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Monday, April 13, 2015

California-based soccer club LA Galaxy triumphed 1–0 over Seattle Sounders FC of Washington yesterday with a header from Alan Gordon.

Both sides were missing a key player; Clint Dempsey was out for the Sounders with a hamstring injury while Robbie Keane missed the match with a groin injury. This was LA’s first win since opening day and are now 2-2-2 while Seattle experienced their second loss of the season and stand at 2-2-1.

Seattle had ten opportunities on the night saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo. Lamar Neagle could not find the back of the net with four on target. In the 53rd minute Sounders’ Rose had a clear shot against goal; Penedo again made the save when the ball was struck directly at the keeper.

The lone goal started with a cross from Juninho on the right side which found center back Omar Gonzalez. He was able to head the ball back to Gordon who then easily scored. This ended a goal drought for LA who were scoreless for 290 minutes, last scoring on March 21 against Houston.

LA next face Sporting Kansas City at home while the Sounders continue their road trip to the Colorado Rapids.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

California State Senator Joseph Dunn, school officials, and environmental professionals met with Kennedy Elementary School parents in a town-hall style meeting in Santa Ana Thursday evening. The parents aired their concerns over health issues at schools and workplaces, including a rash of leukemia cases in the student population, and began a dialogue they have been working toward for years.

Representatives of Markland Manufacturing and of AQMD also spoke at the meeting, explaining their positions. The outcome of the meeting was that Senator Dunn and members of the community will tour the Markland facility and meet with county officials, and another public meeting will be held in a couple of weeks.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

On Tuesday, the day preceding Australia Day, the Australian government announced it had purchased the copyright to the Australian Aboriginal Flag for A$20.05 million.

The flag, created by Luritja man Harold Thomas in 1970, represents the connection Aboriginal people have to the land. It was adopted as a national flag in 1995, however copyright remained with Thomas. The flag could not be used without his approval or compensation.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised the flag would be treated in a comparable way to the national flag, which can be used by anyone so long as it is displayed in a “respectful and dignified way.”

Morrison promised: “All Australians can now put the Aboriginal Flag on apparel such as sports jerseys and shirts, it can be painted on sports grounds, included on websites, in paintings and other artworks, used digitally and in any other medium without having to ask for permission or pay a fee,”

“We’ve freed the Aboriginal Flag for Australians.”

Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt said: “Over the last 50 years we made Harold Thomas’ artwork our own — we marched under the Aboriginal Flag, stood behind it, and flew it high as a point of pride,”

“Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no-one can take it away.”

The commercial arrangements surrounding the flag were highlighted in 2019 after one of the clothing companies holding a licence for the flag, WAM Clothing, gave notices to the National Rugby League and Australian Football League, alleging jerseys worn at their Indigenous round infringed upon their copyright. At the time, Wyatt urged football fans to show their objections to the claim by clothing themselves in the flag. It is understood several other organisations were given similar notices.

Under the agreed deal, the government paid A$20.05 million to Thomas and licence holders to secure copyright and buy back the rights of licence holders. They have pledged to:

• transfer future royalties from commercial flag sales into a fund to support NAIDOC Week;
• establish a A$100 thousand scholarship in Thomas’ honour for Indigenous students to develop leadership skills;
• accept and display a painting by Thomas celebrating the flag’s 50th anniversary and the transfer of copyright;
• create a web portal for flag history and education.

Bangarang woman Geraldine Atkinson told Nine News she was “absolutely pleased” about the flag passing to the government, saying the news gave Indigenous Australians something to celebrate on Australia Day. Atkinson said: “When I read it, it was the first I’d heard about it, and I punched the air, I was so excited […] We’re not going to be celebrating the day, but we’re going to be celebrating our flag. We’re going to be celebrating that we can fly our flag, and wear it on our shirts.”

While Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe welcomed the news, she was wary about the deal, saying: “I’m concerned that the Commonwealth owns the copyright over our flag and what that means for the unceded sovereignty and the self-determination of our people […] We need to have genuine conversations about what it means for the Commonwealth to own the copyright of our flag and if any other models of community ownership were seriously considered. For the moment, this is a win.”

Labor Party Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said she would be scrutinising the deal during the Senate’s forthcoming budget estimates: “I look forward to scrutinising this deal and examining the details through Senate Estimates next month, in particular the copyright and custodianship of the flag”. McCarthy went on to state, “Scott Morrison and the Indigenous Affairs Minister need to also clarify where the money for this deal is coming from.”

Monday, October 2, 2006

Buffalo, New York —Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Companies, the development company to be in charge of building the Elmwood Village Hotel at Forest and Elmwood Avenues in Buffalo, New York has told Wikinews in an exclusive interview that the contract to buy the properties from 1109-1121 on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo has been “extended,” but would not elaborate on how long the extension would last.

“We have extended our agreement to purchase the property and will have it under contract for what we hope is a sufficient period of time,” said Savarino.

