Author: Admin

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Buffalo, New York —The preliminary hearing for a lawsuit against the Elmwood Village Hotel proposal has been pushed back to August 10, 2006.

The hotel would require the demolition of at least five properties owned by Hans Mobius, 1109-1121 Elmwood and would cause the closure of several businesses. Already, two businesses, Skunk Tail Glass and Six Nations Native American Gift Shop have relocated, outside the Elmwood Strip. Don apparel, H.O.D. Tattoo and Mondo Video still remain on Elmwood; however, Mondo Video is planning on moving to a new location. The hotel will be 72 rooms and will cost at least 7 million dollars to build. Savarino Construction Services Corporation would be in charge of building the hotel and Wyndham Hotels would operate it.

Attorney Arthur Giacalone says that the court date was pushed back because “the court apparently felt it did not make sense to proceed with oral argument on 7/27 if Savarino is going to re-start the process.” Giacalone also stated that the decision to adjourn until August 10 “was not my idea.” On July 13, 2006 Savarino announced that they were withdrawing the proposal to “resubmit” it to “shed the lawsuits” against the proposal.

Savarino was allegedly supposed to resubmit the proposal by the end of last week but so far has not done so. The final meeting of Buffalo’s Common Council for the summer occurred today. The Council will not meet again until September.

“If they [Savarino] took no action today, re the hotel, [that is, accepting the new application, or rescinding the prior rezoning resolution], nothing official will happen for the next 6 weeks or so,” added Giacalone also saying that if this is the case, “the court may not be willing to hear oral argument on 8/10 since we will still be up in the air about what’s going on.” Giacalone also states that he is unsure about “what they [the Common Council] did today.”

Despite the call for a “do-over” of the proposals process, Giacalone still states that his client’s position of the “pending lawsuit will not be ‘moot’ or ‘academic’ unless and until the Common Council rescinds its prior vote(s) that approved the rezoning” for the buildings on Elmwood and one property on Forest Avenues.

Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Construction has been contacted, but has not replied to any e-mails. Area councilman Joseph Golombeck has also been e-mailed, but also has not replied.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

On Wednesday, Italian football club Juventus announced an agreement with German club Bayern Munich for a one-year loan of Brazilian winger Douglas Costa for a fee of €6 million, to run until June 30, 2018.

26-year-old Douglas Costa joined Bayern in 2015 under Pep Guardiola’s management from Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. In two seasons at the Allianz Arena, Costa has scored fourteen goals and provided 27 assists, making 77 appearances in total. He won two consecutive Bundesliga titles, a DFB Pokal, and a DFL-Supercup. Before joining the Bavarian club, the left-footed winger won five consecutive Ukrainian Premier League trophies.

In the agreement with Bayern, Juventus can exercise an option to buy the player for €40 million before July 1, 2018. Bayern may receive an additional €1 million subject to conditions in the contract. Bayern Munich’s chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, “We had serious and constructive talks with Juventus’ representatives. All of FC Bayern’s financial demands have been met”.

Upon asking why he joined Juventus, Costa told the Juventus’ interviewer that he “had always dreamed of playing” with the Old Lady and said he was “delighted to be part of” Juventus’ team.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The parliament of Indonesia has approved government plans to make an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares in three major state-owned firms, privatising them. They are steelmaker Krakatau Steel, Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) and national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

The parliament has left the process fully in the hands of the government, and has set the maximum stake to be sold at 30% for BTN and Krakatau, and 40% for Garuda. Although Indonesia has been known to fund budget deficits with privatisation, the intention is for the funds from this scheme to go to the businesses themselves to allow expansion.

Krakatau expects 3.2 trillion Rupiah (IDR) from the sale, while the estimated price for their stock is between IDR3 and IDR4 trillion (321 – 428 million USD). Both ArcelorMittal SA, the biggest steelmaker in the world, and BlueScope Steel Ltd, the largest in Australia, have expressed an interest in the IPO. Krakatau will use the funds to help finance an expansion scheme which aims to have production doubled to five million tonnes in 2011.

BTN, which focuses on home owner loans, has set itself a target income of IDR36.12 trillion (3.86 billion USD) in 2010 compared to a projected IDR22.9 trillion ( 2.45 billion USD) this year. Net profit for this year is projected at IDR472 billion (50.5 million USD)and is hoped to rise to IDR1.39 trillion (148.7 million USD) in 2010. The bank’s loan to deposit ratio is predicted to rise from 105.05% this year to 144.93% in 2012. BTN hopes to conduct its IPO before the end of 2008.

Garuda is not quite 100% state-owned to start with, unlike the other two, but is very close with 95.44% of the company belonging to the government. Like all of Indonesia’s 51 airlines, Garuda is on the list of air carriers banned in the EU due to safety concerns raised after a string of air accidents in the nation. Garuda expects to raise IDR4.2 trillion (449.4 million USD) in funds from the IPO, and will use IDR2.5 trillion (267.5 million USD) to pay off its debts and invest IDR1.7 trillion (181.9 million USD) in new aircraft.

