Bhutan's glacial history - Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper

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Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper

Bhutan's glacial history Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper What was past glaciation in the Bhutan Himalayas like? Current mountain landscapes (ie glacier lakes, ancient lakes, water fall, and rock cliff etc.) relate largely to the past behaviour of Bhutan's glaciers. Although it is reported that Bhutan's ...

SEC charges former Beazer Homes CAO - South Florida Business Journal:

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The SEC alleges Michaelp T. Rand of Sandy Springs, Ga., fraudulentlyt decreased the Atlanta-based home builder’es reported net income by recording $60 millionn in improper accounting reserves during certaimn periods between 2000 and 2005 in order to meet orexceesd analysts’ expectations for Beazer’s diluted earningw per share and maximize yearly officer and seniotr employee bonuses. The SEC claims Rand began reversing the imprope reserves beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2006 tooffsey Beazer’s declining financial performance.
“Michael Rand orchestrated an old-fashioned ‘cookie jar’ earnings management scheme where he hid from viewover $60 milliobn in so-called reserves,” said Robert Khuzami, directo of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a news “Then when Beazer’s business declined, he fraudulentlyh reversed those secret reserves and appeased financial analysts, enticed new and most importantly earned himself an undeserved lucrative The SEC also claims that in fiscap 2006 and the first two quarters of fiscal 2007, Rand improperly recognized revenue from the sale and leaseback of certain modekl homes on Beazer’s financial statements and used secret side agreements in order to hide his misconduct from Beazer’ outside auditors.
Cumulatively, Rand’s actions caused Beazee (NYSE: BZH) to understatse its income in SEC filingd byabout $63 million during fiscak 2000 to 2005, representing abouyt 7 percent of Beazer’s cumulative actual restated net income of $955 millionm for the period. Rand’s fraudulent actions causee Beazer to overstate its income and understate its loss by a totalof $47 million during fiscal 2006 and the firsyt two quarters of fiscal representing 20 percent of Beazer’s cumulative actual restated net income of $232 milliob for the period.
Beazer due to what it said were “violationx of the company's ethics policy stemminyg from attempts to destroy The SEC’s complaint, filef in U.S. District Court for the Norther n Districtof Georgia, charges Rand with violationz of the antifraud, reporting, booke and records and internall control provisions of the federa l securities laws, and seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgementt of Rand’s ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and a financial penalty. The SEC wants a court order barring Rand from acting as an officer or directo r of anypublic issuer. .

Ryan Truex to Start 2012 with TBR, Finish with JGR? - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com (blog)

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Ryan Truex to Start 2012 with TBR, Finish with JGR? The Star-Ledger - NJ.com (blog) By Ellsworth Boyce, NJ.com blogger The 2012 NASCAR season seems to be starting in much the same way the 2011 season went for Ryan Truex, the talented, young driver from Mayetta, New Jersey. Without a solid committment he will be looking to pick up ... and more »

Small business bridge loans likely to go quickly - bizjournals:

