.
Aida Cardenas, director of the Building Skills Partnership, a labor-management funded initiative, launched the Green Janitor Education Program in 2014 at a time when building owners were increasingly seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for their properties. The widely-used LEED rating system lets owners put a green stamp of approval that indicates a building's level of conformity to green operation and maintenance standards. "Janitors weren't really part of that conversation," even though the kinds of chemicals and equipment they used were important in determining whether a building received a certification, Cardenas said.
The program began in Los Angeles with a pilot of about 120 workers in seven buildings as a collaboration between the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, the Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA) of Greater Los Angeles, the U.S. Green Building Council (which developed the LEED system) and the Building Skills Partnership. (Disclosure: Several SEIU locals are financial supporters of this website.) Since then, more than 1,000 janitors have graduated from the program and are working in 65 buildings across the state.
Casilda De Jesus now unplugs her TV, radio and other appliances when she's not using them, knowing that as, "energy vampires," they are still draining power.
Janitors participate in 30 hours of classroom training, which takes place during their shifts over a 15-week period. One focus of the training is the purpose of environmental sustainability efforts, which can sometimes make work harder for janitors who must contend with "thinner trash bags that rip" and cleaning chemicals that they may not view as effective, said Cardenas.
The program—the only one like it for janitors in the country—has helped align the janitorial staff with a building owner's sustainability goals. For example, some janitors had resisted using green chemicals that did not tackle dirt as quickly as other products.
Casilda De Jesus, who graduated from the program in August, recalled co-workers sneaking Ajax to the worksite until they were discovered by supervisors. "Having a better understanding of green concepts" helps janitors buy into green practices, De Jesus said through an interpreter. The use of cleaning products that have a recognized environmental seal helps buildings receive points toward their LEED certification. De Jesus claims the switch to green cleaning detergents, made several years ago by her building, has alleviated her asthma symptoms.
Buildings that participated in the Green Janitors program used 5.6 percent less energy on average in 2016 than buildings that did not, one study found.
The janitors are "turning off the lights that people leave on," according to Cardenas. "They're sorting through bins to divert as much waste as they can. They're reporting leaks and [they] understand the urgency because they're conserving water."
The training has contributed to energy savings, said a pro-bono study conducted by seedLA, an environmental consulting group. Buildings that participated in the Green Janitors program used 5.6 percent less energy on average in 2016 than buildings that did not, the study found. The authors attribute those savings to green building maintenance practices, as well as to physical changes to the building due to energy efficiency upgrades.
"Building a low carbon economy takes workers and an awful lot of those workers are blue collar workers. They are not just engineers and highly technical professionals," points out Carol Zabin, director of the Green Economy Program, at the University of California, Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.The Building Skills Partnership's programs—which also include English as a Second Language and digital literacy classes – are paid for by a fund created through collective bargaining between the janitors' union and janitorial firms that contract with building owners. Last year, the Green Janitors program received a $520,000 grant from a state training fund, administered by the California Workforce Development Board, intended for sectors of the economy that must undergo transformation to combat global warming.
De Jesus and other janitors have brought what they learned home about composting, energy and water conservation. De Jesus now unplugs her TV, radio and other appliances when she's not using them, recognizing that as, "energy vampires," they are still draining power. She urges her neighbors to report water leaks to their apartment manager.
De Jesus would like to see her office building's tenants benefit from the kind of training the janitors received. "I think it's really important that the tenants in the building go through this program, so that they are sharing the same practices," De Jesus said.
"Janitors can tell you down to the tenant – to the desk – who doesn't care and just throws everything in the trash or contaminates the recycle bin," noted Cardenas.
Building managers do not typically authorize janitors to talk to office tenants about profligate energy use or subpar recycling habits. But last Earth Day, the Building Skills Partnership released a video – introduced by Mayor Eric Garcetti — that educated property managers and janitorial companies about the program. It includes janitors delivering gentle reminders about how to be better environmental stewards by using public transportation, bicycling and recycling.
Rising Realty Partners owns and manages the Garland Center, the West Seventh Street building where De Jesus works, as well as several other downtown L.A. buildings whose janitorial staff are participating in the Green Janitors program. The company opted into the program so as to invest in the staff that maintains its buildings while also contributing to "building wellness," said Kayce Hawk, senior vice president of property services for the company. The janitors have only recently graduated from the program, but the reports from the building staff have all been positive, she added. "It's empowering for them to get free continuing education that benefits them in their job and in their home life."
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Labor & Economy
Randy Shaw on Los Angeles' Lost Housing Generation
What: Randy Shaw discusses his book, Generation Priced Out.
When/Where: Skylight Books, Los Angeles; Saturday, Nov. 17, 5 p.m.
When I began writing my new book on the pricing out of the working and middle class from urban America — Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America — the first place I turned to after the Bay Area was Los Angeles. I grew up in Los Angeles. I try to closely follow its land-use politics but was shocked to see how even neighborhoods like Boyle Heights faced displacement and gentrification. I also learned that Venice, which I always thought of as a progressive bastion, was filled with homeowners opposed to affordable housing in their neighborhood. The deeper I looked, the more I found the reasons for Los Angeles' worsening housing and homelessness crisis: The city was not effectively protecting tenants and its rent-controlled units, nor was it building enough new housing.
Generation Priced Out tells the stories of those on the front lines of the Los Angeles housing crisis. Mariachis facing eviction from Boyle Heights describe their struggle to stay in their homes, and I defend the "by all means necessary" tactics of tenant groups battling displacement. I describe the struggle by Venice Community Housing to build housing for the homeless on a parking lot, a plan vigorously resisted by homeowners. I discuss the enormous power of the city's affluent homeowner groups, and how they aggressively stop the building of new apartments. I also assess how Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city officials have responded to the crisis and explain why they must do more.
I'll be talking about my book and the L.A. housing crisis at Skylight Books, Saturday, November 17 at 5 p.m. I look forward to a great discussion and hope to see you there.
Randy Shaw is director of San Francisco's Tenderloin Housing Clinic and the editor of BeyondChron.org. His prior books include The Activist's Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century and The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco.
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Election 2018
Los Angeles' Measure B Is a Moonshot Aimed at Creating a Public Bank
A baby step toward establishing municipal banking in America's second-largest city would be a giant leap for this national movement.
"To have a resounding 'Yes' vote from Los Angeles, which is one of the most powerful opinion centers of the world, would be tremendously historic," says Trinity Tran, co-founder of Public Bank LA, an advocate for Measure B, which would amend the city charter to allow the city to establish a municipal bank.
But Measure B is a baby step in what promises to be a lengthy process to set up a municipal bank whose stated purpose is to provide the nation's second-largest city with a socially responsible and cost-effective alternative to Wall Street banks.
More Ballot Measure Stories Here
The movement for public banks draws inspiration from the success of a 99-year-old public bank in the red state of North Dakota and from Germany's network of over 400 regional public banks (or Sparkassen), which advocates say provided significant funds for the development of that country's renewable energy sector.
Since the Great Recession, over 20 U.S. states have introduced bills to establish state-owned banks or to study their economic feasibility. New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive, successfully campaigned for his current job on the promise of creating a state-owned bank. And California's gubernatorial frontrunner Gavin Newsom has made the formation of a state bank that would fund infrastructure, student loans and housing part of his platform as well.
A lack of resources is one motivation for city and state leaders' interest in public banking, said Deborah Figart, a distinguished professor of economics at Stockton University in New Jersey.
After the Great Recession, "we really became much more aware of unmet infrastructure needs," said Figart, who conducted an economic impact study for the proposed New Jersey bank. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the U.S. a D+ grade for the state of its roads, bridges and other infrastructure — "practically a failing grade," she noted. Meanwhile, local governments devote a significant portion of their budgets to paying interest on bonds that go to Wall Street banks and finance companies at a time when interest rates are on the rise.In Los Angeles, the push for the bank emerged from grassroots activists who demanded that the city divest from San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, whose aggressive sales practices resulted in more than three million deposit and credit card accounts being opened without customers' knowledge.
"We knew that it wasn't really divesting if we were going to move our money to another predatory extractive bank," said Tran. "So we introduced public banking early on in the campaign as a permanent solution to housing the city's public finances."
