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Above-Ground Oil Storage Tanks the Center of Debates in Mobile, AL

Mobile, AL has long considered itself a hub of industry, where shipbuilding, chemical manufacturing and other industrial activities can all find a home along the city’s Gulf of Mexico waterfront.

But now, the city has become the center stage of a debate over regulations on the energy sector — in particular, regulations regarding above-ground oil storage tanks. Seven of these storage tank facilities sit along the Mobile River, a January 29 AL.com article reports. These facilities play a sizable role in the local economy, employing some 1,800 Mobile County residents in 2013.

Above-ground storage tanks are typically subject to a number of regulations, from the federal level to the state and local levels. Many of Mobile’s residents, economic developers and businesses have become concerned about how new oil storage tanks will be constructed ever since a planned 32-tank construction project fell through before the Mobile Planning Commission.

The one problem? None of these groups can agree with each other, each wanting to influence Mobile County’s storage tank regulations in their own way, AL.com reports.

Last week, Mobile residents gathered at the commission chambers at Government Plaza, offering their own ideas on above-ground oil storage regulations to a city committee . Their concerns for increased oil storage tanks involve public health, quality of life and safety matters, such as the impact of tank explosions and leaks on residents. Local businesses are, somewhat predictably, concerned with the economic impact of these storage tanks, while environmental groups are seeking to make county regulations stricter on the tanks’ effect on the Mobile River, its fish and the wildlife that depends upon these fish.

Another public meeting took place on Tuesday, February 3. The city committee will eventually make recommendations based on these meetings with residents and other groups to a full planning commission, which will vote on whether or not to change current county storage tank regulations.

Man Tries to Jump the New Fence Around the White House’s Main Fence

Fences are meant to protect the property they surround — not only keeping young children and animals inside the perimeter, but keeping unwanted parties outside — but what if the barrier became the way in to a protected property?

On February 1, the Secret Service arrested a man as he tried to climb a waist-high, temporary barrier set up on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House’s main fence. Agents were able to apprehend him before he made it over, charging him with unlawful entry. Officials eventually turned him over to D.C. police.

No information about any motive the man may have had has been released, but Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said that an effort would be made to speak to him. It was also unclear whether there had been any previous arrests in connection with attempts to jump the auxiliary fence.

The Washington Post reports that the man was trying to climb an auxiliary barrier, which is composed of interlocking metal barriers that look like bike racks. Reuters, however, reports that it was a bicycle rack that the man tried to jump.

This second barrier was put in place days following the notorious fence jumper incident of 2014, in which the Secret Service failed to stop a man wielding a knife from jumping the fence, making it across the lawn, into the White House, past the stairway leading to the first family’s living quarters, and into the East Room, where an agent was able to tackle him.

The incident not only led to the new barrier, but also to a shakeup in Secret Service management. However, there continue to be security foibles despite the agency’s attempt to tighten things up. On January 26 — only a couple of weeks ago — a small drone operated by a U.S. spy agency employee did crash on the White House grounds.

Neutral Colors Make a Comeback in Home Renovations for 2015

Marble, quartz, and honed granite, in addition to neutral colors and design patterns, are en vogue for 2015 home design, especially come selling time, according to experts.

The shift in tastes comes at a time when homeowners are spending more on home renovations (including kitchen remodels), thanks to a recovering economy and a rise in home prices.

According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, home renovation spending was on track for a record-breaking year in 2014. In fact, home and kitchen remodels were expected to exceed the $145 billion tallied in 2006 — just before the housing crash.

However, while spending on home renovation projects is increasing, new styles and trends are replacing the excessive and lavish aesthetic that became popular in recent years. Expensive, restaurant-quality, customized kitchens have now become passé.

“I think there is a decrease in excitement about granite everywhere,” said James Roche, chief executive of Houseplans.com, which monitors building design trends across the U.S. “The idea of covering everything in granite is equated with the Baby Boom McMansion phase. I don’t think people like that aesthetic.”

Homeowners who went to town designing over-the-top custom kitchens during the 1990s and 2000s are learning the hard way, as new homeowners often gut the entire kitchen and start from scratch, according to Neda Vander Stoep, a top agent at the Back Bay office of Coldwell Banker Residential Mortgage.

Examples of this excessive aesthetic include “crazy ornate backsplashes, black appliances, ornate floor tiles, custom cabinets with ornate detail and overly customized cabinet hardware,” Vander Stoep said. While homeowners still want beautiful kitchens, they also want to ensure they’re making a smart investment, she added.

Vander Stoep sees a shift from bold, bright colors towards more neutral shades of grays and whites with on occasional pop of color throughout the home to create a cohesive look. Wallpaper is also making a comeback, as it creates subtle variety without being gaudy.

