| Cadillac SRX - Easy driving
Cadillac has launched a new off-road vehicle designed to offer high performance matched with comfort and contemporary style.Intended to provide a smooth on and off-road driving experience, the Cadillac SRX is a larger sized family vehicle with room for seven, with a focus on interior comfort as well as ride quality, reports Parker's.Passengers can enjoy spacious leg room, with the car's interior designed to comfortably accommodate a number of passengers. Described as a luxury crossover SUV, Cadillac intends the SRX to appeal primarily to family buyers.Features include an electrically adjustable driver's seat, cruise control, heated seats, electric folding rear seats and electric windows, as well as CD/radio and auto-dimming rear-view mirror.Placed in motor insurance group 20, the CRX offers relatively affordable premiums for UK motorists, potentially cheaper than large people-carriers while able to do a similar job.
How to Ensure Your Windshield is Installed
(ARA) - Experts rank the windshield as the third most important safety component in today's car. Along with seatbelts and airbags, ranked first and second, all three components are part of what automobile engineers refer to as a vehicle's safety restraint system (SRS). The SRS is intended to keep vehicle occupants inside the relative safety of the passenger compartment during a collision or roll over. “SRS components work together," says Leo Cyr, vice president of NOVUS Auto Glass. “For example, the windshield provides virtually all the support a passenger side airbag needs to deploy properly. If the windshield falls out, the air bag is all but useless. Similarly, the windshield provides a minimum of 60 percent of the roof support for most cars. If the windshield is displaced, that support is gone, along with most of the crush resistance designed into the vehicle." Everybody loves a bargain.
Motorists billed for fire-rescue help
Car crashes may get more expensive as communities recoup costs by charging drivers for every act that fire-rescue personnel perform, including unhooking a battery. BY PHIL LONG AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH plong@MiamiHerald.com As if crashing your car weren't bad enough, some Florida cities are adding a bit of pain on the side: a bill if you need fire rescue. Hialeah has been doing it since last year. Cocoa has just approved it. And a couple of smaller cities in Central Florida, Maitland and Winter Park, have had the fees on the books for about three years. The service isn't cheap. In Hialeah, it's $435 for fire rescue to free the scene of hazards and do minor work like disconnecting a car battery. If you need ''hydraulics'' to get you out of your wreck -- better known as the Jaws of Life -- be ready to pay $1,800.
Court Unloved Businesses
Veteran financiers flush with cash are turning their sights on industries shunned by the stock market, tapping into tax benefits, newfangled loans and an ability to borrow far more money than public shareholders would tolerate. Proposals from buyout specialists in recent weeks -- Kirk Kerkorian's offer for Chrysler Group, property magnate Sam Zell buying newspaper publisher Tribune Co. and Carl Icahn's bids for Florida home builder WCI Communities Inc. and auto supplier Lear Corp. -- are striking because they are bets on companies or industries that appear to have lost the confidence of public shareholders. Financial experts say more such ... .
Thieves convert auto emissions device into cash
When a worker at C&S Home Renovations hopped into a company truck earlier this year and fired up the engine, the noise was deafening -- and alarming. ``It sounded like a freight train,'' company owner Carol Lane said. ``The one guy jumped right out of the vehicle. He didn't know if it was going to blow up.'' Upon closer inspection, the Tallmadge contracting company learned it was the latest victim of a growing crime trend in Northeast Ohio: Thieves had cut off the catalytic converter from the underside of the truck. A second company truck also was missing the part, which reduces air pollution and noise. The thefts are starting to pile up in the area, with people and businesses in Streetsboro, Green, Fairlawn, Tallmadge, Stow, Hudson and Bath Township all reporting catalytic converters missing in the past six months.
