Terror Vision

Two men have been charged in connection with illegal gambling following a raid at a Cumming gas station and convenience store, according to Capt. Tim House with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

#13;

The Narcotics and Vice Unit with the Sheriffs Office served two locations with search warrants on Saturday, March 26 at 2:15 pm

#13;

Nahidul Hassan Khan, a business owner at Hammond’s Crossing Exxon, located at 3375 Keith Bridge Road, was charged with operating a gambling place and commercial gambling. His clerk, Mohammad Zahangir Alam, was charged with two-counts of commercial gambling, which are illegal in Georgia.

#13;

Investigators seized $11,816.00 at the Hammond’s Crossing location and evidence of a gambling enterprise.

#13;

House said search warrants were served at a second location, Save Money Food Mart, located at 3671-B Hutchinson Road. Investigators seized $1,715.00 at the location and have outstanding warrants for several employees who work there. The names of the suspects were not released.

#13;

Capt. House told Cumming Patch; Saturday’s raids followed a two-month investigation of illegal gambling activity at the two locations.

article source

Payday parties on the clock land city workers in trouble.

Undercover investigators were called to the 3200 block of East Madison Street after some officials heard about what was going on. Those investigators say they found employees playing dice and drinking alcohol.

Because of the illegal gambling, investigators had no choice but to call city police. All have been charged with misdemeanors but police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the damage is to the public trust.

“Its not a serious charge, gambling, but it says a lot about the peoples trust in the city. People trust city employees to work for them, especially when they’re being paid with taxpayer funds and it’s a violation of that trust,” said Guglielmi.

The Department of Transportation released a statement that reads in part any activity that undermines the integrity of the department of transportation will not be tolerated.

After police were called, officers say Michael Flowers pushed one of the investigators. Hes now charged with assault, as well as gambling. The other workers are charged with gambling.
 

article source

currently face public leisure provision in Edinburgh. And unless something changes, it could get worse.

First the reality check – providing swimming pools, pitches, gyms and games halls that are safe, welcoming, open and available to everyone costs councils a lot of money. That is a fact that is true throughout the country. Its also true that councils the land over are required to cut their costs, £90 million in the case of Edinburgh. Based on these stark facts alone and the range of impossible decisions our council is faced with, it comes as no surprise that Edinburgh Leisure is currently facing funding cuts of more than £1 million per year from 2013/14 onwards.

The saving to the council is easy to quantify, but the question is – at what cost? There are few people who would disagree with the view that encouraging people to get off their sofas is a good thing. I would suggest, however, that it is far more than that. In fact, its a matter of life and death.

Fact: Physically active people reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke by 50 per cent.

Fact: In Scotland, 63 per cent of adults, 25 per cent of boys and 32 per cent of girls are not active enough to maintain health (much worse than the UK average).

Fact: 28 per cent of people in deprived areas of Scotland never exercise, compared with 12 per cent in the least deprived areas.

Fact: Scotland has amongst the highest obesity and heart disease rates in the world (third most obese nation behind the USA and Mexico).

Fact: The Lothians has the highest proportion of obese children in Scotland.

Sport and leisure also has a role to play in making our communities safer places for us all to enjoy. There is clear evidence to suggest that children and young people engaging in sport and physical activity can lead to a reduction in recorded levels of antisocial behaviour. Edinburghs Open All Hours programme is an example of one such approach.

article source

JEFFERSON CITY | Some Missouri lawmakers want the stateamp;#x2019;s ban on sexual contact with students to apply to elected school board members. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt; State law currently bars teachers, volunteers and other school employees from having sexual contact with students on school grounds. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt;The lawmakers say the ban should also cover off-campus contact. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt; Sponsoring Rep. Jeanie Lauer, a Blue Springs Republican, told a House panel Monday that some offenses occur at sporting events, jobs outside of the school or other places off of school grounds. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt; Grain Valley School Board member Phil Hutchison says Missouri needs to expand its law because school board members could use their position to manipulate students. lt;/pgt;lt;pgt; Officials from the state school boards association and a teachersamp;#x2019; union have also voiced support for Laueramp;#x2019;s bill.

article source

A new state program offers treatment for gambling addicts, and
its free.

Last month, the states Office of Problem Gambling and the
Gambling Studies Program at UCLA launched a program that offers
problem gamblers and their family members eight counseling sessions
with a state-licensed therapist at no cost.

Its a godsend, said Suzanne Graupner Pike, a psychologist who
treats gambling addicts in North County. I didnt think Id live
long enough to see this.

Problem gamblers often lose their money and jobs through their
addiction, Graupner Pike said.

They often lose their health insurance, and some insurance
programs dont pay for gambling addiction treatment.