Last year, the city paid $1.1 billion in interest to bondholders, which in turn funds "wars and pipelines and private prisons," said Tran, who would rather see tax money put to work to address city needs like housing and clean energy. Her banking advocacy began four years ago when she started meeting with fellow activists in Koreatown coffee shops. As of October 20, "Yes on B" supporters had raised $10,128 for the measure, according to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. No committee has been formed to oppose the measure.
There are critics, however. Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, writing in The Hill, fears that the public bank proposal would suffer from a "scattered business focus" and fall under "undue political influence" that would result in risky loans that would damage the public purse.
"It's easy to make the banks the bad guy," said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. But "it's not easy to run a bank," and a municipal bank would require significant start-up capital. "This is public money, so if they lose public money, if they realize that it doesn't work, that hurts every person in L.A."
The Los Angeles Times editorialized that the measure was one of "the most ill-conceived, half-baked ballot measures in years" and urged a no vote, in part, because the measure does not articulate a vision or plan for the bank.
But if the proposal on the ballot lacks detail, it's because city officials have not wanted to invest in a business plan and feasibility study while the city is still prohibited by its charter from operating a bank, City Council President Herb Wesson told a news conference in October.
Wesson assured reporters that there was "no way on God's green earth" the city would move to create a municipal bank without a subsequent citywide vote on a more detailed plan, and the ballot argument in favor of the measure that goes to every city voter says as much. For now, voters are only being asked to remove a legal hurdle in the charter that prevents the city from establishing a municipal financial institution.Proponents of public banking regularly point to the Bank of North Dakota as a model. The Progressive-era institution was created in 1919 out of frustration with a banking system that was putting the squeeze on farmers. The bank was initially greeted with suspicion by a national press corps anxious about a Bolshevik incursion into the finance sector. But the bank, now very much part of the state's business establishment, has seen record profits for 14 consecutive years. Because it steered clear of the volatile derivatives market, the Bank of North Dakota avoided the upheaval many financial institutions suffered when the housing market tanked in 2008.
"It's partly because you have civil servants in charge rather than folks whose paychecks depend on how much money the bank makes in a quarter," Sam Munger, director of external affairs for the State Innovation Exchange, told The American Prospect.
Considered a "banker's bank" with a $4.9 billion loan portfolio that supports agriculture, business, homeownership and higher education, the Bank of North Dakota does not compete with other financial institutions.
"It's not a bank for regular household customers, for car loans, credit cards and mortgages," said Figart. "It is a bank for accepting public deposits and lending mostly to the public sector or public-private partnerships."
Wesson has talked about L.A.'s municipal bank as a place where the cannabis industry could park its cash since pot is illegal under federal law. Such a move could restrict the bank's ability to make federal wire transfers, but the L.A. activists who back the initiative see other uses for the bank.
"For our organization, it was never about cannabis; it was always about neighborhood issues," says Gisele Mata, housing organizer of Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment, a community-based non-profit that has been part of the coalition advocating the bank.
Public Bank LA leaders envision Los Angeles's municipal bank playing a similar role to that of the Bank of North Dakota, but focusing on the city's priorities. "It would start as a banker's bank for the city, refinancing city debt and trying to consolidate the investment away from Wall Street and harmful extractive industries," co-legislative director David Jette told KPCC-FM in October.
Public Bank LA, he added, also envisions the municipal bank "partnering with local credit unions and community banks" to fund housing, small businesses, low-interest student loans, renewable energy projects and, eventually, credit for the underbanked. The bank could also fund infrastructure projects more cheaply than commercial banks by avoiding the interest and fees that go to commercial banks, according to advocates.
Many hurdles remain before an L.A. bank could become operational. State and federal laws do not currently provide a regulatory framework for the formation of public banks, according to an August report by the city's Chief Legislative Analyst's office. The city must come up with a source of collateral for the bank and an oversight structure, and receive approval from the California Department of Business Oversight.
But a modern public bank can be made from scratch. In April, the Federal Reserve approved a public bank for American Samoa in the South Pacific, after the Bank of Hawaii abandoned the geographically remote U.S. Territory.
The North Dakota and American Samoan banks may be rare cases for now, but Figart believes that "in the next five years, there will be" more public banks, and "in the next 10 years, there certainly will be more."
Copyright Capital & Main
Election 2018
Will Proposition 11 Mean Less Rest for Ambulance Crews?
Supporters describe Proposition 11 as necessary to ensure public safety, but EMT workers describe grueling 12-hour shifts in which crew members can often go eight hours without having a chance to stop for food.
More Ballot Measure Stories Here
That story begins with a California Supreme Court ruling in 2016, Augustus v. ABM Security, which found that private security guards were required to be given uninterrupted rest breaks by their employer. Guards for ABM had been instructed to keep their pagers on during breaks and to respond to calls for assistance, a practice that the court ruled was in violation of state labor law.
Like security guards, the state's private sector emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics are on call during breaks — and they have filed lawsuits against private companies, including American Medical Response, over the practice. According to the California Legislative Analyst, those suits, after Augustus, are likely to be successful. The analyst's report estimates that to be in compliance with Augustus and offer uninterrupted breaks to their employees, companies would need to hire about 25 percent more ambulance crews, at a potential cost of more than $100 million per year. Then there's the class action lawsuit against AMR, which is the largest private ambulance company in California. Prop. 11 seeks to nullify the lawsuit.
Prop. 11 comes after last year's failure of Assembly Bill 263, which sought a solution to emergency workforce staffing. The bill, which was supported by the union that represents emergency medical services (EMS) workers, and opposed by AMR, would have created a carve-out in the labor code for private ambulance companies, allowing them to require workers to be on call during breaks and respond to emergencies that demand the use of sirens and emergency lights. "We wanted to create a policy that protects workers' rights, allows a little bit of [time] to get meals, but still protects public safety," said Jason Brollini, the president-executive director of United EMS Workers, a local of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. (Disclosure: AFSCME is a financial supporter of this website.)
What the proposed bill wouldn't have done was shield AMR from previously filed lawsuits now before the court. "We weren't willing, through the stroke of the pen, to take away the ability of workers to seek redress in court," Brollini said.Supporters describe Proposition 11 as necessary to ensure public safety and provide lifesaving assistance. "If Prop. 11 does not pass, first responders will not be able to keep their radios on during breaks, putting patient care at risk," said Marie Brichetto, a Yes on Prop. 11 spokesperson. "Prop. 11 would simply continue the longstanding practice of paying private EMTs and paramedics to be on-call during breaks — just like other first responders, including police and fire."
Brollini disputed the notion that response times will increase if Prop. 11 fails, noting that such times are mandated by contracts between private companies and the counties they serve. "There is not a provider in the state that is going to turn their radios off," he said. "What we do need is some kind of relief."
Although his union didn't file paperwork in time for its opposition to Prop. 11 to be included in the state's voter guide, Brollini says his own opposition is grounded in his 25-year career as an EMT worker, most of it spent working in an AMR ambulance. He described grueling 12-hour shifts in which workers can often go eight hours without having a chance to stop for food. Unlike police or firefighters, he said, they frequently don't have stations at which to recuperate, exacerbating an already heavy workload.
In 2015, a survey published in the Journal of Emergency Medical Service found that first responders are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general public. And a joint report in 2017 by the University of California, Berkeley and UCLA's Labor Center reported that one-third of California's EMTs and paramedics are low-wage workers, defined as earning less than $13.63 an hour, or two-thirds of the state median.
"We want to see our companies profitable," Brollini said, "but we don't want it to be at the expense of the worker's mental and physical health."
Copyright Capital & Main
What the New L.A. Teachers Contract Means
Los Angeles' Schools Strike Was a Teachable Moment for Students
Los Angeles Teachers Strike Rally at Grand Park (Photos)
Los Angeles Teachers Strike Enters Second Week Without a Deal in Sight
Martin Luther King Jr. on Inequality and Health Care
L.A. Teachers' Potential 'Meta-Strike' Reveals Battle Lines in U.S. Public Education War
The Tests Facing California's New Governor
Is LAUSD Crying Wolf With Its Claims of Financial Distress?
Wall Street Investors Intensify Affordable Housing Crisis
L.A. Teachers Strike Diary: Day One
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Hey guys bought this hammock here https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...highlight=bias
layed in it once didn't like the way it layed It comes with the hammock body( in great condition), amsteel continuous loops, ENO ridge line organizer and the Zing it ridgline. I am using the carabiners for other purposes. Not looking to make any money so lets call it 50$ with conus shipping and Paypal fees fist I will Take it Gets it per Hammock Forums FS rules. No knotty mod single layer 1.1 rip-stop.

