Families, businesses adapt to growth in cremations - Omaha World-Herald

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Families, businesses adapt to growth in cremations Omaha World-Herald By Teresa Lostroh That's been bad news for some funeral homes and cemeteries, where bottom lines suffer as cremation grows in popularity. Traditional burial is still the norm nationally and in the Midlands, but each year, the number of bodies destined ... and more »

Coyotes actual attendance left Glendale arena a third empty - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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That left the 17,800-seat Jobing.com Arena more than one-thir d empty during the Coyotes latesyt season in which they failerd to make the National HockeyLeague playoffs. The numbedr compares to the team’s reported average ticket count ofabouty 14,900 (including giveaways and sales) and average paid tickett sales of 13,000. Such team data is part of Canadiam billionaireJim Balsillie's application to buy the team and move it to Ontario. Balsillie, CEO of Blackberry maker Researcyin Motion, has proposed a $213 million deal. The Coyote are in Chapter 11 bankruptcu reorganization.
The team has lost $316 million sincer moving to the Phoenix market in 1996 from The NHL and city of whichowns Jobing.com Arena, oppose moving the team to Canadw and are battling Balsillie and Moyesz in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Balsillie’ s application contends that the NHL team is not financiallh viable in Phoenix and that the Coyotes lag behinrd other sportschoices here. The Coyotes attendance is well behind theaverage 64,100 reported by the Arizon Cardinals as well as the Phoenixd Suns with 18,400 fans and Arizona Diamondbackds at 31,000 fans for the most recent seasons, accordingt to Espn.com. A U.S.
Bankruptcy Court hearin g is set for June 9 to focuxs on whether the team can be move to Hamilton or must stayin Balsillie’s offer is the only formal deal put forward for the

Iran: Enriched uranium traces a 'technical issue' - HeraldNet

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Iran: Enriched uranium traces a 'technical issue' HeraldNet AP TEHRAN, Iran -- A top Iranian nuclear official said that traces of enriched uranium discovered at an underground bunker came from a "routine technical issue," the country's official IRNA news agency reported Saturday. Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran's ... Iranian envoy criticizes Western media for politicizing technical issue in ... Philippine Star Traces of higher-grade uranium 'technical': Iran Hindustan Times  »

Somalia: NUSOJ is Grieved by the Senseless Murder of Radio Journalist in Mogadishu - AllAfrica.com

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Somalia: NUSOJ is Grieved by the Senseless Murder of Radio Journalist in Mogadishu AllAfrica.com National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is outraged and grieved by the increasing attacks against the journalists in Somalia, following the brutal murder of Radio journalist in Mogadishu on Wednesday 24, may 2012, around 1:25 PM local time.

Cleantech firms seek alternative sources of CEOs - San Francisco Business Times:

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Now they are all cleantech CEOs. With just a handfulk of executives who can claimj tobe clean-technology veterans, the industry is findin g its executives in all sortd of places. Most CEOs are moving into clean technology fromothetr sectors. Semiconductor CEOs turn into solar heatingand air-conditioning CEOs become lighting CEOs, and oil CEOs switcgh to biofuels, said Anup Jacob, venturee capitalist at the San Francisco-based . “What’s importantt for us is to look forgreay company-builders,” Jacob said.
“People who understanxd that it’s the energy sector and will be faced with the trifectas challenge ofraising capital, building teame and often times plants, and goinb up against traditional energy.” Clean technology is a broad industry with segments rangingh from biofuels, to battery storage technology, to energyt efficiency, to green building materials. And CEOs starting cleantecy companies are often looking at ways theirt skills translate to theseotheer industries, rather than relying on direct experienced in these markets.
Gay and some of his team who had workecd on Flash for before it was acquireds by were looking for a way to connect some of thetechnologh they’d developed on the Internet with the physical Gay had also built an off-the-gridd home and had studiexd how much electricity a home would need and how to managee electricity use efficiently to determine how many solatr panels he’d need there. “It evolved into building a software platform for energy managemen t primarily targeting utilities and providing a tool for consumere to help them understand how theyuse electricity, how their heating and cooling works,” and give people choicea in how to managre their usage, Gay said.
His San Bruno-basefd company Greenbox is partnering with other utility networkinb companies and will have a commerciallg available productin 2009. Aaronb Lapat, an executive recruiter for J. Robert Scott, said recruitingg CEOs for the clean tech spacse is challenging because of the newness of the sector and becausre clean technologies tend to rely on old industrial technologies. “So you’ve got these old blinx technologies reinvented and reapplied to renewable energy orclean tech,” he “Going to tap those traditional markets for talent is challenginv because they tend not to breed entrepreneurs.
” He said he’sw found that investors tend to choose proven entrepreneurzs over industry experience. But in cleantech therew are no hard andfast rules. The backgroundx of several solar technology power planf developers clustered in the Bay Areahighlightf cleantech’s executive diversity. Bob Fishman came to from San Jose-baseds power company . He’d managed 25,000 megawatts of natural gas and geothermal power as well as development andconstructionm projects. Rival BrightSource Energy’s top executivse John Woolard came out of venture capital firm and had energy technologu experiences from gigs at and localutility .
Bob CEO of concentrating solar technologystartup GreenVolts, spentt 20 years at an industriak machine shop in various including CEO and later as a member of the board. He starterd a couple of publishing ventures, workedf for a bank, and joinedr online firm MagnaCash for just a bit beforthe dot-com bust. “Hard-coree manufacturing experience along with technologgyproduct development, marketing, fundraising, startup and M&A — all of thosew experiences have really givenm me a broad range of skills to identify what’z needed and how do you actually pull this Cart said.
All of it is he said, and especiallyt the manufacturing experience, since it makea him unique among othercleantech CEOs. “A lot of the guys gettinhg into cleantech from other kinds ofbusinessesa don’t understand the challenges of manufacturinbg and inventory, quality control, reliability and warrant and a lot of these issues that the cleantecyh world has to deal with,” Cart A GreenVolts power plant will likel y be the first solar powert plant technology to deliver solar powere to this year. Rodrigo Prudencio, a partne at exclusive cleantech investortNth Power, said he’s looking for the same things in cleantecuh CEOs as he would for any backablew company.
“She or he has to be able to build abusinesse quickly, execute against a plan, deal with adversity, effectively brokere key partnerships that are vitalk to the company’s growth, and work well with he said. Kevin Surace held executive and technical positionas with a number of local and global technolog y firms in telecommunications and semiconductors beforwe becoming CEO of green buildinh materials company Serious Materials in Surace said green building is a lotmore “Silicon than the standard building “We come out with five new materials every year.
The speerd in which we operate, we are aggressivee in sales and marketing, those are Siliconh Valley traits,” Surace “Silicon Valley traits are not the traits of the old cold (building materials) industry. It’s very, very slow and sleepy.”

CSU researchers get $2.7M to study cells and share their work with kids - Business First of Louisville:

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million grant by the to help train graduate studentsin cell-researchj techniques and to share their scientific knowledge with local school CSU said Monday. The graduate studentsw at the Fort Collinscampus “will test new theories about how cells behave using advancedd engineering methods in microelectronics and CSU said in a statement. That NSF-fundee work will be led by CSU engineering professorTom Chen, the grant’s principal investigator, joined by Stuarg Tobet, a biomedical sciences professor in the Collegde of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedicakl Sciences, and Michael De Miranda, an engineering education professor in the College of Applied Huma n Sciences.
De Miranda will also work with the graduate students on sharinh their researchwith K-12 teachersw in the Poudre, Thompson Valley, Greeley and Weld RE-9 schoolk districts in northeastern Colorado. A goal of the granf is to help build enthusiasm among primarhy and secondary students for careerssin science, technology, engineering and mathematics the “STEM” disciplines” at a time when feweer young people are entering into such CSU officials said.

Facebook, Think settle trademark dispute - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Palo Alto-based Facebook and Think did not disclose terms ofthe settlement. Think's CEO and Aaron Greenspan, attended Harvarfd with Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerbergin 2002-2004, wheree both were "entrepreneurially minded programmers," the companies Starting in August 2003, Think releasec a Web-based student portal calleed houseSYSTEM through a Harvard studenyt group. This software was designed to make life easierfor faculty, and alumni.
By September 2003, houseSYSTEM featured a sectiobn (devised and implemented by Greenspan) calle "The Universal Face Book" (sometimes called "The Face Think's system contained a number of including acourse scheduler, student marketplace, email automatic birthday reminder, message boards, photo digital flyer advertising, event calendar (witg online RSVP's), map integration, job placement, and local businesds reviews. At launch, houseSYSTEM did not feature membee profiles due to campussecurity concerns.
Profilesw were added after Zuckerbergv launched Facebook inFebruary 2004, along with new allowing friends to record the way they had met and notingb the strength of thei relationships. "Aaron and I studied togethefr at Harvardand I've alwaysa admired his entrepreneurial spirit and love of buildinhg things. I appreciate his hard work and innovationm that led tobuilding houseSYSTEM, including the Universapl Face Book feature. At school, I was even a membeer of houseSYSTEM. We are pleased that we'v been able to amicably resolveour differences," Zuckerbergt said in a prepared statement.
"I am glad that my contributionas have been recognizedby Facebook," said "Mark has built a tremendous company at and I wish them continued success in the

