The Eye on the East Bay
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 30, 2009 | by Anonymous
Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus has plenty on his plate these days, but the Eye is happy to learn that Magnus still can find time to help out an older resident in need of a ride — particularly because the resident is a relative of the Eye.
The relative in question, who is 87, called Supervisor John Gioia’s office a couple of weeks back seeking directions to an event Gioia and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner were hosting Oct. 17 to discuss county and state issues. A Giola staffer gave her directions to the Marina Bay Community Association, then called back a short time later to tell her he had a better idea: Richmond’s police chief would be happy to drive her to the event and back home.
Sure enough, Magnus, who knew nothing of her relationship to the Eye, called the morning of the event to let her know he was on his way. He arrived promptly and they had a lovely chat during the drive about the city’s history (she’s been a resident since 1941).
Richmond’s police chief, our relative tells us, is a delightful young man.
LAMORINDA PRIDE: The Eye is wondering who’s the proud Orinda resident driving a green van with the license plate “ORINDAN.” The van was spotted near City Hall on Tuesday, but Orinda officials say it’s not a city vehicle.
City Clerk Michele Olsen said she saw the top dating sites van in a grocery store parking lot Thursday night and scanned the aisles for familiar faces but didn’t see anyone she recognized.
So the Eye tips its cap to the Orinda resident who was able to snag a vanity license plate to display civic pride for all to see.
SIGN LANGUAGE: Whilst rolling through west Berkeley, the Eye spied a yellow official street sign, “Speed Hump,” which was somewhat disconcerting. The Eye has heard of speed dating, but this is ridiculous.
DID I SAY THAT? At the Mt
Count on it; LETTERS
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, Oct 22, 2009
I’M SURPRISED at the latest Countdown viewing figures (Mail). Rachel Riley is much easier on the eye than the inane laughing, self-centred Carol Vorderman. And what an improvement Jeff Stelling is on the giggling, laugh at anything, grinning geriatric buffoon Des O’Connor. manifesting abundance Good luck, Countdown, for the future.
MICK GARRARD, Tatsfield, Kent.
State Farm Selects The Oaks At Westlake
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Business Wire, Sept 15, 2009
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — KW Commercial Investment Group, a division of the international real
estate services and investment firm Kennedy Wilson welcomes State Farm
Mutual Automobile Insurance Company to The Oaks At Westlake. The Oaks is
one of the premier office buildings in the Westlake Village/Thousand
Oaks market and boasts one of the most recognizable locations in the
Conejo Valley.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the leading US personal
lines property/casualty company and the #1 provider of auto insurance in
the United States has leased 58,751 square feet of office space for a
5-year term at One Baxter Way in Thousand Oaks, CA. The Oaks At
Westlake, a 355,000 SF, Class A office building is now 87% leased.
Other major tenants at the building include Baxter Healthcare
Corporation and Verizon California. Built into a hillside, the property
is ideally located with significant frontage on the 101 Freeway and
convenient dining and shopping for tenants.
State Farm was represented by Dennis Richardson of Cushman & Wakefield
of California, and the landlord, One Baxter Way, L.P., was represented
by David Solomon, Matt Heyn and Troy Pollet of CB Richard Ellis, and
in-house by John Prabhu and Mickey Isen of Kennedy Wilson. We are very
excited about welcoming State Farm to one of our premier properties,
said Barry Schlesinger, Co-CEO, KW Commercial Investment Group. State
Farm will be taking occupancy of its new space in January of 2010.
Founded in 1977, Kennedy Wilson is a vertically-integrated real estate
investment and services company headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA with
21 offices in the U.S. and Japan. The company offers a comprehensive
array of real estate services including property and asset management,
brokerage and auction services, and construction and trust management.
Through its fund management and separate account businesses, Kennedy
Wilson is a strategic investor and manager of real estate investments in
the United States and massachusetts auto insurance quotes Japan
Health Plans Reduce Administrative Expenses with HEALTHsuite® from RAM Technologies, Inc
Saturday, October 31st, 2009PR Newswire, Sept 18, 2009
colorado auto insurance quotes FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Today’s economic conditions coupled with the anticipated impacts of health insurance reform are forcing health plans to find ways to reduce expenses. RAM Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of software applications for health care payers, enables health plans to reduce expenses with the cost saving features of their health care administrative solution suite HEALTHsuite and eHealthsuite(TM).
