Retailer Volume of Imports Predicted to be Up 25% in First Half of 2010

From HFN:

WASHINGTON–Import volume at the nation’s major retailer container ports will jump 25 percent in the first half of this year versus 2009, according to an estimate from the National Retail Federation.

The monthly Global Tracker Report, provided by NRF and Hackett Associates, forecast first-half container volume at 7.4 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU; one TEU is a 20-foot cargo container or its equivalent), up from 5.9 million TEU in the first half of last year. The prediction said June volume will jump 36 percent higher than June 2009, February volume would rise 30 percent over February 2009, April volume will be 27 percent ahead of last year’s April and May’s volume will grow 26 percent over May 2009.

Springfield Schools Choose NEA over MSTA

From today’s SBJ:

Springfield teachers voted Thursday to have the National Education Association's Springfield chapter act as their representative in negotiations with the Board of Education.

Springfield NEA received 56.9 percent of the vote, defeating the Missouri State Teachers Association. Both groups have Springfield teachers as members.

"SNEA has the experience, expertise and commitment to represent more than 1,700 Springfield teachers in reaching a collective bargaining agreement with the district," Missouri NEA President Chris Guinther said in a news release. "They have proved they have the patience, skill, and desire to get the job done."

Thursday's election was the second part of a process to choose representation for district teachers that started more than a year ago, when NEA representatives collected more than 1,100 signatures to petition the school board for an exclusive representative election.
That petition was taken to Greene County Circuit Court, which ruled that teachers must first have an election to select either exclusive representation, multiple representatives or no representation. The exclusive option received 58 percent of the vote in that election, which took place in November.

MSTA has said previously that it supported Springfield's policy of allowing multiple representatives.

Stowaway Freezes to Death during Trans-Atlantic Flight

From the AP:

Japanese authorities said Monday they are trying to identify a body found inside one of the landing gear compartments on a Delta Airlines plane flight that arrived in Tokyo from New York.

The body of the apparent stowaway, identified only as that of a male with dark skin, was clad only in a long-sleeved, plaid shirt and jeans, police at the Narita International Airport said Monday.

A mechanic found the body lying inside the landing gear compartment of the Boeing 777-200 during maintenance after Delta Flight 59 from New York landed at Narita on Sunday night, police official Zenjiro Watanabe said.

"All we know is that he must have sneaked in just before departure, because it is impossible for him to enter the storage during flight," Watanabe said.

The body had no visible injuries except signs of frostbite, and the man might have died of hypothermia during the flight, Watanabe said.

The temperature in that part of the plane falls to about minus 58 degrees during flight.

Police are investigating the case both as an accident and a possible crime, Watanabe said.

"It's quite bizarre," he said. "I've never handled a case like this before."

Delta officials were not immediately available for comment.

There have been similar cases in the past.

In 2007, a man who appeared to be Asian and in his 50s, was found dead in the nose gear wheel well in an on a United Airlines Boeing 747 that arrived at San Francisco International Airport from Shanghai. He too was thought to be a stowaway.

Hartland Motors Moves Back to the Boulevard

Hartland motors, a used car dealership in Neosho owned by Steve Hart, recently relocated its operation.  Formerly housed in the old Hickory Chips building on Coler St, Hartland has now moved to the Neosho Blvd across from Price Cutter and south of Advantage Health Care.

BKD Services Were Needed by Neosho

On Friday, the Neosho City Council hired the accounting firm of BKD, LLP to help assist in reconciling the city’s cash accounts and to review some other financial information.  That reconciliation is the first step to getting a handle on where the city stands financially.

To put this in very simple terms: until the city knows how much cash it has in the bank, it can’t know with any level of confidence how much will need to be borrowed to meet its financial debt obligations.  BKD will help confirm to the city what those balances are.

This isn’t the sole fix for the city’s financial crisis, but rather the first step in getting the city’s financial position stabilized so it can start its recovery.

The full Globe article is here.

Global Warming Needed to Get Turbines Spinning

Apparently no one thought about the effects of cold temperatures when installing tax-payer funded wind turbines in Minnesota.  Oops.  Because of cold temperatures, fluids inside the turbines were too thick to allow the blades to spin.  The wind turbines were originally installed in California where temperatures were much warmer.  They were dismantled and refurbished before being shipped to Minnesota for their new installation.