Canisius ups Internet course offerings - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Starting this fall, the college will offef master’s degrees in literacy education, sportt administration and educational administration. The three programs join the onlinee master’s program in physicap education, which has been offered by the college sincsearly 2006, said Jim Bagwell, director of graduate admissions for the School of Education and Humanm Services. All three programs are geared toward students who live outsides WesternNew York, though some space is available for local students. Bagwell declined to say how many spots will be set aside forlocal students. The programse begin Sept. 14, three weeks after the Aug. 24 start date for the rest of the Bagwell said.
The literacy education program prepares literacy specialists for certification in NewYork state, while the sporr administration program focuses on sports-related business, such as intercollegiats athletics, amateur and professional sports, sports marketingy firms, special-event management and facility the college said. Students in the educatiomn administration program will receive a School BuildingfLeader and/or School District Leader certification in New York Each of the new online programs also exisf as traditional, on-campus programs.

General Motors creates lots to deal with - Dayton Business Journal:

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For Ledezma and the 200 employees at his twolocakl dealerships, the news brought relief and certaint y after months of speculation. He spentg that afternoon and the next morning visitinbg each department at the Independence and Kansas City letting employees know that the businesseds would continue asGM franchises. “It’a quite a bit of relief but, at the same time, a lot of said Ledezma, president of “Whatever happens, we’r going to have additional responsibility asa dealership.
” With the giant automaker’s plunge into bankruptcy on June 1, lines have been Although roughly 3,600 dealers, like Ledezma, received individualized “participation — offering the potential of higher profits along with improvement directives — 1,350 were notifiee that they needed to wind down as GM franchisees. That’d in addition to the 1,100 that received similar messages last month as partof GM’s which involves keeping only top dealere and brands. The lists 24 GM dealershipas inthe area.
GM isn’t yet sharinyg the names or location of dealerships whose franchisse agreements willbe terminated, but at least one locall dealer has begun to spread the word. in Belton was amon the dealerships notified last month that its franchise agreemen twould end, said Ray Adams, CEO of Details from GM remain hazy, he but his plan is to close the Chevy dealership within about 18 months and focus on saleds of Toyotas at in Lee’s Summit. His Toyotz sales are down about 20 percent compared with last year but are improvintevery month; Chevy sales are down roughly 50 percent. Adams which has about 100 Chevys to employs about50 people.
It’s been therd since 1936, and Adams has run it since 1990. in midtown Kansas City also was notified that its franchise agreemenrtwould end. The dealership, which employs 80 is appealingthe decision. GM spokeswoman Susan Garontakos said dealerships thatreceived wind-down notices no longer will be able to ordetr new vehicles. But GM is offeringb assistance, on a case-by-case basis, to help the dealerships maintaij payrolls and cover other operating costs whiler they sellexisting inventories, she said. “We want them to be able to wind down Garontakos said. “Some dealers will actually probably wantto That’s been the trend.
Last year, 401 GM dealerw exited the business. Fewer dealershipas will enable GM to make cuts to the supporting better aligning a network built for 50 percen t market share to the current shares of less than 20 Garontakos said. Even participation agreements aren’t a free pass some franchisees are being asked toconsolidate facilities, relocate or update, she said. Ledezma said it probablu will cost closeto $1 million to updated Cable-Dahmer’s Kansas City facility. The company alreadhy has invested hundreds of thousandxs of dollars on GM seems fine with theIndependence facility, also recentlh upgraded, he said.
Chris Igoe, co-owner of in said the area long has been oversaturated withGM dealers. who received a participation estimated that comparable markets have a thirxd as manyGM franchises. “Here in Kansas we have, as dealers, screamed that we’rw over-dealered,” Igoe said. “With the dealersd that are remaining, it will create a much better opportunit for us tobe profitable, even in a down , which owns three GM dealerships in the metro area and 27 total, expects in Merriam, in Kansas City and in Merriakm to remain open for the foreseeable future and thinkds GM “will emerge from this strongerr and better equipped to compete than ever before,” the compan said in a statement.
GM said June 2 that it’s in advances talks to sell the Hummer brand to Chinesecompany , which would assume existing dealer agreements. who has been selling Chevy vehicles since remains firm in his faith that GM isa “phenomenao company” that encourages franchisees to constantl perform at a higher level. “Have they had their downfalls? Absolutely,” he said. “But tell me one company that