“By going more neutral, you are bound to appeal to a larger pool despite varying tastes,” Vander Stoep said. “Overly customized renovations are out and I am personally seeing less and less of them.”

In Response to Dangers of Forklift Operation, a Renewed Move Toward Improved Safety Practices

A near-death incident involving a forklift truck has prompted the need for improved safety technology to keep personnel safe.

On January 21, a Fort Worth man operating a forklift escaped with his life when the forklift turned over on top of him. According to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth, the contract employee had placed material atop the forklift which caused it to tip over.

To get the man out from under the forklift, Fort Worth’s Rescue-14 crew had to gingerly lift the forklift by inflating several air-filled bladders beneath the truck. An ambulance then transported the man, in stable condition, to the hospital. Fort Worth Fire Department Capt. J.W. Brunson said the man suffered a serious leg injury during the incident.

This incident is proof that even though personnel must be educated on the proper safety procedures when handling lift truck battery equipment and operating the lift trucks themselves, accidents still happen — and these accidents lead to devastating injury, even fatality. Each year, forklift accidents cost American companies approximately $3.7 billion and result in 20,000 serious injuries and 100 deaths.

That’s why companies like Q-Track are working to improve safety technology used in everyday forklift operation.

According to a January 14 WebWire article, Q-Track is looking to help reduce the damage done by forklift accidents with a collision avoidance system called SafeSpot. The SafeSpot technology employs electromagnetic ranging and location systems to send out low-frequency, long-range signals to detect objects and personnel obstructing the forklift’s path.

By allowing the forklift to differentiate between personnel and other forklifts, the SafeSpot system eliminates false positives and prevents the forklift from colliding with objects and people.

And with technologies like the SafeSpot system in place, operating forklifts can be a little safer for everyone involved, and the risk of using forklifts for everyday operations can be greatly reduced for companies across the country.

Can’t Get a Flight to the Superbowl? Win Your Way Through the Alaska Airlines Sweepstakes

After the incredible Seattle Seahawks comeback this week, Seahawks fans from Seattle, and Patriots fans from Boston, are scrambling for plane tickets to Phoenix, AZ for the big game. As a result, Alaska Airlines is opening a sweepstakes to get fans to Phoenix.

Sweepstakes winners will receive a flight to and from Phoenix, a room near the game, and a game day party sponsored by Alaska Airlines.

Though many sweepstakes are used as cost-effective advertising, this sweepstakes is offered through Alaska’s “Chief Football Officer” Russell Wilson’s “Fan Flight II: Strong Against Cancer.” The airline will also donate a dollar to Wilson’s cause for every person who enters the sweepstakes, capping at $50,000.

The sweepstakes might be the only way to get to Phoenix soon. Alaska Airlines announced that flights for Friday, Jan. 30 and Monday, Feb. 2 are already sold out. Additional flights will be added to accommodate air traffic to Phoenix. Fans willing to go earlier and stay longer may still be able to find regular tickets.

Alaska Airlines isn’t the only airline struggling to keep up with Superbowl traffic. U.S. Airlines will add dozens of new flights and some temporary routes to get fans to Super Bowl XLIX. Delta, United, Jetblue and Southwest have also announced expanded flight schedules. United alone is adding 55 extra flights to Phoenix and switching to larger planes for regularly scheduled flights.

Most of the added flights will connect Phoenix to Seattle and Boston, since fans from both teams will be coming from those locations. The extra flights are primarily on the Friday before the Super Bowl and the Sunday following the Super Bowl, though there are a few other dates as well.

Much of the focus is on Alaska Airlines, which runs the biggest hub in Seattle. The Alaska Airlines sweepstakes will provide 56 sports fans with the chance to get to and from Phoenix for free, but there’s a catch: the sweepstakes is only open to members of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan living in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Other sports fans will just have to try to catch one of the added flights.

Jobs Report: Unemployment Falls, Wages Rise for U.S. Workers

So far, 2015 has been a year of better-than-predicted drops in the unemployment rate as well as steadily rising wages across several job sectors, signalling more good news for U.S. workers and consumers.

According to a January 13 Fiscal Times article, the unemployment rate has now reached 5.6%, which is closer than ever to the Federal Reserve’s ideal range of long-term unemployment, 5.2 to 5.5%. With the Congressional Budget Office’s natural rate of unemployment at 5.5%, the current unemployment rate seems to show good signs for the economy.

But if unemployment continues to drop at its current pace, the U.S. jobless rate will easily fall to just 5% by the summer — the Federal Reserve’s goal for the end of 2016. By the end of this 2015, it could fall as low as 4.7%.

Lower unemployment is good for everyone, right? Not necessarily.

These faster-than-expected drops in the jobless rate could place pressure on the Feds to raise interest rates sooner and more aggressively than the market is equipped to handle.

