| Mayor’s office plots $1.8B spending plan
Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration is proposing what city Budget Director Mary Patricia Waterhouse calls a "bare-bones" $1.8 billion operating budget for next year that will not raise property taxes. The budget also calls for $831.5 million in construction and other capital costs. About $265.1 million would be spent to plan, design and break ground on construction of a new mass-transit system. 2009 City Budget Operating budget: $1.8 billion Capital improvement budget: $831.5 million Revenues From property taxes: $788 million, an increase of $27.6 million from 2008. The mayor is proposing to keep property tax rates the same and offer a $100 tax credit for qualified homeowners. Spending Retirement and health benefits: $51.9 million toward paying down an estimated $1.2 billion shortfall during the next 30 years in health and other benefits for city workers Transit: $265.1 million for planning, design and construction of a mass-transit system; $4 million to continue operation of TheBoat; $31.1 million to buy 50 hybrid buses; and $1 million for bikeway improvements Sewers and garbage: $245.3 million for sewer projects; $5 million to ship garbage off island; $8 million to expand curbside recycling Roads: $77 million for repair and maintenance of city streets Police and fire: $63,000 to start up a Honolulu Police Department parks patrol; $5.5 million for 58 patrol cars, 10 motorcycles, a helicopter and other police equipment; $4.3 million for three fire engines, two ladder trucks and other fire equipment.; $1.9 million to plan and design a new East Kapolei Fire Station Housing: $7.3 million to renovate the Kulana Nani affordable rental housing project in Kaneohe and acquire the fee interest in the land; $2 million to develop the River Street Residences in Chinatown Parks: $15.6 million for parks improvements; $6.9 million for a new Asian tropical forest elephant facility at the Honolulu Zoo.
Bus driver suspended after child climbs out back window
After getting out of the bus, the boy ran to his home about four blocks away, Oaks said. "He went directly home and is with his mother," Oaks said this morning. "She was going to take the child to school." Oaks said the bus driver is required to have an aide on the bus to handle the children and a radio to communicate with the bus owner and school officials. "The driver did not stop and pick up an aid," he said. "We're also looking into why they didn't have communications on board. "Both those things are being investigated. And during the investigation, the driver is off the approved driver list." Oaks said the school system and the Knoxville Police Department are conducting the probe. The suspended driver has been on the Ridgedale School route for two weeks.
On the blog now:
In the first flush of her California victory, it seemed Clinton had a clear path to the nomination. But the picture looks different on closer examination a day later. While she was winning the dwellings of America's elite, Obama was sweeping everyplace else - Utah, Idaho, Minnesota, Illinois, North Dakota, Kansas and Colorado, many of them states with virtually no black population. And his success in Missouri, Alabama and Georgia show that he continues to dominate Southern states with their large minority populations. Why is Clinton doing so poorly in the heartland? There, away from the liberal media and establishment bias and from the coastal immigrant and Latino concentrations, she seems at a loss. Aside from her core white-women constituency, these voters are really supporting the memory of Bill's presidency more than the prospect of a Hillary administration.
Clinton makes her case to Nashville voters
I can't imagine any place I'd rather be than right here in Nashville," she said. After promising not to assault the ears of Music City with a song of her own, Clinton congratulated fellow Democrat Barack Obama on his win and thanked South Carolina voters.
"I'm not asking people to support me because I'm a woman, I'm asking them to support me because I am the best qualified person for the job," Clinton said during her half-hour stump speech, which was followed by the town-hall style forum.
Some of Clinton's biggest applause lines of the night came with her call for an end to the war in Iraq, to tie the minimum wage to Congressional pay raises and her promise to "get those two oil men out of the White House."
Tennessee, a state Clinton's husband carried twice, is one of five Southern states along with Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri that will be voting during the Super Tuesday primary on Feb.
Emaar International Jordan completes Presentation Centre for Samarah ...
Emaar is also the largest shareholder in Amlak Finance, UAE's leading Islamic home financing company. For more information, visit www.emaar.com. For further information, please contact: Kelly Home / Nivine William ASDA'A Public Relations Exclusive Affiliate of Edelman PR Worldwide in Middle East & North Africa Tel: (+971 4) 334 4550; Fax: (+971 4) 334 4556 .