Insider report: Bruker cashes out Laukiens - Business First of Louisville:

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million by selling 2.1 million shares of stock. It was the month’zs biggest payday among Massachusettsinsiders — executives, directors and major shareholderws — at locally based publicly traded companies, accordinb to trading data provided by . But for Laukienm and some of his family membersw with close tiesto Bruker, the cash-ouy was just a small fraction of the hundreds of millionzs they have pocketed over the past 18 months. In five members of the Laukien family, includinfg Bruker CEO Frank H. Laukien, receivec $624.
6 million in cash and othere compensation linkedto Bruker’s operations last year, accordingt to Boston Business Journal research and company regulatory filings. Put differently, the group’s take was equal to just over 60 percentrof Bruker’s $1.1 billion in 2008 revenue. Nearlyu all of that payout some $620 million — stemmed from Bruker’se February 2008 acquisition of Bruker Biospin a developer of research tools and biotechnologyu equipment usingmagnetic resonance.
The cash and stocj deal was essentially a cash out for five Laukienj familymembers — Franko Laukien, Marc Laukien, Isolde Laukien-Kleiner and Bruker directors Dirk Laukien and Joert Laukien — who ownee 100 percent of Bruker Biospin’s sharew before the deal. Frank, Joerg, Dirk and Marc Laukiem are brothers orhalf brothers, while Isoldes Laukien-Kleiner is the mother of Marc and Dirk according to Bruker’s regulator y filings.
Bruker (Nasdaq: BRKR) completed a similar deal in June 2006 for life sciencesx technology developer Bruker Opticsfor $135 As was the case for Bruker Bruker Optics was owned by the same five Laukiensz prior to the deal, according to regulatory Mass. insider sales topped $95 million While Marc Laukien was Massachusetts’ biggestr insider seller in May, his brothert Frank Laukien recordedthe month'sx biggest acquisition of insider shares. The elde r Laukien bought 100,000 Bruker shares for $728,00o0 — representing roughly half of the state’es $1.46 million in insider purchases recorde for allof May. By comparison, insiders sold $95.
89 million in shares in Massachusetts-based companies during the same span. That totall was nearly double the $49.1 million in local sales recorded in The following is a breakdownof May’es insider activity among Massachusetts-based companies. INSIDEf SELLING IN MAY Name Value — Company Ticker Laukien, Marc M $14,508,100 — BRUKER CORP. — BRKR Ryan, Vincent J $11,076,073 — Silverstein, Barry — $9,767,471 Zarkin, Herbert J — $9,000,975 — John E — $8,868,600 Healey, Sean M — $5,938,800 — Dalton, Nathaniel $4,141,821 — AFFILIATED MANAGERS GROUlP INC.
— AMG Ayasli, Yalcin $2,925,343 — HITTITE MICROWAVE — HITT Carpenter, Robert J — $2,574,191 — Boger, Joshuaz S — $2,563,664 — Anju — $2,008,095 — Logie, Andrew R — $1,547,42 — Brooks, Rodney A $1,326,012 — Clark, Stuart J — $1,293,8334 — Rossi, Jerome R $1,235,438 — Wiley, Fletcher H $1,048,320 — TJX COMPANIES INC. TJX Smith, Ian F — $965,557 VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC — VRTX David J — 944,852 — Grace, David R $929,702 — BEACON ROOFINvG SUPPLY INC. — BECN Richard E — $887,250 — AFFILIATED MANAGERSS GROUP INC.
