Mayor Sundquist Proud Of COVID Compliance Efforts In Jamestown
WNY News Now Stock Image.JAMESTOWN — In the face of comments by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that local governments are failing in COVID compliance enforcement, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he is proud of the city’s efforts.Asked to respond to Cuomo’s comments by WNYNewsNow, Sundquist said his administration has been dealing seriously with ensuring safety within the community.“I’m very proud of the work we’ve done here in the City of Jamestown,” Sundquist said. “We have been a municipality that has enforced the governor’s pause order.”“I’ve received a lot of heat for that,” he added, listing yard sales and business noncompliance as concerns for which he was criticized. While he admits other areas have been lax on enforcing Cuomo’s directives, he said Jamestown’s safety is paramount.“The health and safety of our residents is the number one priority and I take that very seriously. I cannot say that for other areas, I’m obviously not in charge of those other areas.”Seeing people not wearing masks in public is disheartening to him, the mayor said.“I’ve been proud of our businesses and residents,” he said.Sundquist is convinced Cuomo was not referring to Jamestown in his critical remarks.“He wasn’t meaning specifically the City of Jamestown. There are a lot of municipalities across the state who are refusing to act on any part of the governor’s pause order,” he said.A few weeks ago, Cuomo held a conference call with mayors and county executives from across the state and urged them to strengthen enforcement of his pause order, Sundquist said, adding that at the time he hoped Cuomo’s message had gotten through,but apparently hasn’t.Locally, most complaints and noncompliance issues were settled easily and quickly, he said.“In the majority of complaints we’ve sent an officer or a code enforce officer and 99 percent of the time the case is resolved right there,” Sundquist explained. Share:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window),Brian sundquist walked into salloon, past the big sign in front of door. With no mask. Only two people in there without mask. ???????? I was a customer
by Anne Galloway www.vtdigger.org(link is external) March 20, 2011 There’s a reason why it’s called the ‘miscellaneous’ tax bill. How else to describe the House Ways and Means Committee’s laundry list of changes to the tax code?The litany of slight alterations in percentage points, penny charges and statutory phrasing can seem arcane, but that hodgepodge of small and large changes can add up to big tax bucks, and so it tends to garner a lot of opposition from the business community. This year is no different. Members of the committee heard from accountants, CEOs, business associations, hospitals and dentists ‘ all of whom wanted to make sure their businesses or clients don’t get hit with a tax increase.Lawmakers, too, will be giving the miscellaneous tax bill their undivided attention when it comes out on the floor this Tuesday. If the hours-long debate over the so-called ‘pee’ bill last week (the legislation that requires employers to give workers bathroom breaks) is any indication, there will be a lot of lawmakers looking for opportunities to find the men’s or ladies’ rooms when the House takes up three big bills this week: the miscellaneous tax bill, the so-called ‘single payer’ proposal and the budget legislation, in that order.The miscellaneous tax bill will likely be assailed on the right and the left, according to Statehouse sources. GOP House members are dead-set against the $24 million in provider taxes embedded in the legislation. On the left, a coalition of Democrats, Progressives and an independent are trying to drive a groundswell of support for an amendment that would place a surcharge on upper-income tax brackets to raise $30 million to $40 million to cover cuts to human services.The biggest item on the tax agenda this year came from the governor’s office in the form of new assessments on health care providers ‘ managed care organizations (MVP and Blue Cross Blue Shield), dentists, hospitals, nursing homes, home health organizations ‘ about $24 million worth of net taxes.The committee dropped the governor’s proposed 3 percent dental tax for now, and instead of imposing a tax on managed care organizations, the legislation puts a 0.8 percent claims assessment in place on a wider net of insurers, including Cigna and self-insured companies and individuals. (The state already has a mechanism for collecting claims assessment taxes.)There are two other notable tax increases approved by the committee ‘ a 27 cent hike on cigarettes (which partially covers the dental tax change) and a penny increase in the state property tax rate to cover a $23 million decrease in the General Fund transfer to the Education Fund.Rep. Janet Ancel, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said it was a difficult bill to put together ‘ in large part because of the necessary ‘choreography’ required with the Appropriations Committee, which also is working to pass a bill out of committee on Monday for consideration in the House next week.‘It was a tough set of decisions for the committee,’ Ancel said. ‘I don’t think anyone was thrilled with the final package, but I feel we did what we were asked to do in terms of coming up with revenue for work happening upstairs (House Approps).’On Friday, the House Ways and Means Committee finalized the miscellaneous tax bill after many hours of negotiations, and with few exceptions, the committee incorporated the gist of the Shumlin administration’s proposals in the legislation. The bill passed on a committee vote of 7-1-3. Three members were absent at the time of the vote late Friday afternoon, and the lone dissent came from Rep.Oliver Olsen, R-Jamaica, though Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Canaan, voted ‘no’ on an earlier version of the bill. Olsen said he voted against the bill because he believes the health care provider tax represents ‘a hidden tax on health care.’ He said the burden will be shifted onto private health insurance plans.‘I think if we’re going to be increasing taxes that have a broad-based impact, we shouldn’t try and obfuscate that,’ Olsen said. ‘It troubles me that we’re adding to the increasing cost of health care with this taxpackage, yet, at the same time, advocates for a single-payer health care system led by Gov. Shumlin continue to bemoan the increasing cost of health care and use that to justify the governor’s proposed for single-payer initiative.’On Friday, the committee came to consensus on a couple of key sticking points:â ¢ The dentists, who would have been assessed a 3 percent tax in exchange for an increase in Medicaid reimbursements, won a temporary victory. After days of intense lobbying, crowned by the delivery of a protest petition with 4,500 names to House Speaker Shap Smith, the committee, which had been considering a 1.5 percent assessment on dentists, dropped the proposal altogether. The dentists get a pass this year, but the committee has asked the Joint Fiscal Office to collect data for future consideration of a similar measure that would also tax dentists and funnel money theincentive payment for dentists who take Medicaid patients.â ¢ A proposal adapted from the Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission’s report to assess taxes on adjusted gross income rather than taxable income was stripped from the bill. The shift from TI to AGI was originally a part of the miscellaneous tax bill, along with a change in the capital gains tax. (The committee proposed removing the 40 percent capital gains tax loophole, with exceptions for timber sales and farmland.) Ancel says the income tax code changes would be taken up in separate legislation.Ancel anticipates lively discussion about the miscellaneous tax bill this week.‘The debate over the budget is going to be a difficult debate, and the discussion over tax bill will also be difficult,’ Ancel said. ‘One of the concerns several people have expressed and that I agree with is, we have some bad news coming to us from Washington. It’s a pretty sure thing that there will not be as much federal support. To the extent that there is taxing capacity, we need to keep that so we can respond to federal cuts when they come.’Opponents of the bill on the right will likely contest the education property tax increase, the construct of the provider tax and a $1 million giveback to taxpayers in school districts that are a part of supervisory unions that met the Challenges for Change targets, according to Olsen. Olsen said the governor is closing the $176 million General Fund gap in part through a $23 million reduction in the General Fund transfer to the Education Fund. To make up the difference, Shumlin proposed raising the statewide property tax by a penny, from 86 cents per $100 of assessed residential property value to 87 cents.‘We are balancing the gap on the backs of property taxpayers,’ Olsen said. ‘The increase in the tax rate is a consequence of how the budget has been structured. That’s very significant.’Olsen said the 1-cent property tax break for school districts in supervisory unions that met the Challenges target is also problematic. There are some school districts that cut their budgets by 2 percent, as recommended, that are a part of supervisory unions that didn’t meet the Challe 28nges goal. The taxpayers in these school districts will not see a 1-cent reduction in propertytaxes. Olsen said this disproportionate distribution of the tax break isflawed.Opponents on the left ‘ a group of House representatives who are unhappy with the Democratic leadership’s decision to make cuts in key programs, many in human services (similar reductions were implemented under the Douglas administration last year).Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, said the lawmakers will propose an amendment to the miscellaneous tax bill that would increase rates for upper-income tax brackets based on H.401.Here’s a rundown on some of the details of the miscellaneous tax bill:â ¢ A new threshold of $100,000 in sales taxes on gross sales of entertainment tickets for nonprofit entities (the current threshold that kicks in on April 1 is $50,000 based on the previous year’s receipts; on July 1, the $100,000 level will be in effect);â ¢ The Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission is repealed and the legislation sets aside $210,000 for a property tax study to be conducted by an outside consulting firm;An extension of a $380,000 tax credit from the Orleans-based manufacturer, Ethan Allen, Inc., furniture manufacturer, through fiscal year 2013:â ¢ A study to assess the value of residential and commercial renewable energy projects;â ¢ About $1 million for a 1-cent property tax break for school districts that reduced spending by 2 percent under the Challenges for Change government restructuring targets;â ¢ Self-employed individuals would be able to deduct health insurance premiums from their household income. The estimated impact to the Education Fund would be $700,000 for fiscal year 2013. Source: Anne Galloway is editor of vtdigger.org
Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York By Paul Kiel ProPublicaThis story was co-published with The Daily Beast.Several years ago, Capital One gave Oscar Parsons, 46, his first credit card. At the time, he didn’t need a loan. But he banked at a Capital One branch near his Bronx apartment, and when it was offered, he thought, “Why not?”Initially, he had little problem keeping up with the payments. But after a run of construction jobs came to an end, he fell behind and found himself ducking the bank’s collections calls, he said. Each time the company’s TV commercials popped up, asking, “What’s in your wallet?” Parsons thought: “It’s not enough to pay you back.”This year, Capital One provided Parsons with another first: his first lawsuit. For failing to pay his $1,800 debt, the company took him to court. Currently on public benefits and in a job training program, Parsons has nothing Capital One can take. But should Parsons find work, Capital One could use a court judgment to seize money from his bank account or take a portion of his wages.It was a hard lesson — one learned by hundreds of thousands of the bank’s cardholders. No lender sues more of its customers than Capital One, according to ProPublica’s review of state court data.Over the past year, ProPublica has sought to illuminate the scope of debt collection lawsuits, which, though they are often filed by public companies in public courts, are a largely hidden part of the nation’s financial life. The suits hit workers who earn below $40,000 a year the hardest and federal garnishment laws provide scant protection. Even workers near the minimum wage could have a quarter of their take-home pay taken or their bank accounts cleaned out. State laws typically offer little more protection.To identify which companies file the most collection suits, ProPublica obtained and analyzed court data from 11 states. In every state, Capital One stood out.During the years of the recession, particularly 2008 through 2010, when the number of credit card defaults surged, many banks filed more lawsuits. But Capital One dwarfed them all, reaching levels never matched by any company before or since, according to ProPublica’s review of data going back to 1996.By our estimate, the suits exceeded half a million per year nationally during those peak years.Since 2011, Capital One’s suits have dropped considerably, though they have continued to far exceed the totals of any other bank. For example, in Indiana counties for which court data is available — home to about two-thirds of the state’s population — the bank filed about 3,360 suits in 2014. That’s about a quarter of the suits Capital One filed in 2010, but still more suits than all other national banks combined in 2014. In Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, Capital One’s suits comprised about 40 percent of all suits by major banks. In Miami-Dade County, Florida, the tally was about the same.Because court data is often kept at the county level, ProPublica combined data to compile numbers for entire states when possible, including New Jersey and Missouri. In some states, data was limited to major metropolitan counties. The time periods also varied, from a couple decades to only a few years, but the trends involving Capital One’s suits were consistent.The suits, often over debts as small as $1,000, reveal a largely hidden side of Capital One’s business. The bank has only the fourth largest credit card portfolio (as measured by both numbers of cardholders and balance size), but such a large portion of its cards are held by those with poor credit that it is the country’s largest subprime lender. With those loans comes a high risk of default, and the company is particularly aggressive at recouping losses.Capital One’s subprime borrowers live life on the edge, said Steve Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. “A large majority of these cardholders carry balances from month-to-month,” he said, because they can’t afford to pay off the balance.The “disturbing” volume of suits filed by Capital One should prompt regulators to investigate whether the perils of subprime credit cards outweigh the benefits, Brobeck said.A Capital One spokeswoman said the bank serves an important function by providing credit to large numbers of borrowers who might be unlikely to get it from other banks. When customers fall behind on payments, she said, the bank makes every effort to work with them.“We will not sue anyone working with us, no matter how small the payment,” said spokeswoman Tatiana Stead. But when customers don’t pay, she said, “we have an obligation to recover some of our losses so we can offer the best pricing to our customers.”Capital One’s suits are notable not just for how common they are. The company also files suits over much smaller debts than other banks.In 2013, the typical debt in a Capital One suit filed in New Jersey was about $1,500, according to ProPublica’s analysis of state court data. The typical debt in a suit brought by other major issuers like Citibank or Bank of America was more than three times as high. ProPublica found a similar gap in other states.Capital One offers cards with a credit line often as low as a few hundred dollars to customers with poor credit. On the bank’s website, the cards carry annual interest rates as high as 25 percent. After making payments for five months, customers’ credit limits can increase.Kevin Thomas, an attorney with the nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group, often represents clients sued in Bronx Civil Court by Capital One. He said his clients frequently started with low-limit cards, but after Capital One raised their credit limits, their balances grew, the interest mounted and they lost control. Then, although their debts were not large, typically between $1,000 and $1,500, they ended up in court, he said.Debt collection lawsuits are especially prevalent in black neighborhoods, as ProPublica reported in