The hotel would require the demolition of the five properties on Forest and would cause several businesses to relocate or close their doors. The hotel will be 72 rooms and will cost at least 7 to 10 million dollars to build. Wyndham Hotels is expected to be the owner/operator of the hotel. The properites are still owned by Hans Mobius. Two other properties, 605 and 607 Forest might also be part of the proposal, but lawsuits have so far stopped any development from taking place.

Savarino also stated in a recent interview with Wikinews that his company may be “about ready for round two” in the process of resubmitting the hotel proposal to the City of Buffalo’s Common Council and Planning Board.

“If we were to go through the re-zoning process again it could be arduous,” said Savarino.

In July, Savarino “withdrew” the proposal which is undergoing a “do-over,” according to Vice President of Savarino Companies, Eva Hassett.

In related news, several residents around the area of the proposed hotel were speculating that current roadwork to repair and add sewer lines on Forest Avenue were part of the construction process for the proposed hotel. Savarino has denied those claims.

“We are certainly not doing any work on the site nor is any work being performed on our behalf or at our direction [in relation to the hotel],” said Savarino.

So far, the proposal has not been resubmitted to the City’s Common Council or Planning board and there is no word on when the proposal will be resubmitted.

Wyndham Hotels, which is owned by Cendant Corporation, has not commented on the proposal despite several attempts to contact them.

Sunday, September 4, 2005

Online money transfer company PayPal is reportedly blocking over $20,000 in donations from the website Something Awful, donations intended for the American Red Cross hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Rich Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, reports that the account he set up for Red Cross donations has been suspended by the eBay-owned subsidiary due to “suspicious behavior”.

According to Kyanka, PayPal is requesting “proof of delivery”, even though there is no item being purchased and the account was set up to accept donations. The account remains frozen. Kyanka is attempting to solve the problem by faxing various documents to PayPal in order to prove the legitimacy of the drive.

According to recent updates posted on the Something Awful website, Kyanka was requesting that refunds were issued for all donations that were sent. According to Kyanka, the account was frozen because PayPal has no link with the Red Cross.

A solution proposed by PayPal was to have all donations go to the United Way. While initially accepting offer, Kyanka reconsidered when Something Awful readers objected to having their donation sent to the United Way — partly due to the organizations troubled past. Instead of the PayPal donation setup, Kyanka has requested that readers send any donations directly to the Red Cross.

Something Awful, despite being a humor website, has a history of running donation drives for certain causes, including purchasing ballistic chest plates and body armor for a platoon in the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division during the 2003 Iraq War. The Something Awful webservers are located in New Orleans where Hurricane Katrina hit.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

A University of Utah study published on Tuesday in The American Journal of Epidemiology suggests air pollution may increase suicide rates.

The team analysed suicide records for over 1,500 people from Salt Lake County, Utah from 2000 through 2010. Comparing to air pollution exposure in the three days prior to death the scientists noticed an increase of 20% for deaths amongst those exposed to high nitrogen dioxide.

High exposure to fine particulates in the three days prior to death led to a 5% increase. For men, the rates when exposed to nitrogen dioxide were 25% higher than average. Middle-aged men were particularly affected.

The scientists believe air pollution combines with other factors to increase suicides, rather than triggering them itself. Doctor Amanda Bakian, one of the researchers, said “As suicide risk was found to differ by age and gender, this suggests that vulnerability to suicide following air pollution exposure is not uniform across Salt Lake County residents and that some Salt Lake County residents are more vulnerable than others.”

Bakian said research to identify what made individuals susceptible to increased suicide risk after air pollution exposure is planned.

Monday, April 10, 2006Negotiations between the State Bank of India and its employees over pension benefits have resulted in a settlement, ending a seven-day strike.

The bank, which is based in Mumbai and majority-owned by the nation’s central bank, is India’s largest commercial bank, with over 9000 branch offices.

The settlement calls for workers whose final monthly salary was up to 21,040 rupees (US$471) to receive half that amount as pension; workers with salaries larger than that would receive 40%. The bank’s previous pension maximum was 4,250 rupees (US$95)

The bank’s 200,000 employees will return to work Monday.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

The Indian Railways (IR) has tied up with the Canadian transport solutions major Bombardier Transportation to produce electronic freight locomotives in the country for the proposed Rupee (Rs) 22,000-crore (one crore is 10 million) dedicated freight corridors on the eastern and western routes.

Bombardier produces regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment.

Bombardier Transportation officials have met Railways’ officials for exploring the option of setting up a greenfield electronic freight locomotive manufacturing facility and an assembling unit in India.

Analysts feels that IR will need at least 500-600 electronic freight locomotives, besides the same number of diesel locomotives for dedicated freight corridors in the first phase. “Conservative estimates for a normal locomotive are between Rs 13 crore and Rs 15 crore. The investment required for manufacturing electronic freight locomotives is around Rs 10,000 crore,” the analysts said.

It is also been learned that IR would also pick up a stake in this project.

Bombardier President, Transportation, Andre Navarri confirmed talks with IR, “We are keen to take part in the dedicated freight corridor project, but the nature of the agreement with the Indian government is yet to be finalized.”

IR will come up with a detailed plan and tenders for the proposed corridor by mid-November.