Key West: A linksman's tropical paradise
Who thinks of golf when taking the pulse of life in the Lower Keys? Opened in 1924, Key West Golf Club was very much a part of the island scene when Ernest Hemingway moved into his home on Whitehead Street. But his love of sport fishing, Key West's prime recreation, gave us the aging Santiago, the youthful Manolin and not some "Old Man and the Tee."
In truth, golf is something of an afterthought in Key West, falling in line behind the sea, the sun, spring break, street theater and the madness of Duval Street. How many even know that a mere four miles from the heart of the Old Town (at MM 4), exists a tropical links redesigned by the celebrated course architect Rees Jones.
The Key West Golf Club really is the game at its laid-back best; low-handicapper or high, the locals don't seem to mind sharing a round (or a pint) with an out-of-towner.
BJ's Wholesale profit rises sharply, beats Wall Street forecast
NATICK, Mass. -- BJ's Wholesale said its fourth-quarter profit increased fourfold, beating Wall Street expectations, as the warehouse club benefited from a retail environment that's benefiting discount stores. BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. reported today that its net income rose to about $50 million, or 80 cents per share, in the three months ended Feb. 2. That is up from a profit of almost $12 million, or 18 cents per share, in the fourth quarter a year earlier. Sales rose 2 percent to $2.48 billion. The latest quarter's profit beat by 6 cents per share the consensus forecast of 74 cents a share by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Massachusetts-based BJ's cited strong January sales, favorable profit margins and lower-than-expected expenses. .
Key West: An oddball, but upscale, place in the sun
KEY WEST, Fla. — You can still see chickens crossing the road near the busy intersection of Duval and Truman. Once they might have been chased by an axe-wielding cook with a gleam in her eye. But today they are more likely to dodge tourist trolleys or shoppers weighed down with high-end fashion accessories or original works of art. .
Review: 'Second Lives' makes the virtual real
A Journey Through Virtual Worlds," an engrossing travelogue of the author's explorations in alternate gaming realities, this kind of dual life is growing in popularity with staggering speed. For instance, consider the digital world of Second Life, which allows "residents" to interact with others in a quasi-realistic landscape where players can build giant castles on their virtual land, give their avatars angel wings or jetpacks, and even start businesses that lead to real-world cash. In 2003, when the game premiered, it had 25,000 players, who paid monthly fees for access; today, it boasts more than 12 million residents. (It's so popular that the news agency Reuters has a reporter working full time in the game to sleuth out the latest virtual news.) In total, an estimated 70 million people worldwide regularly log onto enormous online game worlds like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, to do everything from hunt monsters to break dance in floating clubs.
LTO sets sights on dirty, dilapidated cars
After cracking the whip on fixers, newly installed Land Transportation Offices (LTO) chief Alberto Suansing is setting his sights on dilapidated and dirty vehicles cruising on major highways across the country. Suansing said he has directed LTO law enforcers to apprehend and issue citation tickets to drivers of dirty, dilapidated and unsightly vehicles traveling on major highways. Aside from the decrepit vehicles, the LTO is also targeting vehicles with unauthorized commemorative plates, sirens and other illegal attachments. According to an LTO insider, some motorists driving rundown cars take the risk of venturing onto highways since the fine is only P150, the same amount imposed for reckless driving, illegal overtaking, and illegal parking. The source said dilapidated vehicles pose a "major problem" since if one conks out on a busy thoroughfare such as EDSA, it could trigger massive traffic jams Some local government units that have enacted their own local traffic management code and impose a penalty of P500 or more if the motorist committed the offense in their area of jurisdiction.
this party
Sometimes an NPR show can upend your expectations and convince you that ordinary Americans can be brilliant observers and even entertainers. StoryCorps is not that show, I think. Every story I've heard on it has been lame. When do the grants run out? ... 2:51 A.M. ___________________________ Giuliani, the New Ideas Candidate? Sara Mosle recently reminded everyone of a key, overlooked moment in Giuliani's career: after his prostate cancer diagnosis, he decided to employ New York City's trademark Comp Stat policing technique to "aggressively recruit greater numbers of uninsured children for coverage under two existing government-run programs: Medicaid and Child Health Plus." Mosle--and later Sara Kershaw of the NYT--used this incident to paint Giuliani as a hypocritical candidate.
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