October, where suits over smaller debts are more common. Capital One obtained judgments in mostly black neighborhoods at nearly twice the rate as in mostly white neighborhoods, a larger disparity than the other major card issuers, we found. Capital One’s spokeswoman said the bank did not take race into consideration when making a loan or filing a suit.Lawsuits over even small debts can provoke a crisis for low-income debtors. Patricia Boglin, 51, of Woodbridge, Virginia, works as a school bus driver, earning about $26,000 a year. When Capital One sued her over a $1,878 debt late last year, she said, she panicked. Would the bank try to foreclose on her house to force repayment? “It just terrified me,” she said.That a collection lawsuit could lead to foreclosure is a common fear among defendants, said Jay Speer, executive director of the nonprofit Virginia Poverty Law Center, even though it’s extremely unlikely. Of course, the realistic consequences of a suit — garnishment or a lien being placed on the debtor’s home — are serious.Boglin did not want to risk it, so she filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 13.How banks handle delinquent accounts is largely shielded from public scrutiny. They aren’t required to disclose how many suits they file. And the role of debt buyers — companies that purchase accounts from banks at a steep discount, then try to collect — further obscures what happens to customers who don’t pay.To generate a national estimate for Capital One’s suits, ProPublica looked to Encore Capital Corp., the nation’s biggest debt buyer, which voluntarily disclosed the number of suits it had filed nationally until 2010. That year, the company reported having filed 517,000 suits.Capital One filed about 40 percent more collection suits than Encore in 2010 in the states for which ProPublica has data, indicating that the bank filed at least half a million suits that year nationally and potentially hundreds of thousands more. Our data showed even more suits in the two preceding years.Capital One declined to respond to this comparison or provide a count of its suits.After 2010, Encore Capital, under scrutiny for its litigation practices, stopped disclosing the number of suits it had filed. A spokesperson for Encore did not explain the decision beyond saying, “as we have diversified and grown as a company, we continue to evaluate what disclosures are appropriate for our investors.”Because some banks sell their defaulted accounts to debt buyers like Encore, it is impossible to determine how many of their customers were ultimately sued. The three largest card issuers, Citibank, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, have sold accounts to debt buyers in the past, according to court filings.Capital One has also sold debt in the past. Stead, the bank’s spokeswoman, declined to provide detail on its debt-selling practices, but said the bank’s “strong preference” is to do its own collecting.The lack of transparency leaves both borrowers and policymakers in the dark, said April Kuehnhoff, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “We need more data about debt-collection practices by both debt buyers and original creditors so that we can improve debt collection laws,” she said.ProPublica contacted the six largest card issuers for this story, and all were guarded when it came to details about their approach to collections.Citibank and Bank of America declined to respond to questions. Chase stopped filing lawsuits or selling its debt in 2011, after a whistleblower identified flaws in the bank’s collection practices. Those problems led to a consent agreement with regulators in 2013.Discover filed the second-most suits, according to ProPublica’s analysis. It, too, declined to comment. Like Capital One, Discover’s volume of suits was also disproportionately large given the bank’s relatively small market share — Discover is the sixth-largest card issuer.American Express, the fifth-largest issuer, filed relatively few suits. Spokeswoman Sonya Conway said the bank has not sold its debt in the past six years and had no plans to do so.Federal regulators say they are alert to the potential for abuse through debt collection lawsuits, but it’s unclear that consumers should expect any more transparency in the near term.Banks should “consider the risks of excessive litigation,” said Bryan Hubbard, spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The regulator has also publicly urged banks, when selling debts to buyers, to “consider selecting debt buyers who limit their use of litigation.”While the agency says it closely monitors banks’ collection practices, that scrutiny does not extend to tracking the number of lawsuits each bank files. Hubbard said the agency does not consider the number of lawsuits “an effective indicator of bank safety and soundness or compliance.”The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in the process of writing new rules for debt collection that are expected to cover a wide range of activities, including the filing of lawsuits. A spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the CFPB tracked the number of collection lawsuits filed by banks or planned to in the future.A number of the bureau’s past enforcement actions have centered on debt collection litigation practices. It filed suit against the largest collections firm in Georgia, Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, which counts Capital One among its clients. Calling the firm a “debt collection lawsuit mill,” the CFPB alleged attorneys often filed suits with faulty information. The law firm disputes the allegations, and the suit is ongoing.ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for their newsletter.