subset: commoncrawl


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Pope's Trip to Highlight Vibrant South Korean Church
Rising Number of Catholics Offers Hopes for Asian Growth
When Pope Francis touches down in Seoul on Thursday, he will be visiting a church whose homegrown roots, outspoken activism and missionary verve could offer lessons for countries where Catholicism is under pressure—and provide a possible opening for the Vatican's hopes to grow in Asia.
The pope's trip—the first pontifical visit to East Asia in nearly two decades—will throw a spotlight on a church that is small, but one of the fastest-growing in the world. The number of Catholics in South Korea has doubled since 1990 to 5.4...


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Tom Idema named director of student conduct
The Central Michigan University Office of Student Life has named Tom Idema the director of student conduct after a recent restructuring of the office.
The most notable outcome of this restructuring is the definition and creation of two distinct offices within the Office of Student Life: the Office of Student Conduct and the Office of Student Activities and Involvement.
The Office of Student Conduct is responsible for all matters regarding the student code of conduct. It deals directly with students, faculty members and law enforcement officials within the CMU community to ensure the code of conduct is being enforced and upheld.
The Office of Student Activities is responsible for matters concerning student involvement at CMU, such as Greek Life and the different registered student organizations around campus.
"It's a little confusing to explain. The Office of Student Life has always been around, but due to this restructuring, there have been two offices created within the Office of Student Life," Idema said. "In a sense, (the director of student conduct is) a new position created through the restructuring."
Idema previously held the responsibility of overseeing all Greek Life activities and various registered student organizations.
Upon Idema's appointment to his new position, Erica Johnson was named the coordinator for Greek Life and Danielle Rossman was named the coordinator of student organization services. They will be taking over the responsibilities previously held by Idema.
Idema said his new position deals strictly with student conduct and enforcing the statutes of the student code of conduct.
"As the director (of student conduct), I'm responsible for upholding all matters within the student code of conduct," he said. "Various issues such as plagiarism and alcohol violations are all things that come across my desk that I deal with."
Idema previously served as the assistant director of student life and, before that, served as coordinator of student leadership development. He was also a residence hall director.
He will earn an annual salary of $57,000.


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Product Details
Lincoln Aviator with Ford 8.8" Series Axle with Standard Open / with Trac Loc Positraction with Independent Rear Suspension 2004, Rear Axle Snap Ring by Yukon Gear & Axle®. Designed utilizing the latest technology, this product by Yukon Gear & Axle features premium quality and will perform better than advertised. Perfect for your vehicle and lifestyle, it is manufactured to meet or exceed stringent industry standards.
- Designed to deliver trouble-free, consistent performance
- Right for your vehicle and lifestyle
- Made from high-quality materials for ultimate durability
- Manufactured to meet or exceed strict quality requirements
Yukon Gear & Axle is here with excellent products that are available at a competitive price. The company does its utmost to provide the best possible solutions for your needs. All products by Yukon Gear & Axle are made with expert care and created by professionals to meet all your requirements. The company does not accept compromises when it is going about quality, so you can be sure that all products have only first-rate quality. With many years of manufacturing experience, Yukon Gear & Axle is the name you can trust.
Yukon Gear & Axle® is one of the leading manufacturers in the aftermarket transmission industry. The company offers a great assortment of reliable ring and pinion sets, axles and axle bearings, spindles, locking hubs, and more. Yukon's commitment to top-quality products which meet or exceed expectations of customers lasts for years. To provide parts featuring solid fit, quality pattern, and clean finish, the company uses the ongoing Quality Assurance practices, extensive series of tests and inspections as well as the latest manufacturing technology.


