2009
08.31
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Case Summaries: July 1,

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Jul 1, 2009

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

Constructive Eviction

Reliastar Life Insurance Co. of

New York v. Home Depot USA Inc.

06-3112-cr

Appealed from the Eastern District of New York

Background: Home Depot appeals from a judgment in favor of appellee ReliaStar in a suit brought by ReliaStar seeking payments owed pursuant to a lease and a recognition agreement. The property on which Home Depot built a store evidently had a defective building pad. After G&S;, the assignee of the lease of the premises, refused to make necessary structural repairs, Home Depot made its own temporary repairs at a cost of $750,000. The uneven settling continued and, in August 1999, Home Depot vacated the premises on the advice of its structural engineers. Home Depot stopped paying rent in August 1999 and notified G&S; that the building pad failure resulted in its constructive eviction from the premises.

Ruling: The court concludes that New York’s Uniform Commercial Code does not prohibit Home Depot from asserting constructive eviction as a defense to ReliaStar’s claims arising from the lease, and if Home Depot was unaware of the faulty condition of the building pad when it executed the parties’ recognition agreement and the lack of awareness was reasonable at the time, the estoppel certificate in the recognition agreement does not bar Home Depot’s constructive eviction defense. Further, if Home Depot was constructively evicted, the lease was terminated and Home Depot is relieved of its obligation to pay rent under the “hell or high water” clause of the parties’ recognition agreement. Accordingly, the court vacates the judgment and remands the case for further proceedings.

John H

2009
08.31

Camps

Camps

Exceptional Parent, The, March, 2007

CONNECTICUT

CAMP HORIZONS, INC.

P.O. Box 323

South Windham, CT 06266

P: 860-456-1032

Lauren.perrotti@camphorizons.org www.camphorizons.org Coed summer camp-positive programming, person-centered environment focuses on abilities, self-esteem. Intensive staff training.

IDAHO

ASCENT WILDERNESS PROGRAM

PO Box 230

Naples, ID 83847

P: 800-974-1999

F: 208-267-2295

E: janice.pannell@uhsinc.com

www.ascent4teens.com

A safe, deliberate and exhilarating program coordinating clinical assessment and programmed unavoidable success.

MAINE

CAMP COMMUNICATE

A program of Pine Tree Society

149 Front Street

Bath, ME 04530

P: 207-443-3341

F: 207-443-1070

E: erice@pinetreesociety.org

www.pinetreesociety.org

A camp experience for children who use augmentative communication devices.

MASSACHUSETTS

CAMP STARFISH

31 Heath Street

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

P: 617-522-9800

F: 617-522-9181

E: info@campstarfish.org

www.campstarfish.org

Overnight camp for emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. 1-to-1 camper-to-staff ratio.

MINNESOTA

COURAGE CENTER

Camp Courage, Maple Lake, MN

Courage North, Lake George, MN

Regional Day Camps in

MN, ND, SD & WI

P: 866-520-0504

www.courage.org

Courage Camps provide programs for youth With physical disabilities, speech, hearing and language impairments

2009
08.31
EPA Publication Helps States Go Green, Save Money

Professional Safety, Aug 2009

GREEN INITIATIVES

EPA released a guide to help states reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money by adopting clean energy practices in their facilities, operations and vehicle fleets. According to the organization, states spend about 10% of their operating budgets on energy bills, yet these costs can be greatly reduced by implementing well-designed energy management and greenhouse gas reduction programs.

The Clean Energy Lead By Example Guide helps states identify key strategies, resources and tools best suited to their energy needs. Each strategy has been tested and is proven to be cost-effective. The guide was created as part of EPA’s State Climate and Clean Energy Program, which helps states develop and implement clean energy policies and climate change solutions.

To download the guide, visit http:// epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-prgrams / state-and-local/ index .html

2009
08.31
Convention business boosts travel and tourism numbers

Vermont Business Magazine, Oct 2008 by Edelstein, Art

The Vermont travel industry relies heavily on conventions and meetings to fill rooms and to boost the state’s eateries. The success of this segment of the travel industry is measured by how well the Vermont Convention Bureau succeeds in landing business. Also important is the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex, which hosts many events.

These two entities are apparently successful.

“Our members are telling us they have experienced one of the strongest ever in terms of meetings, conferences and special events,” said Dave Hakins with the VCB

2009
08.30
Choral’s right royal occasion; Choir features in variety show fit for a queen NOSTALGIA Into the archives ..1986

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Dec 6, 2008

IT was a right royal occasion for Huddersfield’s famous Choral Society.

The internationally acclaimed choir achieved one of its greatest honours when it performed at the 1986 Royal Variety Show. The grand event, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, was attended by the Queen Mother, the Duchess of York and PrincessAlexandra and her husband, Mr Angus Ogilvy. It was televised on BBC1.

The choir sang Gordon Langford’s arrangement of Yorkshire melodies, which included Scarborough Fair, The Grand Old Duke of York and On IlklaMoor Baht ‘at.

The three-minute performance was given from the steps and balcony outside the main auditorium and was shown live to the audience from a television screen on stage. The society had the distinction of being the penultimate act on the star studded bill.

For the finale eight members of the choir – general secretary Jim Stafford, treasurer Graham Fearnley, choir secretary Sandy Cole, Rita Chambers, Anne Jenkinson, Margaret Fairless, Stuart Manning and Martin Crossley – went on stage, and the rest of the choir walked into the auditorium singing England Your England with ‘forces’ favourite’ Vera Lynn (pictured inset), who made a surprise guest appearance near the end.

