real-estate

Auction Sales Keep Going, Going, Going Up

March 15, 2012

One of the clear winners so far in the post Great Recession market are commercial real estate auctioneers. The dollar volume of CRE properties sold via auction jumped 33% from 2010 through 2011. Auction sales, excluding non-arms length foreclosures, jumped from $2.52 billion in 2010 to $3.35 billion, according to data from CoStar COMPs. It should be noted that these numbers may under-report the amount and volume of auction-based sales activity…

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Facing Wave of Maturities, More Banks Expected To Sell Non-Performing Loans in 2012

March 15, 2012

After years of slim pickings as many banks opted to extend non-performing loans (NPL) to CRE owners, investors are finally enjoying an uptick in opportunities for acquiring distress commercial real estate assets, according to the latest Ernst & Young U.S. nonperforming loan survey, At the crossroads: Ernst & Young 2012 real estate nonperforming loan investor survey. Improving bank earnings and declining loan loss reserves, coupled with the sheer…

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Bill Marriott Talks Leading The Hotel Giant For 40 Years

March 14, 2012

BETHESDA, Md. — Bill Marriott has revolutionized the hotel business over the past four decades. As CEO of the company that bears his family’s name, Marriott led the industry in opening hotels next door to highway exits and suburban office parks. He was also a pioneer in catering to niche markets. In 1983, he launched Courtyard, a chain for cost-conscious business travelers. Today, Marriott has 18 brands, including Fairfield Inn for budget travelers and Ritz-Carlton for the luxury set. But perhaps Marriott’s biggest innovation was his decision to transform the company into one that manages – but does not own – its properties. That left the company a steady stream of revenue but little exposure to fluctuating real estate values and vacancy rates. Marriott turns 80 on March 25 and plans to step down as CEO at the end of the month. But this is no ordinary retirement. He’ll remain chairman of Marriott’s board of directors and will have considerable power over the company through his 10 percent equity stake, which is worth $1.2 billion. Marriott will spend more time on vacation, yet he plans to work 45 to 50 hours a week when home in Maryland, where the company is based. “My wife said she married me for better or worse, but not for lunch,” he says. Marriott International traces its roots to 1927, when John Willard Marriott and Alice Sheets Marriott opened a nine-stool root beer stand in Washington D.C. It grew into a popular restaurant chain called Hot Shoppes. Over time, the company expanded. It got into airline catering, the cruise ship business and took over the Big Boy and Roy Rogers restaurant chains. In 1957, the couple opened their first hotel – the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Va. But it was their son Bill who transformed the company into a global hotel giant. Today there are 3,718 Marriott hotels in 73 countries. The company’s other businesses have been sold. Marriott visits more than 250 of the company’s hotels annually, inspecting rooms, kitchens and banquet halls. He also takes note of how employees interact: do managers need to look at employee nametags to tell who they are? There is often evidence during these visits of last-minute touch ups to impress the boss. That is why Marriott always carries some paint remover. “They know I’m coming,” he says. “They paint everything they can get their hands on.” Marriott sat down with The Associated Press in his office and discussed the need for more light in hotel bathrooms, what Mitt Romney needs to do to win the presidency and why it is time to remove pornography from hotel rooms. Below are excerpts, edited for length and clarity. Q: Your first job was at one of your family’s Hot Shoppes while a student at the University of Utah. What was that like? A: That was my first real exposure to the business. I worked the grill, cooking hamburgers. I worked the deep-fat fryer, cooking French fries. I learned that I liked the pace of the business. I was excited about the fact that we were always busy. Q: You then spent two years in the Navy. You had a disagreement with some longtime Navy chefs you were supervising regarding meatloaf. What did that teach you? A: I gave them a recipe and said, `You’re making lousy meatloaf. Make some good meatloaf.’ They wouldn’t do it. If I had gone to them and said, `How can we make better meatloaf?’ I would have been more successful. Q: Your father didn’t want to expand the hotel business. But you convinced him to build other hotels and let you run the operation. How did you do that? A: We started out with one hotel and it wasn’t doing well, so I asked my dad if he’d let me take over the supervision. He liked hotels. He did not like debt and it was very hard to convince him that if we wanted to have a hotel chain, we couldn’t do it without somebody else’s money. Q: Do you ever regret the decision to take the company public? A: No. I’ve thought about that a lot. We would not have been able to grow the company if we had kept it private. The family just couldn’t have tolerated the amount of debt that would take. Q: Today, the company has $2.2 billion in debt. Does that ever worry you? A: No, because we get over $1 billion a year in cash. If the economy tanked, (the) cash flow is pretty stable. Most of it’s coming from management fees and that comes off the top. Q: Republican presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney was named after your father, J. Willard Marriott. He sat twice on the Marriott board and your family has made significant contributions to his campaign. What’s his biggest obstacle to becoming president? A: His message is too complicated. He says: I have a 59-point economic policy. My response: People aren’t going to listen to 59 points. They want 9-9-9. And he says: Well, I don’t want 9-9-9. I said: I know but you really need to simplify your message and repeat it, repeat it, repeat it and don’t wander off. Q: How important should a candidate’s religion be? A: It’s important that the candidate be a person of strong moral character. They should be true to their beliefs, whether it’s Protestant, born-again, Mormon, Jewish. There should be separation from church and state. When Kennedy was running, they didn’t want the pope to tell Jack Kennedy what to do. We don’t want the president of the Mormon church telling Mitt Romney what to do. If he’s president, he won’t. The Church is totally hands-off, politically. We want the country to understand that a Mormon in the White House is going to be just as effective as anybody else. Q: You are a very active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How do you balance your religious beliefs with some of the desires of your guests? A: I’ve always been concerned about (pornographic) movies in rooms. In the next three or four years, we won’t have any more of those. That’s something we’ve had a real problem with because the Church is very, very opposed to pornography, as it should be, and we are for families. But the owners of our hotels were making a lot of money. In fact, the only movies that make any money are pornography. Q: What led to that decision? A: It was the right thing to do. The other side of it is if they want that stuff, they can get on the computer. So, the demand for them has gone way down. It was a good time to exit. Q: What do you look for when touring a Marriott hotel? A: Happy employees. I look to make sure that the hotel’s properly maintained, that it’s clean. Every now and then I’ll taste the food. Q: What’s your biggest complaint while staying at a hotel? A: I want a quiet room. Q: What are hotels going to look like in five years? A: Bathrooms are going to open more into the rooms because people want light. We’re thinking of a glass wall. You could flip a switch and the glass becomes opaque; flip the switch it goes clear. We’re going to full floor-to-ceiling windows wherever we can so when you pull the curtains back, you just don’t look through a small window. You’ll see the whole world. Q: Did Marriott miss out on catering to younger, affluent travelers seeking boutique-style hotels? A: Oh, yeah, we definitely did. That’s why we’ve got $800 million to launch the Edition brand. That’s the next great opportunity. We didn’t miss the window. We’re just slow getting there. Q: Arne Sorenson will be the third CEO in the company’s 85-year-history and the first one not named Marriott. How does it feel to turn over the reins to somebody outside your family? A: He came to work here 15 years ago and he’s done everything. He’s a very good person, a great family guy and very capable. He understands the culture, accepts it and buys into it. Q: What is that culture? A: It’s very important that our employees feel good about the job, feel good about the boss and feel good about the company. Q: Do you think there’ll ever be a day where one of your children or grandchildren takes over as CEO? A: We’ll let Arne run the thing for a while before I go down that road, but I would hope some time, maybe, they would be. ____

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BAM Backs Perot With $400M Joint Venture Targeting Industrial Real Estate Investment

March 14, 2012

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) formed a joint venture with Hillwood, the Dallas-based real estate investment and development firm owned by Ross Perot, Jr., to acquire, develop and manage industrial property across the U.S. Backed by an equity commitment of $400 million, the venture could deploy up to $1 billion buying up industrial property within three years, principally large warehouses. Hillwood will be tasked with selecting suitable…

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Real Estate Deals A Double Blow To Small Businesses

March 13, 2012

Randy Truckenbrodt has just as many headaches as he does properties. The co-owner of Randall Industries, an Elmhurst, Ill.-based company that rents and sells construction equipment , has spent more than 20 years acquiring personal, investment and business real estate, including a home in Indian Head Park, Ill., an investment property in New Buffalo, Mich., two small farms in Lockport, Ill., and three business properties in Florida. This growing empire has become not an asset but a drag on his business as many of these properties are now underwater, with some vacant and others tied up in major disputes with banks. Like many small-business owners, Truckenbrodt has used his properties to leverage his business, and since his assets have lost value, he’s unable to rent them out to raise money for his business. “What affects me personally affects the company,” Truckenbrodt said. In recent years his company’s employee count has dropped from 195 to about 115. The proceeds from his Florida business property rentals have declined from $15 million in revenue four years ago to $3.5 million. Entrepreneurs like Truckenbrodt who own small businesses and real estate may be suffering from a one-two punch following the Great Recession, with declines in both their companies’ income and their real estate’s value. Many of these small-business owners might experience financial difficulty until the real estate market recovers. And this involves a large majority of entrepreneurs. About 92 percent of small-business owners own some form of real estate, according to a study last month by the National Federation of Independent Business . About 89 percent of small-business owners own a home, while more than 20 percent own their place of business and 35 percent own investment properties, according to William J. Dennis, a senior research fellow at the federation and author of the report. “What [entrepreneurs] have frequently done in the past is either mortgaged the proceeds and put that back into the business or collateralized it for business purposes,” Dennis said. “When the housing market fell apart … they took a huge nosedive. They lose an enormous amount of value, which means not only can’t they borrow on it, but there’s also a wealth effect, in that you tend not to spend when you don’t think you have anything to back it up.” Truckenbrodt is feeling the pain. “Instead of investing in my business, I’m doing everything I can to pay debts down,” he said. “I used to leverage [these properties] for business, and now I’m just trying to get out of the grasp of these banks.” Their grip has tightened as Truckenbrodt has tried to get a new mortgage on his home and keep up with his existing property loans through the recession. Though he previously owned his home outright, he wanted to take out a new mortgage but was turned down as a result of his company’s losses. “They almost do a strip search to get a loan approved on a mortgage,” Truckenbrodt said. “It’s unbelievable the information they’re asking when you think just a few short years ago, people were walking in off the streets with virtually no verification of employment. It’s gone totally in the other direction.” And the decline in real estate value and demand pose a huge burden. Truckenbrodt’s commercial buildings were assessed at half the amount he bought them for four years ago. “We have an empty building,” he said. “There are empty buildings everywhere.” Perhaps the most frustrating situation Truckenbrodt has encountered was when a bank wanted to charge him $85,000 in fees for a fairly standard loan covenant waiver and, when he balked, said it would raise the interest rate to 13 percent on his $5.5 million loan instead. Though the bank eventually backed down, Truckenbrodt claims that being a business owner who meets his financial obligations in a punishing real estate market is a challenge. “The banks are coming in and whacking anyone who can pay their bills. If you can show any hint of staying power, they’re going to come after you, raise your rates, try to hit you with penalties,” he said. “Banks have seen a lot of pressure from the regulators to address underperforming or underwater loans,” said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade association representing 100 of the largest financial services firms. That pressure from regulators is part of the reason why banks are toughening their standards, he said. “The reality is real estate, whether it’s your home — or the land on which your business is built — has declined, and this decrease in assets makes it harder to get access to credit,” Talbott said. “Financial services firms are working harder to help homeowners and business owners deal with the decrease in real estate, primarily through loan modifications.” When it comes to helping small businesses recover fully, politicians and bankers need to look at broader economic issues raised by the recession, said Dennis of the National Federation of Independent Business. “This is all tied together, and any single-minded approach really misses the point.”

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Occupy Wall Street’s Money Woes

March 12, 2012

Yesterday, NY1 brought our attention to the news that New York’s Occupy Wall Street appears to be tight on funds, findings based on on a weekly report for March 2 posted on the New York General Assembly’s website.

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Which Locals Made The Forbes Billionaires List?