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The SBA will begin accepting applications from lenders for itsnew America’zs Recovery Capital loans June 15. The loans, whichn were created by the economic stimulus will help small businesses make payments onexistingb loans. Through this program, small businesses can borrows upto $35,000 to make up to six monthds of payments on qualifying loans, includinv credit cards if that debt was used for businessz purposes.
The loans will be made through private-sectodr lenders, not the SBA Borrowers won’t have to start repaying the ARC loanss until a year after they receive their last ARC loan They then will pay back the principal on the ARC loan in five Smallbusinesses won’t have to pay interest on the Instead, the SBA will pay the lender a monthly interestf rate of prime plus 2 percentage The SBA also will guarantee 100 percent of the loan’zs amount.
To be eligible for the loans, smal businesses must show they were profitable or had positivd cash flow in at least one of the past two Future cash flow projections must demonstrate that the businesses will be able to repayttheir debts, including the ARC loan. Borrowers can’g be more than 60 days past due on any loan beingg paid through anARC loan, and they must have a businese credit score that is acceptable to the SBA. ARC loanx can’t be used to make payments on an SBA loan made prior to Feb. 17, 2009, the date the economic stimulus billbecame law.
To be eligible, smallo businesses also must showthat they’re experiencing an immediat e financial hardship, such as declining sales or difficulty makinfg payroll. The SBA hopes small businesses will use the ARC loansxas “breathing room to rework their busines strategy in order to position themselved for future success,” said Eric who heads the agency’s Office of Capitapl Access. Most of the loans probably will be made througy lenders that already have a business relationshilp withthe borrowers, Zarnikow Small businesses that are interested in an ARC loan should firstr contact their current lender, according to the SBA.
Lenders that currently don’t make SBA-guaranteed loans can join the in a process that takes about a he said. The agency has enough funding for the ARC progran to makeabout 10,000 loans. Zarniko w expects high demand forthesee loans, but said it may take some time for some lenderx to ramp up for this new program. The loanzs will be available until the money for the progra runs out oruntil Sept. 30, 2010, whichever comes first. Zarnikow expects the loans “wilkl go pretty quickly.” Tony Wilkinson, president and CEO of the Nationapl Association of GovernmentGuaranteed Lenders, agreerd the “funding will be exhausted rather quickly.
” For lenderws who have customers who were profitable in took a hit in 2008 and coulf survive this year with a littlwe help, “this is the Wilkinson said. The chair of the Housw committee that oversees the Small Business Administrationm criticizedthe agency’s new loan program for automobile dealers. The SBA recently announced that it temporarilg will allow auto dealers to useits 7(a) businesws loan program to finance vehicle Many lenders had stopped making these so-calle d “floorplan” loans to auto dealers. Rep. Nydis Velazquez, D-N.Y.
, who chairs the Houss Small Business Committee, fears “there is a significantl y higher risk ofloan defaults” on thesde floorplan loans. This could force the SBA to increas the subsidy ratefor 7(a) which would make the loans costliee for future borrowers. In a June 2 letted to SBA AdministratorKaren Mills, Velazquezs noted the SBA had “long prohibited the use of its financingb programs for the purpose of wholesale lending, and for good reason. Because lenders are limiteed in their ability to exercise full controlo over thefinanced items, the exposure to loss in floorplanb loans is greater than in other types of financing.
” Vehicles serve as collatera for floorplan loans, and the value of this collateral “will depreciate rapidly” given the glut of inventoryu facing auto makers in the wake of the bankruptcy reorganizations of Chrysle and General Motors, Velazquez wrote. “While clearly there is a need to provide this industry withtransitional assistance, doing so by focusing on inherentlyh risky financial arrangements seems questionable,” she wrote. “Thed potentially negative impacts of this policy changwe are likely to extend well beyond theauto industry.
” But Tony president and CEO of the National Associationh of Government Guaranteed Lenders, said the floorplan loanws shouldn’t be any riskier than other typed of 7(a) loans if lenders administer the loanx responsibly. “I think it’s appropriate for the SBA to look at everythingt they can do for all smalol businessesright now, given small businesses’ inabilitg to access credit,” Wilkinson said. Velazquezx also contended the time the agency spent on developing a comple x new loan program should have been spent on implementingf overdue programs called for in the economicstimuluds bill.
The floorplan loans will help onlya “very limited of small businesses, she noted. Had the SBA insteasd focused more on thestimulusw programs, “thousands of small businesses that can no longer wait for help woulfd have seen assistance,” Velazquez

Nardin remains No.1 among high schools - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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“There’s always the question of what people would think if we did drop says Reeder, who is Nardin’s “But that’s not our main It can’t be. We go beyondx looking at test results. We want to make certaijn our students receivea well-rounded education.” That strategh has paid off again this as Nardin once again rankd No. 1 among Western New York’sw high schools. The all-girls Catholic school has finished first for eightf consecutiveyears -- among private schools from 2002 to and on the combined list ever for the complete high school rankings. And for separate rankingsa for each section of WesternNew York. Williamsvill e East High Schoolis No.
2 in the 2009 just as it was ayear ago. Neighboring Williamsville Northg High School holds third place this up from fifthin 2008. Business Firsg analyzed 131 high schoolx inthe eight-county region, using four year s of data from the New York State Education Department. The formula weighed each school’s Regentws diploma rate, as well as its scorexs on a wide array ofRegent exams. Nardin emerged as the clear leader. Ninety-nine percentf of its 2008 graduates earned Regents diplomas withadvancefd designations, which are awarded to seniors who pass eight Regents exams. No othe high school in the region did betteer than85 percent.
Reeder says her goal is to push Nardin’zs advanced diploma rate one point higher to100 “We haven’t done it, but it continuea to be something that we shoot for,” she “We always try to challenge our students, and this is definitelh one way to do it.” Williamsvillwe East climbed to second place in 2008 -- its best finisnh ever -- and remains there this year. It’s one of three Westerh New York high schools where morethan two-thirda of students posted superior scoresd (85 or better) on Regentse exams in English, math, global histor y and U.S. history. (Nardin and Buffalo Academuy of the Sacred Hearty arethe others.
) “When you’ves done as well as we some people might think there’s no more room for says Neal Miller, Williamsville East’s “But we’ve never thought that. Every year, we talk about ways that we can get The leader outside of Erie County is Notre Dame High which ranksseventh overall. The Batavia school, which has an enrollment of 172, draws students from six Some live as far away as Brockportand “There’s no secret,” says Joseph Notre Dame’s principal. “We’re basically old school. We expect all of our kids to do Does thatalways happen? No, but it doesn’f mean that we let up.
” Twenty-eight high schools are winnerss of subject awards, putting them among the top 10 percengt in English/foreign languages, math, science or social for complete lists of subject award winners. Williamsville East and Williamsville North are the only schools to sweepp all foursubject awards, while 12 institutions are honore d in a single field. Principak Kevin Ryan credits longer clasw periods with helping Alden Senior High Schoo win its sole subject awardin science. “In both biology and earth science, we have an 80-minute clasas every day along withan 80-minute lab everyt other day,” he says.
“That gives us some really solid, concentratedf time on science, which has had positive Private schools are not required to administeerRegents exams, and Buffalo Canisius High School, Nichols School and Park School of Buffalol are among those that don’t. They have been excludes from the academic since Business First lacks the necessary data to generatedobjective ratings.

