Wissahickon, union set to return to table as teachers contract looms

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LOWER GWYNEDD ? Contract negotiations between the Wissahickon School Board and the Wissahickon Education Alliance (Support) union continue this month, but a new problem may arise as the district?s contract with its teachers is set to expire this year.

While representatives of the district and the WEA (Support) union ? whose members include secretaries, classroom aides, bus drivers, custodians, maintenance personnel, lunch assistants, technical assistants, grounds personnel, security personnel and nursing assistants ? continue the ongoing contract negotiations Jan. 15, some have begun to wonder what might happen if talks continue to stall for much longer, considering the contract with the WEA (Professional) ? the union for the district?s teachers ? ends June 30 and negotiations regarding the new contract begin this month.

The WEA originally announced a strike set for Oct. 29, 2012, after the board rejected a final plea to reconsider a third-party fact-finding report regarding terms for a new contract. The two sides then agreed to come back to the table and the WEA-S canceled the strike for a 45-day ?cooling off period,? which allowed for further discussions. While talks have continued, at this point, no deal appears in sight.

WEA Co-President Ann Marie McDowell said in a formal statement she hoped the bargaining session would be productive. She said the union encourages the district to move off of its position to ?strip benefits from members? and the ?threat to subcontract? the special education department.

?It is difficult to predict the future but as I see it, if the district is unwilling to settle the support staff contract which makes up a small portion of the district?s budget with the funds already set aside, the likeliness that the teachers contract will settle prior to the expiration date ? is slim to none,? she said.

She said the WEA leadership has many options to consider, including merging the two contracts, and are weighing the pros and cons.

?As it stands, Joann and I will be bargaining both contacts simultaneously and we hope that the district is prepared for the pressure that will bring from the community,? she said. ?Again, this is an affordable contract, that will not cause a tax increase that the taxpayers have already paid for. It is time release the funds, settle and move on.?

District chief negotiator Jeffrey Sultanik said the potential situation of two simultaneous negotiations is ?not unusual.? He said the City of Philadelphia, for example, deals with ?umpteen unions at one time? so it shouldn?t pose a problem for the two unions to negotiate new contracts.

He said the only potential problem that he could foresee would be if both unions held bargaining sessions at the same time because it would be impossible for negotiators to be in two places at once.

Source: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130112/NEWS01/130119838/wissahickon-union-set-to-return-to-table-as-teachers-contract-looms

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Is the White House blowing the debt limit fight?

Is the White House blowing the debt limit fight?

Political Wire:

Paul Krugman gets a call from the White House after they rejected the trillion dollar coin idea to stave off default on the nation?s bonds:

?The White House insists that it is absolutely, positively not going to cave or indeed even negotiate over the debt ceiling ? that it rejected the coin option as a gesture of strength, as a way to put the onus for avoiding default entirely on the GOP.?

Wall Street Journal: ?The White House also has rejected another escape clause: invoking the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and borrowing more even if Congress hasn?t acted.

An unnamed Democratic Senate aide told Business Insider?s Joe Weisenthal, ?It?s certainly a strange negotiating strategy to go out of your way to decrease your leverage by taking options off the table.?

I?m taking ?strange? to mean ?bad,? because it sure looks stupid. The White House has released a statement that partly explains their reasoning:

?There are only two options to deal with the debt limit: Congress can pay its bills or they can fail to act and put the nation into default,? said Press Secretary Jay Carney. ?When Congressional Republicans played politics with this issue last time putting us at the edge of default, it was a blow to our economic recovery, causing our nation to be downgraded. The President and the American people won?t tolerate Congressional Republicans holding the American economy hostage again simply so they can force disastrous cuts to Medicare and other programs the middle class depend on while protecting the wealthy. Congress needs to do its job.?

Yes, the last time Republicans held the debt limit hostage it blew up in their face. Maybe they?re spooked by that ? but maybe they?re not. It?s pointless to gamble when you?ve got a sure thing. I have no idea why they?re throwing every bargaining chip they have away and depending on the Republicans to behave rationally.

It makes no damned sense at all.

