After a successful run through the Midwest and Northeast, Phish will head across the country and take over the West Coast for a stretch of performances. That run starts this Friday, July 15th, when Phish takes their jams to The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA.Fans who are making the trek to the storied venue are in for a treat, but for those who cannot – the band has a solution. Phish has just announced webcast live streams for their two-night run! As usual, bundles for both nights in HD and SD are available, as well as merchandise that can be added to whichever webcast package you choose. You can find more information here. read more

After storms that blew through South Bend Monday evening, a number of students living off campus found themselves without electricity for several hours.Outages starting around 6:30 p.m. were reported in Irish Crossings Town Homes, Campus Court, Campus View, Irish Row and Overlook at Notre Dame.According to Tracy Warner, a spokesman for Indiana & Michigan Power (I&M), 51,875 of I&M’s customers suffered power outages –– among which 8,000 cases –– at the outage’s peak –– were in South Bend.Senior Ingrid Heimer said the power went out around 6:30 p.m. on Monday in Irish Crossings, where she lives with her three roommates.The building’s management did not provide information about the procedures to follow during the outage, except to “stay inside,” Heimer said in an email.“They didn’t know when the power would be back on,” Heimer said. “They also told us they would not be reimbursing us for spoiled food.”Junior Kiara Gutierrez experienced a similar situation when she returned to her apartment complex in Campus Court after going to Martin’s to buy groceries.Gutierrez said she did not receive information from her building’s management. To add to this “extremely stressful experience,” she said the outage’s effects hindered her concentration for any schoolwork.“There was no WiFi and my computer was out of battery,” she said. “I wasn’t able to cook any food for dinner and was stressed that our food would go bad.”Similarly to Gutierrez, sophomore Mabel Perez’s power went out in her apartment in Campus View.“It affected my learning experience because I was unable to prepare for any of my classes for the next day,” Perez said. “The outage sucked because it ruined my … plans.”In Irish Row, senior Natalia Gomez-Botero was told by her neighbors that there was a power outage in the building while she was grocery shopping.“My friends in Building Four texted me ‘Are you home? The fire alarm is going off,’ and then the power went out right after,” she said.According to Gomez-Botero, the residence’s management sent her an email around 8 p.m. stating, “They were working on it.”Senior Noelle Kudelko, who also lives in Irish Row, said in an email the building management did not offer much information “except for the fact that the main entry doors would not be able to open and not to prop them open, so don’t leave the building.”Students affected by the outage said they experienced difficulties preparing for classes the next day.“Luckily I had a fully charged Power Bright that works for phones, but our laptops … we didn’t use them last night,” Gomez-Botero said. “This morning when we got to campus, we tried to charge them wherever we could.”Kudelko said as of Tuesday evening, she was still experiencing technical difficulties after the outage.“Our WiFi is currently not working which is difficult because we have homework to do and I have a Zoom class early in the morning. … We have no update on when the WiFi will be up and running,” she said.The students were left without electricity all of Monday night up until Tuesday afternoon. In Campus Court and Irish Row, power was restored between 2:30 and 3 p.m., according to Gutierrez and Gomez-Botero. Perez said she regained electricity around 1 p.m. in Campus View.According to Warner, tree branches flying into power lines are to blame for the majority of the county’s electricity issues. He said that I&M was able to restore power in 75% of all the cases, and, as of 7 p.m. today, only 1,700 power outages remain in South Bend.“Damage has been significant, with crews finding at least 50 broken or damaged poles so far,” I&M explained in a press release. “Most damage was caused by the strong winds blowing trees and branches into energy equipment.”More than 900 crews and contractors from I&M and other partners are working together to restore power across the power company’s service territory, Warner said.South Bend residents still experiencing outages can expect to have power restored around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. However, Warner said that clients could use I&M’s mobile alert function to search for outage maps and specific situations and alert about any further electrical damage.Assistant Managing Editors Maeve Filbin and Claire Rafford contributed to this report. Tags: Campus Court, Campus View, Irish Crossings Town Homes, Irish Row, power outage read more