However, this hiccup of a tightening labor market might ultimately be absorbed without issue — as payrolls continue to dole out more attractive wages to U.S. workers. According to the Fiscal Times, inflation-adjusted take home pay, or the amount of money one has left over after taxes are taken from a paycheck, surged forth in a big way last month.

If this trend continues, it could give middle-class Americans a much-needed financial respite, and would increase their spending power to levels not seen since before the recession hit.

For example, the average managerial accountant can usually expect to earn between $77,000 and $101,500 per year. With “real payroll income growth” — an aggregate measure of job creation, hours worked and hourly wages — rising at a current annual rate of 4.5%, it’s safe to say that the salary for these accountants would get a major boost in disposable income and spending power.

So while the Federal Reserve could soon come under unexpected pressure due to greater-than-expected job creation, the American worker won’t feel much of that impact in 2015.

Target Executives Announce Decision To Stop Operations in Canada, Shutting Down 133 Stores

In a recent announcement that shook the international retail industry to its core, representatives for the U.S.-based chain store Target announced that the company would be closing all of its Canadian locations. Even though the company has only operated in Canada for less than two years, financial reports have shown that the Canadian stores experienced losses for the majority of that time, totaling about $2 billion collectively.

With 133 store locations spread across the country, Target’s decision will leave an estimated 17,600 people without jobs. Target officials state that the company is trying to create a funding plan worth $70 million in order to provide its employees with 16 weeks’ worth of pay after stores close (although it’s unlikely that Target’s senior executives will earn the full $160,000 paycheck that Canadian financial executives often receive per year).

The company has already stated that it has filed for — and received — legal protection under the federal Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) regarding outstanding debts. Under this legislation, Target will be given time for restructuring before lenders can begin demanding repayments.

Analysts estimate that it will cost the company between $500 million and $600 million to shut down its Canadian stores, but because the company is already facing billions of dollars worth of sales losses, the total cost of shutting down operations could be as much as $5.4 billion.

The decision has come as a bit of a shock to many Americans. It’s no secret that Target has struggled with management in its Canadian stores, but many consumers and retailers alike forget although the two countries may share a border, that doesn’t ensure that they’ll share consumer tastes and overall success.

Target is now joining retail clothing companies Maxx, Smart Set, and Jacob, which have already closed their Canadian stores due to poor sales.

According to chairman and CEO Brian Cornell, Target is hopeful that the closings of Canadian locations will allow the company to concentrate more on the future success of its American stores.

Nearly One in Five Hysterectomies Are Performed Needlessly

The hysterectomy, a surgery that removes the uterus, is commonly used to treat uterine fibroids, gynecologic cancer, endometriosis, uterine prolapse, abnormal vaginal bleeding, and chronic pelvic pain. After the cesarean section, it’s the second most commonly performed surgery on women. Though it destroys patients’ fertility, it can be a life-saving operation.

However, a new study suggests that one in five women who underwent the hysterectomies may not have needed to.

According to Dr. Daniel Morgan of the University of Michigan Medical School’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the study’s findings “provide evidence that alternatives to hysterectomy are underutilized in women undergoing hysterectomy for abnormal uterine bleeding, uterine fibroids, endometriosis or pelvic pain.”

Though rates of hysterectomy in the U.S. are falling, there are still more than 400,000 of the procedures carried out each year in the United States. Yet, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’s guidelines state that health care practitioners recommend patients with gynecologic disease undergo other treatments, like endometrial ablation. Hysterectomy should really only be a final option.

For their study, which was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers set out to analyze whether these guidelines were being followed, and whether the pathology following a hysterectomy supported the need for one.

The researchers found that a startling 37.7% of women had no documentation that they’d undergone an alternative treatment before undergoing a hysterectomy. Even worse, the researchers’ pathological findings following surgery among 18.3% of women — nearly one in five — didn’t support the need for a hysterectomy.

Basically, the study’s finding suggest that doctors aren’t following guidelines, that more than one in three women didn’t undergo an alternative procedure before having their fertility destroyed, and that one in five women didn’t even need a hysterectomy.

If your doctor recommends a hysterectomy, you may want to get a second opinion.

Obama Lowers the FHA’s Mortgage Premiums

On Thursday, January 8, President Obama officially announced that the Federal Housing Administration will reduce premiums on FHA mortgages. Almost immediately, Republicans denounced the decision, pointing out the FHA’s fund is below its statutory minimum. Supporters, however, argued that lowering the insurance rates could give thousands the opportunity to buy their own homes, which could benefit a number of areas where recovery from the housing crisis has been slow. But how will the premium cut affect the United States as a whole, and what does it mean for the American people?