March 11, 2012

On Wednesday, Forbes released its annual World’s Billionaires list — one of the most anticipated rankings of the year. According to Forbes, there are currently 1,226 billionaires in the world: a staggering all-time high. The players come from 58 countries across the globe, but the San Francisco Bay Area (including Silicon Valley) makes up a rich slice of the pie. Coming in at number six is our own Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder and man who brought America’s Cup to San Francisco. Not far behind are Google titans Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Gordon Getty of San Francisco royalty, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (though we’re more excited to see where Zuck lands next year after Facebook goes public) and dozens more. Check out a few of our favorite local faces who landed on the list this year in the slideshow below:

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PHOTOS: Check Out Our Local Billionaires

March 9, 2012

On Wednesday, Forbes released its annual World’s Billionaires list — one of the most anticipated rankings of the year. According to Forbes, there are currently 1,226 billionaires in the world: a staggering all-time high. The players come from 58 countries across the globe, but the San Francisco Bay Area (including Silicon Valley) makes up a rich slice of the pie. Coming in at number six is our own Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder and man who brought America’s Cup to San Francisco. Not far behind are Google titans Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Gordon Getty of San Francisco royalty, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (though we’re more excited to see where Zuck lands next year after Facebook goes public) and dozens more. Check out a few of our favorite local faces who landed on the list this year in the slideshow below:

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PHOTO: Now There’s Jeremy Lin Weed, Too

March 9, 2012

Linsanity has a new, and decidedly Californian, incarnation. The rapper Stalley woke up this morning to a new strain of marijuana called Linsanity OG, tweeting a picture of the bud for the whole world to see. It appears he and Rick Ross went shopping together. We’re unfamiliar with marijuana shops in LA (maybe HuffPost LA can help us out here), but it appears (looking at the label) that a gram of this stuff goes for $60, or $21,520 less than a Jeremy Lin rookie card on EBay. Jeremy Lin himself would be unlikely to condone his new namesake, but we won’t ask him. He needs to be concentrating on basketball right now. For all our Californian friends, may we also recommend Taste The Linsanity ice cream, certain to pair well for when you get some Lintense munchies.

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Hamtramck Fires City Manager, As Payless Paydays Loom

March 8, 2012

Hamtramck City Council voted to fire City Manager William Cooper Wednesday, following a distressing financial report he issued warning of impending payless paydays. After a contentious debate, Mayor Karen Majewski cast the decisive vote to fire Cooper , WXYZ reports. In a memo circulated Tuesday, Cooper reported reduced tax revenues of $600,000 per year from American Axle and $1 million per year lost from the General Motors Pole Town plant , as well as declining property taxes. In late February, auto parts supplier American Axle laid off 300 blue-collar workers from its manufacturing plant on Holbrook and I-75 , which it plans to close permanently. Hamtramck must raise $500,000 by the end of the month or see payless paydays as early as March 28 , according to WXYZ. The city now faces a total budget shortfall of $2 million , according to WDIV, putting it at risk for a state takeover and the appointment of an emergency manager. This would not be Hamtramck’s first brush with financial crisis or state receivership. Hamtramck considered filing for bankruptcy in 2010 , but its efforts were rebuffed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration. During another financial crisis in 2000, Gov. John Engler appointed Louis Schimmel as the city’s emergency financial manager , a position he held for six years. Schimmel is currently the emergency manager of Pontiac.

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Banks Returning to CRE Lending via Multifamily, Owner-Occupied Properties

March 8, 2012

It’s not a big hook to hang a hat on, but the small increase in some commercial real estate loan balances on bank books at the end of the year serves as yet another indication of thawing lending markets for property investors. Overall loan balances on bank books posted their largest real growth in four years, according to year-end numbers released this past week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). As far as CRE lending goes, it was…

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Biotech, Lab Property Owners Holding Their Own Despite Shifting Landscape for Tenants

March 8, 2012

Big changes are roiling U.S. biotechnology and life sciences companies — and by extension the real estate owners that rent them with lab, R&D and manufacturing space — with pressures from global markets and regulatory and economic uncertainty causing tenants to rethink their property footprints and expansion plans, and even downsize in some cases. While the changes over the last five years have inevitably created volatile market conditions for…

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Meet Michigan’s Billionaires

March 7, 2012

On Forbes list of 2012′s worldwide billionaires , released Wednesday, Michiganders took only 11 of the record 1,226 spots. None of the Michiganders’ net worth came near the double-digit billions of the top dogs, but their combined net worth of $21.4 billion is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, it’s more than 100 times Detroit’s deficit — not that we’re suggesting anything. Two local billionaires on the list have been to lock-up, at least two are college dropouts and one is a former race-car driver. Others made their fortunes from pizza, malls and medical equipment. And Michigan’s top billionaire comes in as the 205th richest man in the world. It’s an intriguing list, if not quite a roadmap to riches. Find out who made the cut below, and see how they stack up against all the world’s billionaires in the Forbes gallery .

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Ron Gitter: Let’s Get Busy: March Madness of Another Kind Arrives

March 7, 2012

Dispatches from the Desert Doing my best to enjoy a vacation in Scottsdale, it did not surprise me to read Noah Rosenblatt’s March 2 post on Urbandigs , in which he reported that contract signings in February were the highest since 2008. Dodging emails, scans, phones and faxes the entire time I was away, it was clear to me that Manhattan deal activity continues to increase. Since old habits die hard, with increased volume, there is a certain deal madness rapidly returning that has been dormant for the past 36 months. Brokers seem perturbed at purchasers who attempt to live the lessons learned from the real estate meltdown, by not buying apartments with financial baggage and other problems. Multiple bids are welcomed back and there is a false urgency once again to all things real estate. There’s no question that it’s been a rough patch for both sellers and their agents, so a feeding frenzy at the deal trough is understandable. Annoying, but understandable. Memo to Buyers: Do Your Homework and Stay the Course Notwithstanding election craziness and world affairs that could change local real estate economics in a 24-hour news cycle, all signs point to improving conditions and greater pressure to get deals done faster. Buyers are well advised to avoid all the pre-2008 bad habits that often resulted in limited or rushed due diligence in order not to lose the apartment. Transaction Reality Check… Accordingly, here is a 2012 checklist for all you eager buyers: Bulk Up on Banking — Make sure you have the right lender for your purchase. With co-op and condo underwriting front and center with all lenders for the immediately foreseeable future, it is imperative that you research your lender’s history with the co-op or condo being considered. Mortgage and funding contingencies are essential in almost all transactions. No matter how much you want the apartment, don’t rationalize going forward without financing contingency protection. Finesse the Finances — Increasing carrying costs for co-ops and condos will be a big issue in the coming years and will greatly impact the salability of apartments over the course of this decade. Buyers are well advised to research the physical and financial wherewithal of their proposed homes, as uncontrollable line items such as real estate taxes and fuel expense will be driving monthly carrying costs in only one direction — skyward. Low reserves and required capital improvements are a recipe for recurring assessments and impediments to marketing the apartment for sale. Manage the Managing Agent — One of my clients was recently required to pay $175 for the privilege of submitting a “customized questionnaire.” Translation: you have to pay for the managing agent to answer questions that go beyond the generic information provided on the building questionnaire. Ironically, the purchased answers from the property manager included a number of “I’m not sures” and I don’t knows.” As they say on SNL , “Really?” For a variety of reasons, completing due diligence for the buyer has become more difficult than ever at a time when it has become more necessary than ever. Although getting accurate information on the building can be like pulling teeth sans Novocain, buyers should not go forward with a proposed purchase, if due diligence questions are not answered to their reasonable satisfaction. Know Thy Sponsor — As discussed recently with Jill Urban of NY1 , a new construction purchase can be fraught with hidden risks for the uninitiated. The deck is stacked against the buyer, with liability of the sponsor greatly limited after the purchase is completed. I can’t emphasize strongly enough that a buyer must research the track record of the sponsor and all potential risks as outlined in the offering plan. Residential Reality: Measure Twice, Cut Once… With the spring selling season around the corner, if March contract signings equal or exceed those in February, things could get pretty crazy around here. But let’s look forward to a good crazy.

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SLIDESHOW: The Top 15 Of NY’s 66 Billionaires

March 7, 2012

Forbes has created a massive database of the world’s billionaires , and one nifty feature allows you to search by state to see just how rich some of your neighbors are. New York state counts 66 billionaires among its residents, a whopping 51 of whom live right here in the Big Apple. Below are the top 15 wealthiest people in the Empire State and their net worths (and if any of these gentlemen are your uncle, let us know! We could really use a new helipad at the HuffPost New York headquarters). For the full, staggering list, head over to Forbes .

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Camp David G-8 Summit Puts Md. Town On Alert

March 7, 2012

THURMONT, Md. — The upcoming G-8 economic summit at Camp David has put the neighboring town of Thurmont on alert for international dignitaries, big-name journalists – and protesters. Officials in the town of 6,200 about an hour north of Washington say it’s exciting when global events bring international visitors. But they’re a little nervous about the prospect of large-scale protests in and around their community May 18-19. Activists have been tweeting about camping in nearby Cunningham Falls State Park. But park officials say they haven’t seen a rush for reservations since the White House announced on Monday it was moving the meeting from Chicago. At least one protest group, the United National Antiwar Coalition, says it’s staying focused on Chicago, where a NATO summit is planned two days later.

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Defensive Leasing Strategy Helps Aussie REIT Dodge First Refi Bullet

March 7, 2012

With an $87.6 million loan coming due this August, Sydney, Australia-based Real Estate Capital Partners USA Property Trust may have dodged a refinancing bullet on a two-building complex in Bedford, MA, but may still take a hit on a separate office campus in Parsippany, NJ. Real Estate Capital Partners USA signed RSA Security to a 328,232-square-foot, 12-year lease renewal in the two buildings at 174 and 176 Middlesex Turnpike (Bldgs 3 and 4) in…

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In The Pipeline: CoStar Development & Construction News for March 4 – 11

March 6, 2012

In The Pipeline is a column on significant acquisitions of commercial land for sale , and other transactions and trends affecting office, industrial, flex, multifamily, mixed-use, hotel and public works developers. Send us news leads about your new commercial real estate project — and sign up to be added to our distribution list to receive future In the Pipeline columns by e-mail. Old Wholey’s ‘Fish’ Building Slated For Conversion to Office…

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OH NO: Occupy Oakland Protesters Face Hate Crime, Robbery Charges

March 5, 2012

Between the violent police battles , the Recall Mayor Quan petition and the seething community reaction , the relationship between the Occupy movement and the City of Oakland has been a bit heated. And now, as three occupy protesters face charges for robbery and a hate crime stemming from an incident at last week’s Occupy Oakland protest, that relationship is nearly boiling. At Friday’s protest, three Occupy Oaklanders — Michael Davis, 32, Nneka Crawford, 23, and Randolph Wilkins, 24 — were arrested when a woman not associated with the protest alleged that they attacked her, stole her wallet and made hateful comments about her sexuality. According to a statement from the Oakland Police Department, the victim claimed that she encountered a group of protesters in front of a Wells Fargo bank on 40th Street in Oakland. Allegedly, she criticized the protesters, and told them not to riot in her neighborhood, when she was attacked by Davis, Crawford and Wilkins. “She was surrounded by three protesters and battered as they yelled vulgar epithets regarding their perception of her sexual orientation,” said Oakland Police Spokeswoman Johnna Watson in a statement. Davis, Crawford and Wilkins have been charged with robbery and hate crime, and according to the San Jose Mercury News , are being held bails of about $100,000 each. “In the department we have zero tolerance for hate crimes,” said lead investigator Sergeant Randy Wingate in the statement. In a post on the group’s website , Occupy Oakland denounced the charges, claiming that they are merely part of a smear campaign by the District Attorney and the Oakland Police Department: Rally in support of 3 Occupy Oaklanders facing false and outrageously inflated charges as part of the DA & OPD’s campaign of collusion to target and repress Occupy Oakland. Three Occupy Oaklanders were arrested last week on charges stemming from an alleged stolen wallet. This alleged incident has promped the DA to pursue felong robbery and hate crime charges against these individuals, who are now being held in custody with bails exceeding $100,000 each. On Monday, March 5, 2012, Occupy Oakland will descend upon the courthouse to protest this gross manipulation of the “justice” system to target members of our movement. We will also be holding a celebration to honor the birthday of one of these jailed occupiers. Monday’s protest coincided with a statewide Occupy Education protest being hosted at the state capital. On Monday morning, several thousands students and protesters marched through Sacramento to the state capital to protest the rising costs of tuition and the privatization of education . According to the Los Angeles Times , activist and former White House Green Energy Advisor Van Jones spoke to the crowd. “All you want is a chance,” he said. “You’re not asking for charity.”