Representative Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, has proposed a new retirement plan that would mandate both employer and employee contributions. Rep. Crowley unveiled the proposed new retirement plan in a major policy address highlighting the savings and retirement security crisis in America at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.SAVE UP AccountsUnder Rep. Crowley’s plan, employers with 10 or more employees that do not currently offer a retirement plan would be required to open a retirement account—referred to as a federally-established Secure, Accessible, Valuable, Efficient Universal Pension (SAVE UP) account—for every employee. According to Crowley’s Building Better Savings, Building Brighter Futures proposal, these SAVE UP accounts would be similar to the Thrift Savings Plan offered to federal government employees, with government oversight, private management, and a limited number of low-fee index fund options.Unlike other retirement plan proposals, including President Obama’s myRASM and automatic IRA proposals, employers would be required to make contributions to each employee’s SAVE UP account. Rather than a percentage of wages, employers would be required to contribute a defined amount per hour, adjusted annually for inflation.Employees also would be required to contribute to their SAVE UP account once established, at an initial contribution rate of three percent of their pre-tax income, with contributions gradually increasing over time. Employees would, however, be able to opt out of participation. All contributions would be pretax, earnings would be tax-free, and withdrawals during retirement would be taxed as ordinary income.The new retirement plan sets a target benefit amount, but payout levels are not guaranteed. Instead, the plan includes a feature to ensure that investment risks are spread among all plan participants to reduce the investment risks to each plan participant. As proposed, in years with above-average returns, some of the stock market gains would be channeled into a collective investment pool. In years with below-average investment returns, the excess funds would be apportioned among the plan participants to help protect against huge swings in the markets, such as those that occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.Tax Incentives for Small BusinessesIn his Building Better Savings, Building Brighter Futures proposal, Rep. Crowley also proposed tax credits for small businesses that are helping their employees save for retirement. A small business would receive a refundable tax credit equal to the value of its contributions to the retirement accounts of up to 10 employees, up to a maximum of $10,400 per year for five years. The refundable tax credit would be available to any small business with less than $5 million in annual gross receipts. And, because the tax credit is refundable, any eligible employer, including start-up companies that may not yet be profitable, would be eligible to receive the credit.USAccountsIn addition to SAVE UP accounts, Rep. Crowley has proposed creating USAccounts that would give every child, upon birth, a new individual savings vehicle. The accounts initially would be funded with a $500 contribution from the federal government. Families could make subsequent contributions of up to $2,000 annually, post-tax, to each child’s USAccount. For families below certain income levels, contributions would be matched dollar-for-dollar by the federal government, up to $500 per account, per year.Crowley’s USAccounts proposal also includes another contribution match through the Child Tax Credit. Families eligible for the Child Tax Credit, who make a contribution to their child’s USAccount, would receive a matching amount—up to $500 annually per account—as an increase in their refundable credit when filing their federal income tax returns for the following year. This contribution match would be in addition to the dollar-for-dollar match that families below certain income thresholds receive, which is made directly into the USAccount.USAccount contributions could be withdrawn tax free to fund higher education. And, unlike some other tax-advantaged savings vehicles, USAccounts would not count toward a family’s determination of student tuition assistance or calculation of their need for other federal programs. Once a child is no longer a dependent, USAccount funds could be rolled over into a Roth-style savings vehicle.Other Savings InitiativesRep. Crowley’s Building Better Savings, Building Brighter Futures outlines a series of other initiatives to encourage personal savings, expand employer-provided retirement plans, and strengthen the Social Security system. These include initiatives topromote financial knowledge and a greater understanding of savings options through partnerships with stakeholders and educational institutions;make the myRA program permanent to ensure that all workers have access to a long-term, stable savings option;encourage and reward saving through tax credits;reduce policies that discourage saving; andstrengthen Social Security funding by eliminating the cap on a worker’s earnings that are taxed to pay for Social Security.Rep. Crowley’s plan has not yet been introduced as a bill in Congress. And although Crowley also sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, this by no means assures that the legislation, once introduced, will become law. Further, in the wake of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its employer mandate, many in Congress are apprehensive about placing any new mandates on businesses, as Crowley’s SAVE UP proposal would require.Nevertheless, Crowley’s series of initiatives are significant in that they reflect the belief of some in Congress that current retirement savings initiatives are not meeting the needs of lower- and middle-income Americans, and that these Americans are not fully benefitting from the post-2008 economic recovery. As with efforts to increase the minimum wage and address the gender pay gap, Crowley’s savings initiatives are likely to become part of the broader discussion of income inequality, which is almost certain to be a major theme in the 2016 presidential campaign. 11SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,Dennis Zuehlke Dennis is Compliance Manager for Ascensus. Mr. Zuehlke provides clients with technical support on tax-advantaged accounts (including individual retirement accounts, health savings accounts, simplified employee pension plans, and Coverdell education … Web: www.ascensus.com Details read more

20SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr Is your tale that of a gallant knight slaying a fearsome enemy? Or maybe it’s something a bit more tame: A family buried in debt, finding a way out through guidance from their friendly neighborhood Spiderm…I mean, credit union MSR?No matter if it is one to be shouted from rooftops, proclaimed in a royal hall, or told amongst a group of close friends, you have a story to tell.A recurring theme here is the challenge to spread a positive message to the wider not-yet-credit-union-membership. It’s not as if the message today is negative, rather, it just doesn’t exist. You’re the nice guy/gal at a party recognized by only a few. Humble, kind, and eager to please others, you’re a person the other attendees would enjoy having nearby, if only they knew.What you need is a wingman (or wing-lady). Good thing the industry has one! I’ve mentioned them before, and will do so again: CU Social Good. CU Broadcast conducted an interview of their team and discussed how they have become “a formidable bastion of benevolence for credit unions.” A few months prior, I spoke with them as part of a larger story on co-ops working together and determining financial benefits of specific initiatives. If your credit union does not have an account with regular submissions, get on it today!But sometimes, your wingman helps your friends, too. What’s the strategy then? continue reading » read more

Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York A 66-year-old man was fatally struck by a snow plow in front of his Oyster Bay Cove home the day after a blizzard blanketed Long Island in more than two feet of the white stuff.Nassau County police said Al Mansoor was standing in front of his Cove Woods Road home when he was hit by a plow that was clearing snow from his property at 2:15 p.m. Sunday.The victim was taken to North Shore Syosset Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.Second Squad detectives did not charge the driver. read more

Dec 21, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said today there has been no evidence of more cases of H5N1 avian influenza in the wake of a recent case cluster in Pakistan, as news services reported at least five suspected H5N1 cases in an Indonesian family.WHO officials in Geneva said no more H5N1 cases have been identified in the area of Abbotabad in northern Pakistan, where the cluster was reported last weekend. Results of confirmatory tests in the eight cases are still awaited, they told CIDRAP News.Keiji Fukuda, coordinator of the WHO’s global influenza program, told Reuters this week that the Pakistan cases probably represent a mix of poultry-to-human infections and human-to-human transmission resulting from close contact when people cared for infected relatives.”We don’t have any indication of a broader health threat, other than poultry outbreaks” in the area, WHO spokesman John Rainford told CIDRAP news today. “Our risk assessment suggests no evidence of sustained transmission. All the close contacts and involved healthcare workers remain asymptomatic and have been released from close medical observation.”The WHO sent a team of experts to Pakistan to help investigate the situation, and US Navy Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) in Cairo has sent a portable laboratory. Rainford declined to predict today how soon confirmatory testing in the eight cases, which were identified in preliminary tests by Pakistan’s national lab, will be completed. He said some samples from the patients would be sent to London for analysis.”I hope we’ll get some early results but question whether we’ll have lab results that are what we need,” he said. “We’ve got, hopefully, samples arriving in London sometime over the weekend that will provide a better environment to assess what we’ve got.”He said he expected both the NAMRU lab and the one in London will play a role in the testing: “NAMRU staff on site will be able to give us some information, but I guess there’s a role for an additional lab to give us a full picture.”The patients who tested positive include four brothers in one family, one of their cousins, and two other people, according to news reports. The family group was originally described as four brothers and two cousins, but one patient initially identified as a cousin was actually a brother, the Associated Press reported on Dec 21. One of the four brothers died, and a fifth brother also was suspected of having the disease but died without being tested. The other three people were described as a man and his niece who were involved in culling poultry in connection with avian flu outbreaks, and a male farm worker from another town nearby.WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told CIDRAP News today that all of the surviving case-patients have recovered, adding, “I believe that all of them have also been released from hospital.”Meanwhile, five members of a family from Indonesia’s West Java province have been hospitalized with suspected H5N1 cases, according to news reports citing Indonesia’s state news agency, Antara, as their source.A man named Fathurahman told Antara that his three children, aged 8, 10, and 16, suffered from high fevers, coughing, and breathing difficulty after an H5N1 outbreak among local poultry, according to a report by the Straits Times, a Singapore newspaper.The three children and two other people in their extended family—siblings aged 17 and 30—were hospitalized in Serang, about 80 kilometers west of Jakarta, early this week, the story said. They were transferred today to Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta, which is designated to treat avian flu patients, the report said.A Xinhua report today said avain flu was suspected in the patients after health officials learned that 60 chickens and ducks in their village had died of H5N1 disease.Two more members of the same family have also had symptoms suggesting avian flu but have not been hospitalized, the Straits Times reported.In other developments, WHO officials said they will never know whether the recent H5N1 cases in a son and father in China involved person-to-person transmission. The patients were a 24-year-old man who died Nov 27 and his father, who was hospitalized with an H5N1 infection 6 days later.David Heymann, the WHO’s assistant director-general for communicable diseases, said today that the possibility of person-to-person transmission can never be confirmed or excluded, because the father and son had a common environmental exposure, Hartl told CIDRAP News.Hong Kong newspapers reported earlier this month that before falling ill, the two men had both eaten undercooked chicken at a restaurant in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.See also: Dec 17 CIDRAP News story “Possible H5N1 family cluster probed in Pakistan”Dec 10 CIDRAP News story “Reports suggest common source in family H5N1 cases” read more

