| Allstate to revive vacant call center
CROSS PLAINS -- Nearly two years after Lands' End closed a telephone center here -- eliminating some 375 full- and part-time jobs -- a replacement employer has been found. Gov. Jim Doyle announced today that Allstate Insurance would be moving in and potentially bringing some 200 jobs back to Dane County. Allstate will receive up to $750,000 in state tax credits to establish an Express Claims Office in Cross Plains. The new office could create more than 200 jobs by 2008, Doyle said. "Wisconsin has always been home to some of the greatest workers, the greatest universities and the greatest companies in the world," Doyle told those gathered for the event. "It's a real pleasure to welcome a great company like Allstate to Wisconsin." Allstate said it will be retrofitting the 35,500-square-foot building interior with new furniture and furnishings.
Supervisors call for burn-ban
Spring yard cleaning became more difficult Friday as Lowndes County Supervisors approved a burn ban that will force many residents to find alternate ways to dispose of unwanted clutter.“Currently Lowndes County is seven inches below normal rainfall and we've had a tremendous amount of grass fires," Lowndes County Fire Coordinator Sammy Foundren. “There will be a couple of exemptions in it .. excluding the fire department because if we have to normally have to burn a house for training it will allow us to continue."Lowndes County joined a growing number of Mississippi counties that are imposing burn bans because of a lack of substantial rain.According to the Mississippi Forestry Commission, about 3,000 wildfires have damaged more than 49,600 acres in Mississippi since July 1.A Tennessee Valley Authority official said last week that spring's arrival follows the driest December, January and February span in 117 years of record keeping in the TVA's seven-state region.
Ad Club cares for a pioneer voice
Even on a scratchy AM radio, it boomed. Sometimes in the morning when Columbus was waking up. Sometimes in the evening when teenagers were going home from a sock hop. He was "Uncle Benny," host of "The Dancing Party." In the innocent fifties, his broadcasts attracted hundreds of teens to the WRBL studios. His show was campy, corny and popular. His chatter was interrupted by dingy sound effects, from bagpipes to barking dogs. A dignified voice sometimes asked, "Are your dental plates loose and uncomfortable?" This was personality radio and Columbus had several: Cuzzin Al, with his crumb-snatchers and his Nehi orange. Bill Bowick and feisty sidekick Phillup Space. Dr. Jive, who showed up when the clock struck five. Country Boy, who one day would become a reverend.
Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments
John G. McColskey, 41, Atlanta, 4th Congressional District Representative McColskey is a principal of Homrich & Berg, Inc. He serves as a member of the board of directors of The Alliance Theatre Company and The Theatre of the Stars. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and the Rotary Club of Atlanta. McColskey earned a bachelor's degree from High Point University. McColskey and his wife, Lauren, have two children.
State Board of Education
Mary Sue Polleys, Ph.D., 63, Columbus, 3rd Congressional District Representative Polleys is a former assistant professor of leadership and the director of the Servant Leadership Program at Columbus State University. She served as chair of the Muscogee County School Board. She led community service programs for Columbus State University students including work with Habitat for Humanity and the Callaway Gardens Student Leadership Conference.
Katrina fraud stretches far beyond Gulf
The 17th Street Canal flood gates are seen in New Orleans, in this July 10, 2006, file photo. More than 18 months after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast, authorities are chipping away at a mountain of fraud cases that, by some estimates, involve thousands of people who bilked the federal government and charities out of hundreds of millions of dollars intended to aid storm victims. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) .
The failings of American health care
God bless Susan Levitan and all those other big-hearted RNs who are trying to get the United States to adopt universal health care ("Reflections of a Katrina nurse," March 30). The continued greed and selfishness of most of the rich and powerful, and their obvious indifference to the plight of the working poor who have no health coverage, can cause almost anyone to lose hope in humanity. .
Business briefs
CARLSBAD USDA Rural Development has named Western Commerce Bank the Rural Bank of the year for 2006. Last week, USDA Rural Development State Director Ryan Gleason traveled to Carlsbad to present an award to Western Commerce Bank in recognition of their status as top bank in rural New Mexico. WCB lead New Mexico in the use of Rural Development's Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan program in 2006. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., was also present at the presentation. WCB President and CEO Don Kidd and Senior Vice President Mike Hoyl accepted the awards. The bank, according to a press release, received the award because Kidd and his staff originated more than $5.9 million in loans in rural New Mexico in FY2006 to finance businesses like the new La Quinta Inn in Hobbs and an oil well service company in Lovington.
Wellpoint says some patient info disappeared: NYT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wellpoint Inc., a managed care firm, has begun notifying 75,000 members of its Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield unit in New York that a compact disc holding their vital medical and other personal information had disappeared, The New York Times reported. The information was on an unencrypted disc that a subcontractor recently sent to Magellan Behavioral Services, a company in Avon, Conn., that specializes in monitoring and coordinating mental health and substance abuse treatments for insurance companies. Empire has begun notifying affected consumers by mail that their records -- including their names, Social Security numbers, health plan identification numbers and description of medical services back to 2003 -- had been lost. .
Sponsor wants to revise tax credit bill
HELENA (LEE)The sponsor of a bill offering a tax credit to Montanans who buy their own individual health insurance said Monday he'd like to amend it so the credit applies only to low- and middle-income families.In its present form, House Bill 801 offers the state income-tax credit to any Montana resident who buys health insurance for themselves and their family. The credit is 20 percent of the annual cost of the insurance.Rep. Gary Maclaren, R-Victor, said Monday he'd like to have his bill amended back to an earlier form, which made the tax credit available only to those whose income is equal to or less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level.For a family of four, that's just less than $31,000 a year. For a family of two, it's about $20,500.The earlier version of Maclaren's bill also set the tax credit at 50 percent of the insurance cost.Maclaren presented his bill Monday to the Senate Taxation Committee, its first hearing in the Senate.
Effects of a decade of aggressive lending
Her house scheduled for a sheriff's sale May 1, Domeeka Lawrence prepares to move from Southwest Philadelphia. The cost of subprime loans to families and neighborhoods is huge, experts say. (Click "More photos" to see map, chart and another picture.) .
Lending a Helping Hand
For college students across the state, the month of March means spring break. A time to get away from books and tests and just relax…maybe catch some sun and sand.But for one UW-Eau Claire student, it's a time to volunteer in the hot Louisiana sun.UWEC sophomore, Amanda Meyer, won't be spending any time on the beach this spring break. Instead, she'll be helping some people in Louisiana who are still rebuilding after Hurricane Rita."I'll be going to southwest Louisiana, Lake Charles, and we're going to be rebuilding houses that were destroyed by Hurricane Rita in 2005," Meyer said.Meyer will work with volunteer college students from across the country in the United Way's Storm Corps. Meyer says she first heard about the group through an ad on MTV."I had actually visited Louisiana in 2005 before Hurricane Rita and Katrina, and I fell in love with the area and the culture, and when I saw this advertisement I just really wanted to help out."So, while some of her friends may be following different pursuits this spring break, Meyer will be giving of herself."I tried to get some of them to do it, but they just didn't see what they could do to help," Meyer said.But Meyer says she sees the good in how she'll be spending her spring break.“I think it's a way for the youth in America to just step up and show that we can give back to our own communities."Meyer will fly to the Gulf Coast region this Saturday, and return to the Chippewa Valley the Saturday after that.She says members of her family have donated money to help her pay for her plane ticket.
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