Currently, homeowners who take out an FHA mortgage pay 1.35% of the loan amount every year, a cheaper rate than many other options in the U.S. Under the proposed cut, however, borrowers would pay 0.85% of their loan amount, meaning a homeowner with a $200,000 FHA mortgage would move from paying $2,700 to $1,700 if they refinanced under the new rate. This change follows a recent reduction of the FHA’s already low down payments. While the amounts vary from state to state, experts have said that some residents in places like Florida have seen their payments drop from $417,000 to $285,000.

According to the Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Julian Castro, the new loan premiums could benefit a projected 800,000 borrowers per year. Additionally, more than 100,000 current homeowners are expected to refinance their loans this year to take advantage of the lower prices. Because of these factors, analysts suspect that spring home buying and building could see a needed boost across the U.S.

However, Republican lawmakers aren’t so sure. After Obama announced the change in a speech in Phoenix, AZ, a number of politicians responded by arguing that the reduction could spark another housing crisis, especially when combined with other low down-payment measures currently being offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They also took issue with the current state of the FHA itself, which is below its required minimum, and the reputation of the loans; Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and David Vitter of Louisiana, for example, have argued the change could cause government-issued loans to become under-priced.

These claims have been dismissed by a number of experts and lawmakers, including Castro, who pointed out that the lower premiums would only prevent the FHA from reaching the minimum by a few more months. Proponents also say that the reduction is designed to stabilize the federal lending market. In recent months, many homeowners have chosen to refinance their homes under the lower premiums offered by Fannie and Freddie, making the FHA less able to compete with these organizations. But with nearly 373,000 single-family loans and 100,000 refinancings conducted through the FHA in 2014, the reputation of the administration still seems to be no issue.

Obama also took care to assure skeptics that the FHA’s new loans would be meted out carefully. While many current borrowers have credit scores that would be considered high risk by traditional lenders, he stated that the organization would not be providing loans to those who could not afford them, as had been done in years past. Encouraging borrowers to avoid purchasing things they could not afford, he said that the lower premiums would enable responsible homeowners to give the housing market a needed boost.

But who should take advantage of the new premiums? It depends on the situation. Experts are predicting that the biggest benefits will likely be seen by those looking to refinance, especially borrowers who were unable to complete the process in 2012 or 2013 or who currently have higher premiums. Likewise, aspiring homeowners able to afford the FHA’s down payments and new premiums, lower though they may be, should consider this option. However, some are still cautious: the reduction has put pressure on the FHA’s rates, causing prices to tighten. Will this hamper the reduction’s success or present no obstacle to home sales and refinancing? Only time will tell.

Toledo Replaces Its City Road Signs

On road trips and long journeys, roadside signs are often a welcome sight, marking your progress from location to location and hinting at lives different from your own. But as pleasant as they seem might seem to the traveler, they often symbolize something just as powerful to the towns and cities they belong to. The city of Toledo, OH, for example, recently erected new roadside signs bearing the city slogan that has been used for over a century.

Toledo’s slogan “You Will Do Better in Toledo” was first unveiled in 1913 on a sign topping the city’s Valentine Theatre. Illuminated by 7,000 light bulbs, the message had been chosen out of thousands of submissions in a contest held by the Toledo Commerce Club. In recent years, the catchphrase has appeared on T-shirts, pint glasses, baby clothes and more as people in the area have reclaimed the optimistic motto.

Recently, the city decided to continue the trend by adding the slogan to their roadside signs. On Wednesday, December 17, the 101st anniversary of the slogan’s release, the city installed the first of 55 road signs, all reading “You Will Do Better in Toledo”. To honor the original sign at Valentine Theatre, the black and white board uses vintage type surrounded by dots, recalling the lightbulbs that illuminated the message a century ago.

The new roadside signs will replace older, blue and yellow signs that read “Welcome to Tole-do!” and featured the University of Toledo’s rocket logo. While city officials have commented that the university is a key part of the community, they say that the new signs better represent the city as a whole. The city has not yet decided what they will do with the old signs, but say that many people in the area are interested in buying them.

Although the signs are a fairly recent change, the Toledo community already seems extremely supportive. Many people, already familiar with the “You Will Do Better in Toledo” slogan, say that it represents and encourages the city’s entrepreneurial spirit. Moreover, because the Valentine Theatre sign was taken down in 1926 and eventually lost to history, the renewal of a piece of the city’s legacy has been welcomed.

“Signs are be a great way to communicate the message and express the culture of a community over and over so that it becomes a part of the way that community operates and is perceived by others,” says Mike Butler of Landmark Sign Company. “Using signs to communicate that message throughout any community creates the highest number and best quality of impressions versus most any other medium.”

The new road signs were made by the city’s transportation division sign shop at the cost of roughly $65 each, including labor and installation. In total, the city manufactured about 85 signs, costing the city $5,530. In the next several weeks, 55 signs will be installed along the city limits, while the remainder will be saved to replace any that are damaged.