Good news – local officials expect the $300,000 turbines to be spinning in a couple of months after an oil change and a few other modifications.

The turbines were purchased using federal renewable energy bonds.

Joplin Airport Included in Study

Passenger air service to five smaller Missouri airports will be the topic of discussion during a meeting tomorrow at the Joplin Regional Airport.  The 9am meeting will reveal the results of a study done to determine possible changes to Missouri’s airline passenger service.

Joplin is one of five Missouri cities who has a federally-subsidized air service.  The others are Kirksville, Waynesville, Columbia and Cape Girardeau. 

The globe article can be found here.

Ethics Poll Posted on my Website

I’ve posted a new poll related to ethics on my website.  Please take a moment and give your opinion.  Results will be posted next week. 

Click here to voice your opinion.

(This isn’t Chicago – vote once and not often.)

Jobless Claims Rise Last Month

The Labor Department says that new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 480,000. Wall Street economists had expected a drop to 460,000.

The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, rose for the third straight week.  The number of people continuing to claim benefits was unchanged at 4.6 million.

December Orders for Durable Goods Up

New orders for manufacturing goods in December 2009 increased 1.0 percent to $370.4 billion. Shipments rose 1.9 percent, unfilled orders declined 1.0 percent and inventories declined by 0.1 percent from November 2009.

Save Money, Live Better. How? Cut More Jobs.

As part of continuing efforts to resize overhead, Wal-Mart yesterday announced another cut of 300 employees at their home offices in Bentonville, AR.  According to statements by Wal-Mart, these cuts are the final round of reductions ending a year-long series of changes to its corporate structure.

To save money, Wal-Mart, which has 2 million employees worldwide, has changed its global sourcing network.  Its Sam’s Club division cut 11,200 jobs last month when it turned announced it was outsourcing in-club demonstrations to an outside company. The cut amounted to 10% of Sam's Club's work force of 110,000. Sam's also closed 10 underperforming stores, which cost another 1,500 jobs.

A year ago, Wal-Mart cut 700 to 800 headquarters workers in its real estate, apparel and health and wellness departments. That layoff followed a reduction in the number and size of new stores Wal-Mart said it would build. The company also plans to renovate many existing stores.

Slowing Construction Impacts Local Architects

Two Springfield architecture firms have announced layoffs as construction projects continue to suffer amid a slowing economy and tighter lending by banking institutions.  Springfield’s largest firm, Butler, Rosenbury & Partners, Inc. cut nine jobs from their payroll last week.  GHN Architects and Engineers cut three jobs.  Both cuts equate to approximately 25% of their workforce.

The full article can be found here.

State Budget Office Pulls $74M in Spending

Continued revenue dips and lower collections are causing more cuts from Jefferson City.  Revenues thru the first 7 months are down 12.5%.  Collections in January are down 22.4% vs. 2009.  Those drops have resulted in $73.8 million worth of cuts to keep the state’s budget balanced.

Below is the full article from today’s Springfield Business Journal:

The continued drop-off in state general revenue collections has led to additional spending restrictions this year, the state budget office said Tuesday.

Through seven months of fiscal 2010, general revenue collections total $3.88 billion, down 12.5 percent compared to the same period in fiscal 2009.  Collections for January totaled $561.2 million, a 22.4 percent decrease from January 2009.

The revenue shortage is leading to additional spending cuts of $73.8 million, to ensure the budget stays balanced for the remainder of the fiscal year, according to a news release.
State salaries and operating expenses will be cut by $2.9 million. The cut should impact about 120 positions, some through attrition, according to the release. 

The biggest chunk of the cuts comes from the state Office of Homeland Security's communications interoperability efforts. The state is cutting $29.2 million from its general revenue funding for that project, which assists in agencies' ability to communicate with each other; other state and federal funding sources picking up the difference.

The state also is cutting $24.2 million from matching funds for its rural broadband initiative, leaving $5.8 million in place for that effort.

General revenue collections in January were down in individual income taxes, sales and use taxes, and corporate income taxes, with refunds up for the month.

Nice Change That Was Welcomed by All

I’ve heard a number of positive comments about last night’s meeting – specifically on conduct of the members and the audience.  It was a welcomed change of atmosphere and tone from past meetings. 

