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Opera professionals to perform at Geneva National Golf Club
Thursday, January 16, 2014
LAKE GENEVA�— The Lake Geneva Chapter of the Lyric Opera of Chicago will host its Music From the Heart performance Sunday, Feb. 9, at Geneva National Golf Club, 1221 Geneva National Ave. South, Lake Geneva.
Performing are professional members or graduates of the Ryan Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago's professional artist development program.
Registration begins at noon, a meal is served at 12:30 p.m., and the performance begins at 1:30 p.m.
Cost is $80 for members, $100 for guests. Seats are limited. Register by Thursday, Jan. 30, by calling Mary Herman at 262-740-1705.


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Lake Geneva man arrested after pursuit by authorities
ELKHORN—A Lake Geneva man was arrested Sunday by Walworth County sheriffs following a pursuit by a total of five policies agencies, according to a news release from the Walworth County Sheriff's Office.
According to the preliminary release, Christopher L. Mangold, 40, was arrested at 3:55 p.m. Sunday, after leading authorities on a chase from the city of Lake Geneva to Interstate-43 northbound, where he was arrested at County Highway NN, heading south.
Mangold's vehicle and a marked Walworth County squad car were both damaged in the pursuit after authorities made a pit intervention technique maneuver.
The Wisconsin State Patrol was summoned to the scene to investigate the PIT maneuver.
The release did not say why Mangold was arrested. More information is expected tomorrow morning from the sheriff's office.

subset: commoncrawl


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Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has been on the plaintiff's side of the courtroom, gunning for Credit Suisse, Bank of America and others for misdeeds that occurred during the housing crisis of 2008. This time, however, the chief operating officer of the FHFA gets his turn in the defendant's chair, with felony charges on the line.
Richard Hornsby was charged on April 30 with a felony count of threatening to kidnap or injure a person, court documents say. Hornsby allegedly made the violent threats against former FHFA director Edward DeMarco.
According to the Wall Street Journal, court documents show that Hornsby threatened to shoot DeMarco, as well as himself, after making increasingly violent threats for weeks. FHFA officials informed the agency's inspector general about the threats on April 28, at which time DeMarco was "escorted to a secure location following a report of a threat," say the documents.
For DeMarco, the threats against came as he was planning to retire from the agency. His last day as director came on April 30. Horsnby, meanwhile, is a relative newcomer to the agency, having joined the FHFA in November 2011 after 26 years with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. According to court documents, the two butted heads over Hornsby's performance at the agency, leading to the threats.
In addition to the felony charge, Judge Karen Howze also issued a restraining order against Hornsby, forcing him to stay away from both his workplace and from DeMarco. Hornsby was released without bail, and another hearing in the case is set for May 14.
The new FHFA director, Mel Watt, told FHFA employees that Hornsby's duties will be taken over by Eric Stein, a former Treasury Department official who joined the FHFA in January.
For more in (hopefully less violent) legal news on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHFA, check out these articles:
Credit Suisse reaches settlement with FHFA
Wells Fargo and HSBC agree to settlements over alleged insurance overcharging
Morgan Stanley could pay $275 million financial crisis settlement to SEC


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Find Valentine's Day Gifts for Her and Him
In case you were wondering, Valentine's Day is observed on February 14 this year, just like last year. From its early beginning as more of a liturgical celebration, Valentine's Day has evolved through the ages to become an important occasion to express love for those you hold dear. And because The Bradford Exchange has always championed this kind of expression, we are proud to offer unique Valentine's Day gifts for her and Valentine's Day gifts for him to keep the loving traditions of the holiday going year after year. Rest assured, if it's a special Valentine's Day gift you are looking for, we can always help. And what better time to begin your search than right now!
There are many ways to express your love on Valentine's Day, from the traditional to the contemporary, but there is one type of gift that can easily capture the perfect fit for you: Valentine's Day jewelry. When you give the gift of jewelry for Valentine's Day, you can choose from distinctive styles that match your beloved's taste. From beautiful Valentine's Day rings and pendant necklaces, to sparkling bracelets, earrings and watches, our wide selection of jewelry gifts are imbued with a wealth of romantic meaning and are available in truly unique styles. These meaningful romantic gifts, many with free personalization for creating one-of-a-kind treasures, are always a delight to give and to receive. Maybe you are looking for gifts for Mom or Valentine's Day gifts for daughter - gifts that reflect the beauty and meaning of your family bond - we can help you with that as well. We have always felt that Valentine's Day should be a celebration of all kinds of love, and with families come a whole lot to celebrate.
Of course, jewelry gifts are not the only way to celebrate Valentine's Day. Perhaps your Valentine would appreciate a collectible figurine that honors his or her passion, a music box that celebrates relationships, or even a gift of beautiful home decor you won't find anywhere else - our great options are sure to amaze you. Plus, you can always shop with confidence as we offer the best guarantee in the business, with returns up to one full year (120 days for jewelry gifts) and free return shipping. That's a promise you can always count on. Ready to start your search for unique Valentine's Day gifts? Shop Now!


text: IQS Directory implements a thorough list of liquid ring vacuum pump manufacturers and suppliers in Michigan. Utilize our listing to examine and sort top liquid ring vacuum pump manufacturers with previews of ads and detailed descriptions of each product. Any liquid ring vacuum pump company can design, engineer, and manufacture liquid ring vacuum pumps to meet your companies specific qualifications. An easy connection to reach liquid ring vacuum pump companies through our fast request for quote form is provided on our website. The company information includes website links, company profile, locations, phone, product videos and product information. Customer reviews are available and product specific news articles. This source is right for you whether it's for a manufacturer of industrial vacuum pumps, dry vacuum pumps, and rotary vane vacuum pumps.


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Food truck vendor tangled in Janesville city rules
JANESVILLE—It was 22 degrees at noon Friday. Snow and ice covered the ground, and mobile food vendor Chad Measner was trundling a cash box from his Cajun food truck across a parking lot and into the lobby at Crosby Place Banquet Facility.
A customer had just ordered a to-go platter of fish tacos. The customer seemed to know the routine: Give your order at the food truck, walk over to Crosby Place, pay for it, get your receipt, and then go back to the food truck to pick up your food. After all that, you can eat.
Odd? Unwieldy? Measner thinks so.����
Measner, a Janesville resident, runs South Padre Streetfood, a Cajun seafood restaurant on wheels that he's operated for a little over a month out of a converted recreational vehicle. He's got a licensed kitchen, insurance and health code permits to sell food, and he says he has a slowly growing customer base.
But otherwise, it's been a tough six weeks for Measner's fledgling business in Janesville.
After Measner sunk money into converting and licensing his mobile food truck, he learned from city code officials that the city has an ordinance that doesn't specifically allow mobile vendors on public property or rights of way.
Also, officials told him, a set of city zoning rules prohibit vendors other than "seasonal" merchants from operating out of vehicles in business districts, and other city rules don't seem to clearly spell out how food trucks can handle point-of-sale cash payments for vendors, according to city officials.
Turns out the city apparently doesn't offer licenses for individual food truck vendors, and its ordinance on street businesses and sidewalk sales doesn't even mention motorized food trucks.�
As it stands, Measner now is handling business transactions in an unorthodox way--greeting customers and taking them inside Crosby Place--a licensed food seller--to pay.
Measner said he has permission from Crosby Place's owners, who own the private parking lot where he parks and operates six days a week. For cash transactions, he's got permission from owners to use the lobby and Deano's West Side Pub.�
So far, Measner believes he's toeing city rules and county health codes with the system, although he's not happy with it.
"I'm trying to operate by the books, but this can be a fiasco. It's not an easy way to operate," Measner said. "It's weird, and it looks weird to customers. I don't want to make people feel like I'm running some kind of half-cocked thing. It seems a little ludicrous, and in the end it's a pain in the butt for the customers."
City Building and Development Services Manager Gale Price has told The Gazette he's advised Measner his operations don't seem to fit with city rules. For Measner or any other food truck sellers to be in outright compliance, the city would need to amend its zoning rules and its ordinance on street businesses, Price said.
The city's zoning code on vendors limits selling to "excess parking lots" and prohibits food trucks or other vendors who sell out of vehicles from permanently locating in parking lots or another private business areas and using their vehicles as "principal" buildings to selling goods.
"The intent of the ordinance is to prohibit somebody from popping down in a parking lot and starting up a (permanent) business," Price said.
The zoning rule exempts "seasonal" sellers, such as produce and fireworks sellers. And Price said Janesville's downtown farmers market operates under a separate rule, which allows an organized farmers market board to apply for blanket city permits to operate a street market as an "event."
The muddier issue, Price said, is whether Measner can be allowed to toggle back and forth from his food truck and into a "bricks and mortar" business to do cash transactions.
"I haven't been able to learn, yet, what constitutes a transaction. Is it exchange of money or food? Both?" Price said.
Price noted he's told Measner that, ironically, there are no city rules preventing him from selling food outside local industries or factories if he gets permission from owners.
Measner indicated he wants the ordinance changed so he can lawfully park in private parking lots and take payments at his truck. He's had a few local factories in Janesville and Edgerton ask him if he'd food at their properties, and he's considering the option. But for now, Measner said, he likes his current location along Crosby Avenue because it's at a high-visibility, well-traveled area just a block north of Court Street.
Measner has heard Price and other city officials explain how the city cracked down on street businesses in the early 1980s after a young girl was hit while chasing an ice cream truck.
"In all fairness, I realize they're trying to not have 100 different people set up and sell trinkets on the streets. But I think I'm a little bit of a different case. I'm not riding around with bells, pulling around on the streets. I'm static. I'm parked in one spot," Measner said.
Some area cities such as Beloit, Fort Atkinson and Whitewater allow mobile vendors along streets and in public areas under certain conditions. The city of Green Bay allows mobile vendors, but limits them to a section of downtown.
The city of Edgerton and the city of Milton both have no specific rules on mobile food trucks. Milton has grappled with mobile vendor issues in the last two years amid "bricks and mortar" businesses that have complained that mobile vendors have an unfair advantage because they can move around and don't pay property taxes.
Outside of the issue of business competition, ordinance changes for mobile vendors isn't a cut-and-dried issue, Price said. There are zoning rules that must be followed or altered, and the city would have to discuss how food trucks or other mobile vendors could best work in Janesville.
He said the city could hold a set of public forums, the first as early as January, to discuss the issue.
"The issue is so broad, and it's a unique enough issue that we should have public discussion before we try to draft an ordinance (for the city council's review,)" Price said. "Is it something that's acceptable in the community? I've seen it work in other places, but I can't answer for 65,000 people."


