iwibacibem.wordpress.com
The Washington D.C.-based tradse group’s 2009 Back to School Consumed Intentions and Actions Survey found that the averaged family with students in grades kindergartej through 12 is expected tospend $548.72q on school merchandise in 2009 comparedd with $594.24 in 2008. Total back-to-schoolp spending is expected toreach $17.42 The survey, conducted for the federation by BIGresearch, found that 85 percen t of Americans are changin their back-to-school spending plans because of the economy.
Fifty-sixx percent said they would hunt for salexsmore often; 49 percent plannedc to spend less 41 percent expect to purchase more store brand or generic products and 40 percent plan to increase their use of The survey also found that families are altering broaderd educational plans for children because of the economy. Eleven percenty of respondents said their children will cut back on extracurricular activitiezs or sports and nearly 6 percent say that the economh is affecting whether their childrenj will attend a private orpublic school.
“The econom y has clearly changed the spending habits ofAmericanm families, which will likely create a difficulyt back-to-school season for retailers,” said Nationapl Retail Federation CEO Tracy Mullin. “As people focux primarily on price, strong promotions and deep discounts will ultimatelg winover back-to-school shoppers this year.” The survey predicted that spendin in most back-to-school categories would decrease, with the exception of where spending on computet equipment and other gear is expecter to increase 11 percent to $167.84. Families are expected to spends an averageof $204.67 on clothingv and accessories, $93.59 on shoes, and $82.62 on schoopl supplies.
понедельник, 2 апреля 2012 г.
суббота, 31 марта 2012 г.
Schofield rolls dice for second shot at AFL - The West Australian
houston-nearly.blogspot.com
The West Australian | Schofield rolls dice for second shot at AFL The West Australian De-listed Western Bulldogs defender Jayden Schofield will take another step towards reigniting his AFL career when he makes his WAFL debut today for East Fremantle against Claremont at East Fremantle Oval. The 19-year-old from Geraldton played seven ... |
четверг, 29 марта 2012 г.
Recession prompts big boom in the market for vegetable seeds - Business First of Louisville:
idellecromwell1991.blogspot.com
Most of the patrons of the garden’x 30 plots don’t plan anything until late spring, when they put in theire tomato plants. Usually, only four or five plan a spring crop inearluy March, as Erdley did last month, growingv lettuce, spinach and other cold-weather crops. But this 18 people planted spring crops. Those who work in the garden industr y say the recession has prompted many people to plant vegetable many of them for thefirst time, as a way to cut expensess for food.
office in Jefferson County, for has never had more requests to test soil for suitabilityh for vegetable growing than it has had this horticulture agent Donna Michael The demand has tripled from last she said. Normally, about 15 percent to 20 percent of the calls left onthe office’ws horticulture hotline relate to vegetable she said. But this spring, that has risen to about Many of the calls arefrom first-timde vegetable growers. To help meet the demand for information, Michael held five communith lectures on vegetable gardeningin March. The first one attractesd 115 people, and the next four each attractedabout 40.
Horticulture lectures normally attract about20 attendees, she “There is definite interest she said. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government runs ninecommunityu gardens, such as the one wherwe Erdley has his plots, that contain a total of 24 said Susan Hamilton, assistant director of the Louisvilled Metro Economic Development There are 438 people registered to work in the and there is a waiting list to get a plot. At , 1402 W. Main St., salee of vegetable seeds have jumped 20 percen t to 30 percent fromlast spring, said genera l manager Eugene Stratton. He said he didn’r know specific sales figures.
The company sells 95 percenyt of its vegetable seeds he said, and the gardejn centers and farm equipment dealers that make up the company’s customer base say they are seeinvg a lot of first-time gardenerse this year. In some customers have had to reorderfvegetable seeds, which is unusual, he said. Sandyg Blanford, the vegetable seed manager for , 919 E. Jefferson St., normally orders vegetable seeds only oncea year, in the But this year, she has had to reordet them three times. “It’s insane,” she “We can’t keep up.” Blanford estimatesz that demand has tripled overlast spring.