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Supreme Court Looking At NY Rent Control

March 5, 2012

Do you still think it’s totally unfair that that West Village dude pays $331.76 a month for that beautiful four-bedroom apartment ? Well, it turns out the United States Supreme Court understands how you feel (that is, unless you are paying $331.76 a month for a beautiful four-bedroom apartment). The highest court in the land is at long last taking a look ( PDF ) at New York rent control. As we wrote before, Upper West Siders James and Jeanne Harmon are required to charge 60 percent less than the market price for 3 of the 6 tenants at their 32 West 76th Street brownstone. One tenant, Nancy Wing Lombardi, pays only $1,000 for her one-bedroom apartment, even though she also owns a house in the Hamptons . She’s lived in the Harmon’s building since 1976. The Harmons filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the rent regulation law. It lost in U.S. District Court and the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but now the US Supreme Court is interested and has asked that New York City and the state of New York have briefs stating their position on the issue prepared Monday. “Contrary to popular myth, the rent stabilization law is not targeted to help the needy,” the Harmons said in their Supreme Court petition, according to The Wall Street Journal . “The Harmons effectively have been financing the approximately $1,500 monthly mortgage payments on the Long Island home of one of their rent stabilized tenants.” And James Harmon told the Daily News in January, “The issue is whether the Constitution allows the government to force someone to take strangers into their home and to subsidize them for the rest of their lives.” The constitutional debate surrounding rent control revolves around the ” takings clause ” of the 5th amendment which reads, “No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Whereas rent-stabilization does provide housing for the poor and needy in New York, it also gives devilishly good deals on apartments to people who could afford them anyway (hi, Faye Dunaway !) . From The Wall Street Journal : Andrew Scherer, a Columbia University scholar and landlord-tenant expert who supports the regulations, called it “an imperfect system.” But he added: “Unless we’re going to replace it with something that directly addresses the enormous need for affordable housing, we have to live with it and make the best of it.” Mr. Scherer said the Supreme Court’s interest in the case was “surprising.” “I thought this was a well-settled question of law for the better part of the century,” he said. About 50 percent of New York’s rental market is affected by rent control or rent stabilization. There are about one million affordable housing units in the city.

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Ex-Wrestling Exec Taps Big Donors For Senate Bid

March 5, 2012

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon is counting heavily on supporters from affluent Greenwich in her Senate bid, collecting more than 40 percent of itemized campaign contributions from donors with ties to her adopted Connecticut hometown. McMahon, a Republican who lost the 2010 Senate race to Democrat Richard Blumenthal, vowed to make fundraising a bigger part of this year’s campaign after taking criticism from both parties for spending $50 million of her own money on the failed bid. In the final three months of last year, she raised more than $300,000, nearly triple the amount she collected in her entire first run. Contributors with Greenwich ties provided McMahon with more than $116,000, or nearly 43 percent of her total of nearly $273,000 in itemized contributions of more than $200, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. McMahon is far from alone in tapping donors from Greenwich, which is about 32 miles from New York City and ranks among the wealthiest towns in America with a median household income of about $97,000. Her main rival for the Republican nomination, former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, raised $96,000 from Greenwich, or 26 percent of his total of $370,000. U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, a Democrat seeking the Senate seat, has led all candidates by raising $2.7 million in itemized contributions. He raised $223,000, or about 8 percent, from contributors with Greenwich ties. McMahon, a North Carolina native, moved to Greenwich in the 1980s and built a wrestling empire with her husband, Vince McMahon, serving as CEO of WWE, formerly known as World Wrestling Entertainment, until stepping down in 2009. As a political candidate, she has tapped wealthy supporters well beyond Greenwich. McMahon has received $5,000 from real estate mogul Donald Trump, $5,000 from retired General Electric Chairman Jack Welch and his wife, $7,500 from the chairman of Morgan Stanley, $6,000 from the president of a luxury car dealer in Greenwich and $1,000 from a high-end clothing store executive in Westport. She received $96,450 from contributors who described themselves as corporate presidents, CEOs, vice presidents, executives, chairmen or business owners. That’s 35 percent of her total. Shays received $59,000 from corporate executives and owners. That’s 16 percent of his total. While most candidates seek larger contributions from the wealthy, affluent candidates have an advantage, said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen, which advocates public financing of campaigns. “Wealthy people tend to hang out with other wealthy people,” Holman said. “It’s just the wealthy candidates have an inside track on that because of their networks. A non-wealthy candidate very frequently does not actually hang out at the expensive country club and make the networks with wealthy contributors.” McMahon raised $6,750 from six unemployed contributors and $225 from a carpenter. She also raised $47,000 in smaller donations of less than $200. McMahon’s campaign said she raised more than $300,000 from 1,085 donors in the final three months of last year and that more than 80 percent of the contributions came from Connecticut residents. “These 1,085 new shareholders join our growing grassroots organization of Team Linda members who have contributed their time, energy and effort to spreading our positive message of getting Connecticut back to work,” the campaign said in a statement that noted some contributions were as small as $10. Richard Hasen, an expert on money in politics at the University of California at Irvine School of Law, said candidates often count on affluent donors early on to show they are serious contenders. But he said early reliance on the wealthy also poses concerns. “If you believe in leveling the playing field, there’s something troubling about the fact that what makes a candidate be taken seriously is their ability to raise money from the wealthy,” Hasen said. “That can both skew the kinds of positions the candidates might take towards the wealthy and it also gives more power to the views of those with wealth who can afford to write those checks than to others.” McMahon continues to rely heavily on her own money, loaning her campaign $780,000. She also lists contributing $642,000 of her own money in cash and campaign expenses. She raised only $5,500 from three WWE employees. But she netted more than $20,000 from 16 employees of Morgan Stanley, including $7,500 from John Mack, who retired at the end of the year as chairman of the investment bank. McMahon raised $187,550 from within Connecticut, or 69 percent of her total itemized contributions. Shays raised about $300,000 within Connecticut, or 81 percent of his total.

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22 New Casinos Planned For Lower Michigan

March 4, 2012

Private investors and Indian tribes are proposing 22 new casinos across lower Michigan, and metro Detroit is clearly among the targets of the gambling gold rush. Hopefuls are wagering — against long odds — on plans that could make them millions of dollars while also nearly doubling the number of casinos in the state. Six organizations want in on the game — two investor groups separately seeking state constitutional amendments and four tribes trying to expand off-reservation gambling.

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This Guy Was Fined For Not Cutting The Grass Of A Home He Was Kicked Out Of

March 2, 2012

Mowing the lawn may be an awful chore, but imagine having to pay a fine for not cutting the grass of a house from which you were evicted. David Englett of Crowley, Texas is being charged after he didn’t pay a series of Arlington city fines for, among other things, not moving the lawn of a home he had already lost to foreclosure, local news CBS 11 reports ( h/t The Consumerist ). Englett had also been fined for owning an alarm without the necessary permit and for a fence in bad shape. Although it’s possible Englett isn’t responsible for the infractions, don’t be surprised the city of Arlington is giving it a try. “You have to remember cities are all about grabbing money from you,” CBS 11′s legal advisor Jerry Loftin said . “They try anyway they can.” Property maintenance and associated fines have become a complicated legal area during the foreclosure crisis. Millions of homes have been abandoned at a time when cash-strapped cities have come to see fees as an attractive way to close budget gaps. Maintaining abandoned properties is also of importance for any city that hopes to make the best of struggling housing market . In New York City, for example, banks have reclaimed some 2,000 homes with property violations, amounting to 3,700 fines, according to a survey by state Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), cited by the New York Daily News . In hundreds of cases, those banks have refused to pay up. Deutsche Bank is the greatest offender, owning 211 properties with open fines. U.S. Bank, meanwhile, reportedly has yet to pay some $40,000 worth of fines to the city, according to the same report. It’s not just New York. Towns across the country are getting increasingly serious about property maintenance violations. In the past two weeks alone, the Connecticut towns of Stonington and Woodbury have proposed blight ordinances in addition to Bellows Falls, Vermont . Meanwhile, the town of Rocky Hill, Rhode Island, is considering increasing the severity of the blight ordinance violations it already has in place. Even at the federal level, the cost of owning real estate is getting higher. In 2010, the government paid $30.7 billion to maintain the 3.3 billion square feet of property it owns, up from $29.2 billion in 2009, according to a recent report from the General Services Administration, the Federal Times reports .

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Wealthy Woman Accused Of Enslaving Ilegal Immigrant Inside 34 Room Mansion

March 2, 2012

A wealthy upstate New York woman is being accused of breaking immigration laws by keeping an illegal immigrant as her servant and forcing her to work inhumane hours for barely any pay. The maid, identified as V.M. in official records, describes working grueling 17-hour days and taking care of six children, all while being forced to live inside a closet for nearly six years . Speaking through Hindi translators, V.M. said she was rarely allowed to leave the residence and had limited contact with her family back in India. The accused woman, 39-year old Annie George and widow of Mathai Kolath George who died in a plane accident in 2009, hired V.M. from India and initially promised to pay her $1000 per month. But V.M. claims she has only been paid $29,000 since and investigators are saying the woman is entitled to $77,000 for the last two years and about $206,000 for the entire six years of employment. The minimum wage for New York State is $7.25 per hour for a standard 40-hour work week, which calculates into George only reimbursing the maid $.85 per hour. Exacerbating the charges is George’s apparent colossal wealth, which boasts a 34-room mansion , helicopter pad, a massive solarium, and glass elevator. George appeared in court earlier this week and was permitted to go on the basis of her own recognizance . Her lawyer commented on the allegations, “We just dispute what’s alleged in the complaint. There’s several exaggerations, gross errors.”

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David Kiley: Can I Put An End To Chrysler vs. Pure Detroit Squabble?