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Packers, Raji close to 1-year deal
Green Bay
The Green Bay Packers have offered defensive lineman B.J. Raji a short-term deal to keep the unrestricted free agent on their team.
Now they're waiting to see if he takes it before free agency begins.
The Packers offered Raji the options of one- and two-year contracts, a source told the Journal Sentinel. For one year, their offer was for about $4 million.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday that Raji was close to a one-year deal, but sources told the Journal Sentinel the deal is not imminent and there are indications Raji isn't interested in the Packers' offer.
Raji would only want to sign a one-year deal if he thought the long-term offers he received weren't lucrative enough, and there was still time left to shop himself when the NFL free agency signing period begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday. At what point the Packers would move forward without him only general manager Ted Thompson can say.
The Packers can't afford to wait too long because if they lose Raji, they're going to have to figure out an alternative, and the best ones will be gone fairly early in free agency.
The Journal Sentinel reported during the 2013 season that Raji turned down a long-term offer averaging $8 million. That offer contained about $20 million in guaranteed money. Raji chose to play out the season and see if he could do better as a free agent.
After Raji's contract season turned sour, the Packers pulled their offer and determined they would let Raji test his value. His agent, David Dunn, has had several weeks to feel out teams to see how much interest there would be in his client. That's something most agents do and although rules prohibit it, the NFL rarely polices them.
A one-year arrangement for Raji would fill what would be a major hole in the Packers' defensive front. For Raji, 27, it would provide the chance to put up far better numbers in 2014 and seek a more lucrative contract for 2015.
One of the selling points the Packers are using to get Raji to accept their offer is a return to a true nose tackle position, one source said. Raji has played a lot of end and three-technique, the latter a defensive tackle position used mostly in 4-3 defenses.
At nose, Raji would be likely to receive a lot of double teams, but if the Packers can generate enough pressure with their ends, he might see more one-on-ones and have freedom to use his quickness to get upfield. Last season, he was asked to take on double teams and keep blockers off the linebackers behind him more often than in the past.
Coach Mike McCarthy's plan with the defense appears to include using more athletic, nimble players as opposed to 320-plus pounders such as Raji, Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly. One source said he was told McCarthy is looking for more players like Datone Jones, Mike Daniels and Josh Boyd, who might give up bulk but add athleticism to the defense.
That does not bode well for the return of Pickett, Jolly and C.J. Wilson, free agents who are all big, run-stuffer types.
But to run that type of defense, McCarthy will want a big man in the middle, and Raji fits that bill. The Raji of 2010, when he was disruptive playing a majority of the time at nose tackle, was far better than the one trying to sell himself on the market.
Several scouts in the last week said Raji didn't push himself last season and forecast a disappointing reception if he was unsigned by the March 11 start of unrestricted free agency.
Raji, 6 feet 1� inches and 335 pounds, ranked last on the defensive line in tackles per snap (one every 16.4) and was fourth in pressures per snap (one every 87.3). In 2010, his best year, he registered a pressure every 32.4 snaps.


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Emily Chilton »
BC Cross Country Championships: Bruchet and Cliff win
Join the cross-country discussion here. © Copyright – 2013 – Athletics Illustrated The 2013 BC Cross Country Championships took place Saturday, October 26th in Abbotsford BC, under variable skies, with calm and dry conditions. Luc Bruchet wonRead More »


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Although born, reared, and educated in the United States, I have been living in Europe for well over half of my life – primarily in Germany, and the pictures I submit are for the most part from the southern slopes of the Black Forest in the Rhine Valley between Germany and Switzerland. I have learned a great deal about photography from all the excellent posters on this site, and I am very thankful to everyone from all over the world for the help.
Swiss Alps
Uploaded by: Hotzenwaelder
Thursday April 26, 2012
Laufenburg (Baden), Germany
Caption: The sun was shining on the Alps to the south in the clear atmosphere and made them very clear. This does not happen very often.
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InteroperabilityVersion: 0100


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Did you know that it is possible to obtain a photographic reproduction of every painting and a large number of drawings in the Kunsthaus collection in its original size?
We have been photographing the Collection's art works ever since the Kunsthaus was opened in 1910. This was initially done for documentation purposes but in later years also for illustrated catalogues. Today's stock of around 80,000 negatives and 4,000 colour photographs is managed by the Image and Reproduction Rights department.
Museums, journalists, publishers, advertising agencies, merchandising companies and private individuals contact us to ask for permission to use one or another of our pictures for commercial or academic purposes. The applications are considered individually and depending on the type of use intended the replication will be allowed for a fee.
Naturally, the reproduction of a work of art can only be published once the necessary permission has been obtained from the legal owner. This usually costs money and can at times involve lengthy negotiations with the artist or the heirs to his or her estate.
One of the paintings most in demand is The Gotthard Mail by Rudolf Koller. Reproductions of this work which evokes what is surely a more tranquil world can be found not only on postcards and posters, but also on scarves, biscuit tins, paperweights and shopping bags.
Film directors and fashion editors too are frequently attracted by the architectural charm of the rooms which house the collection and the opportunity they offer to create exceptional images. Prominent personalities such as Richard Avedon, Peter Greenaway and "The Fantastic Four" also choose to be portrayed in the Kunsthaus. The Kunsthaus is willing to grant permission if the collaboration serves the interests of the museum itself by enhancing its image or underpinning its public relations activities. As a rule a supervisory attendant is present on each occasion to ensure that the "ground rules" for filming and photography are adhered to.


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If you are an applicant with a disability who is unable to use our online tools to apply for positions, send an email to email@example.com. Please indicate the Job ID and the specifics of the assistance needed. This option is reserved for individuals with disabilities who need an alternative method of applying for open positions.