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No Wind, No Racing In Denmark At 2015 Melges 24 Worlds
6 July 2015
Middelfart, Denmark. - Sometimes it happens also in Middelfart that, after a breezy day, you have to lie in the marina waiting for some puff of wind. A lie that today ended with the AP flag over Alfa, so it means that the Melges 24 World Championship 2015 will resume tomorrow morning, with the start of race 10 set for 11 am.
After nine races, the leader of the ninety five boats Melges 24 fleet is EFG SUI684 steered by Chris Rast. The Swiss entry is now twenty points ahead second day leader Altea ITA735 by Andrea Racchelli and twenty three Gulari-McKee's Air Force One USA820.
In Corinthian Division Kicker Schäfer's Musto Racing GER803 is holding a two-points-margin on three time Corinthian trophy winner Storm Capital Sail Racing NOR751 by Øyvind Jahre and fourteen points on Estonian entry Lenny EST790, with a two-times Olympics medallist Tõnu Tõniste oin helm.
For tomorrow weather forecast predicts some light wind. Principal Race Officer Hank Stuart plans to have the start of race 10 at 11 am.
We remind you that the series will count on fourteen races and that after the end of race 13 the standings will include two discards.
Melges 24 World Championship 2015 is organized by Match Racing Denmark in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association and Middeflart Sailing Club.
Photo gallery by Pierrick Contin / IM24CA
High resolution images are available to accredited media. For further information please E-mail Piret Salmistu
To follow the racing the greatest set ever of the manpower and equipment has been used. With three cameras on the water the streaming was produced by Zerogradinord and SportsXStream along with the International Melges 24 Class Association. Steve Ancsell from United Kingdom and Mauro Melandri as the official Event press Officer from Italy all three races are covering with a fascinating commentary about the racing and content about the Melges 24 Class.
The link to the daily LiveStream can be found here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy7SD_V_E3ZSgPqyhWZhSYg
In addition, live stream from the Morning Briefing and after the racing dock chats will be brought to the audience from the Middelfart Marina. International media team of Zerogradinord will broadcast such content daily until the end of the event. See emotional interviews afterwards and follow the action live here (https://livestream.com/zerogradinord/melges24worlds2015).
The days of the event are:
- Tuesday 30 of June to Sunday 5th of July: 2015 Melges 24 World Championship
- Sunday 5 of July: Closing Ceremony
Event website: http://www.melges24worlds15.dk/
Facebook of the International Melges 24 Class Association
Facebook of the Match Racing Denmark
Hashtags: #melges24 #m24worlds #melges24WC #Matchracingdenmark #SailingWC2015


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The Great Salt Lake Council has radio telemetry devices that they loan their units. The council is surrounded by a vast, mountainous area with the inherent danger of becoming lost in the wilderness. The information about their program can be found on the council Web site (http://www.gslc-bsa.org/council/lost-youth-prevention).
If you have any questions, please contact the Great Salt Lake Council.


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8:00 pm
Saving The Ocean "River of Kings, Part 1" For millennia, the Nisqually Indians relied on Chinook salmon caught in the Nisqually River. Now the river's wild Chinook are extinct, and the tribe runs a hatchery to keep their fishery going. But an unusual coalition of tribal leaders, private partners and government agencies is working to restore the river from top to bottom, from its source in the glaciers of Mount Rainier to the estuary that empties into Puget Sound. D
8:30 pm
Saving The Ocean "The Sacred Island" Host Carl Safina is on the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar chain off the east African coast. The island's reefs and lagoons, once threatened by resort development, are now managed by, and for, the local villages' fishermen. Safina fishes with them and learns about their traditions of stewardship of the world and its resources.G
9:00 pm
Frontline "Climate of Doubt" In 2008, climate change was hot. Politicians in both major parties, pressed by an anxious public, seemed poised to act. Today public opinion has cooled and politicians ignore the issue or proclaim their skepticism of scientific evidence that human activity is imperiling the planet. FRONTLINE correspondent John Hockenberry of PRI's "The Takeaway" goes inside organizations that have fought the scientific establishment, environmental groups and lawmakers to shift the direction of debate on climate issues and redefine the politics of global warming.G
10:00 pm
Nature "Animal Odd Couples" Nature investigates why some animals form special cross-species bonds and explores what these relationships suggest about the nature of animal emotions. Some of the relationships the film documents include: a goat guiding a blind horse; a doe visiting her Great Dane surrogate mother; and a juvenile gibbon choosing to live with a family of capuchins.G
11:00 pm
Wild! "Chasing Wild Horses" Roberto Dutesco, a New York City fashion photographer, photographs human beauty every day, but since childhood he has carried with him a singular artistic vision: the wild, long-maned dark horses of Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. We see him and the wild horses interact as the horses roam through the white sand dunes of the remote island.G


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Medical accounting software can streamline accounting processes and cut back on errors associated with manual data entry. Accounting software for healthcare or social services industries will include a number of features that support the management of day-to-day accounting and business practices, including:
We've created this guide to help medical professionals as they evaluate accounting software. We'll highlight the critical capabilities to be on the lookout for and outline several considerations buyers should keep in mind as they compare solutions.
Here's what we'll cover:
What Is Medical Accounting Software?
Common Features of Medical Accounting Software
What Type of Buyer Are You?
Evaluating Healthcare and Social Services Accounting Software
Healthcare and social services organizations have specialized needs when it comes to accounting. Not only do they need to keep accurate financial records, but they have rigorous compliance standards to maintain to be in keeping with the numerous laws regarding the safety and privacy of patient data.
The core accounting functions needed to balance a medical organization's books include:
Medical accounting software also support billing to insurance companies, as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Specific budgeting tools for the financing structure in those industries are typically included, and integrate with electronic medical records software for meaningful use.
In addition to the core features listed above, look for the following healthcare-specific features:
|Medical materials management
|Manage the purchasing and disbursement of supplies, especially any pharmaceuticals or lab materials with a shelf life. This prevents lost inventory and/or charges.
|Patient/insurance/CMS billing
|Between copays, reconciling EOB forms and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the bureaucracy associated with healthcare accounting adds several layers of complexity most industries don't have to deal with. These systems typically includes ICD-9 and CPT coding information, claim scrubbing and electronic claims submission.
|Integration with electronic medical records
|Electronic medical records (EMRs) track patient notes, demographics, family medical histories and medications. They also typically include features like e-prescribing, lab and medical device testing integration and voice recognition notes software. In the move for all providers to adopt EMR technology, integrating with that data is critical for most buyers.
|HIPAA compliance
|If your system contains any patient data, you'll need a solution that not only performs the necessary accounting functions, but also complies with HIPAA's privacy regulations.
|Integration with patient portals
|Provides patients with 24-hour access to services including access to medical records, appointment setting, prescription refills and online bill pay. The latter allows patients to view bills and make payments via credit card.
|Financial reporting
|Capture business transactions, analyze revenue and expenses and gain insight into performance trends. Filter data by department, employee, medical supply, etc. to view reports on every aspect of your business.
There are hundreds of medical accounting products on the market place designed to suit a variety of needs. The most critical factor to consider in selecting your healthcare/social services accounting software is your size and type of organization. A hospital provides a large number of disparate services, whereas a private practice may have only a handful of physicians within a single specialty.
For example, ophthalmologists will need to monitor retail sales, while a cardiologist does not. Social services, palliative/hospice care and rehab all have their own unique needs, too. Therefore, it's essential to ensure your software solution is designed to handle the accounting functions that meet your facility's unique needs.
We find that the majority of medical organizations we speak with fall into one of the following categories:
These organizations can purchase accounting software in both on-premise and cloud-based solutions. On-premise accounting software will be hosted internally, on the healthcare organization's servers. Typically, on-premise software is sold via perpetual license, meaning the medical organization pays a one-time fee to own the software and use it indefinitely. They are responsible for maintaining the software on their own and can purchase upgrades from the vendor as needed.
Conversely, cloud-based accounting software is hosted remotely on the vendor's servers. Healthcare organizations pay a recurring monthly or annual subscription fee which allows them to use the software for that amount of time. The fee includes the cost for support, maintenance and upgrades supplied by the vendor.
An additional consideration is whether to purchase medical accounting software as best-of-breed or in suite, as part of a larger medical practice management system. Practice management platforms will handle the majority of the healthcare organization's business functions, from reporting to accounting to patient scheduling. Visit our medical practice management buyer's guide for more information about these systems.
Healthcare organizations may choose to supplement their existing medical billing software with a more robust accounting platform if the billing system lacks core accounting features. Buyers purchasing best-of-breed or standalone software should first ensure the product integrates with the existing software in place at the organization.
The most critical factor to consider in selecting your healthcare/social services accounting software is your size and type of organization. A hospital provides a large number of disparate services, whereas a private practice may have only a handful of physicians within a single specialty. Inpatient facilities track patients differently than outpatient facilities. For example, phthalmologists will need to monitor retail sales, while a cardiologist does not. Social services, palliative/hospice care and rehab all have their own unique needs, too. Therefore, it's essential to ensure your software solution is designed to handle the accounting functions that meet your facility's unique needs.
When evaluating these systems, buyers should consider the following:
Our service is simple and 100% free to customers like you because software vendors pay us when we connect them with quality leads. You save time and get great advice. Vendors get great referrals. It's a win for everyone!