March 2, 2012

There’s an ongoing squabble between Chrysler and the apparel and gifts firm Pure Detroit over trademark issues — and what is actually meant by the word “Detroit” — that seriously misses the point of what both companies are trying to do. It’s time for a mediator to step in, rather than a judge. I would like to volunteer for the job. It started when Pure Detroit started selling stuff with Chrysler’s ad tagline, “Imported from Detroit,” which debuted for the car company during the 2011 Super Bowl. Chrysler sought a cease and desist order , arguing that the proceeds of its branded merchandise were going to charity and Pure Detroit’s sales would cut into those donation dollars. Now Pure Detroit has counter-sued, charging that most of the vehicles Chrysler has been promoting under the “Imported from Detroit” campaign aren’t actually made in Detroit (just the Jeep Grand Cherokee is) and that the company is based in Auburn Hills, not Detroit. Seriously? Hey fellas, we are trying to engineer a bit of a renaissance here. Get the lawyers out of it. I live in Ann Arbor and work in an office in Birmingham, though the editorial offices for The Huffington Post Detroit are in the city of Detroit. I am often asked about where I live and what Detroit is like by my out-of-town friends. Here is what I say, and I hope that it doesn’t offend native Detroiters (I was born and raised in New Jersey): “Detroit is really a giant triangle that starts from the city of Detroit, goes about 30 miles north to Auburn Hills where Chrysler is, and then angles down about 55 miles to Ann Arbor, and then about 45 miles east back to Detroit. Dearborn, where Ford is headquartered, is about 10 miles from downtown Detroit. I think of the whole triangle as Detroit.” Now, we all know that Detroit is a city unto itself, and that all the suburbs included in my triangle are the towns people left Detroit for starting nearly 50 years ago. But to me, the assembly plants in Wayne, Dearborn, Sterling Heights and Detroit are all part of a Metro family. And those are just the assembly plants. The engine, parts, tool-and-die and vendor shops in that triangle are all part of the Metro job-creating family as well. The Ford plant in Flat Rock and GM’s plants in Lansing and Flint are the cousins of our Metro Detroit home, as are all the shops, plants and offices that serve the auto industry in Michigan. Hey, and let’s not forget that Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota and Honda all have big facilities in our triangle. When it comes to know-how in the auto industry, even the foreign companies know where to set up shop, if not assembly plants. I know. I sound corny, especially for a guy who grew up out of town. But, for the record, I came here in 1998, left to go back to New Jersey in 2004, and returned in 2006 because I missed the place. When I had an opportunity to come back to Michigan, I grabbed it. We who like it here are trying to communicate to a skeptical world that Metro Detroit is not the hellhole some paint it to be. If we limit our definition of Detroit to the city limits, we will hurt the city’s chances of a comeback, and confuse the message we are trying to send to the outside world. When a company chooses our triangle to set up shop, we ought to embrace it. Provided it’s good, we should buy that company’s stuff and support the local economy — whether it’s Fiat’s purchase of Chrysler and forthcoming expansion back into downtown; GM and Ford vehicles; Element Electronics TVs in Canton; Warrior Sports in Warren; the Detroit Beer Co. in downtown Detroit. And for the record, it is not a sin for a Michigander to buy a Toyota, though it won’t help our local economy as much as buying a locally-made Ford, GM or Chrysler. The Toyota Camry was engineered and developed in Ann Arbor, and though it is built in Kentucky by non-union workers, it has more domestic content proportionate to its sales than any other vehicle in the U.S., according to Cars.com’s analysis . I’d be willing to bet that I could sit Chrysler and Pure Detroit down and negotiate a deal to end the litigation, and make both sides happier than they were when they started. And one of my aims would be to walk Chrysler to an even better implementation of its “Imported from Detroit” campaign that would benefit even more Detroiters. The company has already done a lot since its 2009 bankruptcy, and I’d like to see it do even more. It’s worth saying that the Europeans working under Fiat’s ownership of Chrysler have been far better Detroiters than Cerberus Capital or Daimler-Benz ever were. Pure Detroit’s mission is noble too, but it hasn’t been perfect either; Pure Detroit T-shirts are made in the Dominican Republic and Peru , according to the Free Press . Court records show both Chrysler and Pure Detroit have been trying to agree on a mediator. And a settlement conference was held Feb. 7 without success. Again, I will offer my services free of charge, though a donation to the St. Andrews Breakfast program in Ann Arbor and the Gleaner’s Community Food Bank in Detroit would be most appreciated. I come to it with no dog in the fight except a desire for both sides, plus Metro Detroit, to declare victory. If we start excluding Sterling Heights, Warren, Auburn Hills and even Ann Arbor from what we think of as Metro Detroit, we don’t stand a chance in changing our hopeful reality, as well as the perceptions of others. At the same time, Chrysler and Pure Detroit can, and should be driven, to do a better job of staying truer to their claims and missions, and to complement and support each other. But “…The first thing we do,” said the character in Shakespeare’s Henry VI , is “kill all the lawyers.” Grand Blvd. is a weekly column about cars from David Kiley. For more of his writing, and everything about cars, head over to AOL Autos .

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Six Ways You’re Overspending On Health Care

March 2, 2012

There’s no way around it: Health care costs a fortune. Insurance premiums , drug prices, the cost of doctor visits and hospital bills are getting bigger. Last year, Americans spent $2.6 trillion on health care , or $8,402 per person. Though it often seems we have no control over these costs, there are some things that can stanch the bleeding. Some common ways we overspend on health care: Buying the wrong health insurance plan Picking a health insurance plan just because it has the lowest monthly premium or the smallest annual deductible isn’t always best. What matters is total “out-of-pocket” expense. That means the maximum amount of the deductible — the number you must reach before benefits kick in — plus, total co-payments in a year, says Carrie McClean, a licensed insurance agent and head of customer service at eHealthInsurance.com. So don’t be fooled by a program with low monthly costs and a high deductible — particularly if you know you have a major health expense (say pregnancy) on the horizon. Of course, insurance shoppers should buy the benefits they really need, says McClean. If you know you have health conditions, make sure they’re covered and don’t buy benefits you won’t use. To get an idea of how much coverage you need, tally up medical expenses from last year and estimate needs for the coming year. Some insurance companies and employers provide online “cost calculators” that might help. Buying drugs you don’t need “Oftentimes, Americans think that more is better,” says Jeffrey Cain, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado and president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. But in health care, what’s important is the right care, he says. An antibiotic for the sniffles ? Elective surgery for back pain? If your doctor says you don’t need it , maybe you should listen. If your doctor says you do, think about getting a second opinion. “You end up literally flushing your money from that prescription down the toilet because antibiotics don’t cure the common cold,” Cain says. Sometimes, doing nothing is better. “People want treatment for stuff that’s going to go away by itself,” according to the New America Foundation’s Shannon Brownlee, the author of Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer . And before you go ahead with surgery when it’s not an emergency, find alternatives. They could be cheaper and less dangerous than going under the knife , says Brownlee. Buying the same over-the-counter drug twice If you have one bottle of pills for headaches, another for back pain, and another for migraines, read the labels: They might have the exact same active ingredients. For marketing reasons and because of some U.S. Food and Drug Administraton rules, drug makers will package the same medicine in different ways. Not only can this lead people to buy the identical product more than once — the cough and cold version and the allergies version, for instance — they can take too much medicine without realizing it, says Maria Mantione, a pharmacist and a professor at St. John’s University in New York. Using brand-name drugs Switching to generic drugs can mean major savings. Yet some people refuse to stoop to store labels. Generic drugs aren’t the equivalent of store-brand macaroni and cheese. The actual medicines are chemically identical. “I personally never, ever purchase a brand-name over-the-counter product,” says Mantione. Patients should also consider a similar medicine that’s available as a generic, Mantione says. Brand-name Crestor costs more than generic Lipitor , for example, but the medicines work the same for some patients, she says. Skipping your check-ups Most of us started missing annual checkups once we outgrew the pediatrician, but that’s a mistake. Annual physicals and routine screenings can help patients find out early that they’re at risk for a serious illness like heart disease and diabetes before they get sick. “There’s no doubt that preventative care ultimately saves money and saves harm,” says Christoper Moriates, a senior resident in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Simple things like getting flu vaccinations and having your blood pressure checked can make a big difference, he says. Getting medical tests you don’t need Not every situation calls for high-tech medical tests. “I have definitely had experiences where I’ve had to explain to my healthy, 40-year-old, muscular patient that he does not need a stress test for his heart,” Moriates says. MRIs and the like are costly , expose patients to radiation, and can even produce “false positive” results that lead to treatments for ailments people don’t even have, he says. “People that are healthy and without symptoms don’t need some tests,” Cain says. X-rays and other medical-imaging tests “also pack a wallop” from radiation, Brownlee says. Not taking care of yourself This one seems obvious, but it bears repeating. Obesity , tobacco use, and alcohol abuse all lead to chronic, costly health problems. “The biggest way I see my patients wasting their health dollar is they’re buying cigarettes,” Cain says. Junk food and unhealthy habits like tobacco and booze cost money to purchase and even more down the road if they damage the body. Be honest with your doctor about your medical history and habits, he says. “Patients who are spending their money most wisely are very involved in their care,” he says.

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U.S. Mint HQ Fetches $147.5 Million

March 2, 2012

NSP Ventures Corp. purchased the U.S. Mint headquarters building at 801 Ninth St. NW in Washington, DC, from Wereldhave USA Inc., a commercial real estate investment firm based in the Netherlands, for $147.5 million, or approximately $624 per square foot. The eight-story, 236,054-square-foot office property is one block away from Gallery Place Metro Station and is next to the 1.9 million-square-foot mixed-use CityCenterDC development. Stanley…

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Adam Levin: Best Way to Win the Gas Game: Don’t Play

March 1, 2012

Earlier this week, the New York Post shouted the headline ” US Credit Card Debt Nearing Toxic Levels. ” The article was referring to the latest report from the Fed that in December, total consumer debt, which is the sum of both non-revolving and revolving debt, increased by 9.3 percent to almost $2.5 trillion. The increase in revolving debt, principally consisting of credit card balances , was at an annual rate of 4.1%. Thus, despite the fact that for a few short months in 2011 the amount of outstanding debt actually fell, the long-standing trend of strong expansion in consumer credit card debt returned with a vengeance in December, measured month over month, quarter over quarter, and year-over-year. We’re slowly killing ourselves with our oil addiction, and the dealer yet again is jacking up the prices. Well, maybe it was just a merrier Christmas; maybe people caught up in acquisition ecstasy overspent during the holidays, but then again, we have nine months to pare down those balances before Santa’s redux. I would really like to believe that, but I’m not sure that I do. I believe that the real reason credit card debt is increasing is because American consumers are being squeezed between stagnant personal incomes and ever-increasing prices, particularly oil prices, which affect most everything else. Is there anyone who is still surprised by seeing the words “fuel surcharge” on bills of every description? It seems clear to me that whatever the consumer price index may say, the skyrocketing price of petroleum is starting to take a significant bite out of disposable income for many American consumers. Let’s consider a few facts — according to the AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular is today about $3.72 (the highest ever recorded at the end of a February), as compared to about $3.39 only a month ago. The AAA’s most recent figures for American gas consumption show that the average driver travels about 1000 miles a month, with average fuel economy of about 22 miles per gallon. Therefore, the average American uses about 45 gallons every month, which means that he or she will spend about $14.99 more on gasoline this month as compared to last. This number, which is less than the price of two adult movie tickets, might not sound like a lot, but it adds up, especially when you multiply it across the nation. Make no mistake: changes in gas prices have a profound psychological impact on consumers. For instance, one way that drivers deal with increased gas prices is to switch from higher-grade gasoline to lower octane. In a recent University of Chicago study , researchers found that consumers are far more sensitive to changes in gas prices than they are to the price fluctuations of other commodities, like orange juice and milk. The study found that drivers in fact, treated a $1,313 loss in net income from higher gas prices as if their households were making $100,000 less a year. And now, once again, oil prices are spiking. If you haven’t noticed by looking at the sign above the gas pump, price hikes are becoming so bold and fluid — please excuse the pun — that recently the numbers on a gas station roadsign changed in the middle of a live television report , you could easily tell by the promises coming from various political figures. “Gas for two dollars a gallon!” “Gas for $2.50 a gallon!” “Don’t worry folks, the Saudis will simply up production in an amount equal to the shortfall resulting from a problem in Iran, if any…” Right now, most experts agree that the most important driver of the price of oil — the world’s most globalized commodity — is the threat of a major disruption in Iran. Those of us who are old enough may well recall that the cause of the energy crisis in 1979 — and those long gas lines where Americans idled away as much as 150,000 gallons a day just waiting for an accommodating pump — was a “disruption” in Iran. That was bad enough, but, of course, times have changed since then. During the oil shortages of the 1970s, the US was — relatively speaking — much richer. We were not only the country that needed the most oil — we could also better afford to pay for it than anyone else. But today, dramatically escalating consumption in the East, particularly in China and India, means that there are people out there who need as much or more of it than we do. And in China, there is a quite substantial ability to pay for it. In fact, China provides massive subsidies to its state oil companies principally to improve their position in jockeying for reliable and reasonably-priced supply around the globe. So if a butterfly can flap its wings in Tokyo and cause a hurricane in Brazil, what is the effect of millions of consumers having to flap open their wallets at the pump more? If, as the University of Chicago researchers and others have shown, consumers essentially “overreact” to the price of gas relative to its actual impact on their income, what is that cumulative downward drag going to do to the economy? Bottom line, part one: the reason candidates of every stripe are promising Magical Mystery solutions to the problem of high gasoline prices is because those prices are political dynamite in an election year. If the price of regular increases by another dollar a gallon — hopefully improbable but certainly not impossible — all those credit cards that are used at all those gas pumps will be paying $60 a month more than they did in January of 2012. I can’t do the numbers, but I’d bet that gas prices like that will put a lot of American consumers above their debt limit on a whole lot of credit cards. Moreover, prices like that would be a significant drag on an economy that is already exhibiting not enough momentum and too much friction. And, what would happen if there simply wasn’t enough gasoline to go around? There is no one in American politics on either side of the aisle who wants to deal with a question like that before November of 2012, so you’ll probably hear many more promises. But… Bottom line, part two: there is no one in Washington — or for that matter in Beijing or Moscow or Riyadh — who can directly prevent a short-run catastrophe in the form of gasoline prices in Paris, Ohio that look a lot like gasoline prices in Paris, France. There is no amount of drilling, limitations on speculation, lengths of pipeline, or jawboning that can forestall a crisis if the major players — who are all in Tehran or Tel Aviv — do something that precipitates another “disruption” in Iranian oil production. All that anyone else can do is to attempt to influence, with either a carrot or a stick, what happens over there. So you might as well get used to it — no one can do much in the short term about the high price of gasoline. But you the consumer can do something to protect yourself against it, and that’s really your only sane course of action. Forget about promises of lower prices, and stop worrying about who does what to whom somewhere in the Gulf. Oil is a matter of macro concern but your finances involve very micro considerations. Pick a day or two a week where you simply keep your credit card in your purse or wallet . Save money wherever you can, but save oil everywhere you can. Replace the SUV with a hybrid when your lease expires or you get ready to replace the gas guzzler. Turn down the heat, turn off the lights, and curtail the buying of things that come packaged in plastics produced with petroleum. Can you imagine what would happen if we all decided to flap our wallets shut more often? After all, the butterfly effect goes both ways. This article originally appeared on Credit.com .