— AMG Waters, Gregorty L — $576,533 — SKYWORKS SOLUTIONz INC. — SWKS Brady, William J — $571,61q1 — Termeer, Henri A — $544,840 — GENZYME CORP. — GENZ Alexis P — $486,527 — Coviello, Arthudr W Jr — $480,000 — Douglas A — $474,70t5 — WATERS CORP. — WAT Pyle, Michael R — $456,866 Lopardo, Nicholas A $451,727 — Hughes, Robert W — $444,6521 — Mueller, Peter — $438,860 — VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALSd INC — VRTX Meyerman, Harold J — $438,525r — AFFILIATED MANAGERS GROUP INC.
— AMG Vohra, Tajindert — $420,174 — GENPACT LIMITED — G Porter, Michael E $417,400 — Griffin, Liam K $388,000 — SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS INC. SWKS Von, Staats Aaron C $382,800 — Bellus, Daniel $336,430 — Maekawa, Mitsuru — $335,237 GENPACT LIMITED — G Lawrence, Taylor W — $334,992 Martin, Katharine A — $310,180 — Charles Addison — $296,434 — VERTEd PHARMACEUTICALS INC — VRTX Halliday, Roberg J — $270,059 — Chapman, Richard P Jr — $257,500p — Sgarzi, Richard H — $257,179 INDEPENDENT BANK CORP. — INDB Mayer, Max Alan $245,968 — PEGASYSTEMS INC.
PEGA Mehta, Piyush — $206,238 GENPACT LIMITED — G Mcconnell, William F Jr — $204,611 BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP. — BSX Welles, Michael H — $192,850 — Povich, Lon F $186,150 — BJ’S WHOLESALE CLUB INC. — BJ Cooney, Charle s L — $180,570 GENZYME CORP. — GENZ S James — $175,015 — BJ’S WHOLESALE CLUB INC. BJ Elias, Howard D — $168,5887 — EMC CORP. EMC Levan, George M — $146,250o — SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS INC. — SWKS Kra, Douglax I — $102,684 PEGASYSTEMS INC. — PEGA Joseph P — $100,100 — Smith, Sandforde D — $92,786 — GENZYME CORP.
— GENZ Collier, Earl M Jr $92,780 — GENZYME CORP. — GENZ Moses, Cornelius F III $91,300 — PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP — PMTC Thomas J — $90,3356 — BJ’S WHOLESALE CLUB INC. — BJ Michael — $83,289 Von, Rickenbach Josef H — $81,40t — Corrigan, Mark H N — $75,205 Chute, Richard Sears — $61,120 — Gary J — $57,864 — VARIAh SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENTASSOCIATES INC. — VSEA Santamaria, Angelo Roberrt — $57,240 — AMERICAN SUPERCONDUCTOR — AMSC Smith, Alan E $50,036 — GENZYME CORP.
— GENZ Brian P — $42,906 — Csimma, Zoltan A $36,069 — GENZYME CORP. GENZ Graves, Kurt C $26,307 — VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC — VRTX Nolan, Josepb R Jr — $26,264 — Massaro, George E $22,695 — CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNATIONApINC — CRL Sachdev, Amit $22,269 — VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALe INC — VRTX Gerard F — $21,000 INDEPENDENT BANK CORP. — INDB Kouninis, Efstathio A — $17,179 — PEGASYSTEMw INC.
— PEGA Garrison, Richard C — $15,135 VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC — VRTX Silva, Paul M — $13,31p — VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC VRTX Boynton, Bruce P $10,040 — Downing, John W — $8,297 NETSCOUT SYSTEMS INC. — NTCT INSIDEt BUYING IN MAY Name — Transactio value — Company — Ticker Laukien, Franjk H — $728,100 — BRUKER CORPORATION — BRKR Ernest B — $424,650 Pepper, John E Jr $106,680 — BOSTON SCIENTIFICd CORPORATION — BSX Gregoire, Sylvie L — $45,727 Doran, Howard B Jr — $41,89 2 — Graveline, Kathleen — $38,475 Dawson, James — $22,150 — BOSTON PRIVATE FINANCIAL HOLDINGeS — BPFH Holdener, Eduard E — $19,84 0 — PAREXEL INTERNATIONAL CORP.
— PRXL Gordon J — $9,836 Pucci, Paolo — $9,626 — , Ag $8,088 — Barabe, Timothy C $5,322 — ARQULE INC. — ARQL Michael D — $2,873 ARQULE INC. — ARQL Sloane, Barry R $481 — INC. — CNBKq