Governor Wolf’s Week, April 9 – April 15, 2017 Like Governor Tom Wolf on Facebook: Facebook.com/GovernorWolf By: The Office of Governor Tom Wolf The Blog,  Weekly Update This week, Governor Wolf continued efforts to combat the opioid abuse and heroin epidemic in Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, Governor Wolf announced the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources would be equipping state park and state forest rangers with naloxone.On Thursday, Governor Wolf was in Johnstown with the Johnstown Tomahawks Hockey Team to discuss the new opioid prescribing guideline recommendations for orthopedics and sports medicine.The governor also announced that All Sports America would be expanding its Storm Uniforms Division in Northumberland County.Governor Wolf and Treasurer Torsella also announced plans to significantly reduce fees paid to Wall Street investment managers, a move that will save an estimated $5 million per year.Governor Wolf also released a statement and ordered Commonwealth flags be flown at half-staff in memory of long-time Pittsburgh Steelers owner and former United States Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney.Governor Wolf’s Week, April 9 – April 15, 2017Monday, 4/10/17Pennsylvania Requests Formal FEMA Damage Assessment for NEPA SnowstormGO-TIME: Revenue Department Collects $1.5 Million with Innovative Home-Sharing Outreach InitiativeGovernor Wolf Encourages Pennsylvanians to Use Online Voter Registration as Primary Deadline ApproachesGovernor Wolf Applauds Treasurer Torsella’s Move to Passive InvestmentWednesday, 4/12/17Governor Wolf Announces DCNR Rangers, Managers will Carry Naloxone to Combat Opioid OverdosesGovernor Wolf Recognizes Recipients of 2017 Governor’s Awards for Local Government ExcellenceThursday, 4/13/17Governor Wolf Announces 2018 Teacher of the Year FinalistsGovernor Wolf Announces New PHARE Funding to Support Affordable Housing across PennsylvaniaGovernor Wolf Announces All Sports America to Reshore Jobs to Northumberland CountyGovernor Wolf, Treasurer Torsella Push Pension Funds to Reduce Wall Street Fees, CostsGovernor Wolf Joins Johnstown Tomahawks Hockey Team to Discuss New Opioid Prescribing Guideline Recommendations for Orthopedics and Sports MedicineGovernor’s Advisory Council Seeks Candidates for Game Commission BoardGovernor Wolf Statement on Passing of Dan RooneyFriday, 4/14/17Governor Wolf Orders the Commonwealth Flag at Half-Staff to Honor Dan RooneyGovernor Wolf Calls on Philadelphia District Attorney Williams to Resign Following Law License SuspensionHighlights from The BlogGUEST BLOG: Keeping Students Safe and Promoting Inclusion in SchoolsWe Will Not Give Up the Fight Against Heroin and Opioid AbuseHighlights from TwitterDan Rooney was a @steelers hero who also served his country under @POTUS44, proud he called PA his home. Rest in peace. https://t.co/5JMST5a7wB— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) April 13, 2017 Voting is one of our most fundamental rights. April 17 is the deadline to register to vote in the 2017 May primary. https://t.co/xGZ0qXqMQ6. pic.twitter.com/bgXeob51J3— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) April 11, 2017 SHARE Email Facebook Twitter April 14, 2017 read more