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6105 Preserve Drive
Plano, TX 75024
Estimated payment ∕month**
Customize your monthly payment
Sq Ft
Enjoy the new standard of vibrant urban living in the Villas of Legacy West! This wonderful property built by Britton Homes is available for immediate occupancy and offers the utmost in sophisticated contemporary style, energy efficiency, and nearby upscale dining and retail! Open concept! Inviting kitchen opens to dining-living areas and features quartz countertops, island with built-in seating, stainless appliances, beautiful cabinetry, and walk-in pantry. The master suite is located on the second level, opens onto a covered balcony, and has a luxurious bath with dual sinks, oversized separate shower, and large walk-in closet. Also located on the second level are two secondary bedrooms with walk-in closets, a loft game room, and full size utility room. Perfect for a private suite, the upper level offers a fourth bedroom with full bath and game-living room with wet bar, opening onto a huge veranda with fireplace!
Additional Property Details
Homeowners Association (HOA)
Lot & Land
*Note: All room dimensions, including square footage data, are approximate and must be verified by the buyer.
The information contained herein is furnished by the owner to the best of his/her knowledge, but is subject to verification by the purchaser, and agent assumes no responsibility for the correctness thereof. The sale offering is made subject to errors, omissions, change of price, prior sale, or withdrawal without notice. In accordance with the Law, this property is offered without respect to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. This is not intended to solicit property currently listed.
**Assumes 4.25% APR, 20% down payment, and conventional 30-year fixed rate first mortgage. Rates cited are for instructional purposes only; current rates are subject to change at any time without notice. You should not make any decisions based simply on the information provided. Additional required amounts such as taxes, insurance, home owner association dues, assessments, mortgage insurance premiums, flood insurance or other such required payments should also be considered. Contact your mortgage company for current rates and additional information.Listing Agent:Cindy O'gorman
Broker:Ebby Halliday, REALTORS
Safety Rating
Commute to Work
School Districts
Results received from this calculator are designed for comparative purposes only, and accuracy is not guaranteed.
Debra SmithLoan Officer
(972)715-0175Contact Me Visit My Website
When you decide to buy a home or refinance your mortgage, your search should start and end here. Home Team Mortgage has been the Ebby Family Companies preferred lender for more than 20 years! We have every Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA and Jumbo loan product you could ever want, but we also offer a unique set of specialty programs exclusively for our preferred partners. We are a locally owned and operated company with over 30 offices in the DFW area to conveniently serve you. Choose a lender you can trust to find the mortgage loan that best suits your needs.
3 Beds 3.1 Baths 2,968 Sq Ft
4 Beds 3.1 Baths 2,801 Sq Ft
7816 Secluded A... Plano, TX 75024
$1,099,000 Reduced
3 Beds 3.2 Baths 3,434 Sq Ft
7830 Element Av... Plano, TX 75024
$799,900 Reduced
3 Beds 2.2 Baths 2,471 Sq Ft
7846 Element Av... Plano, TX 75024
$849,900 Reduced
3 Beds 3.1 Baths 2,968 Sq Ft
7858 Element Av... Plano, TX 75024
$849,900 Reduced
3 Beds 2.2 Baths 2,801 Sq Ft


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Sophia Grace & Rosie - Grammys 2012 Red Carpet
Sophia Grace Brownlee and her hype girl Rosie walk the red carpet at the 2012 Grammy Awards held at Staples Center on Sunday (February 12) in Los Angeles.
Sophia, 8, and Rosie, 5, found out that they were going to be attending the biggest night in music to interview the stars during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier in the week.
During the appearance, Sophia sang her version of Keri Hilson's "Turn My Swag On" and even added her own rap! Check out the super cute performance below…
Sophia Grace & Rosie: "Turn My Swag On"


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IdeaStorm can help take your idea and turn it into reality.
Over 28,577 ideas submitted. 748,448+ votes. 103,795+ comments. 550+ ideas implemented.
Duration: Dec 19, 2011 - Jan 16, 2012
Status: Archived
Dell and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are working together to gather ideas for how the Internet and social media can improve business sustainability. This is the second in the series. For more information go here.
Employees are critical to businesses being environmentally sustainable. They are the people who make the day-to-day decisions and take the actions that lead to energy savings, smarter packaging, reusable products, sustainable designs, and more. In this Storm Session we'd like your suggestions for how the Internet and Social Media can help to accomplish these tasks.
How can the Internet and Social Media help provide employees the tools, knowledge, connections, and motivation they need to make their company more environmentally sustainable?
Where are employees being successful? What are they doing that works, how, and why?


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NEWMARKET — A local family was temporarily displaced Tuesday when a fire started in the chimney of their Chapel Street home and spread through the walls before it was extinguished.
Firefighters were called to the single-family residence at 11 Chapel St. shortly after midnight, according to Newmarket Fire Chief Rick Malasky.
The fire erupted inside a chimney that exhausts fumes from a wood stove in the rear of the home, Malasky said.
The owner of the home called for help when he was awakened by smoke detectors. The man, his wife and at least one adult child evacuated the property as flames spread from the chimney into the basement and interior walls, Malasky said.
Heavy smoke was visible at the scene when Newmarket firefighters arrived, Malasky said. They called for assistance, bringing in fire crews from Dover, Durham, Newfields and Lee. Others from Nottingham and Stratham provided coverage for the town while the fire was in progress, along with a crew from Mcgregor EMS.
Firefighters remained at the scene until approximately 3:30 a.m. No injuries were reported during the course of the event, Malasky said.
Malasky estimated the home sustained at least $10,000 worth of damage, though a full assessment was still pending. Firefighters were forced to rip open some portions of the structure to combat the blaze, he said.
"We probably did as much damage as the fire trying to get to it," he said. "It's just the nature of the beast."
The home suffered some smoke and water damage as well, though Malasky said he expects it will be fit for habitation once again this week.
The Chapel Street home was described as an older residence. Offering general advice for other homeowners, Malasky noted that regular upkeep is necessary for homeowners who utilize chimneys.
"You need to have them cleaned and inspected by a professional every year if you burn wood," he said. "Especially in some of these older chimneys."
Chimney fire displaces Newmarket family
NEWMARKET — A local family was temporarily displaced Tuesday when a fire started in the chimney of their Chapel Street home and spread through the walls before it was extinguished.