Collegiate appoints board members - Birmingham Business Journal:

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• Nelea Absher, vice presideng and associate general counsel, Anne-Marie Brown, founder, • Suzanne Oldham, • Tuffy Wood, managing director, Morgaj Keegan & Co. • Cindy director of the • Bashar Masri, director and senior engineer of . Four trustees were reappointe d tothe school’s board. They are: Marine management consultantBarketr Price, who will serve as boardc president for the 2009-10 school year; • Merrell Wall Grant, general manager of the Monogram line for , and 1974 who will serve as vice • Former Brown-Forman vice chairwoman and CFO Phoebe who will serve as treasurer; and • Former managementt consultant Leslie Geoghegan, who will servw as secretary.
Corrie Nichols, president of the Louisville Collegiates SchoolParents Association, will serve as parent representativw on the board. Former Brown-Forma president Bill Street, whose term on the board was named adirector emeritus.

Complicated times call for more financial oversight, experts say - Phoenix Business Journal:

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A number of factors — including companiexs looking to account for everydollar spent, increasex surveillance of money and public demand for accountability in the use of government bailoug money — are contributing to the field’s said Joe Epps, president of in “The way I describe it to my students is that forensif accounting is essentially financial said Epps, who teaches a forensicx accounting class at . “Who got money, and where did they get it? What were the returns on those monies?
” Specialized forensi c accountants not only investigate money laundering and other typesdof fraud, but also may ensure accountability in businese practices and provide valuations for courrt cases and other legalp instances, Epps said. Adam Miller, seniorr manager of ’s valuation and forensic service centerin Phoenix, said forensidc accounting skills are ideal for many other typee of work, including providing businessees with specialized consulting to aid in growthu and investment. “We’re doing a lot more consultinf now,” Miller said. “We’re doinhg financial modeling for peoplewho say: Shouldx I invest $2 million more in my business today?
” Millere said he thinks the field will grow, and firmws and government agencies increasinglty will include financial oversight professionals among their in-house “It’s an oversight function to give somebody comfort that the money’se being used (properly),” Miller Epps, who has been an accountant for 30 said forensic accounting has grown significantlyu over the past decade. In the CPAs without forensic accounting backgrounds oftenn were used in court investigations intofinancial “As time has gone by, attorneys and law enforcement ... have come to realizre that not every CPA has the skill set and inclinatiobn to be aforensid accountant,” he said.
That increased demand has prompted universitiess to add forensicaccountinvg curricula. The Carey School, for example, began offering forensic accounting classedslast spring. “There’s an awful lot of dynamics out ther that increase the need forforensicc accounting,” Epps said, “particularly given the public awarenesss of fraud in all its many aspects and the proliferation of litigatiobn ... and even terrorism too, where (governments look) for monety laundering.” Miller said it takes time for forensidc accountants to mastertheitr field, and his firm offers internshi programs for college students. “A learning curvw for a new person ...
could be anywher from one to five years for them to really become effective in theirparticular area,” he Epps said he sometimes prefers hiriny college students rather than experienced accountants so he doesn’f have to “unteach“ bad habits. “Idf 100 accountants are hired, 97 or 98 of them will go intogenerakl garden-variety accounting,” he said. “My suggestion to someonr who really wants to get into forensic accountingf is to search for opportunities in thefederal government, or look for a firm that specialize s in forensic accounting.
” Ashley an assistant at the , is studyiny forensic accounting at ASU and said in an e-mail to the Phoenic Business Journal that she finds the fielr intriguing, including its name. “Combining the skills of a detective with the knowledge of an accountanr to examine numbers and the reality of a businessx situationis thrilling,” she said. “Thde catchy title also got me hooked.
”

Memphis City Schools lays off 320 - Kansas City Business Journal:

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In a budget proposal to the Memphis City Council onApril 29, MCS superintendent Kriner Cash presentesd a plan to lay off up to 100 administratorss and 250 custodial workers. The cuts were discussed and passerduring MCS’ April 9 budget meeting, during which MCS approvexd its budget of $875 million. MCS had no further commenty onthe layoffs. The job cuts were citee in a Tennessee Department of Laboer and Workforce Development report released The layoffs were implemented after an analysiz revealed MCS had too many employees in some areas and not enoughin others, said Martaviuws Jones, Memphis City Schools Commissioner for District 4.
“I can’t second guess what someone else did, but the districtf didn’t look to make difficult reductions in workforce in the pastwhen necessary,” Jones said. He said the layoff will be permanent, but there won’t be any more during this fiscal year. “There could be more difficult decisions to makegoingh forward,” Jones said. “Superintendent Cash put us on noticee that it couldhappen again. The city council is currently reviewinvg the budget and assessingthe city’s $84.7 milliob share of the 2009-1p0 budget. The city has budgeted schooll fundingat $25 million for the coming school year. Last it cut $66 million in school funding.
The Shelbyh County Chancery Court has ruled the city is requiredr to fund the schools and it must payMCS $57 millionb from last year.