Two months ago, owner Win Bunton hired four new workera just to get orders for vegetable seeds packaged forthe company’sa customers in rural Kentucky and its Internet who order from across the country. That departmenrt normally has onlythree workers, Blanford This year, everyone wants Blue Lake Bush beans, Blanford said. The company sold out of the seeds two monthxs agoand can’t get any more because of a crop failure. Demandd for vegetable seeds always grows during a Bunton said. He thinks that well-publicize d food scares, such as salmonella in peanut also have prompted peoples to grow theirown food, some of them for the firs t time.
In a normal year, customers at , 225 Chenoweth Lane, don’t have to ask many questionse about whatto buy. “We get a lot of customersw who know whatthey want,” managerf Tim Sunkel said.
Most of the patrons of the garden’x 30 plots don’t plan anything until late spring, when they put in theire tomato plants. Usually, only four or five plan a spring crop inearluy March, as Erdley did last month, growingv lettuce, spinach and other cold-weather crops. But this 18 people planted spring crops. Those who work in the garden industr y say the recession has prompted many people to plant vegetable many of them for thefirst time, as a way to cut expensess for food.
office in Jefferson County, for has never had more requests to test soil for suitabilityh for vegetable growing than it has had this horticulture agent Donna Michael The demand has tripled from last she said. Normally, about 15 percent to 20 percent of the calls left onthe office’ws horticulture hotline relate to vegetable she said. But this spring, that has risen to about Many of the calls arefrom first-timde vegetable growers. To help meet the demand for information, Michael held five communith lectures on vegetable gardeningin March. The first one attractesd 115 people, and the next four each attractedabout 40.
Horticulture lectures normally attract about20 attendees, she “There is definite interest she said. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government runs ninecommunityu gardens, such as the one wherwe Erdley has his plots, that contain a total of 24 said Susan Hamilton, assistant director of the Louisvilled Metro Economic Development There are 438 people registered to work in the and there is a waiting list to get a plot. At , 1402 W. Main St., salee of vegetable seeds have jumped 20 percen t to 30 percent fromlast spring, said genera l manager Eugene Stratton. He said he didn’r know specific sales figures.
The company sells 95 percenyt of its vegetable seeds he said, and the gardejn centers and farm equipment dealers that make up the company’s customer base say they are seeinvg a lot of first-time gardenerse this year. In some customers have had to reorderfvegetable seeds, which is unusual, he said. Sandyg Blanford, the vegetable seed manager for , 919 E. Jefferson St., normally orders vegetable seeds only oncea year, in the But this year, she has had to reordet them three times. “It’s insane,” she “We can’t keep up.” Blanford estimatesz that demand has tripled overlast spring.
Two months ago, owner Win Bunton hired four new workera just to get orders for vegetable seeds packaged forthe company’sa customers in rural Kentucky and its Internet who order from across the country. That departmenrt normally has onlythree workers, Blanford This year, everyone wants Blue Lake Bush beans, Blanford said. The company sold out of the seeds two monthxs agoand can’t get any more because of a crop failure. Demandd for vegetable seeds always grows during a Bunton said. He thinks that well-publicize d food scares, such as salmonella in peanut also have prompted peoples to grow theirown food, some of them for the firs t time.
In a normal year, customers at , 225 Chenoweth Lane, don’t have to ask many questionse about whatto buy. “We get a lot of customersw who know whatthey want,” managerf Tim Sunkel said.
вторник, 27 марта 2012 г.
Titanic survivor's grandson hails Southampton's sea museum - BBC News
doqujamup.wordpress.com
BBC News | Titanic survivor's grandson hails Southampton's sea museum BBC News By Adam Williams BBC News Online, Southampton The grandson of a Titanic survivor was among the first visitors to Southampton's new £15m SeaCity Museum. The museum opens on 10 April, exactly a century after the Titanic set sail from the city on its ... |
воскресенье, 25 марта 2012 г.
Free buses bring Chapel Hill livability award - San Francisco Business Times:
ogarawo.wordpress.com
The home of the , Chapel Hill beat out more than 200 municipalitiew across the nation to claima first-place City Livabilitty Award. Chapel Hill won for cities with populatione of fewerthan 100,000. Charleston, S.C., won for citiess with populations of morethan 100,000. The contest was judgedf on three criteria: mayoral leadership, creativity and and the broad impac t on the quality of lifefor residents. The U.S. Conference of Mayors honored Chapel Hill for its decision in 2002 to no longefr charge fares to any rider on its bus the organization said in apress release.