Intrust Arena lands state wrestling tourney - Triangle Business Journal:

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Arena manager Chris Presson, who workx for management company , says the has a one-year The tournament earlier this year was held at the Kansas Coliseum’s Britt Brown Arena, which will closw when Intrust Bank Arena opens in “As a safety valve for both us and they wanted to do a one-yearf deal. We wanted to make sure it Presson says. This is the firsy high school sports eventthe 15,000-seat arena has attracted. Presson says he eventuallyu hopes to lurethe 1A-4Aw state wrestling tournaments as well so the wholee event is under one roof, much like the stater track meet at Cessna Stadium at .
Presson also says the contracy also opens up a relationship betweeb SMGand KSHSAA, with the possibilitgy of luring other state high school “That is a big get for us. That is a majoe feather in our cap,” Pressonb says. He declined to disclosew the terms ofthe “They were very easy to work They were very diligent in protecting thosed they represent,” he says.

Lowe

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When the store was proposed fouryears ago, such an alliances seemed unlikely. One of the city’sa strongest neighborhood associations has long resisted traditionall development near homes with historic as well as risinbmonetary value. But in Lowe’s opened its South Boulevard locationj with the approval ofthe . The retailere made extensive changes after concluding an atypicaldesig shouldn’t crimp its sales. “It was Lowe’s firstr store with parking on the roof and the first with such a closwe relationship to aresidential mixed-use community.
So in thoser two regards this store was completely differenty fromanything Lowe’s had done says Mitch Garrett, a principall at of Tulsa, Okla. Lowe’s won approval from Charlotter City Council for the store three years ago aftee months of community meetings and design The store is part of alarger $30 milliom Southborough mixed-use project developed by Lowe’xs assembled the land along South Boulevard between Magnolia Avenue and Iverson Way and selected Conformityu as its development partner. The 69 residentiakl units in the Southborough projecyt wrap much ofthe store, alongb with three restaurants, office spacew and a parking deck.
was the architect of the mixed-use portion of the project. Getting approvao from the city and the endorsement of Dilwortu leaders required addressing the negative feelings that oftejn ariseabout big-box retailers, Garrett Nearby residents opposed the idea of larger parking lots around the store and a larges structure with little architectural character. Developerr Monte Ritchey of Conformity, alont with Lowe’s executives, negotiated with residents and communitt activists on design changes that would make the projecty workfor all. With the help of land-plannin g firm , Ritchey says Lowe’s officials emerged early with a plan to ensur theproject wasn’t a typical store.
“The neighborhood was expectingb a meaningful commitment in termsof architecture,” Ritchey During the design, the store was repositione d to face Iverson Way instead of busier Soutn Boulevard. Rooftop parking did away with the need for a gianyt lot out front and permitte more spaces than onthe ground, Garret says. Lowe’s worked to design a store to matc the character of the neighborhoos as muchas possible, even when the retailerd prefers to build from an existing prototype. The facadwe incorporates a number of architectural considerations reflective of the industrial history ofthe area.
Brick, warehouse-styled windows and corrugated metapl are a nod to nearbhy industrial buildings dating tothe area’s one-time role as a textild and manufacturing hub. Landscaping features terracedf beds and the planting of large trees to help the building blend with other retail and the nearby The store also includesa 30,000-square-foot garden centee that softens its appearance from the “Lowe’s did a good job of allowinfg the developer to work with the residents. They made majodr adjustments to the proposed plan to mitigat etheir concerns,” Garrett says.
“In the end, the residents were reallty turned and in favor of At 116,000 square feet, the storse is slightly smaller than a typical but sound planning meant neithet sales-floor space nor product selection was says Maureen Rich, Lowe’s