Jun 11, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – Animal health workers in Hong Kong are culling all chickens in the city’s markets and retail stores after finding the H5N1 avian influenza virus in three more markets, according to news services.At a press briefing today, government officials said the virus had been found in a total of four markets since the outbreak was first reported on Jun 7, according to a report from Bloomberg News. About 3,500 chickens from 470 stores were slated for culling, the report said.Cheng Siu-hing, Hong Kong’s director of agriculture, fisheries, and conservation, told Bloomberg that samples from the city’s chicken farms so far have shown no signs of the virus. The government said it may extend a 3-week suspension of poultry imports from China and exports from local farms if more H5N1 is found.Hong Kong officials previously announced that five poultry fecal samples from three stalls at a local market had tested positive for the H5N1 virus. They did not say if the testing was done in response to sick or dead birds, and the source of the virus has not been determined.According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Hong Kong’s first reported H5N1 outbreak occurred in 1997and affected both birds and humans. More poultry outbreaks occurred in 2001 and 2002, and in 2003 the virus hit captive wild birds as well. Since 2006, the territory has reported mainly isolated individual cases of infected wild birds and chickens.In other developments, a South Korean aid group today reported an avian flu outbreak in North Korea near a military base, according to a report from the Associated Press(AP).The Buddhist-linked Good Friends humanitarian group said North Korean quarantine officials detected an outbreak on Jun 3 near an air force base in South Hamgyong province, northeast of Pyongyang, the capital. The aid group told the AP that several birds were found dead in a small mountainous area, but said it did not know if the H5N1 virus had been confirmed.An avian flu outbreak has not been reported in North Korea since 2005, when an H7 subtype struck poultry near Pyongyang, according to previous reports.The aid group also reported suspicious deaths of dozens of magpies inside a political prison camp in North Hamgyong province, along with the death of a prison official’s 5-year-old child after having a high fever, the AP reported. The group could not say if the birds had the H5N1 virus or what caused the child’s death.In April, South Korea reported that the H5N1 virus had resurfaced in the southwestern part of the country. The virus quickly spread to nearly all parts of South Korea, though new reports have subsided.Meanwhile, animal health officials in Indonesia said an avian flu outbreak struck chickens in Jambi province, according to a report today from Antara, the national news agency. The news account did not say if the outbreak involved the H5N1 virus.Ahmad Surya, head of Sarolangun district’s animal husbandry and fisheries service, told Antara that the source of the virus was probably West Sumatra and South Sumatra provinces, which have been hit hard by the virus. Jambi is on the east coast of central Sumatra.In other developments, veterinary officials from the United States reported to the OIE yesterday that a low-pathogenic H7N3 virus had been identified in samples from chickens at an Arkansas farm where routine preslaughter testing previously had revealed antibodies to the virus.The report said the virus was isolated at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.On the basis of the earlier serology findings, 16,000 birds were culled to prevent any possible spread of the virus, and Arkansas officials ordered increased surveillance at nearby farms. The OIE report said the birds were 65-week old broiler breeders that were at the end of their reproductive cycle.According to the OIE report, the birds showed no clinical signs at the time of testing; however, 3 weeks earlier the flock had experienced a mild 1-week increase in mortality along with a drop in egg production. Officials have not determined the source of the virus.See also:FAO’s Understanding Avian Influenza report, chapter 2.2, “Spread of H5N1 HPAI in Asia and beyond”