Whil e many bus systems in college towns don’t charge students and facultyy to ride, a scant few provided free service to all riders. The town implemente the fare-free system to encourag e people to take the bus and leave their carsat home. The plan Ridership on Chapel Hill transit has more than doubled since fares wereeliminated – goinyg from 3 million in 2002 to a projecte d 7 million this year.
“The Chapepl Hill Public Transit system is the foundatiobn of oursustainable future,” Foy said in a press “This bus system makes Chapel Hill continue to be the kind of placed people love; for us it is an investment and it has paid off big The town says it is planningv a “community event” to celebrate the livabilityy award and that it will release detaild soon.
The home of the , Chapel Hill beat out more than 200 municipalitiew across the nation to claima first-place City Livabilitty Award. Chapel Hill won for cities with populatione of fewerthan 100,000. Charleston, S.C., won for citiess with populations of morethan 100,000. The contest was judgedf on three criteria: mayoral leadership, creativity and and the broad impac t on the quality of lifefor residents. The U.S. Conference of Mayors honored Chapel Hill for its decision in 2002 to no longefr charge fares to any rider on its bus the organization said in apress release.
Whil e many bus systems in college towns don’t charge students and facultyy to ride, a scant few provided free service to all riders. The town implemente the fare-free system to encourag e people to take the bus and leave their carsat home. The plan Ridership on Chapel Hill transit has more than doubled since fares wereeliminated – goinyg from 3 million in 2002 to a projecte d 7 million this year.
“The Chapepl Hill Public Transit system is the foundatiobn of oursustainable future,” Foy said in a press “This bus system makes Chapel Hill continue to be the kind of placed people love; for us it is an investment and it has paid off big The town says it is planningv a “community event” to celebrate the livabilityy award and that it will release detaild soon.
пятница, 23 марта 2012 г.
Audit challenges medical costs, urges transparency - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
mozybyd.wordpress.com
They could cut their costs if workersx were able to compare rates charged by health care theaudit said. The audit can provide some valuabl e insights for otheremployers because, similar to many larg e private-sector companies, the county self-insures its healt plans, assuming the risk of medicao costs, and hires a third-party administratore to process the claims. “Employers are spendint money blindly. They just don’t know it,” said Ed Dillaboughg of , a St. Petersburg firm that consulted onthe audit. “Ic you keep everyone in the the cost of health carekeeps rising. When you get informationm on qualityand costs, you can make a betterd decision.
” Dillabough said it’s not unusual to see a range of several thousand dollars for the same medical procedures at different health care facilities. That was the case in the PinellasaCounty audit, which looked at facility charges for several outpatieng procedures, such as outpatient colonoscop rates that ranged from $419 to The rates came from a competitor because , the county’s third-partt administrator, does not publicly disclosed specific information about contracted rates, the audit said.
The county’e internal audit division recommended the human resources department make rates more transparenyt by amending its agreement with United Healtbh Care so it would publish contracted Other recommendations were toidentify “economy providers” of care and to contract with an outside agency to help workerss compare physicians and medical facilities. United Healtuh Care already provides online cost estimators and a Nurselin to help members getcost information, but the staff “will actively work to implementg as many tools as possible,” a responsr from the HR department said.
The HR departmentt response also said United Health Care hasa “premiuk provider designation” that ratezs both cost and effectiveness of treatment. “Whild procedure cost is important, positive clinicao outcomes have a greater impact on totalp plan cost and employee health and productivity over the HRresponse said. Auditorxs said lower cost providers may providee better care than highercost providers. Doctors who do more procedures make fewer mistakes and often charge lessper procedure, said Jon who is Dillabough’s partner in Delphij of Florida Inc., a firm that has a medical advocate prograkm that provides quality and cost information.
The Pinellas County audit also identifiednearly $550,000 in claimzs that it said were improperly paid by United Health including about $250,000 in claimse that were paid long after the medical service was incurred. The county’s contracf with United Health Care does not limitt the time frame in which claims can be theaudit said. The industry standarr is to pay claims withib six to 12 months and the count could save upto $350,00 0 a year by stating claims must be submitted within 15 the audit said. United Health Care, part of the UNH), has agreed with auditorsw that $168,633 in claims should not have been but $381,212 in claims remains in dispute.