Good job to all that were there.

Duenweg Approves $6 million Bond for Wastewater Plant

From JoplinGlobe.com

February 02, 2010 09:22 pm

Duenweg voters have approved a $6 million bond issue to build a wastewater treatment plant.  County Clerk Bonnie Earl said there were 112 votes in favor and 29 votes against the proposal.

Mayor Russell Olds said city leaders did not do an engineering or rate study to determine how much rate-payers would have to be billed to pay for the project because a study would have cost up to $100,000. Instead, city leaders wanted to know whether voters would support the project going forward before determining the exact cost.

The mayor said he told residents that based on initial discussions with the city’s engineering firm, the cost would likely be about the same as residents are paying the city of Joplin, which currently operates a wastewater treatment system.

Voters said they were concerned about the city of Joplin imposing a 30 percent surcharge on out-of-city users and they wanted to provide more of their services to be prepared for future growth of the town.

Quite a showing of support for a project that all residents knew was in the best interest of their city.  Good job, Duenweg!

Intelligence Agency to Congress: Al Queda Attacks Only Months Away

Top intelligence officials told Congress today that attacks from Al Queda are only months way, according to a new report from Fox News.  In the hearing, Director of National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said that Al Qaeda can be expected to continue and try to attack the United States until Osama bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, are dead.

The Fox News article is here.

Captain Phil Suffers Stroke

From E-Online:

One of the death-defying crab-boat captains of Deadliest Catch is fighting for his life.

Phil Harris remains hospitalized in Alaska after suffering a stroke Friday while offloading his vessel, the Cornelia Marie.

"Captain Phil is resting comfortably and is in the care of excellent doctors and nurses," reads an update on the Discovery Channel show's website.

Harris has been a fixture on the reality show since its debut. His health became a major storyline during the 2008 season, when he was sidelined after a blod clot passed through his lungs. Doctors said the pulmonary embolism could have killed him.

Harris has skippered the Cornelia Marie for nearly two decades, with sons Josh and Jake serving as deckhands in recent years.

Both are with Harris in the hospital, according to the network, and they "thank everyone for their heartfelt thoughts and prayers."

NTSB Blames Crew Reaction for Buffalo Crash

With today’s technology, crash investigators have more and more data to review to determine why a perfectly-flying airplane suddenly crashes.  Their latest review of Continental 3407 relied heavily on that data to determine that the crew, not ice or weather, was a key ingredient that led to the crash.  That crash killed 49 people in Buffalo, NY.

Quoting parts of the report, the NTSB found Capt. Marvin Renslow fought the plane's system to recover from a stall. The captain had three chances to prevent the crash and failed each time.

A NY Times article can be found here.

An link to the animation of the final two minutes can be found here.

Today Must Be The Beginning

Tonight’s council meeting will very likely set the tone for what is to be the future of Neosho.  It’s no secret that the city is in a very severe financial crisis.  But time is running out to work solutions for recovery.  Now is not the time to relive history.  Further inaction with distraction will almost certainly spell failure.

10,000+ people are looking for leadership from our city government.  Leadership will move us forward.  Forward is the direction we must go.  That move forward will not be easy and the decisions our city must make will be very difficult for some to accept.  But it must be done to save what remains of Neosho and to restore our city back to what it can and should be.

Now is when we can begin to correct the past actions that put us here.  We all want what is ‘right’ for Neosho.  My commitment to you for success has never been stronger.  Working together with an understanding of what must happen is the key.  Please help me and your other city leaders.  It will take all of us coming together to move forward.  Failure is not an option.

NCLB Deadlines May Be Removed

The Obama administration is proposing changes to the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) including a change in how schools are judged along with the elimination of the 2014 deadline for 100% compliance for academic proficiency.

I’ve said all along (as have many educators) that the 2014 deadline was nothing more than a feel-good statement for a few politicians in DC who want to talk about their approach to education.  It was a great goal, but completely unattainable.  They all knew it.

Someday, politicians will need to quit using education as a political football.  After all, the goal of education is to teach our kids.  Tweak it, make small changes, whatever.  But to totally change education every time a new party takes over the White House isn’t helping a thing.

The full NY Times article is here.