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Job Creators Alliance: Stop the Regulation!

March 1, 2012

By Mike Whalen In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama raised some eyebrows in saying “I’ve approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my Republican predecessor did in his.” While some of the President’s critics immediately figured him to be playing around with the numbers, others took it as evidence that the Administration might be more pro-business than it is usually portrayed. In reality, the statistic was solely a measure of the quantity of regulations, and not their impacts. As the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s website FactCheck.org wrote : “It’s true (barely) that Bush issued more new regulations than Obama at the same point in their presidencies — but Obama didn’t mention that his cost more.” Unfortunately, when it comes to our current government and regulation, the reality is that where there’s smoke there’s fire. When one counts “economically significant” regulations, as the Competitive Enterprise Institute has, he or she sees that President Obama has issued 953 in his first three years in office, compared to just 30 that were passed in the first three years of the Bush Administration. This is the more meaningful number, as it shows which regulations have impacted small businesses and made it more difficult for them to expand and hire. The same numbers also show that economically significant rules affecting small business have also increased substantially. During the first three years of the Bush Administration, 16 new rules of economic significance were issued, compared to 257 in the first three years of the Obama Administration. It is highly concerning that the millions of small businesses in the country, which have historically fueled our economy, are being so uniquely affected by current policy. I am not anti-regulation. I absolutely recognize its importance in preventing exploitive or dangerous activities, and I am truly proud of America’s history of protecting workers and resources. Yet the pendulum has swung so far these days that I regularly hear small business owners asking why the government seems to have it out for them, going so far as to kill previously approved projects at the owner’s expense. Everywhere I go, I hear from business owners who are genuinely confused by new governmental regulations, and frustrated with the obstacles that prevent them from hiring new workers. What’s going on now is unacceptable, and it makes no sense during this current time of economic uncertainty. What’s perhaps most significant about the current pace of regulation is the circumstances. The past three years have been bleak, and small businesses have greatly struggled to get by. Perhaps it is sensible to consider tinkering with regulatory policy during an economic boom, but it is extremely harmful to recovery to be doing so during a time of economic distress. America’s businesses need all the freedom they can have to get back on their feet and start growing, and that is exactly what will lead to our economic recovery. We want businesses to feel confident enough to undertake new projects and hire new workers, not terrified of the bureaucratic traps that might lie around the corner. Slowing the pace of regulation would be a big step on the road to economic stability. It would renew confidence that our government is working on our side, instead of against us. The longer we wait, the more small businesses will feel uncertain about the future, and unable to get America back to work. Mike Whalen is the President & CEO of Heart of America Group, which designs and builds hotels, restaurants and commercial real estate – currently operating 27 restaurants and hotels in six different states. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a member of the Job Creators Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of free enterprise: http://jobcreatorsalliance.org .

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Ford Focus Has Highest February Sales In Over A Decade

March 1, 2012

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. says its U.S. sales rose 14 percent in February thanks to big demand for its Focus compact car. Focus sales more than doubled over last February to 23,350. It was the best February for the Focus in 12 years. Ford’s U.S. sales chief Ken Czubay said higher gas prices increased demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles in the second half of the month. The Escape, Ford’s small SUV, also saw sales rise 4 percent. But most of Ford’s cars saw sales declines, including the Fiesta subcompact and Fusion and Taurus sedans. The newer Focus might have grabbed sales from those cars. Truck sales were strong thanks to cash-back offers and other incentives. Ford said F-Series pickup sales were up 26 percent.

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GM Sales Up, But Ford And Chrysler Way Ahead

March 1, 2012

DETROIT — General Motors says its U.S. sales rose 1 percent last month, led by its small cars. Analysts had expected the company to post lower sales compared with last February, when it offered big discounts. GM says its small cars led the sales increase as gas prices spiked in February. The Chevrolet Sonic subcompact had its best month, with sales of almost 8,000. Chevy Silverado pickup sales rose nearly 2 percent to just over 32,000. Ford, Chrysler, Nissan and Volkswagen all reported much stronger sales increases. Analysts are forecasting a 3-percent rise in U.S. sales, and expect small cars to drive the growth.

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This Credit Card Is Made Of Gold

March 1, 2012

We all know economic times have been tough. But if you happen to have an extra $25 million that you are willing to let JPMorgan Chase manage for you, there is at least one perk you can expect to receive that you won’t find anywhere else: The J.P. Morgan Palladium Card.

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Speeding Will Cost You More Than A Traffic Ticket…

March 1, 2012

Gas prices are hitting record highs for this time of year, costing Americans on average $3.73 a gallon . Looking to save on gas? Here are some tips on how to maximize your gas mileage: Keep your tires inflated to their optimal pressure to improve your car’s fuel economy. Be gentle on your pedals, and refrain from making sudden stops. Download an app to help you find the lowest gas prices in your area. Don’t speed — you’ll burn through your gas tank faster. Plan your outings efficiently. Minimize the number of stops you have to make and outline your route in advance to minimize mileage. Clean out your trunk so you’re not lugging around extra weight. The heavier your car, the harder it has to work to move. Take your car in for a check up to make sure it’s operating at its full potential. What are you paying? We called upon readers to show us what they’re paying in their home towns. Check out these pictures of what readers are paying for gas.

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Did You Get Your Check? IRS Has $1 Billion Waiting For You

February 29, 2012

Did you file your 2008 tax return? One million people did not, and as a result, the Internal Revenue Service is sitting on a pile of cash — $1 billion to be precise — in unclaimed tax refunds , the IRS announced last week. Half of the refunds waiting to be had are worth $637 or more, the IRS said. It’s not too late to claim your refund if you were one of the million people who were not required to file a tax return because you made under a certain amount of money. In fact, you have until April 17, 2012 to file a 2008 tax return , according to the IRS, before the extra cash becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury. Tax refunds are not the only money you could potentially lose out on by not filing a tax return. According to the IRS: Some people, especially those who did not receive an economic stimulus payment in 2008, may qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit. In addition, many low-and moderate-income workers may not have claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Think you’re owed money? You can access old tax forms at IRS.gov .

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Do You Have A Bad Boss?

February 29, 2012

This article originally appeared on LearnVest.com We wish we could mandate that all bosses go to boss school. Or that the ones who did get management training absorbed everything they were taught. Fact is, there are a lot of bad bosses running amok out there, and most don’t even know that they’re the bane of your existence. But the good news is—if you’re stuck under the thumb of a less-than-stellar superior—there are strategies for managing her particular strain of craziness. (For more on the importance of managing up, click here .) For expert advice, we spoke to Nicole Williams, a career expert and author of “Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success,” and Leigh Steere, cofounder of Managing People Better, LLC, a research endeavor that studies differences in management styles. Here are nine signs your superior may not be, well, superior—and what do about it. 1. She’s Insulting Feedback is a necessary food group in the office place. A good boss will explain why you didn’t meet expectations, as well as the changes she’d like to see next time. But then there’s the other breed: The manager who puts down your work … without supplying constructive criticism. Or worse. We’ve all been subjected to “yellers” in our time. How to Manage Her: If she’s not forthcoming about why she’s not happy with you, you can take steps to prevent being berated. When you get an assignment, ask: “So what I’m hearing you want me to do is …?” and be sure you’re clear on the instructions before you start. If she still lights into you and you don’t know what you did to deserve it, take a deep breath and ask. You might want to wait until her tirade is over and her mood improves, but a well-timed, “I’d like to understand where I fell short, so it doesn’t happen again. Can you explain what you’d like me to do differently next time?” can work wonders. 2. She Fails to Make You Feel Appreciated Behind most good bosses is a good support team. Good superiors recognize that they’d be beyond stuck if their underlings abandoned them. Bad ones have a bad habit of starving their subordinates of praise. How to Manage Her: It’s never fun to fish for compliments, but asking for feedback is a necessary evil in this case. Try: “I’d really like to help make your job easier. Can you tell me how I’m doing that well—and how I could do it better?” And, never underestimate the power of complimenting her. We’re not saying like will always beget like, but propping her up may help her feel more confident—probably a key reason she’s not comfortable praising you in the first place. 3. She Takes Credit for Other People’s Accomplishments Sadly, petty thieves do rise through the ranks. A good boss knows her success dovetails with making employees feel appreciated. A bad boss fails to give you recognition for what you’ve accomplished—or worse, claims your accomplishments as her own. How to Manage Her: This is a sticky issue. Confronting her petty theft directly likely won’t get you the results you want. If you think she’d be receptive, you could try framing the conversation in a non-accusatory way: “I’m really aiming to get promoted this year, so I would love if you could help me make others aware of my accomplishments—like that account I just landed.” Also, be sure to put your feats in writing. If there’s a way to claim credit for a work coup you orchestrated, let the rest of the team know before she has a chance to steal your thunder. 4. She’s Disorganized It’s a catch-22 for employees who have to nag managers about overdue projects: They don’t want to point out a superior’s oversight, but they also don’t want to get blamed if anything falls through the cracks. A good manager is one who is organized enough to help you prioritize your tasks. A bad one, of course, is the type who asks you if you could please print that email for her … for the third time. How to Manage Her: Part of the trick is figuring out what makes her tick. Is she an email person—or is her inbox a bottomless abyss? Would she respond better to repeated Post-Its? While it might be diffict to psychoanalyze your boss, success in the workplace often depends on it. Also, don’t underestimate all the demands on her time. One way to make sure your needs are met is to request a weekly one-on-one meeting, when you can rattle off the items on your punch list, get answers—and look proactive. 5. She Makes Everything a Fire Drill A good boss helps tamp down drama, not create it. And the effect of a manager who loves assigning stuff due “yesterday” is a staff that can no longer tell what’s truly urgent—and will act as such. How to Manage Her: If you can get one step ahead of her tizzies, you’ll go far. That means understanding her triggers. Maybe she always freaks at the end of the month when earnings are posted, or before a weekly meeting with her demanding manager. Ask her to help you rank the priorities of what she needs from you each week … and get it in email. Then you’ll at least have an explanation of why you did what you did the next time she flies into a four-alarm tantrum. 6. She’s a Micromanager A good manager helps you build your skills by challenging you to do more than you thought you could. But not everyone is cut from that cloth: If you can’t send a single email without her proofreading it, you may be under the thumb of an insecure superior, or a control freak. How to Manage Her: While you might be tempted to shut down out of sheer frustration, the key here is to communicate more than you think you need to until you earn her trust. For some reason, much like a wild animal, she’s feeling skittish. So, for the time being, don’t make any surprise moves, and tell her exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Share updates. Give progress reports. And, make her feel like a trusted advisor by asking for her input and advice. Then, eventually, you can say: “I hope I’ve proven to you that I’m capable of handling this. I’d love to take on more responsibility. Is there anything else you need to see from me for that to happen?” 7. She’s Unapproachable The most effective workplaces thrive on openness, but that doesn’t mean some managers don’t choose tyranny instead. The problem is, when communication shuts down, more problems are likely to arise—and underlings will be scared to ask for help in solving them. How to Manage Her: This is a tough one, because unless you’ve done something to deserve her derision, the problem may be hers and hers alone. But you shouldn’t have to deal with a boss who is mean, distant or even abusive. Try to understand where the behavior is coming from, and always be polite, clear, honest and direct with her. If the situation doesn’t improve, this might be a case in which you consult another manager, or HR, on how best to proceed. 8. She’s Too Polite On the other end of the spectrum, it’s also possible for a boss to be too nice. The problem with that is that your bonus and review depend on what she thinks, so any superior who holds back her true thoughts isn’t doing you any favors. How to Manage Her: With a boss like this, you may have to actually beg for bad feedback. If she’s always saying you do a great job, tell her that you think you would do even better if she could pinpoint a few areas where you could improve. Explain that you love having her as a manager, but you also want your career to advance, and she could help you by showing you the areas in which you can grow. 9. She Plays Favorites In a perfect world, all managers would love all of their direct reports equally. Sadly, it’s human nature to click with some people more than others, and it can become a problem when a superior favors one employee with more responsibility (or raises) based on preference, not performance. How to Manage Her: No, it’s not fair, but this is one time when it might be best to ignore the problem. And that’s because complaining will be unlikely to change your superior’s mind. Resist the temptation to whine to co-workers, gossip about your boss’s office pet or keep an endless tally of what she got that you didn’t. Instead, keep a close eye on your own progress. Schedule time with your boss to map out your career goals, figure out what behavior she admires in that other person (if it’s job-related), and be sure to exceed your goals. In the end, that’s your best shot at coming out ahead.