That is why state-funded treatment is critical to deal with the
problem, she said.

North County has five casinos: at the Pauma, Pala, Rincon, San
Pasqual and Santa Ysabel Indian reservations.

The Pechanga tribe in Temecula owns one of the largest casinos
in the state.

The $4 million program is funded through the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund, a pot of money that gambling tribes pay
to the state for various purposes, including gambling addiction
programs, said Terri Due Canale, deputy director of the states
Office of Problem Gambling.

California has as many as 1.2 million compulsive gamblers,
according to a state study.

A 2006 report by the California Research Bureau estimated that
pathological gambling costs the state $1 billion, largely in costs
related to crime, bankruptcy and public health services.

Canale said it took a long time to set up the treatment program
because the Office of Problem Gambling didnt exist until 2003.

The office started offering gambling prevention programs soon
after it was created and then had to ask the Legislature for
funding to develop a treatment program.

It just took time getting up and running, Canale said.

Last year, the state —- in partnership with the UCLA-based
Gambling Studies Program —- began training therapists and
offering them contracts to treat gambling addicts.

Thus far, about 20 therapists are enrolled in the program
statewide, including two in Escondido and two in San Diego.

None is based in Southwest Riverside County, but Canale said the
state offers several options there, including counseling sessions
via phone, brief interventions and residential treatment.

Graupner Pike, whose practice is in Escondido, is a supervisor
in the one-on-one counseling program.

Thus far, 65 patients are enrolled in the program statewide,
Canale said.

However, officials say they hope to treat as many as 3,900
people a year.

Visit www.uclagamblingprogram.org or call 800-GAMBLER. A list of
state-licensed therapists is available at www.adp.ca.gov . Contact Graupner Pike
at 619-806-7453.

Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.

article source

Published March 29, 2011, 12:11 AM

Tower woman cited for neglect after animals die of starvation
Neighbor says officers responded slowly to reports of dead animals and squalid conditions on dilapidated farm.

By:

John Myers, Duluth News Tribune

article source

CHICAGO, March 28, 2011 Theres no shortage of personal finance information. More than 700 books on the subject were published in 2010 targeted to men, women, teens and children. Add specialty magazines, newspaper columns, radio and television shows, and financial literacy programs and we should all be able to channel our inner Suze Orman and David Bach. Yet, in a recent study led by Dr. Annamaria Lusardi, a preeminent authority on financial literacy at George Washington University, almost half the households in the survey reported that they could not come up with $2000 in 30 days to deal with a financial emergency. The fact that even solidly middle class people, nearly a quarter of the households surveyed with incomes of 100 to 150,000, could not come up with that amount is quite profound, says Gail Vida Hamburg, CEO and Founder of Rainworks Omnimedia LLC.

My company is introducing to the financial literacy canon an innovative medium of educating Americans about personal finance an interactive, immersive, multimedia traveling museum exhibition, said Hamburg. Science, industry and natural history museums are where Americans go for informal learning and to understand new and unfamiliar phenomena, she said. A concept and content developer who has interpreted neuroscience, cardiology, aging, and vitality for museum exhibitions, Hamburg plans to present personal finance through multiple viewing lenses in Economia: Money Matters. Visitors will learn about personal finance by journeying through Maslows Hierarchy of Needs with financial self-actualization as the goal, she said. We will also weave deep metaphors that drive all human behavior into the design of the exhibition, including balance, control, and transformation, she said.

In addition to collaborating with thought leaders in the field of financial literacy, Rainworks has chosen Snibbe Interactive of San Francisco as its design partner for interactive displays in the exhibit. Snibbes multimedia installations are key features in Economia that will deconstruct the complexities of personal finance, said Hamburg. Scott Snibbe, a computer scientist, media artist, filmmaker and social interactivity researcher, has created iconic, mesmerizing displays for Los Angeles International Airport, the Olympics in Shanghai, and for museums around the world. For Economia, we are thrilled to infuse the sometimes scary topic of finance with highly engaging social interactivity that promotes healthy life-long habits for leveraging the power of compounding, spending, college planning, retirement, and even explain how our stock market works, Snibbe said.

Economia: Money Matters, an 8000-sq-ft immersive, interactive, multimedia exhibition that is projected to cost $4 million, plans to begin touring the North American museum circuit in Fall 2011 after a California debut.