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Repeal 180-day school law and enforce instructional time
I was very happy to learn that Sen. Luther Olsen is leading a campaign in our WI State Legislature to repeal the WI 180-day school law with hope of PASSAGE in this session of the legislature and the signature of Governor Walker to make it WI STATE LAW!
This action is overdue.� I was Legislative Liaison for the School District of Janesville when Rep. Deb Towns (R – 43rd Assembly District) was Chair of the Assembly Education Committee and introduced a bill to repeal the 180-day school law in 2006.� At that time, Assembly Bill 84 sailed through both houses of our legislature in February 2006.� But then Gov. Doyle VETOED the bill in April 2006.� We were very disappointed.
Now I have the feeling of "back to the future."� I hope it ends with the 180-day law REPEALED!� Right now the general public is well aware of the problems created by the straitjacket of 180-days since there were 4 days in January when MOST school districts throughout WI were closed due to severe winter weather.� Now school districts are calculating for MAKE-UP DAYS.
Before you argue that this repeal would reduce the educational time for our students, I need to EMPHASIZE the fact that the current law has NOT ONLY the 180-day requirement, but also standards for "direct pupil instruction":� at least 437 hours kindergarten, at least 1,050 hours in grades one to six, and at least 1,137 hours in grades seven to twelve.
I know that a major surprise in 2006 was the discovery that the State Superintendent of Public Instruction was not collecting data to enforce the "direct pupil instruction" requirement of WI State Law.� The Milwaukee Journal Senitnel did research in the Milwaukee area at that time with report that numerous school districts did meet the 180-day requirement, but NOT the "direct pupil instruction" requirement.
I discussed the issue as part of my WE THE PEOPLE blog post, "What about 'local control'?" on July 1, 2011
The issue of LOCAL CONTROL is a KEY issue as the REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED WI STATE GOVERNMENT both legislative and governor have been working systematically to CENTRALIZE CONTROL of our WI state government.� This is essentially a REVERSAL of the REPUBLICAN arguments I was bombarded with when advocating for various bills in our WI State Legislature.� Republicans then told me again and again we hold the principle of LOCAL CONTROL.
I gained a lot of information about Senator Olsen's bill reading Andrew Phillips article, "Bill would end Wisconsin's 180-day school mandate, allow flexibility" on February 14, 2014 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.� I urge you to read this article as you consider the issue.
I continue to believe that in this 21st century with all of the changing educational resources, DAYS are NO LONGER a key to LEARNING. Having taught ONLINE for the Wisconsin Virtual School, I KNOW that my students' learning was REALLY directly related to the TIME they spent on the course. I believe that K-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION needs to shift its assessment of LEARNING to the OUTCOMES and NOT THE DAYS!
I encourage you to contact your state legislators (Assembly Rep and Senator) expressing your views.� I believe it is time to repeal the 180-day law.
John W. Eyster lives in the Edgerton area. He is an adjunct professor assigned with the online/distance education faculty of Viterbo University, LaCrosse. He continues his personal mission supporting democracy/civics education in Wisconsin K-12 schools through Project Citizen, We the People, Discovering Democracy (Milton HS). John is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff or management.


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TimeTrex is a complete Web-based payroll and time management suite that offers employee scheduling, time and attendance (timeclock, timesheet/timecard), job costing, invoicing, and payroll in a single package. Employees can use Web browsers or timeclocks to track their time and attendance, check their own timesheet for missed punches, and respond to flagged timesheet errors. Payroll administrators can quickly generate paystubs and process payroll based off timesheet information or export timesheet data to other applications.
Dolibarr is a simple Web application with ERP and CRM capabilities. It is designed for small and medium companies, freelancers or foundations, and can be used to deal with all things you require to manage your activities, such as management of products, stocks, commercial proposals, invoices, orders, members of a foundation, and mailings. A single executable that installs the server and database is available for people with no technical knowledge.
SAGU, which is a portuguese acronym for "Sistema Aberto de Gestão Unificada", was originaly designed to automate all of what that happens between a student and their Educational Institution. This relationship happens at the academic, financial and administrative levels, and SAGU has subsystems dedicated to these levels. SAGU can be tailored to fit the needs of any Educational Institution.
ECHO Custom Tag drives all types of real-time credit card and check transactions using ECHO merchant processing?s free secure payment gateway and open-source real-time software. Support available at www.openecho.com. Supports System check, Address Verification, Authorization, Authorization and Deposit, Authorization and Deposit with Address Verification, Authorization with Address Verification, Deposit, Credit, Commercial Card, and Electronic Check Debit. Designed to be easily integrated into e-commerce applications. Can be used for ISP/IPP billing using client check information. Checks are processed as ACH transactions. Includes all credit card functionality.
DreamHost supports automated billing. All hosting, domains, orders, accounts, statistics, and billing can be viewed and updated in the admin area (no programming or HTML experience needed). It supports all top level domains, and you can add or remove as many as you like. Each top level domain can be assigned a different registration cost for each year (1-10 years). Customers can login and update their account information and password. It uses MySQL and PHP, making it very fast and dependable. It includes many more convenient features.
A mixed-signal, mixed-language multi-level simulator.
An easy to use, but still quite capable firewall for Netfilter/iptables.


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New blog offers place for staffers, readers to talk about GazetteXtra
Welcome to The Web Desk.
This blog is a place for Gazette staffers and readers to talk about GazetteXtra.com and the Web in general. It is meant to serve three main purposes:
Gazette digital content coordinators Dave von Falkenstein and I, Andrew Reuter, worked with a team of people for months to launch this site, but we're not done, as Editor Scott Angus wrote in his Aug. 18 column. Now, we have to go back and clean up all the loose ends on a site as intricate as this one. Here are some examples of what we have been working on:
Aesthetics. We noticed that the body copy on stories was a little jarring at pure black, so we lightened it up a bit.
Usability. We tweaked the way our search engine works, so results now are much easier for readers to sort.
Functionality. Readers now can see photos at full-size by clicking on them.
That's not all that has changed. Another big one, which Dave and I actually had little to do with, is the ability for members to share premium stories on social media websites. This means that whether your family and friends are subscribers or not, they can read GazetteXtra stories you share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+.
Despite our hard work, the site is not perfect, and we take readers' suggestions seriously. But not all criticism is equal. Here's one example of feedback we received:
"This is definitely faster than the old site. The design though, is a bit garish, with the large red font threatening eyestrain. I think the organization will be easy to get used to though."
Gazette subscriber Northman left that comment July 30. He wasn't the only one to criticize our red headlines. We initially picked that color because red is a common color for links and we wanted the headlines to stand out. In retrospect, they stood out a bit too much. We have since changed our headlines to black and haven't looked back.
Compare that constructive criticism to this message:
"The new website sucks."
Facebook user Casey McMullin sent that concise-yet-vague note to The Gazette's Facebook account Aug. 6. Though McMullin likely derived satisfaction from delivering such a missive, it was worthless on our end. We have no idea why he thinks it sucks. How can we do anything about it?
Dave and I constantly seek out the cool things other websites are doing, and we plan to share the coolest of those things with you here. Check out these examples:
"Snow Fall": With this article, The New York Times set the bar high for how the Web can be used to tell better stories. Carve out 45 minutes, sit down at the fastest computer you can find and give it a read.
"Prep football records since 1978": Madison.com's online database lets you see how your favorite high school football team really stacks up. It is another example of something that would be impossible to do in print.
"The War Inside": Tech website The Verge frequently pushes boundaries, both in its coverage area and with what can be done on the Web. This story about people fighting mental illness in Palestine is an excellent example of the future of Web video. It proves to me that with the right subject and presentation, viewers' interest can be held for much longer than 2 minutes.
With that out of the way, it's question time. What do you think of the website? Do you have any examples of cool Web stuff that you would like to share? Let us know in the comments below, or send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
You should follow digital content coordinator Andrew Reuter on Twitter at @andrewreuter.


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The upward climb in property insurance rates has suddenly reversed course thanks to abundant capacity and continued light catastrophe losses, says Willis North America.
The insurance broker, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, revised its property rates forecast for the second half of this year predicting prices will decrease by 5-10 percent for non-catastrophe exposed accounts and remain flat or decrease up to 5 percent for catastrophe accounts.
Willis says its previous report, published in April, found rates for catastrophe exposed accounts were flat or increasing by 5 percent.
David Finnis, National Property Practice Leader at Willis North America, says increased capacity that was not there a few months ago accounts for the change in course. Rates will continue their downward slide unless there is a large loss event, he adds. However, this scenario does not apply to accounts affected by Superstorm Sandy, especially where flood limits are reduced or restructured.
The report notes several new players in the marketplace—Berkshire Hathaway Specialty and two China insurers, plus two new broker facilities—Aon/Berkshire Hathaway and Willis Global 360.
The report says insurers renewing their reinsurance treaties in 2013 for property risks are seeing decreases of 10-15 percent before their July renewals. Those with separate reinsurance programs for Florida Catastrophe risk see decreases of 15-20 percent due to the low level of losses since 2005.
Outside of the EF5 tornado that hit Moore, Okla., loss activity for 2013 has been light, producing profits for underwriters and combined ratios between 75 and 85 for many insurers.
A report released earlier this week by Guy Carpenter, underscored the impact financial investors are having on the insurance marketplace, pouring money into alternative risk vehicles such as catastrophe bonds, side cars and collateralized reinsurance. The effect is dampening price increases for property risks and that is spilling-over to some casualty accounts.