Manor from heaven
For more than a century, the Manor Garden allotments have been a fertile source of fruit and veg for many local families. But if the Olympic planners have their way, the poppies and potatoes will be concreted over to make way for a showcase riverside walkway. Simon Garfield meets the fighting gardeners who are determined not to lose their plots
Sunday April 8, 2007
The Observer
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Residents lacking flood insurance
CONCORD -- New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny expressed concern that with spring rains and snow runoff imminent, few additional of the state's residents have purchased National Flood Insurance. When the floods hit in the spring of 2006, more than 5,200 homes in six counties were affected by flooding. Twenty-five homes were destroyed, 235 homes suffered serious damage, and 4,896 homes had less serious damage. The flooding in May 2006 was the state's most expensive natural disaster in more than 50 years. Damage to public infrastructure alone as a result of the May 2006 flooding totaled near $15 million. Sevigny cited Federal Emergency Management Agency statistics that show a mere 12.3 percent increase in flood insurance purchases, totaling 838 policies, as of Dec.
Port Authority's liberal retirement system adds to money problems
Internal Revenue Service records show that William W. Millar received $348,353 in salary and $110,183 in deferred compensation in 2004 as president/chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based American Public Transportation Association. At the same time, the Port Authority of Allegheny County sent him a $5,258 monthly pension check and paid for his health, vision, dental and prescription insurance even though he left as authority CEO more than a decade ago. Mr. Millar's situation is an example of why so much public criticism is being directed toward the transit agency, why its money problems are growing and why the board of directors is poised to enact significant reforms covering about 300 current administrative and nonunion workers effective July 1. "Management has done a horrible job the last two decades," county Chief Executive Dan Onorato said recently.
The Main Street America Group Names Seven Employees to its Circle ...
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Main Street America Group announced today seven of its employees have received the company's highest honor by being inducted into its Circle of Excellence. The diverse group of winners, who were honored at a recent ceremony in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., represents several of Main Street America's office locations, and were selected for their 2006 achievements and contributions to the company's success. "These seven employees truly embody our organization's core values of ownership, relationships and service," said Tom Van Berkel, Main Street America's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "They continually perform above and beyond the call of duty. They are highly regarded within our organization and always strive to keep the best interests of our company, our customers (independent insurance agents) and our customers' customers (policyholders) in mind." Established in 1985, The Circle of Excellence is an annual recognition program for Main Street America employees.
Surviving Without Health Insurance Part 1
"There are 49 million people in the US without health insurance. We've added a new subject page for "health insurance deprived" individuals. We want to hear from you if you are in that category. How do you cope?" Around 1980 I graduated into the "health insurance deprived." As many others, it was not by my choice; although I was a semi-pioneer I am merely a fly-speck on the deprived landscape. .
Discrimination in Insurance
Testimony on House Bill 247 began at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday morning, March 27th in the House Committee on Insurance. HB 247 would amend the Insurance Code to prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Currently, insurers cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status, geographic location, disability or partial disability. HB 247 would expand the prohibition of discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. HB 247 is authored by Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas), who filed a similar bill in the 2005 Legislative Session. Tuesday's hearing represents the first time testimony has been heard on the bill by the House Committee on Insurance. Equality Texas strongly supports the measure, and helped coordinate testimony from Texans with a personal stake in the legislation.
State got insurers to trim health rates
From the start, proponents of healthcare reform in Massachusetts stressed affordability. If insurance premiums were too high, they warned, many of the state's uninsured residents would resist buying health coverage, no matter what the law said. But when insurers submitted their initial bids to sell plans that cover about 200,000 residents who aren't offered insurance from an employer and who earn too much to qualify for subsidies, many critics deemed them unaffordable. So did Governor Deval Patrick and the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, which is charged with implementing the law. "We told the plans, 'Do what you need to do to get some price relief,' " said Jon Kingsdale , executive director of the Connector. "They came way down." Or at least they made significant reductions.
Children left unprotected
TAMPA - Without treatment, little Carla's chest cold could turn into pneumonia. Luckily, the toddler's mom has health insurance for her. But that's not the case for thousands of Florida children, despite the fact that affordable health insurance - backed by the state and federal government - is available for most of them. It's called KidCare. Families earning $40,000 or less qualify, so long as they can prove U.S. citizenship and Florida residency. Incredibly, 700,000 children in Florida qualify for KidCare and are not enrolled. "There are a lot of children, particularly in the Tampa Bay Area," explained child advocate Chris Card. "That qualify and could use this health care coverage, and we've just put up too many barriers." Those barriers include budget politics and loads of paperwork that are unnecessary red tape according to Congresswoman Kathy Castor, who is pushing a bill to eliminate it.