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Roxy Theater
8133 N. Nebraska Avenue,
1 person favorited this theater
Showing 13 comments
This reopened as the Northside Adult theatre on August 8th, 1971. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
The first ad appeared on January 16th, 1936. It was taken over by Spark's later in 1936.
Thanks Nick.Sorry it took so long to read this.
Yes, none other. Charlie & his wife provided me with the info above. To be honest I was a little skeptical about the Roxy being a Florida State Theatre. Theatres under this chain have always been considered the city's deluxe houses…the cream of the crop. And I couldn't see the Roxy being a deluxe theatre. But sure enough in looking through the ads, the Roxy was listed under Florida State Theatre's banner. Evidently there were several owners through the years including the two mentioned in an ealier post…Claughton Theatres and Maurice Stahl.
Is Charlie your source?
Here's some additional information from a former operator who worked here. The Roxy was owned and operated by Florida State Theatres for many years. Around 1945 Florida State Theatres built the Springs Theatre which was just a block down from the Roxy. When they opened the Springs they closed the Roxy. Not long afterwards a company called State Theatres took over the building and reopened the Roxy. State Theatres also operated the State Theatre downtown, the Palma Ceia in south Tampa, and the Northtown in north Tampa. The Roxy remained open for a few years under State Theatres. When it closed the floor was leveled and it became McCormick's Department Store for several years. When McCormick's finally closed the building was later taken over by a private individual and reopened as a theatre once again..as the Northside Adult Theatre. "Deep Throat"
had its first Tampa showing here. I remember the Northside being open for several years probably
at least through a good portion of the 1970s. When it finally closed the building was torn down.
The empty lot is still there.
Notice the very top of the Roxy facade in the old b/w photo. At each end of the facade is a small slightly raised brick decorative feature. The facade on the blue building doesn't have these.
Nick, you don't miss a beat.
Hate to be the bearer of disappointing news but the blue building above is not the Roxy Theatre. The Roxy was right next door to this building on the left side. It was demolished years ago and the property today remains an empty lot. If you look closely at the photo you can see a very narrow portion of the empty lot on the left. That's where the Roxy stood. It was known as the Northside Adult Theatre for a few years before closing. I remember seeing an adult film here around 1971. Look at the old b/w photo of the Roxy Theatre posted above and you'll see a portion of the Southern Used Furniture building on the right.
Thanks Major Major.
The County has the building being built in 1925.
That's obviously a very old building, probably dating from no later than the early 1920s, possibly from the 1910s. If I were to hazard a guess (and you know I will) I'd say the Roxy was probably in operation in the 1920s under another name.
But the only mentions of the Roxy I've been able to find in Boxoffice so far are from the early 1950s. The issue of February 12, 1955, in an item saying that Maurice Stahl had recently acquired the house from Claughton Theatres and planned to redecorate it.


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Hitachi isn't the first vendor to offer unified block and file storage in one package. One competing example is EMC's VNX product line, which offers unified storage and a suite of virtualization features. In particular, the VNX7500 feature set tracks closely to the HUS VM. It offers similar storage virtualization features, including thin provisioning, snapshots and replication; it can mix and match spinning and SSD drives; and it falls just shy of HUS VM's raw internal capacity, at 2.9 Pbytes. This June, Dell Compellent announced the SC8000 controllers, which also unify block and file storage.
Hitachi says the new product is aimed at "entry enterprise" customers, such as regional health centers or universities. HUS VM "fills a significant gap between HDS's lower-end systems and the Virtual Storage Platform at the high end," says Henry Baltazar, a senior analyst at 451 Research. He notes that while the new product offers only a marginal improvement in capacity over HDS's midrange HUS 150 (3.4 Pbytes, up from 2.8 Pbytes), its 256-Gbyte cache is eight times the size. It also offers twice as many Fibre Channel ports (32 versus 16).
The product's storage virtualization features aren't groundbreaking, but they do enable useful capabilities such as synchronous replication between HUS VM products. Synchronous replication ensures that data is copied in real time to a physically separate storage system, which is critical for disaster recovery and business continuity of transactional systems. Replication is the most important storage technology for IT, according to the InformationWeek 2012 State of Storage survey . Respondents rated snapshots as the third-most-important technology; the HUS VM also offers this feature (which Hitachi calls internal replication).
Hitachi also touts the product's ability to perform tiering, which moves frequently accessed data to high-performance disk. However, our survey shows that tiering isn't a priority for respondents; this feature came in 12th out of a list of 15 options.
In addition to storage virtualization features for disks within the HUS VM, the product can also virtualize external, third-party storage. The company says it supports more than 100 models, or any system that's compliant with the SCSI-3 standard. While the virtualization of external storage can increase HUS VM's overall capacity, the product may not be able to support advanced features provided in the external storage systems.
HUS VM includes two controllers for block storage, which the company says behave like a single device. The controllers are connected with an internal crossbar switch and share cache and resources, so that if one controller fails the other can take over immediately. The company also says the controllers' microcode and hardware components can be serviced while in operation. For file storage, the product includes an object-based file system and uses custom FPGAs. As for disk options, it can support a maximum of 1,152 SAS or SSD drives.
"Hitachi announced earlier this year that it was bringing its own flash controllers to market, which could give HDS storage products such as the HUS VM a performance boost in the future with the addition of solid state storage," says Baltazar.
Hitachi offers separate software packages for different features. The base OS includes thin provisioning (which Hitachi calls dynamic provisioning). Other features, such as tiering and replication, must be licensed separately. Pricing starts at $156,000 without disk capacity, though it does include the base OS package and maintenance.


text: How cool is this DIY lace cuff by Arianna of Runway DIY? This is such a great way to transform a simple piece of lace – we've been trying to think of new ways to use all the lace in our store. The end result is chic and classy, and it doesn't look like DIY at all! Head over to RunwayDIY.com to see the full tutorial.