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SEO Tags for WordPress are really a bit confusing at times. Many people confuse tags with keywords, which they are not. Tags are different from keywords. It offers your site visitors another way to navigate content on your site using a tag-cloud...
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SEO is a serious business that needs to be studied intensely. People are now getting more interested about the SEO business because they know that this method will surely make their online business a success....


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An Autumnal Taste Test: 10 Apple Varieties and 10 Apple Crisps
Inter-departmental cooperation? We've got that in spades! Two Sundays ago, this manifested itself in a team effort between the bakery and the produce departments. Emily, produce buyer and home chef extraordinaire, brought the apples: 10 different kinds, most of them heirloom varieties. I represented for the bakery and turned each variety into an individual mini-crisp and sliced extras for a "raw" tasting. Our goal? To find out which were the best baking and which were the best eating apples.
First we tasted the crisps, working our way down the line in a blind tasting, making notes and discussing as we went. After we had finalized our preferences, we revealed the apple varieties to ourselves and sat down to do a raw tasting of the same varieties. Here are our results:
Rhode Island Greening: This apple has traditionally been considered a New England pie favorite. In the crisps, Emily felt it had a, "subtle flavor and creamy texture" while she thought the raw apple was, "dense and dry." In crisp form, I found the Greening to have a nice acidic flavor with the vaguest hints of pear – the apple itself broke down a fair amount though and was almost applesauce-y. As such, it wasn't an apple that we could recommend using solo for pie- or crisp-making. Raw, this apple left me with a dry mouth, reminiscent of a tannic wine. Like a robust red, it would likely pair well with some heartier cheeses. Summary: good acid flavor for baking but needs to be mixed with other apples for texture.
Jonagold: Weighing in at one pound exactly, I only needed one Jonagold apple to make a mini crisp AND furnish us with some leftovers for the raw apple tasting! Both Emily and I were impressed with this apple's flavor when baked – Emily noted that it was "pear-like" with a "strong flavor" that had "hints of spice." It had a deep sweetness that avoided being cloying and was both juicier and held its texture better than the Rhode Island Greening. As I sliced the apple for the crisp, it seemed to have large corpuscles that exuded a lot of juice – it was also quite easy to slice. When tasted raw, Emily and I both noticed a pear-like aroma and flavor in the Jonagold. Crisp and juicy with a good length of flavor, we thought this was a great snacking apple. Summary: excellent both baked and raw.
Fuji: This apple yielded a lot of juice at the bottom of the crisp tin. Interestingly, however, the pieces of apple had not broken down – in fact, they retained some of their crunch and we were astonished at how different the Fuji were from the other apple varieties we tried – the Greenings, for instance. The Fuji flavor was not, however, as strong as we were looking for, nor did the flavor linger long. The raw apples were not dissimilar in that they had a mild taste with, as Emily noted, a "short flavor." Summary: will help add texture to a pie or crisp when combined with other, more robust, apples – will also up the juice factor! Good raw if you like a milder apple.
Ashmead's Kernel: In contrast to the Fuji, Ashmead's Kernel yielded very little juice at the bottom of the crisp tin – not a huge surprise when we revealed apple varieties at the end of our tasting – when I prepped this apple for crisp-making, it was noticeably less juicy than some of the other apples I sliced. Upon baking, however, this crisp acquired a marmalade-like appearance which I found was echoed by notes of citrus-like acid in the fruit itself. Emily said that she tasted the acidity of "tropical fruits" and we both agreed that pineapple was perhaps the best fruit descriptor for what we were tasting. The raw apples, we thought, were quite tannic with a long finish. Summary: lends a good acidity to baked goods. Some might find this apple too strong for an eating apple – however, if you like tannins, then this might be right up your alley. Paired with or mitigated by a dollop of honey or a wedge of Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, it could also be a whole other story.
Honeycrisp: When we broke the crust of this crisp, both of us noted a strong, enticing apple aroma unique to this variety – none of the other crisps made such an impact smell-wise unless brought directly to our noses. Again, there was a fair amount of liquid at the bottom of the crisp tin. However, both of us gave high marks to the Honeycrisp for its floral notes and buttery, balanced flavor. It also managed to retain some texture. In the raw tasting, Emily exclaimed, "it tastes like grapes!" My response, "like Concord grapes!" Crisp, fresh and juicy, this apple was a winner in the raw tasting too. Summary: good for boosting the aroma to your baked apple goods. A good snacking apple – although if you like your apples quite tart, this may not be the one for you.
Macoun: This apple was the most disappointing baking-wise for both of us. It baked up like applesauce and had a touch of both sweetness and tang but had such a mild flavor overall that it could easily get swallowed up by other flavors. In the raw, however, Emily and I agreed that Macouns are excellent eating apples, assuming they are fresh from the tree – this variety tends to diminish in deliciousness pretty quickly on the shelf. At peak, however, it is crunchy with a beautiful tartness and a hint of the sweet. Summary: don't use this for baking – but definitely snap up fresh Macouns for snacking when you can!
Zabergau: The Zabergau was perhaps the biggest surprise in our line-up. Emily and I agreed that in its raw state it had good texture but it was fairly mild. Baked, however, was another story. Time in the oven transformed this apple into a, "rich, savory unctuous apple with a deep, full flavor" (as Emily eloquently put it). I liked the way the crisp smelled when I brought it to my nose – a kind of roasty-savory smell. When baked, the Zabergau also had a good length of flavor and a sweetness that finished with a touch of tang. The baked texture was a combination of sauce and bits of apple that made for a good mouthfeel. Summary: excellent for baking!
Ananas Reinette: These apples were one of the two tiny apple varieties we sampled. Baked into crisp form, Emily and I found they retained a strong acid flavor and were quite rich. Texture-wise, they turned somewhat applesaucey. In raw form, they were possibly the most sour of the apples we tasted and they were quite firm. A little went a long way so their size was appropriate to their big flavor. Summary: good for lending acidity to baked goods.
Pitmaston Pineapple: This – the other mini apple we tasted – yielded a very juicy crisp. When we cut into it, little chunks of apple appeared almost suspended in liquid. The chunks were not as firm as the Fuji but retained enough firmness to be pleasant. Both of us noted a delicate floral flavor to this apple. Raw, the flavor was not particularly assertive. Summary: good for adding juiciness to baked goods.
Bramley's Seedling: Emily mentioned that, like the Rhode Island Greening, this apple has a reputation as a pie apple here in New England. On first glance, the Greening crisp appeared to be a little lower height-wise than the others in the line-up. It wasn't super juicy on the bottom which led us to wonder if the moisture had for some reason evaporated a bit more. That said – it was by no means dry and had an apple-saucey texture. While the texture would not recommend this as an apple to use solo in a baked apple dish, the flavor was another story – acidic and full with a long finish, it is an excellent flavor booster. In raw form, Bramley's Seedling has a nice texture with a flavor that Emily dubbed, "wine-like and cidery." Summary: great for boosting flavor in your baked goods – a different kind of eating apple – given its wine-like characteristics, pair with cheese and/or honey.
In conclusion – both Emily and I agreed that the Jonagold and Zabergau apples had wonderful flavor and great texture when baked. Emily also liked Ashmead's Kernel in crisp form and I felt that Bramley's Seedling and Rhode Island Greening would be good flavor boosters (I like a touch of acidity which both of these apples offer) but would need more substantial apples to complement them. We also liked Honeycrisps for their aromatic contribution. In terms of snacking, we both liked the Honeycrisp and Jonagolds and might also incline towards a Bramley's Seedling every now and again when craving something more wine-like.
If you are interested in replicating our tasting (with the same apples or with other varieties), here is the very basic crisp recipe I used, based on the one we use in our bakery. We did not add any spices so we could focus on the flavor of the apples but if you wish to add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or allspice, I am sure you won't go amiss! Also, please note that a lot depends on the freshness of your apples – we are fortunate to get some great apples from local farms and have a constant rotation of varieties (already, we have a different line-up than when we did when staging this tasting just over a week ago). If you can't make it into the shop to share in our bounty, we hope you have another source that is local to you for good, fresh apples. Best of luck and happy baking!
Small Apple Crisp Recipe
Crisp base:
2 cups of apples, peeled and cut into pieces
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 light tablespoons sugar
1 ½ cups flour
¾ cups brown sugar
½ pound cold butter, cut into ½ inch cubes (refrigerate until the last possible moment)
Preheat convection oven to 350°F.
Pulse streusel ingredients in a food processor until the mixture resembles large crumbs. Immediately return to the fridge.
Prepare your apples and toss in a bowl with the cornstarch and sugar until fully coated. Put in a baking dish. Cover the top with your streusel, making sure to generously cover it so that no fruit is visible (we like a lot of streusel so we usually heap on a little more just to be sure). Store any extra streusel in the fridge (generally, it will keep for a week or so if refrigerated and it is excellent to have on hand for spontaneous crisp making!).
Bake crisp on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper (to catch any juices that bubble over) on low blow for ten minutes. Rotate tray in the oven and bake another 10-12 minutes, or until the apple juices are bubbling up through the crisp and it has acquired a nice brown color. If you don't have a convection oven, the crisp will take a little longer to bake but you are looking for the same criteria – a nice brown color and a slow bubbling from the fruit. Let cool 10-15 minutes and serve warm. Enjoy!
Mary is a baker and cheesemonger at Formaggio Kitchen Cambridge.