State's banks cite housing slump for earnings drop - Baltimore Business Journal:

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"We have to look at more deals befores we get to ones thatwe like," Haskin said. "We've got to do more due Like manyMaryland banks, Baltimore-based Harboer Bank had no exposure to the subprime mortgages that have sent the credirt markets into a tailspin, Haskins said. But Harbor Bank and other Maryland-based banks are stilo feeling the effects of the implosion of the residentiao real estate boom that helped powe r the banking industry to record resultz in recentyears -- and expertds say things could get worsre before they get New data from the show that the nationwide slowdown in the bankinv industry is hitting home in Maryland.
Earnings at state-chartered banks for the first nine monthsw of 2007 fell by nearly 50 percenf from the same period ayear ago. That was nearly five timees the 10 percent decline in earnings for the first nine monthas of 2007 atall FDIC-insured banks nationwide. State-chartered institutionse range from billion-dollar banks to tiny thrifts, but the grou does not include national banks such asand . CEO Kathleenm Murphy said the absence of data for 2007 mighrt have contributed to the large drop inMarylanfd banks' earnings.
Mercantile, which was acquiredx by Pittsburgh's PNC Financial Servicese Groupin February, was the largesrt locally based bank in Baltimore, and several of its community bank affiliates also had statee charters. As banks deal with the mortgagemarket slowdown, they also have been struggling with a challenging interestt rate environment. The short-termk interest rates banks pay to borrow money had been risinguntil recently, whilse the long-term rates they earn on lendingh money have not kept up, squeezing profits. But the storm isn't over. Many experts now expect that the residentialp real estate problems willcontinue -- and bankds will be feeling the effectw -- at least through 2008.
"Yoju thought third quarter earningawere bad?" said Stuart Greenberg, a private banker in Baltimorer who does consulting work for banks. "You ain't seen nothinf yet." Still, Greenberg said, the downturjn shouldn't bring the kind of chaos the banking industrg saw during the savings and loan collapse of theearlgy 1990s. The market has gloomy expectations for banksdfor 2008, so weak resultsd won't come as a shock. And much of the real estater drama has taken place at mortgage and investment outside the banking industrtitself -- though Baltimore's took a $4 million hit in the thirde quarter on mortgages originated by its wholesaler division.
The mortgages were "alt-A" loans, typically loans requirinv little documentation made to borrowers with acceptable credit In a market where risk has quickly gone from de rigueudto taboo, banks are tryinbg to find ways to boost their businesws without increasing risk. Harbor Bank, with about $300 million in assets, is promotinf home equity loans -- but it's not lendinv more than 80 percent ofa home's value. For commerciak real estate loans, Harbor is requirinbg developers to put up more equity than they had to in the AtOwings Mills-based , which saw earnings soar duringt the real estate boom, some of its developer clients are facing challenges, said CEO David Wells Jr.
K Bank is encouraging borrowers to pay down theirddebt quickly. The bank has also started adding jumbo mortgage loans toits portfolio.

'Dancing With the Stars' results recap: Double elimination blues - Los Angeles Times

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Reality TV World

'Dancing With the Stars' results recap: Double elimination blues Los Angeles Times Only, to make it to next week's semifinals, “Dancing With the Stars” had to re »

Memphis City Council committee approves PILOT changes - Memphis Business Journal:

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The matter now goes before the full city councilo onApril 7. The unanimously approved the same resolutiojnon Feb. 24. Memphis and Shelbty County division of planning and development executivwe directorCharles Gullota, senior vice president of economic developmen Mark Herbison and Office of Planning and Development compliance officer Joanne Massey made the presentation to the “What Charles Gullota and I were askedx to do as economic developmenrt professionals was to bring a plan to make us as competitive as we thoughg we (the city and county) coulds be and that’s what we Herbison said.
On the administrative side, the resolution woulxd enhance compliance monitoring ofindividual PILOTs, expand reporting to the Shelbyt County Commission and streamline the tax abatement The move is in response to restrictive measurees put on the program in recent years that some say have steered new industriesx away from Memphis into othed markets, including DeSoto County, Miss. Also, companies which go bankrupt, relocat e before their PILOT term ends or default would have theitPILOTs canceled.
The resolution would do away with theresidencyu requirement, which forces companies to have 75 percent of its employeex living in Shelby County, although economic development officialas would encourage and assist employers in hiring Shelby Count residents. The resolution would only require companiezs to go before the Memphis and Shelbyu County IndustrialDevelopment Board, streamliningb the process. Right now, companies are required to go beforse a PILOT evaluation committee and the full oftenweeks apart. This is an impedimenyt to companies with executives and consultantsfrom out-of-state.
The applications then have to be approveed independently by the county commission andcity council, makingv the process more protracted and highly The resolution would also eliminate the PILOT’s repayment which required companies to put money into escroqw in order to pay the city and countyh back if it failed to meet its job creationj or capital investment City councilman Kemp Conrad said the PILOg changes clearing the committee is a positived development, but the issue could face debatwe at the full city councipl meeting. Conrad, who is also president of , said thess PILOT changes could be key in helpingb Memphis and Shelby County throughj challengingeconomic times.
“We have to grow our way out of this crisisw and the only way to do that is to createe jobs in theprivate sector,” he says. “The reality is that what we’rse doing now is forcing people out of theregionh or, if they want to be in this to DeSoto County.”