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"Macho" Camacho Will Be Buried in New York City, Family Says
SAN JUAN – A lawyer for the family of world boxing legend Hector "Macho" Camacho said they are making plans to bury the ex-boxer in New York City.
According to Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Día, lawyer Linda George said there will be a viewing for Camacho starting Tuesday, with a Mass planned for Wednesday. By Saturday, the body would be moved to New York.
"He will be buried in New York. That's what has been said so far," she said in a radio interview Monday morning.
He will be buried in New York. That's what has been said so far.
There were doubts among some family members about where they should rest the remains of Camacho, who was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York.
His mother, Maria Matias, wanted him to be laid to rest in New York, but Camacho's eldest son had expressed his preference for the burial to be held on the island.
The man who once starred at the pinnacle of boxing, winning several world titles, died Saturday after being ambushed in a parking lot in the Puerto Rican town of Bayamon, where he was born. Packets of cocaine were found in the car in which he was shot. There have been no arrests in the case, and the investigation is ongoing.
Camacho, 50, left behind a reputation for flamboyance — leading fans in cheers of "It's Macho time!" before fights — and for fearsome skills as one of the top fighters of his generation.
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Experts from across the Canadian Armed Forces are in the Comox Valley to hone their skills at safely disposing explosives.
Exercise Tazz-Runner '13 is a two-week training opportunity, designed to challenge explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) personnel by putting them through a number of realistic situations.
While in Comox, teams have a chance to not only improve their own abilities, but to share experiences and knowledge with members from other bases across Canada. Teams from the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force are taking part in the exercise.
"This is important continuation training for our members," said Capt. James Cox, commanding officer of 19 Explosives Disposal Flight. "Explosives are constantly evolving and our personnel need to ensure they will be ready to meet the challenge they pose, regardless of where in the world we are called upon to deploy."
The teams will take part in a wide range of scenarios during the exercise, which will involve training at 19 Wing Comox and various locations throughout the Comox Valley, to simulate working in dynamic and complex urban environments.
"The teams use a wide range of equipment to remove explosives," said Capt. Greg Owens, an exercise controller with 1 Canadian Air Division, Winnipeg. "Given the number of recent advances in EOD technology, it is important for our members to train constantly with this equipment to ensure they can use it to its maximum effect."
Many of the exercise participants are members of the RCAF who specialize in air weapons. However, as experts in dealing with explosive devices, they are often deployed around the world to support army, navy or joint operations as well.
— CFB Comox


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Bowdoin College: Professor Investigated Because Article Embarrasses the College
Category: Free Speech
Schools: Bowdoin College
Economics professor Jonathan Goldstein was investigated after he distributed copies of a research paper that embarrassed the college in front of prospective students. Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd instigated an investigation "in the realm of harassment and hostile work environment, as well as for possible violation of other College policies." Judd also suggested that "issues" with Goldstein's "research methods … may need to be considered by the appropriate faculty committee and my office." Judd also added further charges questioning whether Goldstein failed to follow "the protocols outlined by the Research Oversight Committee" and whether he had revealed confidential information. Two weeks after that, Judd formally referred the research misconduct aspect of the investigation to an inquiry committee. Judd's allegations for the inquiry committee were described as "[f]ailure to cite sources" and "[p]lagiarism." Almost all of these allegations were found to be meritless. After employing an attorney and with the help of FIRE's publicity, all charges were dropped with the exception of a single failure to cite sources charge which was acknowledged as unintentional. University president Barry Mills denied Goldstein's appeal and stated that Goldstein had erred as he looked for outside assistance and publicity in his case.
Letter to Professor Jonathan P. Goldstein from Barry Mills
Ward Churchill Redux?
Letter to FIRE from Bowdoin College President Barry Mills
FIRE Letter to Bowdoin College President Barry Mills
Letter to Goldstein from Dean Judd
Letter to Goldstein from Dean Judd and Attached Inquiry Committee Report
Email Exchange Between Goldstein and Judd
Letter to Goldstein from Dean Cristle Collins Judd
Bowdoin College Faculty Handbook 2008-09
Bowdoin punishes professor who provoked
April 24, 2009
The president of Bowdoin College has endorsed a faculty committee's finding that an economist engaged in misconduct in research — research that he continues to maintain the college examined only because it made Bowdoin look bad.The complicated and contested history of Jonathan P. Goldstein's dispute with Bowdoin was examined in an article on Inside Higher Ed two weeks ago. The gist of it is that Goldstein wrote a scholarly article that, he said, showed that Bowdoin overemphasized athletics; ran afoul of the college's dean and other administrators when he sought to distribute it to parents and prospective students (interrupting college […]» Read More
Bowdoin Censures Professor Who Dared to Report Negatively on College
April 23, 2009
Earlier this month I reported on FIRE's case at Bowdoin College, whose dean threw the book at an economics professor who dared to distribute a research paper that had conclusions that embarrassed the college. Had he not done so, his paper would not have been investigated at all, and the dean wouldn't have gone through every footnote looking for possible academic misconduct. All of the original charges, which included harassment and hostile work environment, failed to stick except for one "failure to cite" finding. This charge—that he failed to fully cite in one instance (in a document he self-published online […]» Read More
Bowdoin College Throws the Book at Professor over Embarrassing Research Results
April 10, 2009
Doug Lederman at Inside Higher Ed reports today on FIRE's case at Bowdoin College, where a professor and his research have been investigated after he distributed copies of a research paper that embarrassed the college in front of prospective students. Economics professor Jonathan Goldstein, who has been at Bowdoin for 29 years, was interested in the amount that a college's academics appear to suffer as a result of emphasis on athletics. His research showed that among 36 colleges, Bowdoin came in last, with the greatest amount of lost academic potential. Goldstein was interested in what prospective students and their families […]» Read More


