| KSU academic scholarships
Steven Urban, $2,000 Medallion Scholarship; Audrey Vandegrift, $2,250 KSU Foundation Campaign General Scholarships; Whitney Vaughn, $1,500 Achievement Award and $250 Home Economics Alumni Scholarship; Curtis Viar, $2,000 Memorial Scholarship Fund; James Viar, $1,500 Achievement Award; Landon Vinson, $700 June D. Hull Sherrid Cancer Center Scholarship and Education Fund, $2,000 Medallion Scholarship, $1,000 Memorial Scholarship Fund and $5,000 Dane G. Hansen Foundation Fund; Andrew Wicks, $6,000 Legacy Award; Robert Wighs, $1,000 KSU Theatre Fund; Patricia Wilcox, $562 Employee Tuition Assistance and $450 Schwan's Sales Enterprises Scholarship; and Sean Young, $2,000 Medallion Scholarship. Smolan: Clinton MacDonald, $2,250 KSU Foundation Campaign General Scholarships; Emily Schneider, $1,000 Genny and Lowell Brandner Scholarship, $1,600 J.E.
GOP Candidates Focus On South Carolina
Two polls out today confirm McCain's frontrunner status in the state. The Greenville (SC) News reports that a Clemson University poll "of 450 prospective" South Carolina GOP primary voters conducted Jan. 9-16 shows McCain leading with 29%, followed by Huckabee, 22%; Romney, 13%; and Thompson, 10%. However, "nearly 40 percent of the respondents said they were unsure how they would vote in Saturday's Republican presidential primary." A Zogby International poll out this morning shows McCain leading in South Carolina with 29%, followed by Huckabee, 22%; Fred Thompson, 14%; Romney, 12%; Paul, 5%; and Giuliani, 5%. Commenting on the results, pollster John Zogby said this morning, "There was no discernible bump for Romney coming out of Michigan. We are also seeing that any pickup for Fred Thompson hurts Mike Huckabee in this race, which is as close as any we have seen." The poll surveyed 815 likely GOP primary voters from January 14-16.
Town seeks grant to cover costs of dam
If the New Haven Town Board receives both of the grants it applied for recently, the resulting funds could cover the Big Spring Dam project in its entirety.The board approved to apply for the DNR's Municipal Flood Control Grant Thursday. The grant, which Adams County Conservationist Chris Murphy brought to the attention of the board, is a cost-sharing program that would cover 70 percent of structure removal, engineering and planning costs. The township, then, would be responsible for the remaining 30 percent.Based on MSA's preliminary cost estimate, the town stands to save $82,832 of the $118,331 total project cost if it gets the grant. When Greg Montgomery returns on Feb. 15 with the preliminary plans, the cost estimate may change. If the board chooses not to pursue the project, it could decline the grant.If the DNR awards grant, the town would be responsible for about $35,500.
Sale of Countrywide Ends Brief L.A. Era
Bank of Americas $4.1 billion buyout of Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp. announced earlier this month puts the exclamation point on perhaps the most rapid meltdown of an industry in Los Angeles County history. For five years, mortgage finance was one of the fastest growing industries in Southern California, creating tens of thousands of jobs, pouring billions of dollars into the local economy and making Los Angeles and Orange counties the nations leading center of mortgage finance. And faster than it came, it went. Santa Monica-based Fremont General Corp., Orange-based Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and Irvine-based New Century Financial Corp. are all out of the mortgage lending business, at least as they practiced it. Countrywide has been whacked, and Pasadena-based IndyMac Bancorp is struggling, laying off a quarter of its workers last week.
Richmond Braves coming to Gwinnett
Final details were being worked out Monday and a news conference has been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Gwinnett Center, said Center spokesman Chris Hendley, who declined to discuss the topic. The Class AAA Richmond Braves, the organization's highest-level minor-league affiliate, could play in Gwinnett as soon as 2009. The Braves' three-year contract at the Richmond, Va. stadium, known as The Diamond, runs through the 2010 season, but the Braves have the option to pull out after the 2008 season. A stadium for the Richmond Braves could be built on land the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve purchasing on Tuesday. Tuesday's commission agenda lists a $5 million "purchase and sale agreement" of about 12 acres of land owned by Brand Properties. Brand Morgan, Brand Properties owner, declined to comment on the sale or what the land will be used for, but did say he plans to attend a news conference at Gwinnett Center on Tuesday.
Eric Halvorson's Blog
He said they did not discuss Ballard's plan to take control of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The merger of the former IPD and the Marion County Sheriff's Department put that power in the Sheriff's hands. Ballard has said the authority belongs in the Mayor's Office. Sheriff Anderson says the question of control should be put forward in a referendum. He says voters should decide who controls the department. And, he says voters should decide whether the consolidation should be reversed. I asked the Mayor-elect about that proposal. He said, "I don't think we're ever going to come to that. People know what I ran on. I said that up front, repeatedly. I think we've had that referendum. That said, Sheriff Anderson is a great public servant. A great man. No problem whatsoever on that. I'm not here to pick a fight.
Napolitano outlines her $11.4B budget plan
The governor said the state budget has to grow because more people are asking for more services. She rejected the idea being pushed by some Republicans to cut spending -- or even to leave state spending at current levels. For example, her budget for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program, is expected to increase nearly 20 percent from what was set aside for this year, to more than $1.5 billion. And state aid to schools is up about $163 million, to more than $4.5 billion. .
Bloggers and Twitter
I started tweeting a couple of days ago and am quickly getting addicted. I thought I’d share some of my early impressions of Twitter. Twitter seemed rather pointless to me from the outside. I figured there would be a lot more noise than signal and perhaps if you’re following the general public there is going to be too much noise to wade through. On the other hand if you can use a little discretion when choosing who to follow you’ll find a lot more signal than you might think. I’ve seen a number of posts over the months about Twitter and had signed up sometime awhile back, but a few recent posts convinced me to start tweeting. A Quick Introduction to Twitter for Bloggers 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners 75+ Internet Marketing Gurus on Twitter It was probably the weight of all the posts I’ve seen in recent months, but they all reached a tipping point within the last week.
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