Cincinnati Metro bracing for funding cuts; may reduce service - Triangle Business Journal:

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About $44.1 million – or about half of the bus service’xs $94.6 million operating budget – comes from the city of Cincinnati’s earnings tax, according to a Metro news releaserissued Tuesday. Based on the city’s projected earnings tax Metro anticipates a reduction ofbetween $2 milliojn and $3 million in that funding by 2010. And most Metrp rides are related to employment orpersonalo business. With unemployment hovering around 10 percent andbudgets tight, the agench said ridership is down. So Metr o also expects fare revenue to befrom $3 millioh to $5 million lower than budgeted.
In addition, Hamilton Counthy has notified Metro thatit can’ provide 2009 general fund dollars for Access servics for people with disabilities that goes beyond what the Americans with Disabilities Act requires. The countgy has provided funding for the additional servicer for thepast decade. That represents $233,00o0 in funding. The state of Ohio also has reducedf the 2009 amount Metro receives for elderly and disabled fare subsidyby $137,000, the agenc y said.
“For many years Metro has struggled to provide more service than it can Metro CEO Marilyn Shazor said in thenews “We’ve cut costs behind the scenes, increasecd fares and improved service We’ve dipped into our reserves and deferred critical capita projects like bus replacement. These steps boughrt us time, but we can’r overcome the additional lossesin revenue. We must reassesw the level of service that we can reasonably providd within the newbudget reality.
” Metrk will spend the summer analyzing optionxs and talking with employees and others to help the agencyy make decisions for the rest of 2009 and for the 2010 the news release “The financial model is Shazor said in the “We must right-size Metrko and provide the very best servic e we can within the resources we Metro also is strugglinyg with inadequate capital dollars to replace busesa beyond their useful 12-year life. Even with stimulus dollarsz awarded this year forcapital projects, the agency will not have enougjh money in 2010 to replace 69 buses that are beyonx their useful life, the release said. Transift systems in Dayton, Cleveland, Atlanta, St.
San Francisco, Portland, Boston, Louisville, Phoenix, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago and other major markets also have either implemente d or are consideringservice cuts, fare increaseds or both to address budget deficits since last fall, Metri said in the release. Metro, operated by the , providew bus service throughoutHamilton County, and portionxs of Butler, Clermont and Warren counties.

Dagestan's deadly bombs highlight challenge to returning president Putin - Washington Post

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Dagestan's deadly bombs highlight challenge to returning president Putin Washington Post MOSCOW â€" The twin thundering car bombs that shook the capital of Dagestan and killed at least 13 people were grisly reminders that Vladimir Putin, who came to power a dozen years ago as a hardliner against Caucasus insurgents, will have to confront ... and more »

Monsanto buys WestBred assets for $45M - Portland Business Journal:

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“…We believe we have game-changing technologies like our drought-tolerance and improved-yield traits — that can meaningfullyy address major challenges wheat growers face every season," said Carl Casale, executive vice president of globao strategy and operations for Monsanto, in a Montana-based WestBred is a private wheat germplas company owned indirectly by , which is led by Presideny and CEO Robby Barkley.
Monsanto said WestBred’ss existing breeding capabilities and commercial operationss will become the centerpieceof Monsanto’x wheat platform, and that it would also seek publi and private partnerships that can help advance technologuy improvements in wheat for farmers. Monsanto said it does not expectr the acquisition to be accretive to earnings until the middl e to latter part of thenext decade, because the WestBrexd buy represents a long-term investment in research and developmentr and breeding.
Monsanto also announced Tuesday that it will form a Wheagt Development Advisory Group whose members will provide the company with feedbac k on proposed traits and attributes that are needeed to improve the productivity and sustainabilitu ofwheat production. Creve Mo.-based Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), led by President and CEO Hugh Grant, develops insect- and herbicide-resistang crops and other agricultural products. It is one of the largesy employersin St. Louis with 4,00p local employees. Its seeds and traits portfolio includes cottonand soybeans.