HEALTHsuite and eHealthsuite offer quantifiable processes to reduce operating costs while improving performance and service levels for health plans:
-- Powerful EDI capabilities coupled with a superior claim adjudication
engine foster a "Paperless" claim processing environment and first
pass auto-adjudication rates in excess of 80%
-- Robust Internet self-service portals available 24 x 7 dramatically
reducing demands on customer support personnel
-- Advanced Subrogation and Overpayment Recovery capabilities
-- Configurable claim auditing and cost containment capabilities
-- And more...
“With the federal government considering the imposition of constraints on health plan spending and profits, it is more important than ever to control expenses,” states Robert A. Tulio, President of RAM Technologies. “HEALTHsuite and eHealthsuite offer tangible features to reduce operating costs while increasing productivity of the health plan.”
About RAM Technologies, Inc.
RAM Technologies is a leading developer of enterprise wide healthcare administrative solutions for payers. For over 28 years RAM Technologies has created superior system solutions for health plans supporting Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial and Federal Health Programs
Sightseeing after surgery
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | Manila Bulletin, August 8, 2009
This summer, as people in the West head out to foreign lands to travel, some are planning to have hip resurfacing, multiple bypass, or cosmetic surgery while theyre at it.If travel adventure involves a risky activity, then medical tourism would be an adventure combining surgery and paradise the risk of going under the knife in some exotic location.The clincher? The price!Karen Lee of Concord, California needs to have some dental work done two crowns and cleaning.
The quote she got was at USD$2199. Traveling to the Philippines, not only will she get to visit her family, but also their family dentist who will only charge her $199.Meanwhile, Dorothy needs dental cleaning but in Hong Kong that would cost her between HK$600-800 or PHP3000-4000. Most would hate the idea of going to the dentists office but Dorothy looks forward to beach hopping with a side trip to the dentist. The dental cleaning fee gave her an extra reason to smile at PHP350.For complicated and specialized cosmetic, orthopedic, and heart surgeries, costs plano cosmetic dentist are usually a fraction or 20 to 80 percent less of what theyll be paying in developed countries. Karen is one of the 40 to 45 million uninsured Americans. They have disposable income which cannot afford health insurance. President Obama says hell fix the burdened healthcare infrastructure but in the meantime, people are getting sick.Learning about ones medical condition would bring dark clouds over anyones future. But finding out, to ones horror, how much it would cost to regain his/her health back would be financially painful.The Fast and the FuriousOther than cost, theres the convenience factor.Some medical tourists go for procedures not covered by their insurance, like cosmetic surgery or infertility treatment. Others find out that their medical insurance imposes restrictions on the choice of facility, surgeon, or prosthetics to be used.In Canada and the UK, a large draw to medical travel is the no-wait list. People are frustrated and furious over the long wait and want medical attention fast.Countries that operate public health-care systems are often so taxed that it will take some time to get a non-urgent medical care.In Canada, an estimated 782,936 Canadians waited an average of 9.4 weeks on medical waiting list in 2005. Canada has a set waiting-time benchmark like 26 weeks for a hip replacement
First National Bank of Northern California Reports Third Quarter 2009 Earnings of $0.35 per Diluted Share
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Market Wire, October, 2009
FNB Bancorp (OTCBB: FNBG), parent
company of First National Bank of Northern California, today announced
operating earnings for the third quarter of 2009 of $1,049,000 or $0.35 per
diluted share after deducting dividends on preferred stock, compared to
operating earnings of $1,047,000 or $0.34 per diluted share for the third
quarter of 2008. Net income for the third quarter of 2009 was $1,263,000,
before the payment of preferred stock dividends, compared to net income of
$1,047,00 in the third quarter of 2008. Dividend payments on the preferred
shares outstanding were made as required by the Treasury Department’s
Capital Purchase Program during the third quarter of 2009. Total
consolidated assets as of September 30, 2009 were $699,313,000 compared to
$660,957,000 as of December 31, 2008.