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These are boom times for complacency. To gauge just how comfortable the world of debt has gotten, consider:
- Bond buyers handed $2 billion last month to Ecuador, whose socialist president forced a default during the financial crisis while calling creditors "true monsters."
- So many investors piled into a May bond sale by Clear Channel Communications Inc. that the radio broadcaster, with a credit rating that implies default is almost a certainty, more than doubled the offering to $850 million.
- China's Logan Property Holdings Co. defied predictions of a slowdown in the nation's real estate market by selling $300 million of bonds in May. The developer has negative cash flow and total debt almost twice its cash and cash equivalents.
- Hellenic Petroleum SA in Greece, where the government has needed two bailouts in the past four years, borrowed the equivalent of $444 million last month. Lenders were so enthusiastic that they put in orders exceeding $1.37 billion.
- Florida's Orange County Industrial Development Authority issued $64 million of unrated debt last month to fund facilities near Orlando that convert sewage into fertilizer.
"It definitely feels like investors are getting overexuberant, and you can stay in overexuberant conditions for a while," said Fred H. Senft Jr., director of fixed income and equity research for Key Private Bank in Cleveland. "But when it turns, it will turn quickly and it will turn very ugly."
Halfway through a sixth year of near-zero interest rates by the Federal Reserve and unprecedented central-bank stimulus from Brussels to Tokyo, almost any borrower is able to raise debt with few questions asked, even as the World Bank cuts its outlook for global economic growth.
The value of bonds in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global High Yield Index has soared to more than $2 trillion. It took 12 years for the gauge, started at the end of 1997, to get to $1 trillion and only four years to add another $1 trillion. More than $338 billion of the debt has been sold this year, putting 2014 on track to top last year's record $477 billion.
Investors who say they have no choice but to seek ever-riskier securities to generate any type of return are buying junk bonds and loans at a pace suggesting low default rates have blinded them to the potential minefields ahead. Even Japan's risk-averse $1.25 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund said it's considering loosening its practice of only buying investment-grade debt and venturing into junk bonds.
Easy Money
So eager are investors for the debt that borrowers increasingly are dictating their own terms. A measure of the strength of junk-bond covenants that are written into offering terms to protect buyers is about the weakest since Moody's Investors Service started tracking the data in 2011.
After pumping trillions of dollars into the global economy to end the financial crisis, central bankers say they're worried that investors are too complacent, increasing chances for future market instability. A measure of risk that uses options to forecast volatility in equities, currencies, commodities, and bonds has fallen to its lowest level on record.
"The market has been picked over," and to get more yield, money managers may need to "add more risk or seek opportunities that may be less liquid," said Jason Rosiak, the head of portfolio management at Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Asset Management, which oversees about $4.4 billion. "The portfolio manager needs to decide what is worth the price of admission."
The warnings are growing louder and more numerous. Fed Chair Janet Yellen told reporters last month she was concerned about "reach-for-yield behavior." Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlie Bean said conditions were "eerily reminiscent" of the pre-crisis era. Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret said last month, "We do see risks, despite the fact that the markets are calm."
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, said in its June 29 annual report that central bankers shouldn't moan too loudly about complacency because they're responsible. Record-low rates and unconventional monetary easing by the Fed, European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of Japan reduced price swings across markets, the BIS wrote in the report.
No Worries
It isn't hard to see why investors are expressing little concern. The Fed has injected more than $3 trillion into the global economy through its bond-purchase programs. The ECB cut its deposit rate to minus 0.1 percent in June and has provided about $1 trillion of emergency loans to banks. Japan's central bank has been buying about 7 trillion yen (US$69 billion) of bonds per month through its own quantitative-easing measures.
Investors in junk bonds have enjoyed a return of 157 percent since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis as measured by Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. That's better than the 123 percent for the MSCI All-Countries World Index of stocks.
Central banks' largesse means borrowers that would have otherwise defaulted have been able to refinance and extend maturities, giving lenders few reasons to worry. The global default rate fell to 2.3 percent in May, according to the most recent measure from Moody's. The firm sees the rate rising to 2.4 percent next year, still about half the historical average of 4.7 percent.
The day of reckoning may be within view. Junk-rated borrowers have $737 billion of debt due in the next five years, peaking in 2018 with the most maturities since just after the financial crisis, Moody's said in a Feb. 4 report. High-yield borrowers are rated below Baa3 at Moody's and below BBB- at S&P.
For the first time, more than half of the junk-rated loans made in the U.S. are covenant-light, meaning they lack typical lender protections like limits on the amount of debt they can amass relative to earnings.
Once the market turns, losses may be exacerbated as investors jam into exits already narrowed as banks commit less capital to facilitate trading.
Yet investors keep accepting less to take on the risk that companies will make good.
Since peaking at 23.2 percent at the end of 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis, yields tumbled to a record 5.6 percent last month, Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data show. At one point, they fell within 3.6 percentage points of benchmark government bonds, the smallest gap since 2007 and 2.5 percentage points below the average of the past decade.
"It's about as extreme as it gets," said Martin Fridson, a New York-based money manager at Lehmann, Livian, Fridson Advisors LLC, who started his career as a corporate-debt trader in 1976 and estimates yield spreads are about 2 percentage points too tight. "Yields are so skimpy, and we are in a period of financial repression."


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Burtness opens new dealership in Orfordville
ORFORDVILLE--Burtness Chevrolet of Orfordville plans to open its doors Monday to a new facility along Highway 11 that is nearly triple the size of the old location downtown.
"It's about having customer amenities and doing things we've never been able to do," said Brian Bowditch of Burtness.
The move clears the way for village officials to decide what to do with the business's old 9,000-square-foot facility downtown at 303 E. Beloit St. and the empty lot across the street, which the village now owns through a property swap.
Construction on the new Burtness facility started last winter on 15-acres along Highway 11 west of Highway 213. Gilbank Construction of Clinton was the general contractor on the 25,000-square-foot facility.
The new building includes two indoor delivery bays, a car wash, a covered service drive-up, space for four cars in the showroom floor, a customer lounge, new technology and more office space, Bowditch said. It also will be "image compliant" with General Motors, matching the blue arch design of other dealerships.
"We've never lived in this world. The customer conveniences for us are over the top, which is what we're most excited about, and a little elbow room," Bowditch said.
After staff members are settled, the dealership intends hiring four or more employees, he said.
The dealer is planning a grand opening Saturday, Nov. 2. An auction is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 18, at the old facility to sell extra equipment. Much of the equipment at the new building is new.
The old building will be handed over to the village by the end of the year after the auction and some cleaning, Bowditch said.
Burtness approached the village in 2011 about buying the downtown facility. The parties agreed the village would borrow $290,000 to buy land for the new facility in a tax incremental financing district. The village sold the property to Burtness for a nominal fee—about $1—and the village took ownership of the old facility, which Burtness had appraised at about $470,000.
Village officials talked about moving the village offices, police department and possibly the library into the old facility, but no decisions were made.
The issue has not been discussed since last fall, and no plans have been finalized, Village Clerk Sherri Waege said.
"We just kind of all put it in the background until they get situated and out of there," she said.
When the building is empty, the village will start looking at all its options, she said.