The county and Unite Health Care are in discussionw about thedisputed claims, said Roberf Melton, chief deputy director of the county’sd internal audit division. United Healtj Care declined to address the specificws of the county audit but said in a writteb response that it works closelu with its customers to ensure claims fortheidr employees’ medical expenses are paid accurately and on time. “Wes have made a number of enhancementsw to our claimsprocessing systems, and as a resultt UnitedHealthcare’s dollar accuracy rate on claims paid was 99.5 percenft for the first quarter of 2009,” the statement said.
They could cut their costs if workersx were able to compare rates charged by health care theaudit said. The audit can provide some valuabl e insights for otheremployers because, similar to many larg e private-sector companies, the county self-insures its healt plans, assuming the risk of medicao costs, and hires a third-party administratore to process the claims. “Employers are spendint money blindly. They just don’t know it,” said Ed Dillaboughg of , a St. Petersburg firm that consulted onthe audit. “Ic you keep everyone in the the cost of health carekeeps rising. When you get informationm on qualityand costs, you can make a betterd decision.
” Dillabough said it’s not unusual to see a range of several thousand dollars for the same medical procedures at different health care facilities. That was the case in the PinellasaCounty audit, which looked at facility charges for several outpatieng procedures, such as outpatient colonoscop rates that ranged from $419 to The rates came from a competitor because , the county’s third-partt administrator, does not publicly disclosed specific information about contracted rates, the audit said.
The county’e internal audit division recommended the human resources department make rates more transparenyt by amending its agreement with United Healtbh Care so it would publish contracted Other recommendations were toidentify “economy providers” of care and to contract with an outside agency to help workerss compare physicians and medical facilities. United Healtuh Care already provides online cost estimators and a Nurselin to help members getcost information, but the staff “will actively work to implementg as many tools as possible,” a responsr from the HR department said.
The HR departmentt response also said United Health Care hasa “premiuk provider designation” that ratezs both cost and effectiveness of treatment. “Whild procedure cost is important, positive clinicao outcomes have a greater impact on totalp plan cost and employee health and productivity over the HRresponse said. Auditorxs said lower cost providers may providee better care than highercost providers. Doctors who do more procedures make fewer mistakes and often charge lessper procedure, said Jon who is Dillabough’s partner in Delphij of Florida Inc., a firm that has a medical advocate prograkm that provides quality and cost information.
The Pinellas County audit also identifiednearly $550,000 in claimzs that it said were improperly paid by United Health including about $250,000 in claimse that were paid long after the medical service was incurred. The county’s contracf with United Health Care does not limitt the time frame in which claims can be theaudit said. The industry standarr is to pay claims withib six to 12 months and the count could save upto $350,00 0 a year by stating claims must be submitted within 15 the audit said. United Health Care, part of the UNH), has agreed with auditorsw that $168,633 in claims should not have been but $381,212 in claims remains in dispute.
The county and Unite Health Care are in discussionw about thedisputed claims, said Roberf Melton, chief deputy director of the county’sd internal audit division. United Healtj Care declined to address the specificws of the county audit but said in a writteb response that it works closelu with its customers to ensure claims fortheidr employees’ medical expenses are paid accurately and on time. “Wes have made a number of enhancementsw to our claimsprocessing systems, and as a resultt UnitedHealthcare’s dollar accuracy rate on claims paid was 99.5 percenft for the first quarter of 2009,” the statement said.
среда, 21 марта 2012 г.
Eventbrite brings Square-like reader to event ticketing - CNET
zemlyanikiyri.blogspot.com
VentureBeat | Eventbrite brings Square-like reader to event ticketing CNET Picking up where Square (and possibly PayPal) left off, the increasingly popular ticketing company Eventbrite said today it is releasing a payments dongle for iPad that could make it simple for event organizers to quickly sell tickets and merchandise. Now Eventbrite 's Got A Square-Killer, Too Eventbrite Launches iPad Credit-Card Reader At The Door: A Lost Opportunity ... Eventbrite Builds its Own iPad Card Reader |
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