Choirmaster Brian Kay and the eight choir members in the finale, who represented each section of the choir, remained onstage while the Queen Mother and her party were introduced to the main stars.

Meanwhile a scheme to boost community spirit on the Walpole estate – described as an area of the greatest deprivation – and extend its social centre and build a children’s play area was backed by Kirklees councillors.

An application for the Crosland Moor development – planned by the council’s leisure services section – was granted planning permission by the Huddersfield development control committee

2009
08.30
Visant Corporation to Buy Rennoc Corporation’s Team Outerwear Business

PR Newswire, July 22, 2009

ARMONK, N.Y., July 22 /PRNewswire/ — Visant Corporation today announced the closing of an acquisition of Rennoc Corporation’s team outerwear business. Rennoc has served as a leader in the manufacture and distribution of award letter jackets and other team apparel for over 50 years. After the closing, the Rennoc products will be marketed and sold primarily through the existing Rennoc independent sales channel, which primarily serves the sporting goods dealer network.

The acquisition was accomplished through a purchase of assets by a wholly owned subsidiary of Visant Corporation. The assets acquired as part of the purchase will operate within Visant’s existing Scholastic segment and will be complementary to Visant’s existing Neff Motivation business. The purchase did not include an acquisition of the Rennoc manufacturing facility and employees and the assets being acquired will be transitioned into Visant’s existing manufacturing platform.

About Visant

Visant Corporation, is a leading marketing and publishing services enterprise servicing the school affinity, direct marketing, fragrance and cosmetics sampling and educational and trade publishing segments

2009
08.30
Congress Passes Act Preventing NPDES Regulations From Applying to Recreational Boats

Sea Technology, Sep 2008

This summer, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Boating Act of 2008. In so doing, they moved to prevent new regulations that would have required recreational boaters to undergo a complicated permitting process, officials said. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law aboard Air Force One in late July.

The bill stems from a California district court ruling that all boats, including recreational boats, would have to begin following National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations that had previously applied to only large commercial ships, water-treatment facilities and other large operations. Since 1973, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had exempted recreational boats from these NPDES requirements. The court’s decision would have revoked that exemption as of September 30. All boaters would have been required to secure permits and pass tests to prove their discharges were clean.

The Clean Water Act is meant to regulate industrial shipping and not local recreational boaters, officials said

2009
08.29
Chinese walls ‘paper thin’.

Australasian Business Intelligence, April, 2007

Byline: Rachel Nickless

Apr 18, 2007 (The Australian Financial Review – ABIX via COMTEX) — A judge has warned law firms to manage conflict of interests matters better. Justice Patricia Bergin, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, removed law firm Clayton Utz from a national case. She said that its so-called Chinese walls were “paper thin”. Clayton Utz accidentally breached its own confidentiality guidelines in a big legal dispute between its client, Optus Networks, and Asia Pacific Telecommunications. Clayton Utz had pledged to maintain key information barriers, but this vow was accidentally broken. On 18 April 2007, Bergin barred Clayton Utz from the case

2009
08.29
Orbitz Unveils the Web’s Easiest Way to Book Your Own Vacation Packages

Market Wire, 20050229

Orbitz, the site that makes it easy to find
great travel deals, today unveiled its new vacation package display, the
“Vacation Matrix,” a tool that offers the easiest vacation-package shopping
experience on the Internet. Thanks to Orbitz’ new “dynamic packaging”
technology, travelers have the first-ever ability to compare and price
multiple airline and hotel options on a single screen when booking a
customized package.

This pioneering feature was developed to help travelers enjoy the
convenience and savings afforded by vacation packages, while eliminating
the hassle and confusion involved in booking flights and hotels together.
The “Vacation Matrix” allows Orbitz users to view the full range of hotel
and airline choices simultaneously, as part of
one easy-to-navigate grid,
making the customization and booking of travel packages online as easy as
buying a single airline ticket or reserving a hotel room.

“Package deals can offer big savings when planning a vacation, but until
now, online shoppers were not able to see all their airline and hotel
options on one screen. It made booking a vacation online a very time-
consuming task,” said John Samuel, executive vice president of Consumer
Travel at Orbitz. “Orbitz’ ‘Vacation Matrix’ is a breakthrough because you
can see so many options at a glance and quickly select the airline, hotel
and price that best meets your needs.”

With one click, Orbitz “Vacation Matrix” displays up to six airline and 20
hotel options, showing a total of up to 120 different flight-plus-hotel
vacation package combinations at one time. Further streamlining the
booking process, Orbitz allows users to sort airline and hotel options by
the following criteria: Best Value, Lowest Price, Star Rating and Hotel
Name.
Orbitz also provides added flexibility to customize a vacation by
searching preferred room categories once a hotel has been selected.

Orbitz’ vacation packages can often provide savings in excess of 15 percent
compared to booking air and hotel arrangements separately

2009
08.25
Men Fill Face, Modify Midsection With Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

U.S. Newswire, March, 2007

To: MEDICAL EDITORS

Contact: Pam Anton, LaSandra Cooper, or Brian Hugins, 1-847-228-
9900, media@plasticsurgery.org, all of the American Society of
Plastic Surgeons

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., March 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Males
had more than a million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in 2006
according to statistics released today by the American Society of
Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Surprisingly, the overall number of male
cosmetic plastic surgery procedures declined by 7 percent; however,
there was growth in minimally invasive procedures that provide volume
in the face and in surgical procedures for a more toned body.

“Although we’ve seen a slight dip in some of the traditional male
plastic surgery procedures,…