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Linda E. Brooks Rix: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Federal Jobs Galaxy

February 29, 2012

Let’s say you’re a Millennial — otherwise known as a 20-something young adult — and you’re trying to get a job and start paying off those student loans. You’re in the Washington, D.C. metro area and you know a lot of folks that work for the federal government, so you decide maybe a federal job’s a good idea. You go online, and you end up at USAJOBS, not because it hit high on your search criteria (its site rank, as measured in unique visitors by Compete.com, has dropped 116 places since the release of USAJOBS 3.0) but because every federal agency’s career site leads you there. Once there, you are encouraged to post your résumé and search for positions that might be of interest to you and apply. Bingo! You hit pay dirt — a $51,630 to $67,114 a year job that looks like a good point of entry. Plus, you just happen to have the exact degree they are requiring. Things are looking up! You click to apply and get taken into an online application or you’re asked to email your résumé to a recruiter (and I use the term recruiter loosely). You wait. You hear nothing. You wonder if your résumé has been sucked into a black hole. You wait. You hear nothing. You lose interest. You decide the government really doesn’t want you. Maybe you made a mistake on your application. Maybe not. You hear nothing. You move on. Is it any wonder that the results of the 2011 National Association of Colleges and Employers Survey of more than 35,000 students about their employment plans after finishing school showed that just 2.3 percent said they intend to work for the U.S. federal government? The government’s hiring process has proven as resistant to change as a staph infection is to antibiotics. You can choose to believe in the fanfare and spin from Cheerleader-In-Chief OPM Director John Berry about hiring process improvement, but the proof is in the results. And there are none. The tragic truth is that changing just a few of things could change the entire bureaucratic culture built around the federal hiring process — and maybe make it easier for a Millennial to want to apply and work here. Let’s just start with the job posting and the application process for now. Millennials seeking federal employment shouldn’t need a magic decoder ring just to be considered. And no one looking for a job should be subjected to “government speak” or have to wade through an alphabet soup of job classifications and a form of inside baseball while never finding out exactly why their application wasn’t considered. If federal agencies truly want to recruit and attract smart, technically savvy, highly qualified college graduates into U.S. government employment, clean up the simple act of communication. It’s the first step toward making federal employment easier. Or else those highly desired candidates will move on, and you’ll continue to wonder why nearly 100 percent of graduating college seniors won’t be considering the U.S. government as the place to begin their careers. Linda E. Brooks Rix is co-CEO of Avue Technologies . Founded in 1983, Avue Technologies has pioneered smart technology for better management. The company provides the public sector with integrated technology and service solutions that dramatically increase enterprise-wide visibility and management effectiveness, workforce productivity, and manager and worker satisfaction. In the fight against business-as-usual in Washington, Avue helps power “business-as-unusual.” Avue is a privately held company headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., and with offices in Washington, D.C.

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GM To Spend $500 Million On Employee Bonuses, Profit-sharing

February 29, 2012

DETROIT — General Motors is likely to spend more than $500 million on employee bonuses and profit-sharing based on the company’s performance last year. GM, which made a record profit in 2011, will pay bonuses of at least $182 million to white-collar workers such as engineers, car designers and managers on Wednesday, according to a formula obtained by The Associated Press. That’s on top of $332.5 million in profit-sharing it already agreed to pay factory workers. In the past, such payments have drawn criticism from those who believe the government shouldn’t have bailed out GM and Chrysler. But GM, which made a record $7.6 billion last year, says the payments are needed to hold on to skilled employees. It’s also keeping fixed costs down by giving bonuses instead of annual pay raises. The bonuses will go to most of the company’s 26,000 salaried employees, many of whom make more than $100,000 a year. The bonuses will range from 8 percent of base pay to 14 percent, according to the formula. The company would not release the percentages, nor would it say how much it will spend on the bonuses. But it’s likely the average bonus for salaried employees will be more than the $7,000 that each of GM’s 47,500 factory workers will get in March. The white-collar bonuses are determined by a worker’s pay grade, individual performance and company metrics that measure whether GM met goals including pretax earnings, market share, cash flow and quality. This year’s salaried bonuses will be smaller than last year’s, when the company met all of its goals. A small number of top performers will get pay raises or larger bonuses, the company has said. “It’s a pay-for-performance type approach that really drives accountability in the organization and helps employees connect their compensation with performance,” says GM spokeswoman Lynda Messina. GM must reward employees because the labor market is starting to become competitive again, especially for computer experts, engineers and other skilled jobs, says James Stoeckmann, senior compensation specialist for World at Work, an organization of human resources executives who specialize in pay issues. “Companies are having a hard time finding all those critical skills they need,” he says. At almost every company, white-collar bonuses are higher than those given to blue-collar workers, he says. The formula to calculate the bonus percentages was given to the Associated Press by a person familiar with GM’s compensation. The person didn’t want to be identified because the company did not make the formula public. The U.S. spent nearly $50 billion to save GM three years ago, and some Republicans think the government should get its money back before bonuses are paid. The company nearly ran out of cash when auto sales dropped during the financial crisis. With little or no private loans available, GM needed a bailout to make it through bankruptcy protection. The government agreed to take stock in GM in exchange for most of the debt. So far it has recouped more than $22 billion. Taxpayers still own 500 million shares of GM, or 26.5 percent of the company. If the government sold those shares at the current price of around $26, it would get about $13.2 billion. But it’s waiting for the stock price to rise before selling. Shares would have to sell for more than $53 each for the government to get all its money back, which is unlikely. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a critic of the bailout, said the Obama administration needs to figure out a way to get the money back. “As the company gives out bonuses, the Treasury Department needs to have an exit strategy for getting GM to repay the taxpayers for helping the company survive,” he said in a statement. “Without an exit strategy, GM can expect more questions and scrutiny regarding employee bonuses.” The bailout has become a key issue in the Presidential campaign. Republican candidates are slamming President Barack Obama for approving it, but he has touted its success, including thousands of new jobs at Detroit automakers. The issue was especially troublesome for GOP front-runner Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s Michigan primary, which Romney narrowly won. Romney grew up in the auto-dominated state but was against the bailout. His closest opponent, Rick Santorum, also is against it. GM announced earlier this month that it plans to freeze its U.S. pension plan for white-collar workers and move to a 401 (k)-type plan. GM also gave salaried employees five more vacation days. White-collar workers fared better at crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. Ford said last month that 20,000 salaried workers will get 2.7 percent pay raises on April 1, plus bonuses based on individual performance. In addition, Ford will make profit-sharing payments of around $6,200 each to its 41,600 U.S. factory employees in March. GM CEO Daniel Akerson has been against giving annual raises, saying the added costs limit the company’s flexibility in an economic downturn. But that could hurt GM over time, if Ford workers get pay raises and their salaries grow far larger than those at GM, says David Whiston, auto equity analyst for Morningstar. Ford, which borrowed billions from banks but avoided a government bailout, said the raises are needed to stay competitive with other big companies. The automaker made a $20 billion profit last year Salaried workers at Chrysler Group LLC, which made far less money than GM or Ford, also will get profit-sharing checks. The company, which is not publicly traded, would not disclose the amounts. About 26,000 union workers at Chrysler, which also took a government bailout, will get checks of about $1,500. Chrysler made $183 million last year. GM, Chrysler and Ford agreed to the profit-sharing for factory workers in contract talks last year with the United Auto Workers union. Most of the workers won’t get pay raises.

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Federal Reserve Bank of NY Acquires Downtown Office for $207.5M

February 29, 2012

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has acquired its approximately 560,000-square-foot, Downtown Manhattan office building at 33 Maiden Ln. for $207.5 million, or about $371 per square foot, from Merit US Real Estate Fund III, a closed-end German fund managed by Invesco Real Estate in cooperation with Hannover Leasing. The Federal Reserve Bank, a major tenant occupying 75 percent of the building prior to sale, exercised an existing option to purchase…

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San Francisco Lawmaker Fights To Save The Medical Marijuana Industry

February 28, 2012

This article comes to us courtesy of SF Weekly’s The Snitch . By Chris Roberts Call it an industry, call it a movement, call it a gigantic scam. Law enforcement and politicians can’t agree what to call California’s medical marijuana scene, except to say it exists in a legal gray area. And how. A dispensary operator in Vallejo was arrested last week — twice — because the police chief and a majority of the City Council believe state medical marijuana law doesn’t allow dispensaries to conduct “sales,” and because there’s no local ordinance allowing dispensaries, they’re illegal. But state law doesn’t say that, according to the retired legislator who wrote the law. And just in case there’s still confusion on the matter, a bill introduced Friday by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) not only allows for medical marijuana sales — and would appear to allow for profit — it also makes it clear that dispensaries are fine and dandy under state law. If passed, Ammiano’s bill, A.B. 2312, would allow “collectives, cooperatives, and other business entities to cultivate, acquire, process, possess, transport, test, sell, and distribute marijuana for medical purposes.” This is a departure from current law, which says the above are not subject to penalties. The bill also makes it a misdemeanor for a doctor to give a bad recommendation, and would limit dispensaries to one per a city of 50,000 residents. And — and most importantly — it creates a medical marijuana bureaucracy. The governor, the assembly speaker, and the Senate Committee on Rules would appoint nine people to the Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement, a new body within the Department of Consumer Affairs. This body would be in charge of the Medical Marijuana Fund, which would be funded with state fees and fines. Ammiano’s bill is similar to a proposed ballot initiative: The Medical Marijuana Regulation Control and Taxation Act, the brainchild of medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access and labor union United Food and Commercial Workers. A major difference is that the MMRCTA includes a state tax, which requires a two-thirds majority, according to a release from Ammiano’s office. Nobody from team Ammiano was available for comment Sunday, but even if it doesn’t pass, the bill will “raise awareness” in the legislature that the industry needs some kind of fix, UFCW organizer Dan Rush said via e-mail. Even if the bill is passed, however, it’s highly unlikely it will become law: A bill passed last year allowing California farmers in select counties to grow hemp was returned without Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature, and it’s generally taken as a given that Brown will not sign any medical marijuana-related bills. So who’s going to convince local law enforcement that sales are allowed — and what about profit? Claims that dispensaries turn profits has been used by both federal and state law enforcement officials to shut down pot clubs. But barring medical marijuana operators from turning a profit was never on the table, said retired state Sen. John Vasconcellos, the author of 2003′s Senate Bill 420 . “It was a deal-breaker,” he said in a recent telephone interview. The bill does include language saying “nothing in this section shall allow,” a profit, but that does not mean a profit isn’t prohibited either, he said. But since law enforcement officers have gone on record with this newspaper saying that medical marijuana is a sham, good luck using that one in court. For more San Francisco politics and beyond, follow The Snitch on Twitter .