During the first nine months of 2009, assets grew by $38,356,000 or 6%
above December 31, 2008 levels. Total deposits increased by $84,257,000 or
approximately 17% during this same time period. Our deposit growth during
the first nine months of 2009 has allowed us to repay over $56 million in
Federal Home Loan Bank advances during this same period. The current rate
environment of very low short term rates has negatively affected our
taxable equivalent net interest margin, which has decreased to 4.62% during
the third quarter of 2009, compared with 4.75% for the same period in 2008.
“During the third quarter of 2009, we purchased approximately $19 million
dollars of performing loans from another community bank. Management has
been, and continues to look for market opportunities as other institutions
downsize and shed assets. Also during the third quarter, we added $796,000
into our provision for loan losses in order to bolster our allowance for
loan losses. This action was taken to insure reserves were sufficient to
absorb any future losses that may occur in our lending portfolio. We
believe that the level of the provision for the remainder of 2009 is
expected to be lower than the provision levels recorded during the first
nine months of the year,” stated Tom McGraw, CEO.
Financial Highlights: Third Quarter, 2009
Consolidated Statements of Earnings
(in '000s except earnings per share amounts)Three Three Nine Nine
months months months months
ended ended ended ended
September September September September
30, 30, 30, 30,
2009 2008 2009 2008
--------- --------- --------- ---------Interest income $ 9,283 $ 9,787 $ 26,837 $ 29,815
Interest expense 2,293 2,725 6,974 8,888
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net interest income 6,990 7,062 19,863 20,927
Provision for loan losses (796) (300) (3,696) (1,590)
Noninterest income 1,672 769 4,266 3,167
Noninterest expense 6,427 6,481 20,605 18,944
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Interest before income taxes 1,439 1,050 (172) home schooling resources 3,560
Provision for income taxes (176) (3) 250 (536)
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net earnings (loss) 1,263 1,047 78 3,024
Dividends and discount
accretion on preferred stock 214 -- 419 --
Net earnings (loss)
available to common --------- --------- --------- ---------
shareholders $ 1,049 $ 1,047 $ (341) $ 3,024
========= ========= ========= =========Basic earnings per share $ 0.35 $ 0.34 ($ 0.11) $ 0.98
Diluted earnings per share $ 0.35 $ 0.34 ($ 0.11) $ 0.97Average assets $ 694,806 $ 661,328 $ 675,487 $ 655,178
Average equity $ 78,525 $ 67,189 $ 76,834 $ 67,562
Return on average assets 0.60% 0.63% -0.20% 1.85%
Return on average equity 5.34% 6.23% -1.78% 17.90%
Efficiency ratio 74% 83% 85% 79%
Net interest margin (taxable
equivalent) 4.62% 4.75% 4.43% 4.78%
Average shares outstanding 3,030 3,055 3,030 3,092
Average diluted shares
outstanding 3,030 3,065 3,030 3,118Financial Highlights: Third Quarter, 2009
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in '000s) As of As of As of As of
September December September December
30, 31, 30, 31,
2009 2008 2008 2007
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 46,371 $ 14,865 $ 17,873 $ 15,750
Securities available for sale 94,264 99,221 104,489 94,432
Loans, net 506,537 497,984 489,644 489,574
Premises, equipment and
leasehold improvements 12,040 13,030 13,378 13,686
Other real estate owned 9,425 3,557 3,819 440
Goodwill 1,841 1,841 1,841 1,841
Other assets 28,835 30,459 29,252 28,742
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total assets $ 699,313 $ 660,957 $ 660,296 $ 644,465
========== ========== ========== ==========Liabilities and stockholders' equity:
Deposits:
Demand and NOW $ 174,826 $ 179,688 $ 184,014 $ 181,638
Savings and money market 279,696 179,382 181,426 181,276
Time 130,645 141,840 155,030 136,341
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total deposits 585,167 500,910 520,470 499,255
Federal Home Loan Bank advances 30,000 86,100 66,000 66,000
Federal funds purchased - - - 5,595
Accrued expenses and other
liabilities 5,218 5,798 7,275 7,070
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total liabilities 620,385 592,808 593,745 577,920
Stockholders' equity 78,928 68,149 66,551 66,545
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total liab
British Landscape Photography Prize Scooped By Parisian
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | Journal (Newcastle, England), The, Oct 19, 2009
THIS dramatic shot of light falling through the clouds over the Isle of Skye has won the top prize in this year’s Landscape Photograph of the Year award.