Comment Unai Emery sends message to Mesut Ozil after Arsenal midfielder’s latest interview Unai Emery says Mesut Ozil now has a chance of playing more for Arsenal (Getty Images)Unai Emery admits he’s been impressed with Mesut Ozil’s improvement in training in recent weeks and is adamant that the midfielder will feature for Arsenal in their upcoming run of fixtures.The 31-year-old has made just two appearances this season and has failed to make Emery’s matchday squad on seven occasions.Reports have claimed that Arsenal are looking to send Ozil out on loan in the January transfer window.But the midfielder has hit back at those suggestions and says he intends to see out his £350,000-a-week contract which expires in 2021.ADVERTISEMENTOzil also admitted in the same interview that he ‘does not see eye-to-eye on everything’ with Emery.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut now Emery says Ozil will be handed more playing time in the upcoming weeks. Emery says he has been pleased with Ozil’s performances in training (Getty Images)‘But the last two or three weeks he improved with us, and I think it’s good.‘I didn’t close the possibility of playing for him because I think and I want, if he’s okay, him to be ready and available, training with us and giving a good feeling to us in training every day.‘He can play, my idea is to use every player and he’s one of the squad who can help us.‘He has big skills and quality we will need in the next matches.‘I’m happy now how he is improving, how he is training every day.’More: FootballRio Ferdinand urges Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to drop Manchester United starChelsea defender Fikayo Tomori reveals why he made U-turn over transfer deadline day moveMikel Arteta rates Thomas Partey’s chances of making his Arsenal debut vs Man CityAfter Arsenal’s win over Standard Liege in the Europa League earlier this month, Emery claimed that Ozil did not ‘deserve’ to be a substitute for that match.But the Arsenal manager admits his stance on Ozil has now changed.‘When I said that it’s because in that moment, maybe physically, maybe more rhythm, it depends each match what we need, other players were in front of him,’ said Emery.‘Now I’m telling you I am feeling better with him in training.‘And he’s another possibility in the squad now to help us.’More: Arsenal FCArsenal flop Denis Suarez delivers verdict on Thomas Partey and Lucas Torreira movesThomas Partey debut? Ian Wright picks his Arsenal starting XI vs Manchester CityArsene Wenger explains why Mikel Arteta is ‘lucky’ to be managing Arsenal Unai Emery previews Arsenal’s Monday night clash with Sheffield UnitedTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Play VideoLoaded: 0%0:00Progress: 0%PlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration Time 14:53FullscreenUnai Emery previews Arsenal’s Monday night clash with Sheffield Unitedhttps://metro.co.uk/video/unai-emery-previews-arsenals-monday-night-clash-sheffield-united-2029340/This is a modal window.Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaqueFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.‘With Mesut this year started with difficulty for him,’ said Emery.‘He worked well in pre-season, he played matches, but the problem [attempted carjacking incident] he had with Sead [Kolasinac] stopped him.‘Then after that problem he was sick for a week.‘Then he lot a lot of training, continuity and keeping his fitness.