Financial literacy advocates, government agencies, and corporate sponsors interested in alliances, partnerships, and sponsorships, please contact Kyra Hendricks at #x70;#x72;#x65;#x73;#x73;#x6f;#x66;#x66;#x69;#x63;#x65;#x40;#x72;#x61;#x69;#x6e;#x77;#x6f;#x72;#x6b;#x73;#x6f;#x6d;#x6e;#x69;#x6d;#x65;#x64;#x69;#x61;#x2e;#x63;om

# # #

article source

PENNSYLVANIAS STILL-burgeoning gaming industry may be hell for the bottom line of Atlantic Citys casinos, but its proving to be heaven for budget-conscious visitors to the seaside gambling capital.

Because of the well-documented impact Pennsylvanias gambling operations are having on their own fortunes, AyCees adult playpens have had to create a new business model designed to lure gamblers away from casinos west of the Delaware River. That means offering hotel rooms, gourmet restaurant meals and more at rates that were unthinkable before legalized casino gaming came to Pennsylvania. From market-leader Borgata in the Marina District to the struggling Atlantic City Hilton on the eastern end of the Boardwalk, the towns 11 casino-hotels have for some time been engaged in a discounting frenzy.

Perhaps more significantly, unlike in the black-ink past when only regular gambling customers were privy to such preferential treatment, many of these bargains are available to anyone, not just folks whose names are in the casinos player databases.

While nothing can replace the customers, especially the senior citizens from the Philadelphia and New York/North Jersey markets who now avail themselves of convenience gambling closer to home, lower-priced amenities have been useful.

At Borgata Hotel, Casino Spa, such promotions as the $39 Fine Dining at An Equally Fine Price dinners offered Sunday through Fridays from 5 to 6:30 pm at high-end eateries Michael Minas SEABLUE, Fornelletto Cucina Wine Bar, and Wolfgang Puck American Grille, have proven successful.

Its hard to say [that individually] it makes a dramatic impact, but combined, it does make a difference, said Dave Coskey, Borgatas vice president of marketing.

As one gaming industry analyst sees it, this citywide strategy is an indication of how badly financial conditions have deteriorated in the 4 1/2 years since Pennsylvania sanctioned casino gambling.

I dont know if its made any kind of difference, but it is an indication of a [destination] thats trying to reposition itself and find a new niche in the South Jersey/Philadelphia market, said Harvey Perkins, executive vice president of Linwood, NJ-based Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consultant.

I view [Atlantic City] as actually going backward . . . kind of like where it was in the 1960s, he said. Throughout the market, its back to becoming more summer-dependent and more weekend-dependent.

Put another way, Sundays through Thursdays during the spring, fall and winter are when the town really feels the effects of competition from Pennsylvania. And that explains the rise of discount programs – a significant number of which are only good on weekdays. While Perkins said he understands the strategy, he believes it may prove nearsighted in the long run.

Id much rather see [Atlantic City casinos] invest more in capital [eg, building renovations], but I think this is the path of least resistance, he said, adding that such premiums are probably here for the long haul.

It should continue, Perkins predicted, and the winner is the consumer.

article source

• E-mail
• Print
• Text
• Share

The Frugal Traveler: Traveling with less luggage

Between security hurtles and checked baggage fees, limiting luggage has become less of an extreme travel choice and more of a survival strategy. After living for six months out of one small backpack, I learned a thing or two about traveling light. Here are my top tips for traveling with less luggage.

article source

• Text size

Agreement to open COMESA RIA office in Dubai reached

Further awareness on investment and trade opportunities in Eastern and Southern Africa elicit strong interest from potential investors and partners from Dubai, the UAE, the GCC and the rest of the world

Dubai, UAE: Dubais status as the gateway for trade and investment to and from COMESA was reaffirmed with the establishment of a COMESA Regional Investment Agency office at the Dubai ChamberDubai Chamber headquarters.

The agreement to open a COMESA RIA office in Dubai was announced during the final day of the 4^th COMESA Investment Forum held at the Madinat Jumeirah hotel in Dubai.

COMESA RIAs presence in the region would ensure continuity of links between COMESA and the business communities of Dubai, the UAE and the GCC.

We are extremely delighted with the outcome of the forum as it more than met all our objectives and exceeded expectations, said HE Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber of Commerce IndustryDubai Chamber of Commerce Industry, which was the co-organiser of the two-day event in Dubai together with COMESA RIA. With COMESA in particular and the whole of Africa in general considered as the last frontier for development in the world, we are very pleased to be COMESAs gateway for further economic partnerships within the region and beyond.

The forum is just the beginning of enhanced economic ties for COMESA with the rest of the world. At the same time, it presents increased opportunities for strengthening Dubais business communitys competitiveness.

The agreement to establish a COMESA RIA office at the Dubai ChamberDubai Chamber headquarters, which will be inaugurated soon, is a step in the right direction towards enhancing trade links and reinforcing Dubais status as the gateway for trade and investment into COMESA, he added.

article source