Iran is likely to disrupt oil shipments from the Persian Gulf if the United States continues with its campaign to halt Tehran’s oil exports.“We will sell our oil and they (the United States) are not able to stop our oil exports,” Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, said addressing the people of Semnan Province in Shahrood City on Tuesday, December 4. “If the U.S. wants to stop our oil sales, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf.”The Trump Administration reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy, shipbuilding, shipping, and banking sectors, on November 5, as a way of pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear program, development of ballistic missiles and other “malign activities.”Specifically, 50 Iranian banks and their foreign and domestic subsidiaries as well as over 200 persons and vessels in Iran’s shipping and energy sectors have been blacklisted.In the wake of the reimposition of sanctions, the U.S. Department of State’s Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said that Iranian tankers calling at international ports and passing through waterways pose a major risk as they have lost access to insurance on the international market.Furthermore, the country’s tanker fleet has been dubbed a floating liability amid reports that Iranian tankers are switching off their AIS transponders at sea as a way of avoiding U.S. sanctions. Namely, when ships go dark it is harder to tract their movement and potential breach of sanctions. The tactic has been used during previous sanctions in 2012, Hook said.By exerting pressure on Iran, the U.S. is trying to isolate the country and expects its oil exports to plummet slashing Iran’s oil revenue.However, Rouhani said on Tuesday that the recent sanctions have not severed ties between Iran and its neighbors.“America is not able to sever our business relations in the world and the region and they must understand that this land will keep its cultural, political and economic relations with the countries of the region and the world,” he added.“The U.S. is trying to separate Iran from its neighbours, Europe, China and India, promoting Iranophobia, while we won’t be enemy to our neighbours.”Eight jurisdictions have been temporarily exempted by the Trump administration from U.S. sanctions for importing Iranian oil. The six months period of exemption is granted to China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey.The allotments were given because the said parties demonstrated “significant reductions in their crude oil and cooperation on many other fronts and have made important moves towards getting to zero crude oil importation.”As disclosed on the website of Iran’s President, the United States keeps sending messages from different channels for holding negotiations.However, Rouhani is quoted as saying at the meeting of the Administrative Council of Semnan Province that Iran would resume talks with the U.S., only “if U.S. surrenders to what is right.”World Maritime News Staff read more

Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) has commenced the construction of a new car and passenger ferry for Kvarken Link, a Finnish-Swedish consortium.As informed, the steel cutting ceremony for the vessel was held at the shipyard on September 16.The environmentally friendly newbuilding, which will operate between Vaasa in Finland and Umeå in Sweden, will feature a hybrid electric system with batteries and four Wärtsilä 31DF dual-fuel engines capable of operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biogas which reduce CO2 emissions by 50% compared to the previous vessel.The new roll-on/roll-off (RoPax) ship will have a capacity of 800 passengers and 1,500 lane meters for trucks and cars.As explained, the newbuild will be the world’s first RoPax ferry with a Clean Design class mark.“Our ferry will be something exceptional and it will feature the most advanced and reliable technology. It will be the most environmentally friendly Ropax vessel built so far,” Peter Ståhlberg, CEO of Wasaline, commented.To be operated by shipping company Wasaline under the Finnish flag, the new ferry will replace the company’s existing vessel Wasa Express in the spring of 2021.The shipbuilding contract is estimated to be worth about EUR 120 million (USD 132.6 million). The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a EUR 70 million loan aimed at improving the ferry connection between Sweden and Finland.The project also includes port upgrade works required for the reception of the new vessel at the ferry terminals in the cities of Vaasa and Umeå.Image Courtesy: Kvarken LinkRelated:Kvarken Link, RMC Sign LOI for Hybrid FerryNew Wasaline Ferry to Get Wärtsilä Navigation SystemIn Depth: Lack of Automation Rules a Major Challenge, Ståhlberg Says read more

Nelson Mail 19 Sep 2012A new law targeting “high-risk” sex and violent offenders could be used to send the Beast of Blenheim back to jail. Justice Minister Judith Collins yesterday introduced legislation which will allows the courts to keep dangerous criminals in prison beyond their original sentence. It comes less than a month after serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson was released into the grounds of Whanganui Prison. The new legislation, which could be in force by next year, would allow the chief executive of Corrections to apply to the court for a public protection order if Wilson’s behaviour indicates he is a risk. Ms Collins said the PPOs were aimed at inmates who posed a “very high risk” of committing a crime on release – mostly child sex offenders. They would be kept in the grounds of a prison until the High Court ruled they were safe for release.http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/7698656/New-law-could-put-Beast-in-jail read more