Source: http://quickhits.tumblr.com/post/40429500336/is-the-white-house-blowing-the-debt-limit-fight

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Liveaboards living the South Florida dream | Photos

When visiting Harry Powell's home, where does one knock? There's no doorbell, no front door.

A visitor has to carefully climb a short wooden ladder, maneuver around ropes and hatches to finally land on his teak deck. Then just call out his name.

For Powell and his fellow seafaring South Florida neighbors, home is where they hang their life jackets.

They are liveaboards, people who live on boats, enjoying the "Jimmy Buffett lifestyle." And winter is their high season, when local marinas get a wave of aquatic transplants dropping anchor for the warmer weather. Many of them are out-of-town regulars who become members of floating neighborhoods of old salts, divorced men, couples and families. Others are locals who head to the water to save money, or live out a dream.

At Marina Bay in Fort Lauderdale, there are about 20 annual liveaboards and about 15 new ones this winter. Their vessels average 30 to 50 feet, said Jason Taplin, the marina's general manager.

It's not a lifestyle just for anyone, he said. Some cabins are big enough for a double bed. Closet space is limited, so clothes are stored in cubby holes or in parked cars at the marina. Liveaboards must squeeze into small bathrooms and showers in their vessels, or head to the marina to freshen up.

But seasoned and novice liveaboards don't sweat the small stuff.

"This is why,'' said Sande Strong, pointing across the Intracoastal Waterway, under the sun-filled sky at City Marina in Delray Beach. More than half of the slips here are occupied by liveaboards, and there's a waiting list. Slips are typically on a first-come, first-serve basis. Some marinas also have boat-size restrictions.

Strong, 69, and husband James sat in recliners on the deck of their 52-foot cruiser, "Miss Sande," on a recent morning.

"Isn't it beautiful back here?'' she said. "As we got older, we wanted to live on a boat.''

"Before we got too old,'' added James Strong, 73, a retired restaurateur whose daughter runs the family business, Sande's in Delray.

Aboard their vessel, the couple have all the amenities of city living: a washer and dryer, dish washer, fireplace and DirecTV. They pay $900 a month in rent to the marina. They park a few feet away from their slip. They do have a Shih Tzu named Emma and cat named Louie.

"You don't have a basement. You don't have an attic, but you don't take a lot of stuff with you,'' Sande Strong said.

The couple said they also save on property taxes by living on the water. "All you do is pay rent,'' said Sande Strong.

In Dania Beach, first-time liveaboards Jocelyne Chretien and Jean Denis Boucher are also enjoying their aquatic lifestyle.

"It's just a different way of living,'' said Chretien as she and her husband relaxed in the back of their 36-foot, blue-and-white sailboat, the "Bourdoux," which represents an old family name.

They docked at the Royale Palm Yacht Basin in November, after leaving Lake Champlain in September. The couple live just outside Montreal and have been traveling down the coast, making stops in Atlantic City and Norfolk before arriving in Broward County.

"The backyard is my universe,'' said Chretien, a retired notary who has been sharing the couple's adventures ? including close-ups with colossal cruise ships in Port Everglades ? with family and friends on their website, boudoux.ca.

"The view always changes. You don't have a street or a garage in front of you all the time. Today, it's this view,'' she said, pointing to the bobbing boats in the basin. "Tomorrow, it's a dolphin on the side of your boat or a sea turtle."

"You don't rely on anybody but yourself,'' added her first mate, a labor relations lawyer, propping open the berth's hidden compartments filled with bottled water, soda, chips, fruits and canned foods, coffee and fruits.

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/about/tribune-search/fl-liveaboards-south-florida-20130113,0,5483198.story?track=rss

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Miss Senior California Pageant seeks contestants over 60

The Ms. Senior California Pageant is looking for contestants in the Inland Empire for a preliminary pageant that will be held in March 2013, with the top two contestants competing in a statewide pageant.

Women 60 years or older can contact the pageant's Inland Empire director, Charlene Tackaberry, at 951-687-2464 or Charlene@griffinpropertymanagement.com.

Applications must be submitted and approved by Feb. 23. The preliminary pageant will be held at 1:30 p.m. March 16 at Cambria at Riverwalk Senior Apartments, 4725 Sierra Vista Avenue in Riverside.