Metro Sport ReporterThursday 17 Oct 2019 3:38 pmShare this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via messengerShare this with Share this article via emailShare this article via flipboardCopy link4.4kShares Advertisement Advertisement
The Sunshine Coast market may continue to charge through winter.Winter has always been a good time for buyers to get into the market. Seasonally there is less competition and especially on the coastal markets it can contain good value in properties that missed the summer selling season. For the last few years I have kept a keen eye on three coastal markets — Currumbin on the Gold Coast, Noosa on the Sunshine Coast and Point Lookout on Stradbroke Island.I follow these three for various reasons, but mainly because I like the lifestyle benefits of them. I have watched as the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast have roared ahead over the past 12 months.The number of days it takes a property sell has dropped and prices have risen.Like most investors I’m looking back thinking, ‘I knew I should have bought in 2012!’. More from newsMould, age, not enough to stop 17 bidders fighting for this home3 hours agoBuyers ‘crazy’ not to take govt freebies, says 28-yr-old investor3 hours agoDuring the past week I’ve spent time with agents on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. The word on the street from the agents on the Sunny Coast is that they are still experiencing strong conditions and it looks likely to push through until spring.But when talking to a number of agents on the Gold Coast, they are experiencing a slight pause in the market. Haesley Cush reckons buying can be good in winter.This is likely just a seasonal hiccup or a readjustment to pricing. It can happen in a market from time to time and can sometimes only last a few weeks. But it can offer a window for prepared buyers who are preapproved and out making offers.Point Lookout is also looking like good value. There are a number of houses for sale below $1 million and I can’t remember seeing that for quite a while.This will likely bring in a few buyers and as sales take place it should start to stimulate pricing and that market could also be moving ahead by summer.Whichever market you follow it’s about timing.Right now it looks to me that a Gold Coast or Straddie purchase could represent fair buying, but I’m not sure for how long and you’ll need to do your homework. But the Sunshine Coast looks like it is going to power into summer and you’d only be buying now because if this heat continues it could really move over the next 12 months.
49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters.Owners Trish and Paul Robinson had an architect design and build the home, where they have lived for the past 11 years.Mrs Robinson said they had become very accustomed to the technology.“Those sorts of things we just take for granted now,” Mrs Robinson said.More from news02:37International architect Desmond Brooks selling luxury beach villa17 hours ago02:37Gold Coast property: Sovereign Islands mega mansion hits market with $16m price tag2 days ago“The keyless entry for example, you just don’t think about it — you get out of the car and punch the code in, there’s no fumbling for keys.”The couple have lived on the street for almost 35 years — 23 of which were in the house next door. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters.FLYING cars excepted, the next owners of this spectacular riverfront home will live like The Jetsons.Featuring “self-cleaning” glass, an integrated sound system, keyless entry, electric blinds and windows and sensor taps, the futuristic technology at the Broadbeach Waters mansion is similar to that in the popular 60s television show. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters.“The location is just excellent, it ticked a lot of boxes for us,” Mrs Robinson said.It took 19 months to build the two-storey home, which stands on a 716 sqm block.The design included plenty of windows to admire the river views but also lots of wall space for artwork.Mrs Robinson said the architect went above and beyond to make it unique as well as versatile.“We’ve just loved living in the beautiful, elegant home that it is,” Mrs Robinson said.“I think we’ll miss the peace and serenity of it.”A black marble water feature in the courtyard, electric awning for extra shade over a riverside alfresco area, 14m wet-edged pool, and temperature controlled wine room are also standout features. 49 Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters.Jordan Williams and Michael Kollosche of Kollosche Prestige Agents are marketing the property, which goes to auction on May 12.
“The fact managers still feel investors, the intended beneficiaries of the Directive, will not be engaged in December 2015 comes as something of a surprise.”However, the findings echo a previous survey Northern Trust conducted in 2012, which showed a significant number of respondents had concerns over the Directive, with close to 70% saying their investors were not engaged in AIFMD considerations at the time.AIFMD is primarily intended to benefit asset managers by creating a pan-European passporting regime, making distribution easier.However, despite these distribution opportunities, two-thirds (66%) of the seminar attendees still saw the directive primarily as a compliance exercise, an increase on the 64% who felt the same a year ago.Less than 15% of attendees believe the Directive is a strategically important opportunity for their business, and 62% of attendees reported that the AIFMD would have no implications for their future product strategy.Toby Glaysher, head of Northern Trust’s global fund services business in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said: “Our findings show the benefits of AIFMD are not yet translating into strategic opportunities and the focus for fund managers remains on the workload required to implement the Directive.”He added: “At Northern Trust, we understand the increasing regulatory challenges our clients face and will continue to provide regular updates from our experts to help them navigate the changing regulatory landscape.” European institutional investors will not embrace the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) within the next two years, according to a recent survey of fund managers.More than half the fund managers, prospective clients and consultants attending a Northern Trust seminar on the Directive said they believed investors would still not be engaged in AIFMD considerations by December 2015.Ian Headon, senior vice-president at Northern Trust, said the news was unexpected.“Next year is an important milestone in AIFMD deployment,” he said.
