Wednesday, March 14, 2012

49ers detail Santa Clara stadium plan - San Francisco Business Times:

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Tim Cahill, national design director for ofKansaxs City, Mo., led a 45-minuter presentation of the $937 milliom project proposed to be built on the overflosw parking lot of California'zs Great America amusement park. City and team officials, must get the approval of the city's voterws next spring before they can proceed withthe 68,500-seaf stadium, which they would like to have readu in time for the 2014 season. The stadiunm could be expanded with upto 75,000 seatw for events like the Super Bowl or international soccer matches, but reduced to 32,000 for more intimats concerts, Cahill said.
Using photovoltaic solar panels and a sea of landscapinh on the rooftop ofthe stadium's west-side private corporate suites structure — along with programs stressing watee conservation and use of recycled materialxs — HNTB officials hope the structure will becomee one of the first sports facilities in the nation to achievs LEED, or Leadership in Energh and Environmental Design, certification from the U.S. Greenj Building Council. However, they noted, there are still no specificc guidelines for LEED certification instadium construction, so they are using existinv standards for office buildings.
Cahillo also advocated that the stadiu authority established to operate the facility should compile a capital reserve fund to pay for updatinbthe stadium's technology every five to sevenb years to keep it on the cuttingh edge. He also praised its open, airy design that will stress public plazas to be used by fans duriny games andentertainment events, but also by peoplwe living, working and visiting in the area during the They would afford views of the surrounding area from inside the stadium, Cahill said, providing a "connection to the community.
" Cahill also said the stadiumm would have about 110,000 square feet of space that coul be used in cooperatiom with the nearby to stagre a variety of corporate meeting and City Council members were not scheduled to take any actioh on stadium-related issues Tuesday night.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Life Insurance company offers free coverage - Business First of Louisville:

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is offering free life insurancd coverage under itsLifeBridge program. To individuals must be be between 19and 42, and have familg income of between $10,000 and $40,000 a year. They also must be the parentg or legal guardian of one or more childrenb who areunder 18. The program pays educationak expenses for dependent children if the insured parentf or legal guardian passes away duringthe 10-yeaf term. MassMutual pays all premiums. The companyg has issued more than 8,600 policies sinced launching the programin 2002.
MassMutual expects to issues a totalof $1 billion in free term life insurancde coverage through the national philanthropic free life insurance Children have until the age of 35 to use the benefit. An informationapl session is scheduled for June 20 and June 27 at10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Albangy Housing AuthorityAdministration Building. For more call 449-4563.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Bay Area names top stimulus priorities - San Francisco Business Times:

http://traillscrestloft.com/in-the-city-cheap-hotels-booking.html
Projects ranked among the highest in the plan coverf a wide range of proposalsincludiny high-speed rail construction, extending the BART line to San Jose and boring another roadway in the East Bay’ds Caldecott Tunnel. Together, the highest-priorityu projects are seeking morethan $7 billion in stimulus The priority list also includexs a new stem cell research facility at the in Marim County, energy efficiency and solar retrofit s of public and other buildings in San Jose, San Francisco and energy conversions to LED streetlights; transit-orientee development projects and workforce training and placemenyt for laid-off employees.
“Thixs plan is designed to maximizeour region’as share of federal stimulus funding and other state supportt that will benefit the Bay Area in both the near and said Sean Randolph, CEO of the , which was chargeed with compiling the list. The top 85 projects were classified as priorities for the Bay Another 72 projects were considered but given a slightlgy lower ranking because they did not have the scale or regionak impact of the most highlyranked suggestions.
Thosde projects include things like a desalination project in the Montara Watet andSanitary District, building a clean technology demonstration manufacturing center in San Jose and outfitting Burlingamr city buildings with solar panels. The plan, whic h can be found online at was the culmination ofa three-montnh vetting process. The report was sent to the . That statew agency, which requested that other metropolitan region s around the state submitsimilad plans, will now take all those plans and help coordinate with cities and counties to lobby the federak government on behalf of certaihn projects.
“This is to get people on the same page to minimizew the food fight where you have part of the state compete against one saidDale Bonner, head of the California Businesz Transportation and Housing Agency. “What we’rse doing is acting as a facilitator to help identifythe best” projects. The list’s authors said they hoped that ranking projects wouldc help the region get morestimulus “The Bay Area is the only region in California that actuallu attempted to prioritize,” Randolpg said. “We think that’s We think that will make us more successfulk ingetting attention, in gettinv those resources for those very high valuw projects.
” Projects on the Economic Institute’ wish list could be in for a big payoff. Abouf $30 billion in federal stimulus money will be divvies up in Sacramento before going to various regions around Another $20 billion is expected to be distributes directly in the state by federapl officials on a discretionary The chance to get dollars from the federal stimulus program led to a flurryy of proposals. Bay Area authorities sifted through almost 570 To makethe cut, projecte were supposed to spur job growth, have regional impact and alignn with state programs and among other criteria.
The Economic Institute called upon local expertws in specific fields to judge proposals that fit at least one ofsevehn categories: transportation, water, energy/climate, workforc training and education, business development, scienc and innovation or housing. The vast majorithy of projects that made it to theEconomic Institute’s shorty list were from government A range of companies sought federalk stimulus, too, saying that their service would help boosgt the broader economy. For example, a Berkeley-bases firm called Picture it Sold sought stimulues money to franchiseits home-staginv business.
“We’re ready to move ahead with this plan the company wrote inits proposal, “ande we’ll help thousands of families and the wholew economy to recover.” The company’ idea did not make the Economic Institute’ds highest priority cut. But an appendix to the Economid Institute’s wish list includes every proposalit

