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In The News
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1. Treasury:
Telephone tax refund for everyone
Treasury Dept. concedes a Spanish-American War tax on long-distance
service is antiquated and consumers are entitled to a refund.
May 25, 2006
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - After losing several court battles, the U.S. Treasury
on Thursday said it would provide refunds to consumers for a federal excise
"luxury" tax on long-distance service, the origins of which date back to
1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War.
The refund will apply
to the 3 percent excise tax billed to them on long-distance service since
Feb. 28, 2003 and will include interest. Consumers will be able to claim
it on their 2006 tax returns, which they will file in 2007.
2. Old Fire's
Scars
Fears, empty lots
linger three years after fatal blaze
[editor's note: This
article never appeared online. Luckily, someone saw it and mailed me a copy
which I scanned and placed on our website so you can read it]
Oct 29, 2006
Darrell Santschi and
Chris Richard; Press Enterprise
Cindy LeClair looked
out from her newly rebuilt home in the Del Rosa Neighborhood of North San
Bernardino and saw clouds of reddish brown smoke billowing from th Esperanza
Fire 15 miles away.
"The Santa Anas keep
coming and there are people out there who are pyromaniacs," she said by
phone in a nervous-sounding voice. "The emotional thing is the hardest.
I have a fear that this won't be the last time."
[more HERE]
Adobe Acrobat required
3. Quake experts:
Area on its own
One scientist said there's a 25 percent chance of a magnitude-6 earthquake
in the next 50 years.
Friday, November 3, 2006
By TJ GREANEY ~ Southeast Missourian
ST. LOUIS -- The swath
of land from north of St. Louis down to Marked Tree, Ark., is roughly the
size of Texas, much of it rural and all of it vulnerable to earthquakes.
Speakers Thursday
at the New Madrid Earthquake Conference in St. Louis had a tough message
for most of the 11 million people who call this area home: You're on your
own.
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4. Officials
discuss plans for New Madrid earthquake
Published Friday,
November 3, 2006
Betsy Taylor The Associated
Press as published in the Ozarks Local News
Dangerous earthquakes
along the New Madrid fault nearly 200 years ago were so powerful, there
are accounts of the Mississippi River temporarily flowing backward and church
bells ringing in Boston.
But quakes along the
fault are not just the stuff of history.
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5. Earthquakes
Not Uncommon In New England
Possibility Of Major Quake Remote, Experts Say
By Kara Kouri, Contributing Writer
November 15, 2006
BOSTON -- People tend
to overlook the possibilities of earthquakes happening in the New England
area, but there have been reports of earthquake occurrences in the region
over the past few years.
Fortunately, experts
say not to worry. According to the Weston Observatory, which monitors earthquake
activity, the probability of a potentially damaging earthquake above magnitude
5.0 in New England anytime soon is estimated to be 0.064 percent.
[more HERE]
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6. A Look
Back At The Biggest Disaster To Ever Hit Charleston
November 20, 2006 by Anderson Burns, ABc News
Charleston, S.C.
Forget Hugo.
For its size, and in its time, the earthquake of 1886 is easily the most
destructive force to ever hit the Lowcountry.
“August 31st, up until
that evening, was probably the single most boring day in the history of
South Carolina,” said Richard Cote, author ‘City of Heroes’, a book that
chronicles the earthquake.
But at 9:51 p.m.,
all hell broke loose.
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7. New Study
Lists Top 10 Earthquake States
By LiveScience Staff
20 November 2006
Alaska and California have more earthquakes and more strong quakes than
any other U.S. states. But depending on whether they count total number
of quakes or the strongest temblors, geologists don't agree on ranking
beyond that.
So John Anderson
and Yuichiro Miyata at the University of Nevada, Reno, decided to investigate
and create a formal list. Their Top 10 states, based on the greatest magnitude
achieved every year:
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8. 'The Big
One' Is a Big Problem for Old Seattle Houses
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 24, 2006; Page A02
SEATTLE -- "We got
problems here."
So explained Craig
S. Weaver, a seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and chief of its
Pacific Northwest earthquake studies project. "There will be earthquakes.
You can take that to the bank."
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9. US Forest
Service audit urges letting more wildfires burn, getting more money from
states
By JEFF BARNARD Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, Nov. 29,
2006
(AP) - GRANTS PASS,
Oregon-The Forest Service should let more wildfires burn and demand that
state and local governments pick up a bigger share of firefighting costs,
according to a newly released audit.
Forest Service personnel
said protecting private property where cities meet forests, known as the
wildland-urban interface, accounts for more than half of Forest Service
firefighting costs, which have exceeded $1 billion (€760 million) in three
of the past six years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general
said.