The research is likely to examine the impact of around 20,000 schools’ being forced to become academies, and how the trusts responsible for the schools might deal with legacy deficits.The board said it approached the Association of Local Authority Treasurers, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association and the Trades Union Congress about filling three statutory non-voting positions remaining on the board.“A further paper,” Phillips’s letter says, “will be taken to the next meeting to discuss if and how the board may wish to appoint advisers and extend invitations for individuals or organisations to observe meetings.”Phillips added that the board would maintain two committees in future – one dealing with cost management and scheme design, the other tackling investment, engagement and governance matters.A pre-existing deficit working group will also be retained, he said.The advisory board was launched three years ago to encourage collaboration among local authority funds in England and Wales.It has an equivalent in Scotland but not in Northern Ireland, which only has one LGPS – the Northern Ireland Government Officers Superannuation Scheme. The UK’s local government pension scheme (LGPS) advisory board has named its deputy chairman and commissioned work looking into how proposed reforms to English schools might affect local authority funds.The board, which named Roger Phillips chairman in February, elected Jon Richards as deputy chair in a special meeting last month, Phillips told stakeholders in a letter sent last week.Richards is a national secretary for education and children’s services at union Unison and sits on the board representing the interests of English and Welsh LGPS members.Additionally, the board commissioned work on the impact of transforming all existing English schools into academies, a structure that removes control of the school from the local authority.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher.Labor’s proposals include a plan to restrict negative gearing tax concessions to only new properties and halving current capital gains tax discounts for property investors. The plan was first introduced before the 2016 federal election when the market was still booming, but national dwelling values have fallen 6.8 per cent since peaking in October 2017. Were Labor to implement the plan, national property prices would drop a further 4 to 12 per cent over 2020-2022, according to the SQM modelling, but the impact on Brisbane home prices would be minimal. 2020-2022 Home Rents Forecasts. Source: SQM Research. House for rent in Caboolture. Photo: Paul Guy.THE cost of renting in Brisbane could jump by more than 20 per cent in just two years if federal Labor’s plan to axe negative gearing goes ahead, a leading analyst has warned.SQM Research modelling reveals the Queensland capital’s rental market will be the most impacted by Labor’s proposal to change negative gearing, assuming the reforms were to come into effect on July 1, 2020.The research house is forecasting a hike in rents in Brisbane of 13 to 22 per cent between 2020 and 2022. 2020-2022 Home Price Forecasts. Source: SQM Research.Mr Christopher said that even without any changes coming into effect, Brisbane rents were likely to rise 3 to 4 per cent this year.“Our view is that Brisbane is increasingly this year going to turn into a landlord’s market,” he said.“The period of oversupply that Brisbane experienced from late 2014 to 2018 is fast coming to an end now, so the issue is Brisbane is going into a period of undersupply.“We think that’s going to start sometime next year and we’re already starting to record increases in rents now.”
SQM Research is predicting a sharp rise in rents in Brisbane if Labor’s proposed changes to negative gearing are introduced.That’s based on the worst case scenario of no cut to interest rates, a rise in rental yields and changes to negative gearing and CGT concessions as a result of a Labor government coming to power.If the Reserve Bank of Australia does cut interest rates this year or early next year, SQM Research is forecasting a rise in rents in Brisbane of between 12 and 19 per cent.“We’re forecasting Brisbane to be the most affected on the rental side (of all capital cities),” SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said.More from newsParks and wildlife the new lust-haves post coronavirus13 hours agoNoosa’s best beachfront penthouse is about to hit the market13 hours ago“This tax change is going to aggravate the undersupply issue because our view is that investors will effectively be turned off.“Capital gains tax concessions will effectively be halved and they’re going to be demanding a higher rental yield.” More than a third of Queensland’s population rents a property.According to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, more than a third of the state’s population are renters.REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said she was concerned Labor’s proposed reforms to negative gearing and CGT would limit the number of people looking to invest in property in Queensland.“Over 34 per cent of the population rent in Queensland so supply of rental accommodation is critical,” Ms Mercorella said.