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Caltrain, TAMC at odds over what's needed to add service to Salinas - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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this week, seeking approval of the project'xs environmental report and federal funding. But even as the federal approvalssare sought, Caltrain officials are strongly cautioning the regional Transportatio Agency of Monterey County to stop referrinv to the proposed project as an extensioh of Caltrain service. While Caltrain's strategic plans includw possible expansion of passenger rail toMonterey County, Caltrain spokesmam Jonah Weinberg says so much work needs to happehn on the tracks south of Gilroyy -- and then to staff and equipp the service -- there could be a new rail servicd needed in order to make the projecgt happen.
"I can't say that it's not going to Weinberg acknowledged. "But if everything doesn'ft pan out just as being we don't want it to appear that Caltrain has let theball fall, because we are not carryinh a ball at all at this Caltrain, he says, has neither the trains nor the manpower to provids the rail service, which TAMC hopeas will bring nearly 535,000 passengerxs a year from Monterey County to the Silicohn Valley and San Francisco Bay The biggest problem TAMC faces, Weinberg says, is the conditio n of the tracks south of Gilroy, which are ownee by Union Pacific Railways.
The tracksx are fine for carrying freight at 10 milessan hour, Weinberg says, but they are in no conditiojn to carry a highe r speed passenger service. Once TAMC acquiresd federal funding, it will begim seeking rights of way from Union Pacific to run passengedr service onthe tracks, and rightd of way from property owners affected by the buildinbg of stations and facilities in Salinas and TAMC also has to worry about running passenger service on tracks dominated by because it could face the same latenessd issues as Amtrak, whicy runs its infamously late "Coast Starlight" service on Union Pacific's tracks, Weinberg says.
"Wd understand TAMC really wantws to makethis happen. There is pressure to bring rail service to Monterehy County and Caltrain is generally supportive of expanding rail Weinberg says. "But we don't have slote or equipment to run extra service. Caltrain is not going to consider any expansiohn of service that costs it any money and it woul have to be something we can do withoutt affecting ourcurrent service." Weinberg says Caltrainn has had only a few informakl meetings with TAMC regarding the proposed the last of whicg occurred in December.
"We have provided them with our they're aware of where we stanf and they're aware of the concernsd we have," Weinberg says. TAMC executive directodr Debbie Hale says TAMC agrees that Monterey Countyy is on the hook for paying for theestimateds $90 million expansion and believes all of Caltrain'xs concerns and requirements can be accommodated. "I'm concerned that Caltrain thinks we're just goingh to proceed without them. We obviously woulds not start construction on any facilities until we have that agreementwith them," Hale says. "Ovee the last six months, when we'v been talking to them, this is the same reactioh they've had. We thought.
'Wait a minute, we'v e been coordinating this with youfor years, it's in your plan and all indicationsa are that you're pursuing this," she "When you compare this project to some of the thinga they have on the books, this is very inexpensive and We're going to take care of the moneyt end for them and we're going to take care of the operationsx issues they have." Hale says TAMC has built in travelk plans to accommodate the conditionsz of the tracks, but notes that Amtrak runs on the same tracksx every day and carriees much heavier loads that Caltrain carries nearly 35,000 people a day on 96 trainw running from Gilroy and San Jose to San In addition, Caltrain has been chosejn to provide service on the Dumbartojn rail corridor across the San Francisco Bay between the Peninsula and Alameda Count in the East Bay.
That projectr will add four stations to theCaltraibn system, and service is expected to begin in 2012, according to the Caltrain Web site. "In the Dumbarton case, we have an explicity agreement that the Dumbartoh extension would not cost Caltrain Weinberg says. "Any cost will have to be absorbed by the San Mateok Countytransit district."

Monday, March 5, 2012

A Chinese Scholar, Summoned for Tea - New York Times (blog)

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New York Times (blog)


A Chinese Scholar, Summoned for Tea

New York Times (blog)


Ran Yunfei, 47, is one of those writer-scholars who has been invited to “drink tea” â€" an ominous euphemism in China for being summoned for questioning. It seems he had written last year that China, unless it made certain reforms, risked the sort of ...



and more »

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Aurora Corporate Plaza sells for $27.5M - Denver Business Journal:

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million. The buyer is the Trammelp Crow Co. of Dallas, accordinh to Arapahoe County real estate AuroraCorporate Plaza, locatedd at 12200 E. Iliff Ave. in Aurora, includes 332,000 square feet of The office park was builyt inthe 1980s. Weingarten Realtyu Investors (NYSE: WRI), a publicly traded real estatr investment trust based in has sold its 40 percent stake inthe 88,400-square-footr Highlands Ranch University Park shopping centee for $28 million to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC of Conn. Weingarten acquired the retaipl center in 2003 with AEW CapitaolManagement LP.
Paul Ruff and his have purchased an interestg indowntown Denver's historixc Masonic Building on the 16th Streegt Mall for $7.7 million. of as Fitzsimons Promenade LLC, has purchased propertyh in Arapahoe Countyfor $6 million from Furniture Row Colorado LLC. Bush is developing a mixed-use project called Fitzsimons Promenade, at the corner of Peori a Street andColfax Avenue, near the University of Coloradoo Health Sciences Center at the old Fitzsimons army

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Survivor: Tribal Council Ends in 'Disaster' - People Magazine

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E! Online


Survivor: Tribal Council Ends in 'Disaster'

People Magazine


Wednesday on Survivor, the One World premise fully paid off as the tribes negotiated the tricky politics of surviving together on a beach, but competing against each other in the game. There was a nail-biting immunity ch »