Paris-based Emmanuel Coupe won pounds 10,000 after his picture of the rocky pinnacles of the Old Man of Storr and the sea beyond was chosen as the best of thousands of entries showing some of the United Kingdom’s best views. Category winning photographs in the competition included images of Westminster Palace, Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and Aberdeen Harbour.
Organisers said the competition, set nature photography up by landscape photographer Charlie Waite, aims to highlight the important interaction between people and places and showcase the diversity of the nation’s scenery.
Mr Waite said: “The standard of entries has been exceptional and proves what enthusiasm we have for both our photography and our landscape.”
The award-winning shots will be among 100 best photographs from the contest in the Take A View – Landscape Photographer of the Year 2009 show, backed by Natural England & the English National Park Authorities, at the National Theatre, London, from December 5. Dr Helen Phillips, Natural England’s chief executive, said the “extraordinary collection of photographs” served “as a reminder of the enduring beauty of our countryside”.
Arch Chemicals, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Business Wire, Oct 30, 2009
NORWALK, Conn. — The Arch Chemicals, Inc. Board of Directors on October 30, 2009 declared
a quarterly dividend of 20-cents on each share of Arch Chemicals
(NYSE:ARJ) common stock. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2009 to
causes of eczema shareholders of record at the close of business on November 13, 2009.
Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (USA), Arch Chemicals, Inc
The Cheapest Fall & WinterAirfares In 13 Years, No Tricks Just Treats!
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | M2 Presswire, October, 2009
M2 PRESSWIRE-27 October 2009-Bestfares.com: The Cheapest Fall & WinterAirfares In 13 Years, No Tricks Just Treats!(C)1994-2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS
RDATE:27102009
Arlington, TX — “On the weekend eve of Halloween, the travel goblins have placed a spell on the folks at Southwest Airlines. They’re offering thousands of spooky airfares loaded with no tricks, but plenty of treats for the traveling public,” – states Tom Parsons, CEO and founder cheap airfare of Bestfares.com, a discount travel website that monitors air travel.
Today, Southwest Airlines kicked off a system-wide blowout sale with airfares as low as $25 one-way for short-haul flights and coast to coast for as little as $100 one-way, or $200 roundtrip.
Customers can purchase one-way…
Time to track the best system
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, Oct 17, 2009
Byline: Charlotte Beugge MONEY MAIL
DESPITE their large salaries, few fund managers beat stock market indices.
According to figures from adviser Bestinvest, of the 1,442 investment funds with track records of at least five years, only 27 outperformed their relevant index in each of the past five years.
Added to that, charges on actively managed funds mean you lose a large chunk of your money each year, even if the fund manager fails to do any better than a computer-generated fund which simply follows the index.
However, with the current topsy-turvy stock market, the pricing system used by investment funds makes it difficult for investors to maximise their profits.
Unit trusts and Open Ended Investment Companies (Oeics) all use a system called forward pricing.
This means that if you trade on Monday afternoon, you won’t get the price current at that time.
Instead, you’ll actually get the price at midday on Tuesday. That’s no good to anyone want-to take a quick profit on stock market moves. But there is a way of investing cheaply in an index tracker and being able to get real-time prices.
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) follow a range of indices but because they are shares, when you sell or buy them you know exactly what price you are paying.
ETFs track survey scout anything from the FTSE All Share index to the cost of pork bellies, wheat or gold. You will have to pay stockbroking commission, but there’s no stamp duty