The government is still working to get a deal to make IPOs for architectural firm Yodya Karya and three plantation firms called Perkebunan Nusantara III, IV and VII.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

North Korea test fired a ballistic missile from a submarine yesterday, which landed in the Sea of Japan after traveling approximately 500 km (about 300 miles), according to officials of South Korea and the US.

The missile was fired from a submarine off North Korea’s east coast near Sinpo, officials said, and was reportedly North Korea’s first successful launch after missiles only traveled a small distance in previous tests. The South Korean military accused the North Korean government of using the test to increase military tension during the annual South Korean–US joint military drills, which involve 80,000 South Korean and US troops. North Korea has threatened a preemptive nuclear strike saying the drills were practice for an invasion.

This came on the same day as a meeting between the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea where, according to Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, they “urge[d] North Korea to exercise self-restraint regarding its provocative action, and to observe the UN Security Council’s resolutions”. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the test’s intrusion into Japan’s air defense identification zone “a grave threat to our country’s security.”

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

On Monday, United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak revealed in a media briefing that he will confirm in his Budget, scheduled for half-noon Wednesday, an end to the partial pay freeze on 2.6 million public sector employees introduced last November, alongside a 6.6% increase to the National Living Wage.

Sunak used the fall in wages during COVID-19 to justify his “pause” in public sector employees’ pay that exempted 2.9 million National Health Service workers and those earning under GBP24 thousand per year, but applied to 2.6 million teachers, police, civil servants and members of the British Armed Forces. While a pay rise is in order from spring next year, the precise details are pending consultation by independent advisers and pay review bodies, according to the i. The Guardian writes some 5.7 million public sector employees could see a pay rise.

In addition, about two million on minimum wage, including some from the above 5.7 million, could benefit from an increase in the national minimum and national living wages. According to the i and The Guardian, the National Living Wage applicable for over-23s will increase by 59p to GBP9.50 an hour from next April, about GBP1000 for a full-time worker, in line with recommendations from independent advisory board the Low Pay Commission. The National Minimum Wage for those aged 21 to 22 will rise 82p to GBP9.18 an hour, and the Apprenticeship Rate will go up 51p to GBP4.81 an hour.

However, according to senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies Tom Waters: “While this boosts earnings for full-time minimum wage workers by over £1,000 a year, those on universal credit will see their disposable income go up by just £250 because their taxes rise and benefit receipt falls as their earnings increase.” Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury and Labour MP Bridget Phillipson said the offer was “underwhelming”, and “[m]uch of it will be swallowed up by the government’s tax rises, universal credit cuts and failure to get a grip on energy bills”. UK inflation rose 2.9% the year to September, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Phillipson contrasted Sunak’s measures with those of a Labour government, according to The Independent: “With a new deal for workers, exploitative practices like zero hours contracts banned, Fire and rehire outlawed, a minimum wage of at least £10 an hour and fair pay agreements, a Labour government will transform work and raise standards.”

However, the Daily Mirror says Mr Sunak is considering a rise to GBP10.50 an hour, and the qualifying age for the National Living Wage lowered from 25 to 21 by the next election in 2024. This would match or exceed Labour’s pledge of “a decent income that you can raise a family on”: an increase of the “minimum wage to at least £10 an hour”.

Mr Sunak said during the media briefing that Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle would later call “riding roughshod” over parliamentarians, that it was “[t]he economic impact and uncertainty of the virus” that led to the “difficult decision to pause private pay”, which “[a]long with our Plan for Jobs, this action helped us protect livelihoods at the height of the pandemic. And now, with the economy firmly back on track, it’s right that nurses, teachers and all the other public-sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced at the Conservative Party conference his intent to create a “high-pay, high-skill economy” after Brexit, but it may take years for salary growth to catch up with mounting financial pressures, according to the i.

According to The Guardian, analysis by the Resolution Foundation indicates those impacted by the freeze earned nearly 8% less than their private sector counterparts. The differential widened to 0.6% for all public sector employees, including those exempt. The Office of National Statistics writes total private sector pay grew 8.3% from June to August 2021, while public sector pay grew only 2.5%.

Monday, August 6, 2007

At least six miners are trapped approximately 1700 feet underground in a coal mine in Utah after portions of the shaft collapsed. The mine is owned by Utah American Energy and is close to the town of Huntington, Emery County, 160 km south of Salt Lake City.

Robert Murray, The CEO, President, Director and owner of Murray Energy and the owner of Utah American Energy, said during a press conference at 5:00 p.m. (eastern time), an “earthquake caused the collapse at about 3:00 a.m. (mountain time).”

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded what is allegedly a magnitude 3.9 earthquake at 2:48 a.m. (mountain time) on Monday morning 21 km (13 miles) east, southeast of Mount Pleasant, Utah, but the director of the USGS seismology stations Walter Arabasz, says that no earthquake caused the collapse.

Murray states that at least “two mining machines will be brought in to clean out the debris” at the beginning of the collapse and that he will “spare no expense” in rescuing the men.

“We have four rescue teams working to free the trapped miners. We will try four ways to get to the miners which include drilling 1,700 feet from the top of the mountain. We will also drill a hole” in a neighboring mine shaft sealed in 2004 after it was finished being mined that is “about 100 feet from the miners.”