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10. Judge
Rules in Favor of Plaintiffs in New Orleans Canal Case
November 29, 2006
Insurance Journal
In a decision that
could cost insurers many more billions of dollars than they have already
paid out in Hurricane Katrina claims, a federal judge in New Orleans has
ruled that ambiguities in certain homeowners policies leave open the possibility
that flooding due to "man-made" acts could be covered, despite widespread
water damage exclusions contained in most policies.
Late on Nov. 28, the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, released
an 85-page ruling by Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. in several consolidated
cases in which plaintiffs argued that flood damage "arising out of all levee
breaches which occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina" should be
covered since such flooding is not specifically excluded in the policies.
In denying insurers' attempts to have the lawsuits dismissed, the judge
cited ambiguous language in the water damage exclusions in some policies.
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11. Rudy Giuliani
on Hand as Circuit City Launches 'firedog(SM) Across America;'
Nationwide Contest
Will Identify and Reward Extraordinary Public Service by Firefighters
Wednesday December 6, 2006
NEW YORK, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Circuit City's new firedog(SM)
services brand today launched "firedog(SM) Across America," a nationwide
program that will identify and reward exceptional public service rendered
by America's professional and volunteer firefighters.
"firedog(SM) Across
America" is an online essay contest asking Americans to nominate their local
firehouses (both volunteer and professional) for outstanding service to
the community. Essays can be submitted at http://www.firedog.com. Winners will split a
prize pool that totals $650,000.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061206/dcw013.html?.v=76
Direct link to contest:
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12. As Temporary
Housing Assistance for Katrina Victims Counts Down, the Future Looks Bleak
December 13, 2006
Architectural Record
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), ACORN, the National Policy
and Advocacy Council on Homelessness, and 89 other housing and poverty advocacy
groups are bracing for February 28. That’s when the Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s temporary housing assistance for those left homeless by Hurricane
Katrina is scheduled to end.
Almost 300,000 households
in the Gulf region are at risk of homelessness, the groups claim. This includes
almost 110,000 families living in FEMA trailers and mobile homes, and nearly
180,000 families who are receiving FEMA-funded rental assistance. Families
receive up to $26,200 for rents, repairs, and other costs through the program,
for a limit of 18 months.
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13. Loan assistance
for Esperanza fire victims
by Rasha Aly
The Desert Sun
December 18, 2006
Those who need to
repair or replace homes, businesses and personal property, that was damaged
by the Esperanza Wildfire, may be able to receive a loan.
J. Adalberto Quijada,
district director of the U.S. Small Business Administrations Santa Ana District
office, announced today the SBA has approved more than $1.2 million in disaster
loans to homeowners, renters and businesses of all sizes.
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14. Audit:
Build in fire zones, share the bill
Guy McCarthy, SB Sun Staff Writer
01/06/2007
Local and state governments
that authorize home construction in fire
country should pay more for firefighting in the danger zones they help
create, according to a federal audit.
The report on escalating
costs borne by the U.S. Forest Service was
issued in late November, a month after five Forest Service
firefighters were fatally injured as they tried to protect a Twin
Pines home from the Esperanza Fire.
"The Forest Service
is looking at it from a financial standpoint, and
it's getting more expensive," said Mike Jarvis, deputy director of
communications for the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection. "We're taking a look at it, too.
"But we don't have
zoning or planning authority. We don't make any
land-use decisions. We get notified, and we do give input at times.
But we don't get consulted and we're not involved in the approval process.
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15. Katrina
Insurance Trial to Begin
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
GULFPORT, Miss. --
Even as the Mississippi attorney general negotiates a potential settlement
with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., an eight-person jury will begin
hearing opening statements Tuesday in one of hundreds of insurance lawsuits
filed by policyholders after Hurricane Katrina.
By seating the jury
of four women and four men to hear the lawsuit brought against State Farm
by Norman and Genevieve Broussard, U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. rejected
the insurer's bid to move the proceedings to Oxford, Miss., 300 miles from
the Gulf Coast.
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16. American
Red Cross Joins ProtectingAmerica.org
January 11, 2007
(Washington, D.C.)
– The American Red Cross, the nation’s leading volunteer disaster preparedness
and response organization, has become the latest partner to join ProtectingAmerica.org.
Teaming up with first responders, disaster recovery experts, insurers, small
and large businesses -- and now the Red Cross -- ProtectingAmerica.org partners
call for better ways American families can prepare for and protect themselves
from natural or human-caused disasters.
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17. Miss.
AG seeks legislation on State Farm
Feb 16, 2007
Yahoo! News
JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi
Attorney General Jim Hood said Friday he will seek legislation aimed at
blocking State Farm Insurance Cos. from refusing to write new homeowners
and commercial policies in the hurricane-battered state.
He said the plan was
modeled after actions taken by Florida and would require any company that
writes automobile insurance to write homeowners policies as well.