text: USStorage Quote Results Extra Space Storage 9015 SW 127th Ave Miami, FL 33186 This Miami storage facility offers the following storage spaces: Amenities vary by size. Not all amenities are available for each size. Size Amenities Monthly Rate Choose Your Unit 5x5Small closet (Up to 25 sq. ft) Prices from $15.00 a month View Units 5x5 1st Floor AccessIndoorReduced HeightRolling Stair Access $15.00 a month Reserve 5x5 1st Floor AccessIndoor $45.00 a month Reserve 5x10Walk-in Closet or 1 bdrm (Up to 50 sq. ft) Prices from $30.00 a month View Units 5x10 1st Floor AccessIndoorReduced HeightRolling Stair Access $30.00 a month Reserve 5x10 Elevator AccessIndoorReduced HeightRolling Stair Access $30.00 a month Reserve 5x15Studio Apt – 1.5 bdrms (Up to 75 sq. ft) Prices from $102.00 a month View Units 5x15 Elevator AccessIndoor $102.00 a month Reserve 5x15 1st Floor AccessIndoor $109.00 a month Reserve 10x152-3 bedroom apt or small home (Up to 150 sq. ft) Prices from $191.00 a month View Units 10x15 Elevator AccessIndoor $191.00 a month Reserve 10x15 1st Floor AccessIndoor $229.00 a month Reserve 10x203-4 bedroom home (Up to 200 sq. ft) Prices from $216.00 a month View Units 10x20 Elevator AccessIndoor $271.00 a month Reserve 10x20 Drive-Up Access $216.00 a month Reserve This Miami storage facility offers the following features: Clean and well-lit Customer Care CommitmentDrive Up Access Extended access hours Moving Supplies Available State-of-the-art security Video SurveillanceClimate Controlled Units Damage or loss coverage available Excellent Security Month To Month Leases Professional Manager Variety of Sizes We Accept all Major Credit Cards


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Still living in my small town of the French Riviera...but 9 years have passed since the day I joined WU! Too busy, though being retired (BECAUSE I'm retired I should say!) to visit WU as I used to ! But amazed everytime I can check the site by the gorgeous photos coming everyday from everywhere! And always happy to hear from old friends here! And to discover new talented photographers....Thanks to the devoted people making WU go on! src="http://www.maploco.com/vmap/3171276.png" !-- Start alt="Visitor Map">Create your own visitor map!Plan your tripLocal RadarDetailed ForecastCreate your own visitor map!WAU_map('ja38cd k82zjm', 420, 210, 'natural', 'star-blue') WAU_classic('nblgnjedxt43')
Rain and thunder
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Watch These Kids Break-Dancing Like Pros — Daily Distraction
[onescreen item="5023886″]
When we were like 8 or 9 years old, we liked playing with action figures and occasionally eating dirt. Some kids are a bit more talented.
Doesn't spinning on your head like that hurt? It must take some serious guts to try pulling off moves like that by yourself in the safety of your own room, much less in front of all those people. Go ahead and watch. We'll be over here working on our Funky Chicken. It's great for weddings!
The Daily Distraction is your Internet break from reality. Whether you're eating lunch at your desk or avoiding high school exes on Facebook, you might just laugh, say "aaahhh" or not believe what you just watched.


text:
Apollo Tyres Ltd. is seeking to cut its $2.5 billion offer to buy Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. after U.S. and Chinese workers challenged the takeover plan. The shares of Apollo rose.
Apollo said Cooper acknowledged the $35-a-share offer should be reduced and that "the issue now is by how much," Gurgaon, India-based Apollo said in a statement yesterday. Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper denied it agreed to any need to cut the price.
Talks to complete the largest acquisition by an Indian company in North America are souring amid opposition from U.S. and Chinese workers. Apollo has said it would plan to partly fund the purchase through a $1.88 billion sale of high-yield bonds issued by Cooper and a $450 million bridge loan.
"Both Apollo and Cooper are trying to outplay each other because since the deal was announced, the rupee has depreciated and investors have expressed concern about the ability to service the debt," said Surjit Singh Arora, an analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in Mumbai. "If the deal doesn't go through, the market will give it a thumbs up."
Shares of Apollo rose as much as 3.9 percent. They traded at 68.65 rupees, up 3 percent, poised for the biggest gain since Sept. 20, as of 11:17 a.m. in Mumbai. Cooper shares have fallen to $29.51, or 16 percent below the offer price, amid concerns about the deal, which was first announced on June 12.
The rupee has declined more than 6 percent against the U.S. dollar since the two companies announced the deal.
Cooper last week filed a complaint to a Delaware court to expedite Apollo's completion of the purchase, triggering a response by the Indian company that Cooper is being unreasonable in rushing the deal and failing to provide assurances about its Chinese venture.
Cooper's request to the court is "inexplicable and can only be seen as a diversionary smokescreen or an unfortunate acknowledgment that Cooper will be unable to meet its obligations," Apollo said in a statement yesterday.
Cooper said it hasn't agreed to any price cut and that the company is acting in the best interest of shareholders.
In yesterday's statement, Apollo said it hired advisers to assess the financial cost of requests made by the United Steelworkers, which represents employees at two Cooper plants, and that Cooper's "accelerated timeline" to settle with the U.S. workers is unreasonable. Apollo also said that Cooper has failed to provide assurances that it can provide financial statements for its Chinese unit and that it's in compliance with the acquisition agreement.
Workers at Cooper's majority-owned Chinese venture are still refusing to make products for Cooper since they went on strike July 13, and the U.S. company is unable to access operational and financial information there. Cooper's Chinese partner, Chengshan Group Co., has filed a lawsuit for the dissolution of the venture, saying the sale to Apollo would undermine the venture's operations. Cooper has said the litigation lacks merit.
"Cooper's inability to access the facilities of its Chinese subsidiary, to determine what products this subsidiary is producing or to whom those products are being sold, to track or control how its funds are being spent or even to access operating or financial information, either physically or remotely, goes well beyond any typical work stoppage," Apollo said. "Cooper has misrepresented its management and control of this asset to Apollo and to its own shareholders."
Cooper said it's working to resolve its issues in China and that Apollo should expedite a resolution with the U.S. union workers.
"The situations with the USW and the joint venture partner and union in China are a direct result of the merger agreement, and are risks Apollo assumed under the merger agreement," Cooper said in a statement. "Cooper looks forward to closing this compelling transaction."
Bloomberg News


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text:
Editor's Views: Should we go or not? Meetings are ongoing dilemma
It's an ongoing discussion in almost every newsroom.
There's a meeting. Should we go?
Meetings, especially the government variety, don't rank high on most people's priority lists. Many people go years without attending a meeting, and some never do. Does that mean they don't care about what happens when the city council, school board or plan commission convene?
Not necessarily.
Meetings, though, take time, and time is precious in newsrooms. If we spend three hours in a room with the city council, that's three hours we don't have to devote to a different, possibly more interesting and relevant story.
As with much of what we do, it's all about balance.
I knew an innovative editor who loved to proclaim: "We don't cover meetings."
His newspaper covered the issues in different ways, he said, and didn't waste time attending sessions that too often were boring and typically lasted too long.
I admired his boldness. All of us in this business want to find better ways to do things. But I thought his approach was too rigid, and I wondered how a newspaper could live with such a policy for long. That editor ultimately was fired, and I suspect his unorthodox ideas were among the reasons.
Many meetings are not worth attending. We try to be selective and limit how much time we devote to them, but it's not as easy as it sounds.
First, while meetings can be uneventful, at least in terms of decisions that directly affect many people, some have real consequences. We elect officials to make decisions for us, and those decisions affect our taxes and our services.
They can mean a new gas station in your neighborhood or bigger class sizes or the closing of a favorite wading pool.
We usually attend those meetings. We do our best to make the stories interesting and explain exactly how those decisions will make differences in the lives of our readers. Sometimes, we succeed. Other times, we fall short.
We also have a watchdog role when it comes to government and its meetings. We need to keep an eye on officials and, as much as possible, report on their meaningful deliberations and important decisions. To some degree, we attend meetings so our readers don't have to.
Through our reporting, readers can stay informed on those decisions and the positions and votes of their elected officials. That empowers them to hold officials accountable and respond if they choose, and it can help them decide how to vote on Election Day.
Attending meetings also helps us build relationships and credibility with sources in government. Many appreciate our time and effort and go out of their way to offer help when we need it. Conversely, some are reluctant to cooperate if we haven't paid our dues by sitting through meetings and availing ourselves of the information shared during them.
I've been doing this for many years, and it seems we continually talk about ways to spend less time at meetings and more time covering issues that reflect people's strong interests and passions. We're about to embark on another review of how we use our time and resources.
Do I expect a different result? Will we end up covering fewer meetings?
I'd like to think we will, but I also know that the reasons we've covered meetings in the past will continue to factor into our decisions in the future. Some meetings do matter. When important discussions ensue and critical decisions are made, we should be there.
Scott W. Angus is editor of The Gazette and vice president of news for Bliss Communications. His email is firstname.lastname@example.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @sangus_.