Goodbody Economic Consultants report says Irish health insurance ...
Goodbody Economic Consultants today published a report entitled, Improving the Regulation of Health Insurance, which provides a comprehensive review of current issues in the private health insurance market and also outlines a series of recommendations for corrective action which the consultants recommend are implemented with immediate effect. The report, commissioned by VIVAS Health, has been produced in order to contribute solutions to the range of factors which are creating the dysfunctional private health insurance market that currently exists in Ireland. The Goodbody report finds that the market is extremely uncompetitive primarily as a result of VHIs dominance. It is calling for the suspension of risk equalization payments until the VHI no longer has a position of dominace and is subject to the same regulation as its competitors.
Hounded by misfortune
TEN Filipino nurses who migrated to the United States and dreamt of striking it rich in the land of milk and honey now find themselves mired in a civil suit lodged by their employer. They are in danger of being thrown into jail and paying a hefty fine. The nurses, the most prominent of whom is 2004 medical board exam topnotcher Elmer Jacinto, were charged by their recruiter-employer, Sentosa Group, with endangering children and physically disabled people under their care after they walked out of the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Center in New York sometime in April last year. Also charged was the nurses’ lawyer, Felix Vinluan, who was accused of inducing them to resign and abandon their jobs. The nurses, who were indicted in a criminal case in Suffolk Country Supreme Court in Riverhead, New York, were identified as Jacinto, 31; Juliet Anilao, 35; Harriet Avila, 24; Mark de la Cruz, 29; Claudine Gamiao, 39; Jennifer Lampa, 37; Rizza Maullion, 35; James Millena, 32; Theresa Ramos, 33; and Ranier Sichon, 32.
Auto thefts reduced in city
According to the recently released 2007 Auto Theft Prevention Authority report, the city saw a reduction in auto theft related crime much higher than the state-wide trend. The report, which publishes statistics two years after the time period measured, showed a 21.8 percent drop in auto thefts in the city, versus a 3.8 percent drop throughout Michigan, said Valdis Vitols, the executive director of the Auto Theft Prevention Authority (ATPA), a four-man department at the Michigan State Police. “We've been able to learn a lot about auto theft that has led to the reductions," he said. “We now know what types, of vehicles, what colors, what features, and where vehicles are likely to be stolen. We also know that most vehicles will be taken from the southeast Michigan area." The authority was created 19 years ago, when auto thefts had reached an all-time high, Vitols said.
Drunk Driving Penalties - Un-Constitutional?
Other than being able to fly your own plane, driving is probably one of the most liberating physical activities known to man. Before we graduate from high school most of us have experienced the exhilaration of the freedom that comes with our first driver's license and our first vehicle. If you were raised in an agricultural environment you probably learned to drive as soon as you could reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. I got my first license when I was 14-years-old and remember my first $300 vehicle quite fondly. But this is not about the vehicles I have owned, loved and cursed. That may come in a future story. This is about the loss of freedom that comes when you lose your ability to drive. You see, in addition to driving, I enjoyed drinking and partying with friends.
Penalties in dog attacks would go up in Texas bill
In January, a 10-year-old San Antonio girl was killed by her neighbor's pit bull dog. In February, a pair of dogs attacked two Houston girls on their way home from school, dragging one down the street as she screamed for help. Both survived. In March, a 50-year-old woman south of Houston died after being mauled by her mixed-breed bulldog. Dog attacks make headlines in Texas with alarming regularity, and now legislators are proposing new laws that would impose some of the harshest criminal penalties in the nation on owners of pets that cause serious injury or death. Under a bill sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, the owner of a dog that kills someone without provocation could be charged with a second-degree felony punishable by as many as 20 years in prison.
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