The pageant is based on an interview, modeling an evening gown, sharing a philosophy of life statement and talent.

The 26th annual Ms. Senior California Pageant is intended to encourage senior women to "stay vital and connected with life" and be role models for younger generations. It is scheduled for August.

Source: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_22341365/miss-senior-california-pageant-seeks-contestants-over-60?source=rss_emailed

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Roadside bomb kills 14 Pakistani soldiers

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) ? A roadside bomb hit a Pakistani army convoy Sunday in a mountainous militant stronghold in the northwest, killing 14 soldiers, one of the deadliest attacks against the army in that sector, intelligence officials said.

The North Waziristan tribal area is a major trouble spot that the military has been reluctant to tackle. The remote region is home to Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida militants at war with the government. It is also used as a sanctuary by other militants who have focused their attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

The attack Sunday occurred near Dosalli village in North Waziristan, said Pakistani intelligence officials. The blast destroyed two vehicles and damaged a third, they said.

The 14 dead and 20 wounded were brought to a military hospital in the nearby town of Miran Shah, the officials said.

Pakistani military officials confirmed the bombing but said four soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.

Then officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The Pakistani military is worried that if it targets its enemies in North Waziristan, that could trigger a backlash whereby other militants in the area turn against Pakistan. The most powerful group in the area, the Afghan Haqqani network, is also believed to be seen by the army as a potential ally in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw, making a military offensive even more complicated.

North Waziristan has been a sore point in relations between Pakistan and the United States. Washington has repeatedly pushed Islamabad to launch an operation in the area, especially against the Haqqani network, considered one of the most dangerous groups fighting in Afghanistan. But Pakistan has refused.

North Waziristan has also become an increasing problem for Pakistan. It is the only part of the tribal region where the army has not conducted an offensive, and many Pakistani Taliban militants have fled there to escape army operations. The Taliban and their allies have staged hundreds of attacks across Pakistan that have killed thousands of people.

One of those allies, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, carried out a twin bombing at a billiards hall in the southwest city of Quetta on Thursday that killed 86 people. The attack targeted minority Shiite Muslims, whom many radical Sunnis consider heretics.

Thousands of Shiites protested in Quetta for a third day Sunday, pressing their demands for greater security by blocking a main road with dozens of coffins of relatives killed in the attack on the billiards hall.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf traveled to Quetta on Sunday and met with representatives from the Shiite community in an attempt to pacify the protesters, said Dawood Agha, who attended the meeting.

The country's religious affairs minister failed the day before to persuade them to bury those killed in attack.

The group is demanding that the provincial government be dismissed and the army take over responsibility for the city, Shiite leader Ibrahim Hazara said.

On Saturday the prime minister ordered authorities to give policing powers to paramilitary forces in Quetta to improve law and order, but the move did not appear to satisfy the protesters.

More than 400 Shiites died in attacks in Pakistan in 2012, the deadliest year in history for the minority sect, according to Human Rights Watch. The rights group has accused the government of not doing enough to protect Shiites.

Also Sunday, a Pakistani cleric and thousands of his supporters left the eastern city of Lahore on a "long march" to demand sweeping election reforms before national elections expected this spring.

Police officer Suhail Sukhera estimated the crowd to be at least 15,000. They left for Islamabad in hundreds of buses, cars and trucks. Some waved flags and pictures of the 61-year-old Sunni Muslim cleric, while others shouted, "Revolution is our goal, brave and religious leader Qadri."

Critics of Qadri, who returned last month after years in Canada, are worried he is bent on derailing elections, possibly at the behest of the country's powerful military ? allegations the cleric has denied.

Qadri has a large following that extends outside Pakistan and has a reputation for speaking out against terrorism and promoting his message through hundreds of books, an online television channel and videos.

Now, Qadri's focus is on Pakistan's election laws. He is suggesting vaguely worded changes, such as making sure candidates are honest as well as ending exploitation and income disparities so that poor people are free to vote for whomever they want.