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James A. Van Horn, Fond du Lac, WI (1938-2014)
October 17, 1938 - March 5, 2014
James A. Van Horn, 75, of Fond du Lac, died Wednesday, March 5, 2014, at St. Agnes Hospital, Fond du Lac. He was born on Oct. 17, 1938, in Janesville, a son of the late Arthur and Stella Mary Breiby Van Horn. On Aug. 29, 1964, James married Gloria Jean Kerl. James served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957–1960 and the United States Coast Guard from 1973–1976. He retired from Giddings & Lewis in July of 2003. Following his retirement, he graduated from Fox Valley Technical College with a degree in horticulture. He loved the outdoors, especially hunting, fishing, camping, shooting sporting clays, and trap shooting. While hunting, he loved the company of his faithful dog, Nick. He was involved in the Ruffed Grouse Society, Izaak Walton League, and the Van Dyne Gun Club. He also enjoyed stock car racing, photography, woodworking, and completing building projects, specifically a wooden sailboat and a wooden canoe. He made daily trips to Fleet Farm to stock up on seed for his many bird feeders.
One of his proudest accomplishments as a father was seeing both of his daughters through college. Beyond his wife and daughters, he lived for his grandchildren. He watched them participate in school programs and athletics and loved sharing his passion of the outdoors with his grandkids, especially fishing. And most recently, he loved taking trips to the farm to visit his daughter and her family. The farm was one of the joys of his life.
James is survived by his wife, Gloria; a daughter, Lesley (Dean) Preissner and their two children, Hannah and Hunter; a daughter, Brenda (Joel) Alcantara and their two children, Joel and Carmen; nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a sister, Mildred Powers.
A memorial service will be held at 12 p.m. on Monday, March 10, 2014, at HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH, 260 Vincent Street, with Rev. Steve Huff officiating. A memorial gathering will be from 4 until 6 p.m. on Sunday at the CHURCH and on Monday from 11 a.m. until the time of service. MACH FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORY is serving the family, www.machfuneralchapel.com.


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Janesville City Council's closed meeting on fire station draws questions
JANESVILLE—The preferred location for a new city fire station was kept from the public for about three months, but it didn't have to be that way.
The decision to build a new central fire station near the site of the current Station No. 1 on Milton Avenue has become controversial, because of its tentative price tag—more than $9 million—and because it would remove either eight or 12 homes.
State law did not allow a closed meeting the city council held when it chose a site for the fire station last Nov. 25, in the opinion of an expert in the Wisconsin open-meetings statute.
Attorney Bob Dreps reviewed the minutes of the Nov. 25 closed session, which The Gazette obtained Thursday.
The minutes describe policy decisions about where the station should be and how big it should be, Dreps said. Those considerations are not reasons to close a meeting as defined by the statute, he said.
The official notice of the closed session said its purpose was to discuss and set bargaining strategies, terms and conditions for the potential acquisition of properties for a new fire station.
The council went well beyond those guidelines, including choosing a site from among nine choices. The council also directed city officials to begin acquisition of the lots and houses needed for the project.
Jay Winzenz, who was acting city manager at the time, said the city customarily holds closed meetings when the topic is acquiring property.
The choosing of a site and the issue of negotiating to buy private properties were tied together, Winzenz noted.
Dreps said the law doesn't allow for that kind of reasoning.
"The fact that this is going to require negotiations in order to acquire the property doesn't entitle them to keep it secret," Dreps said.
The city attorney's office did not return a call about the question Thursday.
"Where to locate a government building is clearly and obviously a policy decision," Dreps said. "... Talking about what's best for citizens, that's not competing or bargaining."
The state attorney general's open-meetings compliance guide says only issues that can be kept from the public can be discussed in a closed session. Related issues must be taken up in open session.
Winzenz said city staff wanted a closed meeting because disclosing the site affects the city's ability to negotiate prices.
"Sometimes when people find out the city is interested in buying properties, then the price goes up," Winzenz said.
But would Nov. 25 discussions have made any difference, given that the site had to be disclosed eventually?
"Competitive or bargaining reasons permit a closed session where the discussion will directly and substantially affect negotiations with a third party," according to the attorney general's guide, but not where the discussion might indirectly affect negotiations.
The principles involved in deciding to close a meeting for competitive or bargaining reasons were decided about seven years ago in a lawsuit brought by opponents of the Milton ethanol plant.
The state Court of Appeals ruled that the law allows a closed meeting in these circumstances only if the discussion "would reveal its negotiation strategy or the price it planned to offer for a purchase of property."
City Council President Kathy Voskuil said the Nov. 25 meeting did not include discussions of particular properties or what they might be worth.
The Nov. 25 discussion did include an explanation of how the city normally negotiates to buy properties, Winzenz said.
"To the best of my knowledge, I probably mentioned to council that we would be going through an appraisal process and that property owners would at least receive the fair market value, that they are entitled to relocation benefits," Winzenz said.
That information was discussed when the city council met in open session Monday.
Voskuil recalled that eminent domain was mentioned briefly in the closed meeting, as one of the options that included owners voluntarily selling their properties.
If eminent domain is used to take property against an owner's wishes, the council still will have to vote on that, Voskuil noted.
Property owner Joyce Shea, 706 Prospect, believes the decision is made, and there's nothing she can do about it.
"They kept it hidden. They did it in a very covert manner, and they didn't want the people to know it," Shea said.
The affected property owners first heard something was going on in a Feb. 20 letter from the city inviting them to a neighborhood meeting, but even then it wasn't clear, Shea said.
Shea said she first understood from a Feb. 26 Gazette article.
"I think the way they did it was really horrible," Shea said.
Voskuil said that now, residents have plenty of time to have their voices heard. The plan commission will take up the station plans in early April, and the city council could make a final decision on April 14.
Voskuil encouraged residents to speak at meetings or send their opinions to city council members.
The decision could be delayed even further, Voskuil said. If so, Voskuil will no longer be on the council. A council with up to two new members will take over later in April.
Council member Matt Kealy, who has opposed a new station and wants to renovate the existing station, said he understands the concern about the closed meeting, although he didn't think about it at the time.
"Looking back, I guess this could've been a conversation we could have had in public," Kealy said.