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Police Officers Injured After Occupy Oakland Protest Turns Violent

February 28, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At least two law enforcement officers were injured during a clash with members of the Occupy movement who were at the state Capitol to protest a rally by a pro-white group. The clash erupted about 3 p.m. Monday as California Highway Patrol and Sacramento city police officers were escorting about 35 members of the South Africa Project to a parking garage following their protest outside the Capitol building. An Associated Press photographer says roughly 50 members of Occupy Oakland began throwing cans and bottles at the South Africa group and at the officers. The Occupy members then rushed the officers as people with the pro-whites group rushed into the parking garage. A city police officer was injured when a member of the Occupy group jumped on him, and a CHP officer was hurt after being struck by an object. Both were taken from the scene by ambulance. At least two Occupy members were arrested. The violence abated after a large contingent of law enforcement arrived at the scene, about one block from the Capitol. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below. A teenage girl was detained Monday outside the Capitol after police separated Occupy protesters from a group opposing black-on-white violence in South Africa. The girl with Occupy Oakland was taken to Juvenile Hall after she became combative and assaulted an officer who asked her to pick up litter, California Highway Patrol Officer Sean Kennedy said. He did not have her age or city of residence. “It’s a free country and we’re here to protect everyone’s rights,” Kennedy said. There were no other arrests, despite shouting and sign-waving by competing protesters who were separated by about two-dozen officers on foot and horseback. Activists with the Occupy group cursed at peace officers and about 40 mostly white men who were at the Capitol to draw attention to what they say is white genocide. Organizers for the South Africa Project said similar demonstrations were planned in other states and elsewhere in California. “There is white genocide going on in South Africa. It’s a government-backed genocide,” said Kyle Krieger, a spokesman for the South Africa Project. His comments were echoed by other men, some with shaved heads and prominent tattoos. Occupy protesters, some wearing hoods or masks, said they came from the San Francisco Bay area to counter what they called a racist group affiliated with former Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Some in the Occupy crowd also had shaved heads or mohawk haircuts and equally prominent tattoos, but a different message. The Occupy crowd included Allen Mullins, who was dressed as Captain America. He said he walked 5,000 miles to call attention to the plight of homeless veterans and intends to visit every state capital. Sacramento was the 41st statehouse he has seen, he said. Rachael Crisler wore a long peasant skirt as she stood alone singing folk songs with her guitar. “I heard that they’re having a Nazi rally, so I wanted to share peace and love,” said Crisler. “If we respond with love, we create love.”

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American Axle Lays Off 300 Blue-collar Workers

February 28, 2012

American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. has laid off 300 blue-collar workers from its manufacturing complex at I-75 and Holbrook along the Detroit–Hamtramck border. The workers were idled Feb. 25 when the American Axle’s labor agreement with the United Auto Workers ran out. Negotiations between the company and union have stalled and the workers were left without any kind of severance package, according to former UAW official familiar with the discussions.

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George Lucas Empire Approved For Galactic Expansion

February 28, 2012

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Officials on Monday approved a controversial plan by filmmaker George Lucas to expand his digital empire on historic farmland north of San Francisco. After a daylong hearing, the Marin County planning commission unanimously voted in favor of the proposal to build a 270,000-square-foot digital media production compound in a quiet valley that has been home to Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch for three decades. Opponents of the Grady Ranch project have two weeks to appeal the commission’s decision to the county Board of Supervisors. The complex would be next to Lucas’ other filmmaking operations – Skywalker Ranch and Big Rock – in Lucas Valley, named for a 19th century rancher and no relation to the 67-year-old maker of the Star Wars movies. But neighbors say the giant complex will generate noise, traffic and environmental damage on pristine land about a half-hour drive north of the Golden Gate Bridge. They also argue that the project violates local zoning codes and application procedures. Representatives of Lucasfilms Ltd. say the Grady Ranch facility will create hundreds of jobs in Marin County and the company has plans to minimize traffic and noise in the area. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening. Lucasfilm hopes to have the necessary permits in place and break ground by next year, with construction taking 18 months to two years. The commission voted Monday after hearing several hours of arguments from supporters and opponents of the project. “We’re deeply disappointed,” said Liz Dale, president of the Lucas Valley Estates Homeowners Association. “We’re going to have to contemplate what our next alternatives would be because we disagree with this decision.”

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Maryland Gas-Drilling Panel Meeting In Hagerstown

February 27, 2012

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A state commission on natural-gas drilling is taking a look at the regulatory landscape. The panel that is helping the state devise rules for safe drilling in the Marcellus Shale meets Monday at Hagerstown Community College. The agenda includes a review of current gas-well permitting procedures and a presentation about bills in General Assembly regarding the Marcellus Shale. One bill would outlaw storage or treatment of wastewater from gas-drilling operations in other states. Another would establish a tax on gas production to offset the cost of any environmental impact from gas drilling. The Marcellus Shale is a gas-rich geological structure underlying parts of western Maryland. Gas is produced by fracturing, or “fracking,” the rock with high-pressure fluids.

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In The Pipeline: CoStar Development & Construction News for Feb. 27 – March 3

February 27, 2012

In The Pipeline is a column on significant acquisitions of commercial land for sale , and other transactions and trends affecting office, industrial, flex, multifamily, mixed-use, hotel and public works developers. Send us news leads about your new commercial real estate project — and sign up to be added to our distribution list to receive future In the Pipeline columns by e-mail. Architecture Billings Point Toward Slow Recovery The Architectu

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Dish To Shutter A Third Of All Blockbuster Stores

February 26, 2012

The Associated Press ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Dish Network Corp. says in an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to close more than 500 Blockbuster stores this year. Dish acquired the Blockbuster video-store chain in April. The closures would leave Blockbuster with about 1,000 retail stores. The filing doesn’t say which stores will be shut down. However, Dish spokesman Marc Lumpkin tells The Denver Post ( http://bit.ly/w2JTrH ) the stores that will close aren’t performing well and are primarily unprofitable. He says about 150 Blockbuster stores sell the company’s satellite television services, but that number will grow.

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PAY UP: LA Times Announces Online Paywall

February 24, 2012

Would you pay to read the Los Angeles Times online? The paper announced Friday that it will charge for digital access starting Mar. 5. Here’s how it will work, as The Wrap first reported : ~ 15 online articles each month: free ~ First month of online subscription: 99 cents/month ~ After first month, online subscription: $3.99/week ~ Print plus online subscription (plus Sunday paper): $1.99/week The paper will also stop printing its Health, Food and Home sections and instead deliver a new lifestyle section on Saturdays, the Times explains . The Health, Food and Home sections will remain online. The paper also clarified that, if you are already a home deliver subscriber, you will not have to pay for online access to articles. The move to charge for online content follows the example of other major news outlets, including The New York Times , the Wall Street Journal and the Dallas Morning , AFP reports . Just this week, Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company, announced it will launch similar online subscription programs at 80 publications.

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LOOK: Auto Workers Protest Romney, Praise Obama In Detroit

February 24, 2012

Around 250 auto workers and supporters marched in Detroit Friday to send a message to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney: “Don’t bet against the American Worker.” Romney is set to speak on tax policy at Ford Field as part of an event hosted by the Detroit Economic Club. Former Sen. Rick Santorum, Romney’s chief rival for the Republican nomination, spoke to the group about economic policy last Thursday. Both candidates are vying for Michigan, and remain close in the polls ahead of the upcoming Tuesday primary here. Though Romney has campaigned hard here in recent weeks, attempting to play up his hometown pride and even calling himself a “son of Detroit,” auto workers at the rally Friday were none too pleased with the former Massachusetts governor’s attempt to rebrand himself as a Michigander. (SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS) GM worker Ken Figley said he’d like to tell Romney to “Go back to Massachusetts. Why didn’t he run for reelection there?” Figley said he thought Romney had a 50/50 chance of winning the GOP primary here, but he no longer considers Michigan a swing state. “It’s definitely a Democratic state now, because of the auto policy.” “He wasn’t there when we needed him,” said a United Auto Workers member named Bob, who did not want his last name published because he was skipping work to attend the rally. Sharon Scott, an autoworker from downriver, wore a UAW jacket and carried a hot pink Planned Parenthood sign. She said she had come out to protest Romney’s economic policies, as well as his positions on women’s health and reproductive rights. “He wanted to give up on all of us here,” she said. “He’s against me and my family.” And for Scott, part of the idea of family is the right to family planning. “The problem I have is with guys trying to decide what happens with birth control when they have no problem supporting erectile dysfunction medication,” she said. “We deserve the right to choose.” The UAW organized the event in conjunction with Progress Michigan, whose executive director, Dave Holtz, said his organization wants to both push hard against Romney and promote a conversation among Michiganders about the consequences of the auto bailout. “We want to have that debate,” he said, “between the folks who are Republicans, and are in the auto industry, who have said the auto rescue worked.” “On the other side, we have the Tea Party standing on ideology rather than being pragmatic and acknowledge that it worked,” he added. “For Romney and the Republican candidates, it’s time to admit it — it worked.” The UAW rally seemed designed as much to advocate for Democrats as it was to criticize Romney. While a truck-mounted billboard proclaiming “Let Romney Go Bankrupt” cruised around Ford Field, rally organizers chose a more upbeat message. UAW President Bob King used call and response to get the crowd cheering, “Thank you President Obama!” “When all the polls said, ‘Do not help the auto industry,’ who stood with us,” King asked. “Who was there for auto workers, for steel workers, for glass workers and working people in America?” King applauded the auto industry’s turnaround, and said “every single one” of the Republican candidates “has gone against this great American success story.” “We were especially angry with what Mr. Romney said, that we were given something,” he said. “Our members gave up from $7,000 to $30,000 a year to keep jobs in America and revitalize and save the companies that we work for. Our members made the sacrifices.” Auto workers, of course, gave up pay and benefit increases during contract negotiations following the bailout and automaker restructuring. When asked how they might reconcile those significant givebacks with a pro-industry spirit, King said he believed the industry had turned around sufficiently to offer workers ample job security. “There’s no need for concessions,” he told The Huffington Post. “We’re moving toward a successful industry. Ford, GM and Chrysler are profitable.” King would not speculate, however, on whether the record profits for some automakers would result in pay or benefit increases for UAW members. The UAW is now focused on supporting Obama, and tapping into the 99 percent rhetoric of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Several members in the crowd carried signs that read “99%” and the UAW is rumored to announced a spring campaign with a similar theme. King told HuffPost he sees the campaign as tapping into a desire for “all things fair” in society. “It’s a broad social and economic justice movement,” he said. He would not comment on his feelings about local politicians, like Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who endorsed Romney while remaining supportive of the auto bailout, but he said he thought “the general population will support Obama” in November. The UAW protesters marched on the sidewalk outside Ford Field, but on the opposite side of the stadium from the entrance for the Romney event. The closest they came to encountering a Romney supporter was when they loudly booed a passing truck decked out in Romney signs and a billboard. Jim Wilson, a Virginia resident, drove the white GMC 1500 plastered with Romney campaign signs. He said he drives the truck to campaign events in states across the Midwest. “I just love a good party,” he said. See more photos from the UAW protest below:

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Philadelphia Convention Plans Split Occupy Movement

February 24, 2012

In early November, Nathan Kleinman, an Occupy protester in Philadelphia, received an email from someone named Michael Pollok who said he was part of a group of protesters affiliated with the Occupy movement. Pollok said the group planned to hold a convention in Philadelphia during the week of July 4, when 876 delegates from congressional districts around the country would draft “a petition for a redress of grievances” to be presented to Congress. Kleinman didn’t like the idea, and he didn’t think it would go over well with other people at Occupy Philly either. He had a few specific concerns, chief among them the fact that the event involved a representative model of government, as opposed to the consensus model that has characterized the Occupy movement from the beginning. “I explained all that and had a back-and-forth with him. He got increasingly testy and his responses were increasingly dismissive, and so eventually I gave up on him and figured he’d go away,” said Kleinman. “But that’s not what happened clearly.” This week, the Associated Press and other media outlets reported on Pollok’s plans for the convention, unleashing a bitter debate among occupiers over the question of who has the right to represent the movement. (The Huffington Post posted the AP story .) After Pollok reached out to Kleinman, critics within Occupy Philly said, people involved in his organization, the 99% Declaration Working Group , brought their plans to the General Assembly of Occupy Philly. Just as Kleinman had warned Pollok, those ideas met with disapproval. Rumors circulated through multiple Occupy sites that Pollok wanted to create his own party; there was vague talk of a power grab. “It was clear that he was trying to co-opt the energy of the movement,” said Kleinman, “and it was not clear what those purposes were.” Many people involved in the Occupy movement were galled that Pollok seemed to be purporting to represent the movement as a whole. “It’s not something these guys really have the right to do,” said Aaron Black, a participant in Occupy Wall Street. “I suppose everybody can use the word ‘occupy,’ but I feel like this is extremely misleading and it’s not something we support.” For his part, Pollok, a lawyer who advised Occupy protesters arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge last year, said he has no plans to start a new political party. He said he never claimed to represent the Occupy movement and noted that a press release about the convention plans described his group’s members as “former” occupiers. But he added, “We have just as much a right to be part of the Occupy movement and the 99% movement as anybody.” Beyond that issue of legitimacy, the conflict has been fueled by a question crucial to the future of the Occupy movement: To what extent is the movement willing to engage with the mainstream political system? Pollok drew a distinction between the 99% Declaration Working Group and its critics in the Occupy movement, saying that his contingent wants to “reform” the system while its opponents want to “tear it down.” In reality, the division isn’t so clear. Many who disapprove of Pollok’s plans have said they are willing to work with the government. Aaron Black, from Occupy Wall Street, said he was one of at least 50 or 60 people from Occupy movements around the country who have met with members of Congress in recent months in an attempt to persuade them to outlaw corporate personhood. The difference, Black argued, is that they present themselves as individual occupiers, not representatives of the movement. He also said they’re acting with the support of the general assemblies in their cities. In fact, no one embodies a willingness to work within the system more fully than Nathan Kleinman, who initially tried to discourage Pollok from holding the convention. For about a month, he has been running for Congress in the 14th District of Pennsylvania as a Democrat. “I don’t believe that Congress is the be-all end-all for how to improve the country,” Kleinman said. “I’m still involved in Occupy Philly, but I’m in favor of a multipronged approach.”

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Jordana Zizmor: The Seamless CEO

February 23, 2012

With the opening of the new Seamless headquarters in Midtown I thought it would be meaningful and relevant to interview the CEO, Jonathan Zabusky . Seamless is an exciting company that’s constantly innovating, and that is a reflection of Jonathan. Seamless makes it easy and convenient to order food online and through their essential mobile app. Recently, I caught up with Jonathan to discuss how he makes it work. Jordana Zizmor: How many restaurants are on Seamless? Jonathan Zabusky: We currently have around 8,000 restaurants. We recently bought MenuPages. MenuPages has about 40,000 menus listed. One of our goals is to make sure that online ordering is available to at least the vast majority if not all of those restaurants. Jordana Zizmor: Why did you change the name from Seamless Web to Seamless? Jonathan Zabusky: It was more than a name change. It was really a rebranding and a repositioning of where the business was going. We saw so much promise in the name Seamless. It’s authentic and it’s really our roots. It says everything we need to say about the company at this point in time. The word web just felt antiquated Jordana Zizmor: What have you learned from running Seamless that you did not expect or anticipate? Jonathan Zabusky: What has been most interesting is really the love and affinity people have for this company and what we do on a daily basis. When you think about the sites you interact with and use everyday Seamless is one of those sites for a lot of people. Food is already so interconnected to the emotions of life and being part of Seamless is a responsibility. There are some great companies that put customer care at the top of their list but it will always be number one for Seamless. It really has to be because there is a real urgency when you are ordering food. We have an opportunity to either delight or for the restaurants to fail. It’s just a very emotionally charged purchase. What surprised me the most is how people really want us to be successful and how much user feedback we get. It makes our job easier on one dimension but the expectations are pretty significant. Jordana Zizmor: What would people be surprised to know about Seamless? Jonathan Zabusky: E-commerce sites usually do well because the customer doesn’t have to talk to anyone and that makes it more efficient. What people don’t realize is what it takes from a customer care perspective. The lion’s share of the people that work at Seamless are dealing with real orders that sometimes get messed up. Restaurants make mistakes and people sometimes change what they want. There is some level of interaction that needs to happen and we take customer care very seriously. We are here to build relationships with people and those interactions are critical to building loyalty. Another thing that would be surprising especially, for people who have known us for a long time is how big a pivot Seamless has made. We started out in 1999 as a service catering to corporations. Now the majority of our business is direct to consumer. Our corporate business is still growing but so much of Seamless is about helping consumers with discovery. People don’t realize how big and important the consumer business is to us. Jordana Zizmor: How does the economy impact Seamless? Jonathan Zabusky: There are a lot of factors that impact Seamless. Right now the biggest factor we are facing is the conversion from offline to online. No matter what kind of economy we are in, people are buying iPhones and shifting from using paper menus to using Seamless. The focus on mobile is critical. Eighteen months ago less than 1 percent of our transactions were mobile. Now on a peak weekend day over 25 percent of transactions are mobile. A shift from platform to platform like that in an 18-month period is incredible. Mobile has really helped us be where our customers are. Even in a down economy we have growth. In general we don’t really see a correlation with the economy. What we are seeing are a lot of restaurants that used to be considered only dine out are now making delivery and pick up available. You are seeing restaurants make use of their kitchen capacity and start to develop their own delivery forces. The choices for food delivery are just expanding as the economy has had some challenges. Jordana Zizmor: How important is social media to Seamless? Jonathan Zabusky: What used to be an outbound marketing and branding channel for us is now more about customer care. It’s a huge change. Our customer care people used to come here and learn how to answer the phones and now as many of our inquiries and interactions are coming through Twitter . We actively market but the best way to build community is to make it as easy as possible for people to engage with Seamless and that why social media is so important. Jordana Zizmor: What inspires you? Jonathan Zabusky: Honestly, it’s fun to build a company and be part of something that is innovating and defining something as opposed to being in a business that is already defined, and we are trying to claim our fair share. I also get excited by helping small businesses. Restaurants need help right now especially, when they are going up against the likes of Domino’s, which spends a lot of money on marketing. Our business exists to level the playing field with these restaurants and help them compete against these big brands.

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New Detroit Bus Company Wants To Be Answer To City’s Transit Woes

February 23, 2012

Bus riders in Detroit have not wanted for bad news in the last few months. In November, drivers walked off the job to protest poor security . In a bid to save money in January, the city outsourced operations for the chronically mismanaged bus system to a private company. This month it confirmed that there will be route and service reductions starting next week. Amid the glum news, however, one businessman said he hopes to turn the city’s transit fortunes around with an unusual business model: a private jitney bus company to be called, simply, The Detroit Bus Company. Andy Didorosi, the entrepreneur behind the scheme, thinks he can have it up and running by April. Others are more skeptical. “We’re attempting to fix some Detroit transit issues in the best way we can,” Didorosi said. “Our goal is just to roll the one bus to begin with and to learn. We know very little about running a transit company, and that is both a strength and a weakness.” The solitary first bus will run, he said, in a loop connecting downtown with some of Detroit’s most popular — and gentrifying — neighborhoods. “We don’t have a route in stone yet, or even in chalk,” he said. “But the first route will likely be a greater downtown connector loop, drawing a circle connecting downtown, Corktown, Woodbridge, Midtown, Eastern Market, Greektown and back again.” Along the way, Didorosi said, riders will be treated to one of three artistically “muralized” Bluebird school buses that he already purchased second-hand; a smartphone app offering live GPS updates on bus progress (“so you don’t have to stand on the corner freezing your ass off”); and the option to buy wristbands, via the mobile-phone, credit-card payment system Square, instead of tickets. Bus stops will include “beacon points” like Slows Bar Bq and Woodbridge Pub. Didorosi hopes to bring to bear his business acumen honed on projects like the Ferndale art and business incubator Paper Street (an old warehouse he rents out to start-ups) and The Thunderdome, a bicycle and scooter racing event in Detroit. He’s also played a part in the Mower Gang , which sends a group of lawn mower owners into overgrown city parks for a little vigilante lawn care. Projects like those earned the 20-something entrepreneur a spot on the up-and-comer “Twenty in Their Twenties” list in Crain’s Detroit Business . The new company may sound a little too hip or far-fetched to replace the city’s old buses; Didorosi said his original plan was a party bus with elements of the iconic Nemo’s shuttle that ferries fans to Lions, Tigers and Red Wings games. But he is adamant that despite relatively high costs (he estimates fares at $5 and $10 for a day pass), his service could appeal to lower-income Detroiters who have trouble getting to work. A one-way fare for an adult on Detroit buses is now $1.50. “We’ve turned it from an affluent people, nighttime fun shuttle into what we hope will be a real transit solution,” he said. In the future, he said he hopes it will be attractive to a broad cross-section of Detroiters with spoke-like routes leading from downtown. Still, Didorosi is frank about the challenges he will face. Transit experts said frequency is crucial to attracting riders, but he’s not yet sure how often the bus will come. Another problem is the city’s law against jitney services; another city law prevents private fixed-route transportation services. “You have to do it first and then see what shakes out of it,” he argued, adding that he will be strictly adhering to motor carrier safety laws. In most every supermarket in Detroit, he said, there’s a bulletin board full of fliers for jitney cab services, and his research indicated that the last time that law was enforced was in the 1980s. Didorosi is willing to spend the money on the buses and incur the risk of a shutdown because Detroit is “kind of the Amsterdam of jitneys.” Much less blase was Henry Gaffney, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union’s Local 26, which represents Detroit bus drivers. Asked by HuffPost whether he was familiar with Didorosi’s plan, Gaffney said, “this the first I heard of it, but I will be investigating this.” He wanted to reserve judgment until he read more, but he said that the union “had to stop” a similar plan years before. Aside from potential political action, Gaffney said, he was skeptical that The Detroit Bus Company would work as a business plan, noting that the city’s People Mover, an elevated light-rail with a 75-cent fare, provides obvious competition for any company running a downtown loop. “A lot of people want to do a lot of things,” he said. “Doesn’t mean you’re actually going to do it. I want to be a millionaire.” Transportation blogger Yonah Freemark, who has commented on Detroit’s light-rail woes before , said he wasn’t familiar with any unsubsidized, private bus companies working as a alternatives to public transportation in the United States. A few lines in the United Kingdom, he noted, can pull it off, but in general, “public transportation is not a very profitable business.” Freemark hopes Detroit will let Didorosi’s “experiment” proceed, he said, if only because the looming service cuts for DDOT will leave a gaping hole in the city’s already weak transit network. “I’m not sure that the majority of the people who are poor in Detroit are going to be able to afford to put down $5 on a day pass every day,” he said. But “if anything this is the perfect time to try an alternative, so from that perspective, he’s got his timing right. Good luck to him. That’s great. Sounds kind of crazy and awesome.”

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