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STATE & PENTAGON OFFICIALS WASTE MILLIONS ON UPPER CLASS PLANE FARES
AP - Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year
period on business- or first-class airline tickets bought in violation
of travel policies, congressional investigators say. A draft report by
the Government Accountability Office, obtained yesterday by the
Associated Press, is the first to examine travel abuse in the federal
government following reports of extensive misuse of premium-class travel
by Pentagon and State Department employees. . . Many of the cases
involved high-ranking senior officials or political appointees who
claimed exceptions to federal travel rules by citing old medical records
or questionable approval from a subordinate employee. Investigators
found that senior officials often flew business- or first-class because
they felt entitled to the perk.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/
2007/10/03/gao_finds_146m_in_excess_travel_costs/?rss_id
=Boston+Globe+--+National+News
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FLORIDA LOSING SOME OF ITS APPEAL
For almost a century, Florida has been a magnet for mobile Americans.
The state's plentiful sunshine and open space has attracted "snowbirds"
fleeing winter, retirees living out the last chapter of their lives and
down-on-their-luck workers in search of jobs. A steady flow of newcomers
has kept the state's population growing faster than the nation's, often
much faster, since the 1920s.
But for Americans on the move, Florida has become a less-appealing
destination. Moving company Atlas Van Lines brought 6,700 families into
Florida last year and took 8,000 out, the first time it has moved more
out than in. The number of people from other states who switch to a
Florida driver's license is down more than 8% from last year. And the
state's crowded schools actually lost students last year, prompting many
counties to cut back on their construction schedule and, in some cases,
look to close schools. While foreigners continue to arrive at a rate of
about 100,000 year, migration from inside the country is slowing. [
Florida's pull has been weakened mostly by rising costs. Though
real-estate prices are now falling, the median price for an existing
single family home, at $231,900 remains 64% more than five years ago.
That kind of price appreciation has increased property taxes, especially
for newcomers and for snowbirds, whose primary residence is out of
state. Florida is also recovering from a spate of hurricanes that have
pushed up already high property-insurance rates. A two-tier tax system
hits newcomers and part-time residents harder than long time homeowners.
Florida is also dealing with new competition. Looking to tap the
economic boost seniors can give, many of the South's less-expensive,
relatively warm states have been reaching out to seniors and fiddling
with their tax laws in the hope of grabbing more retirees. Georgia Gov.
Sonny Perdue is pushing to exempt all retirement income from taxation as
a way to attract and retain retirees.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119100802312142956.html?mod=mostpop
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THE MIX
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TROUBLE IN THE HOOD: STRAIGHTS ARE MOVING IN
DAVID COLKER, LOS ANGELES TIMES - The first generation of openly gay
Americans chalked up a lot of firsts -- a gay-rights march in
Washington, openly gay politicians in national office and
out-of-the-closet actors on sitcoms.
And now, this generation will be the first to have, just in time for its
twilight years, gay senior condo communities. It's an extension of the
gay ghetto, this time with walkers.
Condos for gay seniors Photo Gallery Condos for gay seniors But at
Rainbow Vision, a development that opened last year on the edge of this
high-desert city, a there-goes-the-neighborhood cloud has appeared. Some
residents fear that their community could be overrun by an outside
element -- straight people.
"It does not matter how friendly they are," said Roger Bergstrom, 77,
who shares a condo at RainbowVision with his longtime partner, Barry
Baltzley, 57. . .
About 80% of the complex's residents are gay, management said. But there
is potential for a radical shift because nearly half of the units are
unoccupied or for sale. New Mexico bars housing discrimination because
of sexual orientation. And condo owners, looking to unload their
properties in a slow real estate market, are free to sell to whomever
they choose.
Not that there's anything wrong with straight people, in moderation.