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New Janesville city manager asks for help to fashion vision, mission statements
JANESVILLE--First things first.
As Mark Freitag interviewed with Janesville City Council members last summer for the city manager job, he found the council's goals online but saw no community vision statement, no mission statement and no strategic plan.
"It seemed to me the city should have those sorts of things, and the council all nodded 'Yes, we should.' … When I came on board, it was something I knew I was going to undertake," Freitag said.
Most organizations, including cities, have vision and mission statements and strategic plans, said Max Gagin, city management analyst. He is helping Freitag lead the effort.
Freitag, who started work here in December, said he doesn't know how an organization can operate without mission and vision statements and a strategic plan.
City workers have no core value statement, and that will change, too, because it is important to have core values stated, Freitag said.
Freitag has taken on the process without hiring a consultant, a step some suggested was necessary.
"Absolutely not," Freitag said. "We're all smart enough to figure this out on our own with our own resources.
"It's important to handle it in-house, and it's important to have the city manager pushing to make it happen," Freitag said.
Staff drafted mission and vision statements, and Freitag and Gagin this month take them on the road to three community meetings to get feedback. The first meeting is Wednesday.
The drafts were created with as staff discussed why people choose to live and work here, Freitag said.
They choose to live here because Janesville is a nice-sized community. There are many things to do, and there is low crime, he said.
"It's a place where you want to do business, raise a family, come and recreate," Freitag said.
"We thought about that 'community of choice,'" he said. "People choose to come."
The draft vision statement?
"Wisconsin's Park Place: The community of choice for realizing life's opportunities."
"It kind of resonated with the group," Freitag said.
So far, Freitag said, he's pleased with the reaction from employees involved in the process.
"I think they all see the value of where we're going to take this," Freitag said.
The draft mission statement is: "To innovatively provide effective municipal services that are responsive to the needs of residents, businesses and visitors and delivered in a reliable, efficient manner in order to sustain Janesville as the community of choice."
Freitag is asking city residents if they agree with the draft statements or if they can be improved. Freitag also will seek input from the business community.
"It will be interesting to see who comes and how many come," Freitag said.
"The key point is, it's important to engage the community."
Meanwhile, staff will develop strategic goals and objectives to work toward that visions and will complete an overall strategic plan to be finished next year.
Freitag plans to bring the vision and mission statements to the city council in May.
The effort should not be confused with the city's ongoing riverfront strategy sessions, but the results of those sessions likely will be listed in the strategic plan.
Staff in July will be poised to begin work on the 2015 budget and could use the strategic plan to help decide how to allocate money, Freitag said.
"It's something that helps guide the city on how they prioritize work," Freitag said.
JANESVILLE--Vision statements are short phrases or sentences that convey a community's hopes and dreams—what a city would like in a perfect world, according to a Janesville city memo.
They clarify the beliefs and governing principles of the community.
According to the memo, most vision statements are:
-- Understood and shared by members of the community.
-- Broad enough to include a variety of local perspectives.
-- Inspiring and uplifting to everyone involved.
-- Generally short enough to fit on a T-shirt.
A mission statement is action oriented and describes what the organization is going to do and why it's going to do that.
A vision statements should inspire people to dream. A mission statement should inspire people to action.
Janesville's draft community vision statement is:
"Wisconsin's Park Place: the community of choice for realizing life's opportunities."
Its draft organizational mission statement is:
"To innovatively provide effective municipal services that are responsive to the needs of residents, businesses, and visitors and delivered in a reliable, efficient manner in order to sustain Janesville as the community of choice."
Examples of vision and mission statements in communities:
-- Vision statement: "The gem of the Rock River Valley, embracing sustainable public policy, service delivery and development in ways that protect the natural and built environment, enhance economic competitiveness and create a high quality living experience for current and future generations."
-- Mission statement: "The city of Beloit celebrates its proud heritage, diverse culture, entrepreneurial spirit and stewardship of a high quality of life; employing sustainable practices to continue its resurgence as the gem of the Rock River Valley."
-- Vision statement: "Eau Claire will be a healthy, vibrant, and productive community of exceptional natural beauty."
-- Mission statement: "It is our mission to provide for the common good and deliver services essential for a safe, sustainable and engaged community."
-- Vision statement: "Waukesha is to become the No. 1 rated Best Small City in America by 2018."
-- Mission statement: "Waukesha is a progressive leader in providing a high quality of life at a conservative price."


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Fair board seeks new member
Staff | February 27, 2014
The Walworth County Agricultural Society is seeking candidates to fill the position of fair board director. The term ends in December 2015.
Candidates must reside in Walworth County and be a lifetime member or resident registered member.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest with their phone number, mailing address and email address no later than 5 p.m. Friday, March 7 to: Walworth County Fair, P.O. Box 286, Elkhorn, WI 53121; or email to email@example.com.
For more information, contact the fair office at (262) 723-3228.


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57 years of service: Firefighter and chief recalls the best and worst of his time
DELAVAN—Neill Flood joined the Delavan Fire Department in 1957 when he was 17.
He moved up through the ranks, served as assistant chief and was named chief in December 1982.
At the beginning of January, Flood retired. He will be replaced by another long-time firefighter, Assistant Chief Timothy O'Neill.
O'Neill also is the paid chief of the Delavan Police Department.
Three generations of the Flood family have served as volunteer firefighters. His father, George Flood, served for 23 years, starting on the day Neill was born.� Neill's son Patrick has been with the department since 1980, and recently announced his decision to retire.
Flood called it the "end of an era."
We asked Flood for some of the highlights of his career.
Q: What was the worst fire you ever went to?
A: "That was the hotel fire in January 1978," Flood said. "We were there for three days, outside, fighting that fire."
The fire destroyed the Colonial Hotel and five businesses housed there.
No one was killed in the fire, but one firefighter suffered a back injury after slipping and falling on the ice, Flood said.
Near the end of the fire, Flood's fellow firefighters convinced him to take the big ladder truck back to the garage.
"It was covered with about 4 inches of ice," Flood recalled. "I was nervous about getting it through the 10-foot doorway "
However, he made it—and then some. He backed the truck in so far that the ladder extending from the back of the truck punched a whole in the back wall into the meeting room.
His fellow firefighters have never stopped giving him flack about it.
"They put a plaque up over the hole," Flood said.
Q: What was the worst or scariest experience you had on the job?
A: "The worst fire was on South Third Street in an old Victorian home," Flood said. "Back then, we didn't really have very much personal safety gear."
And not much turnout gear, either.
Their uniform collections consisted of four rubber rain boots, four sets of hip boots and four helmets bought at a military surplus store. They referred to the helmets as "steel pots."
Flood shared the boots with a guy who had size 10 feet. Flood's feet are size 12, and he always came back with sore feet.
But back to that Victorian:
Flood was on the second floor of the house, crawling on the floor in a room full of smoke.
"I couldn't breathe," Flood said.
One of the men he was with got him to a window, broke it out and got Flood some air.
"I was a young guy, a young firefighter, I was going to save the world," Flood said.
Q: What were some of the biggest changes you've seen in your career?
A: "The biggest thing is the training, and thank God for that," Flood said.
Much of that training is connected to the safety equipment and technology that helps keep firefighters safe and helps them do their jobs better.
When Flood started, the training was more or less, "here's the fire, and there's the water."
O'Neill, the new chief, once described his training as "here's your helmet."
Now, firefighters are required to have more than 90 hours of training, and if they want to reach the level of "firefighter II," they need another 50 hours, Flood said.
Q: What was the best part of your career? What did you enjoy the most?
A: "The camaraderie that we have," Flood said.
One of Flood's favorites was Bob Youmans, a man who lived to serve. Youmans was a valuable mechanic, the kind of guy who knew how to make repairs on the fly.
"He came to me when he was 85, and he said, 'Neill, I'm going to retire,'" Flood recalled. "I said to him, 'You can't, you love this so much. You are invaluable to us.'"
Youmans continued to serve as a mechanic for the department.
"I'll never forget the friendships I made with these people," Flood said.
Even when he was a young man, he was able to connect with guys 40 or 50 years older because of the bond they shared.
"It's like one big family," Flood said.


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U.S. stocks rose, erasing earlier losses, after Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the central bank should continue its bond buying to boost growth that is slower than expected.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.5 percent to an all-time high of 1,673.96 at 2:26 p.m. in New York, after falling as much as 0.2 percent earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 87.37 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,422.65. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 3.1 percent below the 30-day average during this time of day.
"We have a long stretch now with no significant decline, and I think that's going to continue until there is some significant concern about the Fed stopping," Jason Thomas, chief investment officer of Los Angeles-based Aspiriant, said in a phone interview. Aspiriant is an independent wealth management firm with over $7 billion in assets under management.
The Fed purchases known as quantitative easing should be maintained because financial markets indicate that they are improving financial conditions and can be adjusted based on how the economy changes, Bullard, who votes on the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, said today according to the text of remarks prepared for delivery in Frankfurt.
Fed Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said in prepared remarks for a speech today in New York that he has not decided whether the Fed's next move should be to enlarge or to shrink its bond buying program.
The central bank's chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, testifies on the outlook for the U.S. economy before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress tomorrow. The FOMC also releases the minutes of its April 30-May 1 meeting tomorrow. Policy makers said after their last meeting that they will keep buying $85 billion of bonds every month, while standing ready to raise or lower purchases as conditions evolve.
Some policy makers in recent months have signaled they favor scaling back the quantitative-easing program in the next few months. Stocks erased gains yesterday after Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said the U.S. economy has improved "quite a lot" as the central bank maintains record stimulus. The question now is "how much confidence we have that the improvements that have been made will continue and be sustained," said Evans, who holds a vote on the FOMC this year.
'Fairly Benign'
"I view a move by the Fed toward normalizing monetary policy as ultimately a good thing," Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab Corp., said on Bloomberg Television. Her firm has $2 trillion in client assets. "It will be a taper; they're not going to grind this to a halt all of a sudden. If the reason is that economic growth has picked up with inflation expectations still fairly benign, then that's the best reason for the Fed to do it."
The S&P 500 has surged 146 percent from its 12-year low in 2009, driven by better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases from the Fed.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the U.S. stock-market rally may last at least another 2 1/2 years and send the S&P 500 up 26 percent to 2,100. David Kostin, the bank's New York-based chief U.S. equity strategist, raised forecasts for the U.S. equity benchmark, predicting it will finish 2013 at 1,750 and 2014 at 1,900 as stock valuations increase, according to a research report dated yesterday. The S&P 500 trades at 16.3 times reported operating profit, 16 percent below the average since 1998, data compiled by Bloomberg show.


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