His plan to hold a massive rally in Islamabad on Monday has alarmed many members of Pakistan's political system. The government has deployed a large number of police throughout the capital and set up shipping containers to block protesters from reaching sensitive areas.

Qadri accused the provincial government of Punjab, where Lahore is the capital, of harassing his supporters Sunday to make it difficult for them to participate in the march.

"These negative tactics will not work, and God willing the march will reach Islamabad with a sea of people," Qadri told reporters.

___

Associated Press writers Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Zaheer Babar in Lahore, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roadside-bomb-kills-14-pakistani-soldiers-120150910.html

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Women's college basketball: Stephen F. Austin at ORU

5 p.m. Saturday

Mabee Center

Radio: KYAL am1550

SFA (6-9, 1-3 Southland)

		Ht.	Pt.	Rb.
F	Carter	6-0	8.9	5.9
F	Harris	5-10	7.2	3.7
F	Henderson	5-11	7.5	4.9
C	Roberts	6-2	12.4	7.5
G	Jerrell	5-5	7.9	2.3*

ORU (5-8, 2-1 Southland)

		Ht.	Pt.	Rb.
F	Cooper	6-0	9.5	4.5
C	Shelton	6-3	8.6	3.4
G	Buck	6-0	3.4	5.7
G	Luper	5-10	20.1	3.5
G	Bigham	5-6	9.2	7.3*

*assists per game

Oral Roberts is introducing itself to potential new rivals as a first-year member of the Southland Conference.

The get-to-know-you process continues at 5 p.m. Saturday, when the Golden Eagles face Stephen F. Austin for the first time since the 1985-86 season (ORU coach Misti Cussen was a ninth-grader then).

The Golden Eagles are 3-1 against Southland competition, losing only a three-point game at Nicholls State one week ago.

Kevi Luper and Jaci Bigham have been program cornerstones since their freshman seasons. The start of Southland Conference play seems to have brought out the best in their supporting cast.

Junior center and SMU transfer Sarah Shelton is averaging a team-best 16.7 points in league games. She has scored 103 points this season and 50 came in ORU's three conference games.

Freshman Taylor Cooper is averaging 13.0 points and is shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range in conference games.

Junior Christian Key is shooting 55.6 percent from the field in league games and is averaging 9.7 points against Southland opponents. She entered this season with a career scoring average of 4.1 points.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20130112_95_B3_hWOMEN315741&rss_lnk=95

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6 arrested in new rape of a bus passenger in India

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Police said they arrested six men on Saturday in another gang rape of a bus passenger in India, four weeks after a deadly attack on a student on a moving bus in the capital outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws.

Police officer Raj Jeet Singh said a 29-year-old woman was the only passenger on a bus as she was traveling to her village in northern Punjab state on Friday night. He said the driver did not stop at her village despite her repeated pleas and drove her to a desolate location, where he and the conductor took her to a nearby building. He said they were joined by five friends, and they took turns raping her throughout the night.

The driver dropped the woman off at her village early Saturday, he said.

Singh said police arrested six suspects on Saturday and were searching for another.

The brutal rape of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus in December set off an impassioned debate about what India needs to do to prevent such tragedies. Protesters and politicians have called for tougher rape laws, police reforms and a transformation in the way the country treats women.

In her first published comments Sunday, the mother of the deceased student said all six suspects in that case, including one believed to be a juvenile, deserve to die.

She was quoted by The Times of India newspaper as saying that her daughter told her that the youngest suspect had participated in the most brutal aspects of the rape.

Five men have been charged with the student's rape and murder and face a possible death penalty if convicted. The sixth suspect, who says he is 17 years old, is likely to be tried in a juvenile court if medical tests confirm he is a minor. His maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.

"Now the only thing that will satisfy us is to see them punished. For what they did to her, they deserve to die," the newspaper quoted the mother as saying.

Some activists have demanded a change in Indian laws so that juveniles committing heinous crimes can face the death penalty.

The names of the victim of the Dec. 16 attack and her family have not been released.

The physiotherapy student died from massive internal injuries in a Singapore hospital where she was sent for emergency treatment.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6-arrested-rape-bus-passenger-india-093824392.html

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