"This is a place where you don't have to find out if someone is gay,"
said Joy Silver, founder and chief executive of Rainbow Vision
Properties Inc. "You have to find out if someone is straight."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gayhousing5oct05,0,2658346.story?coll
=la-home-center
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
STATE & PENTAGON OFFICIALS WASTE MILLIONS ON UPPER CLASS PLANE FARES
AP - Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year
period on business- or first-class airline tickets bought in violation
of travel policies, congressional investigators say. A draft report by
the Government Accountability Office, obtained yesterday by the
Associated Press, is the first to examine travel abuse in the federal
government following reports of extensive misuse of premium-class travel
by Pentagon and State Department employees. . . Many of the cases
involved high-ranking senior officials or political appointees who
claimed exceptions to federal travel rules by citing old medical records
or questionable approval from a subordinate employee. Investigators
found that senior officials often flew business- or first-class because
they felt entitled to the perk.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/
2007/10/03/gao_finds_146m_in_excess_travel_costs/?rss_id
=Boston+Globe+--+National+News
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FLORIDA LOSING SOME OF ITS APPEAL
For almost a century, Florida has been a magnet for mobile Americans.
The state's plentiful sunshine and open space has attracted "snowbirds"
fleeing winter, retirees living out the last chapter of their lives and
down-on-their-luck workers in search of jobs. A steady flow of newcomers
has kept the state's population growing faster than the nation's, often
much faster, since the 1920s.
But for Americans on the move, Florida has become a less-appealing
destination. Moving company Atlas Van Lines brought 6,700 families into
Florida last year and took 8,000 out, the first time it has moved more
out than in. The number of people from other states who switch to a
Florida driver's license is down more than 8% from last year. And the
state's crowded schools actually lost students last year, prompting many
counties to cut back on their construction schedule and, in some cases,
look to close schools. While foreigners continue to arrive at a rate of
about 100,000 year, migration from inside the country is slowing. [
Florida's pull has been weakened mostly by rising costs. Though
real-estate prices are now falling, the median price for an existing
single family home, at $231,900 remains 64% more than five years ago.
That kind of price appreciation has increased property taxes, especially
for newcomers and for snowbirds, whose primary residence is out of
state. Florida is also recovering from a spate of hurricanes that have
pushed up already high property-insurance rates. A two-tier tax system
hits newcomers and part-time residents harder than long time homeowners.
Florida is also dealing with new competition. Looking to tap the
economic boost seniors can give, many of the South's less-expensive,
relatively warm states have been reaching out to seniors and fiddling
with their tax laws in the hope of grabbing more retirees. Georgia Gov.
Sonny Perdue is pushing to exempt all retirement income from taxation as
a way to attract and retain retirees.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119100802312142956.html?mod=mostpop
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE MIX
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TROUBLE IN THE HOOD: STRAIGHTS ARE MOVING IN
DAVID COLKER, LOS ANGELES TIMES - The first generation of openly gay
Americans chalked up a lot of firsts -- a gay-rights march in
Washington, openly gay politicians in national office and
out-of-the-closet actors on sitcoms.
And now, this generation will be the first to have, just in time for its
twilight years, gay senior condo communities. It's an extension of the
gay ghetto, this time with walkers.
Condos for gay seniors Photo Gallery Condos for gay seniors But at
Rainbow Vision, a development that opened last year on the edge of this
high-desert city, a there-goes-the-neighborhood cloud has appeared. Some
residents fear that their community could be overrun by an outside
element -- straight people.
"It does not matter how friendly they are," said Roger Bergstrom, 77,
who shares a condo at RainbowVision with his longtime partner, Barry
Baltzley, 57. . .
About 80% of the complex's residents are gay, management said. But there
is potential for a radical shift because nearly half of the units are
unoccupied or for sale. New Mexico bars housing discrimination because
of sexual orientation. And condo owners, looking to unload their
properties in a slow real estate market, are free to sell to whomever
they choose.
Not that there's anything wrong with straight people, in moderation.
"This is a place where you don't have to find out if someone is gay,"
said Joy Silver, founder and chief executive of Rainbow Vision
Properties Inc. "You have to find out if someone is straight."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gayhousing5oct05,0,2658346.story?coll
=la-home-center
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