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Deer Food Plot Tips
Most folks in the Deep South are in the midst of firing up their tractors or ATVs and getting winter food plots installed on their whitetail properties. Winter food plots serve as a supplement to a white-tailed deer's diet during a time of nutritional stress after mast crops are no longer available. A few tips for your winter food plots:
- Always take a soil sample! Lime and fertilizer recommendations will allow you to prep your soil so that your plot is not a bust.
Send in one sample box per food plot. Label your boxes so that you will remember which one belongs to which plot when you receive the results. Soil test boxes can be picked up at the Coffee County Extension Office and sent to the Auburn Soil lab. The quickest way to receive test results is by selecting to have them returned via Email. For each plot, take three separate samples per acre, mix together in a bucket, then take an adequate amount of that plots total mix and place in a test box and label for that individual food plot. Repeat this process for each separate food plot you plan to plant.
- Do not buy a food plot mix based on what the front of the bag looks like or says!
There are all kinds of mixes out there and some are really great. But a lot of times you are not getting your money's worth. Always look at the label to see what percentages of actual seed are in the bag. Many times the majority of seed may be a plant that has the least nutritional value or browse preference for whitetail deer, such as Ryegrass. We suggest buying individual bags of seed and mixing it yourself or planting them separately. For example, in a 1.5 acre plot, you could plant .5 acre of clover, .5 acre of oats and .5 acre of winter peas.
- Think about placement and variety.
Be strategic in your food plot placement. Just because there has historically been a food plot in one area doesn't mean it's the best spot to have it. Look at an aerial map and perform scouting. Strategically placing a food plot based on bedding areas, water sources, and travel corridors can lead to greater success. Being smart about what you plant is also important. If someone is planting wheat as a cover crop on several fields nearby, you most likely do not want to plant wheat in your small plots. As previously mentioned, planting two or three different types of vegetation in a single plot can make it more attractive to deer and allow for extended usage later into the season.
For more information on deer tips, contact Jordan Graves, Regional Extension Agent for Forestry, Wildlife and Natural Resources. He may be reached at the Coffee County Extension Office at 334-894-5596 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Morning Five: 09.19.12 EditionPosted by rtmsf on September 19th, 2012
- Is former Duke forward Lance Thomas destined to become the next Corey Maggette, or worse? For those of you not familiar with the one-and-done freak of an athlete who came off the bench for the 1998-99 national runner-up Blue Devils, Maggette admitted under oath in 2000 as part of a federal grand jury proceeding that he took cash payments in high school from an agent named Myron Piggie, (theoretically) putting his amateur eligibility at considerable risk. The NCAA chose to not vacate Duke's 37 wins from that season nor did it ask the program to remove its banner — ever since then, Duke haters have pointed to this decision as Exhibit A of the NCAA's selective enforcement process. Well. Get ready for part two. With the news Tuesday that Thomas had come to a settlement agreement with the New York City jeweler who floated him a $67,800 loan nearly three years ago, the NCAA will need a Deep Throat (or at least a James Carter, IV) if it has any inclination of properly investigating this case. The strong likelihood is that nobody — not Thomas, not the jeweler, not anyone who had a red hand in this transaction — will say anything to to governing body… which begs the question: Will the NCAA make a prima facie case against Thomas to rule him retroactively ineligible (see: Rose, Derrick); or, will they suffer the howling of the masses for what will appear to be Duke getting away with special treatment a second time around (see: Maggette, Corey). Gonna be interesting.
- Senior forward Julius Randle is the top player in the Class of 2013, depending on whom you consult with, and he's gotten a lot of attention this week for taking an official visit to Kentucky (where he was photographed with Drake) and giving a review of each of his in-home visits with Eric Bossi at Rivals.com. The tea leaves with respect to Randle are all over the place at this point, as he still plans on doing another round of in-home visits with a number of other schools and plans on waiting until spring to make his final decision. Clearly this kid likes the attention. Still, with John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Self, and Roy Williams all vying for Randle's services, this is already one of the most power-packed recruitments we've seen in some time. And it promises to only get better.
- While on the subject of recruiting elite players, SI.com's Luke Winn reported yesterday that surprise Rice transfer Arsalan Kazemi plans on requesting a waiver from the NCAA so that he has an opportunity to play right away in the 2012-13 season. He didn't give Winn additional detail on the basis of that waiver request, but it is notable that Oregon is the only school on his current list that hasn't started classes for the fall term yet (September 24). He plans on making a final decision by the end of this week, and not coincidentally, Dana Altman's program in addition to everybody's possible destination, Kentucky, appear to be his "early leaders."
- The Ed O'Bannon class action lawsuit against the NCAA for the use of his and other student-athletes' likenesses continues to churn on in a federal courtroom in San Francisco, and a series of recently unsealed emails and depositions from the organization clearly reveals that school administrators and NCAA senior management have had serious and frank discussions about the legality of their strategies. One of the more interesting memoranda showed that a senior policy advisor at the NCAA suggested to incoming president Mark Emmert in 2010 that the organization ditch the term "student-athlete," which if you recall from last fall's The Atlantic piece from Taylor Branch, was an invention by former NCAA head honcho Walter Byers in the 1950s to explain away the notion that scholarships, room, and board were payment in kind. The article from ESPN.com cited above is worth the read, as there are a number of interesting quotes and anecdotes buried within it relating to how the NCAA does business.
- We didn't have space for this one yesterday but it's something we wanted to make sure we got up on the M5 this week anyway. Marquette is back in action with what's becoming an annual tradition around those parts — a karaoke-inspired mash-up of clips from various Golden Eagles singing (or whatever you want to call it) pop tunes that will be used as timeout fodder during next season's MU home games. If you can bear listening to the whole thing, you're one step ahead of us…


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In US court, bin Laden relative denies plot charge
A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden pleaded not guilty in a New York court on Friday to conspiring to kill Americans, becoming one of the highest-ranking al Qaeda figures to face trial in the United States for crimes connected to the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.world Updated: Mar 09, 2013 08:38 IST
A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden pleaded not guilty in a New York court on Friday to conspiring to kill Americans, becoming one of the highest-ranking al Qaeda figures to face trial in the United States for crimes connected to the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.
Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a militant who has acted in videos as an al Qaeda spokesman, made his initial appearance in US District Court in Manhattan, only blocks from the site of the hijacked plane strikes on the World Trade Center.
The son-in-law of bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept 11 attacks who was killed by US forces in Pakistan in 2011, was captured on Feb. 28 and brought secretly to the United States on March 1, prosecutors said in court.
Law enforcement sources said he was detained in Jordan and was believed to have been expelled from Turkey.
The balding, bearded Abu Ghaith, 47, was led handcuffed into the crowded courtroom, the largest in the courthouse. Dressed in dark blue prison garb, he appeared to be cooperative and to follow the proceedings closely through an interpreter, frequently nodding.
Evidence against Abu Ghaith includes videos, audio recordings of him and others and a 22-page report with transcripts of remarks he has made to law enforcement since his arrest, prosecutors said.
Abu Ghaith spoke twice in court, answering "Yes" when Judge Lewis Kaplan asked him if he understood the accusations and "Yes" when asked if he wanted court-appointed lawyers Martin Cohen and Philip Weinstein to represent him.
Weinstein, who previously represented Faisal Shazad, a Pakistan-born US citizen who admitted trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square in 2010 and is serving life in prison without parole, entered a not guilty plea on Abu Ghaith's behalf.
Prosecutors said they expect the Abu Ghaith trial could last three weeks. A trial date will be set at a hearing on April 8.
Policy decision
Security was especially tight at the courthouse, where entrances were barricaded, although Paul Browne, the New York Police Department's chief spokesman, said there was "no known specific threat against the city as a result of Abu Ghaith's presence here."
Earlier efforts by the Obama administration to hold civilian trials in New York City for suspected Sept. 11 plotters met with resistance over the needs for extreme and costly safety measures.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in 2010 the cost of hosting a trial for another leading suspect, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four accomplices would top $200 million annually. With public opposition so strong, the case was moved to the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
US officials said the decision to bring Abu Ghaith to New York for trial in federal court was made at the highest levels of the administration of President Barack Obama.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday that the Defense, Justice and Homeland Security departments, as well as intelligence agencies, were "unanimous" in backing the decision to handle Abu Ghaith's case in the civilian court system.
The Obama administration's decision to charge Abu Ghaith in a civilian court was criticized by several prominent Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, who suggested the move would make it harder for the United States to collect intelligence on future plots.
McConnell said in a statement that bringing Abu Ghaith to the United States "solely for civilian prosecution makes little sense, and reveals, yet again, a stubborn refusal to avoid holding additional terrorists" at Guantanamo.
In court on Friday, the judge read aloud from the indictment, which accuses Abu Ghaith of urging allegiance to bin Laden and threatening attacks similar to Sept 11 against the United States.
The indictment said Abu Ghaith delivered a speech that included the phrase "the storms shall not stop, especially the airplanes storm" and advised Muslims "not to board aircraft and not to live in high rises."
Abu Ghaith stood while the judge was speaking, but partway through reading the details of the charge, the judge broke off and told him he could sit.
The indictment accuses Abu Ghaith of acting in a conspiracy that "would and did murder United States nationals anywhere in the world," listing actions before and after Sept 11, 2001.
First Published: Mar 09, 2013 08:35 IST