February, 2022

Tuesday, February 8th, 2022

College Student Health Insurance What Is The Best

What is the best alternative when you desire to purchase medical insurance for a university student? Medical insurance may be available from your college, from a mother or father’s medical insurance policy and from a policy purchased individually.Contracts purchased from one’s university or university has the advantage of being very low-priced. These policies tend to be very cheap, but almost always have less coverage when compared to insurance plans bought from other sources.Health insurance contracts marketed specifically to college students will usually have significant limitations on the benefits that they pay for larger expenses. Often the benefits that are paid for smaller expenses are excellent, so most people’s experience with these policies is positive. However, the unfortunate few who have major expenses are often unhappy with their coverage.The annual limit on what many student medical insurance contracts pay is often one tenth of the limit on other plans. This can mean that a student who has a major illness starts their adult life with a massive debt.These plans are also temporary insurance. This can be a problem if a student has a major medical event while covered, but continues to have health expenses after they are too old to be insured by their student policy.The price advantage of contracts bought directly from one’s college or university is often more than offset by fact that the contracts almost always have much lower benefits for major expenses. For this reason, college students may fare much better with one of the other options.Insuring a student through their father or mother’s insurance policy is usually a better alternative but this too has its drawbacks. Policies available through a parent’s medical insurance policy will often have excellent benefits. However, these policies have the disadvantage of being temporary.You may be able to insurance a student on their mother or father’s contract until they are age 26. This works well for many college students. However, there are many students who are unable to get coverage after they become too old for their mother or father’s policy due to a pre-existing condition.Individual insurance contracts can be acquired from companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield are often best alternative. They can have the advantages of having robust benefits similar to a contract that one might get through their father or mother’s group insurance plan and also have the advantage of being permanent coverage. You may be able to find a contract from a major insurer that will provide several million dollars or more in benefits. There may also be plans with unlimited benefits available.You can easily find a policy that you can keep until age 65. At 65 one is eligible for Medicare. For most Americans, Medicare is available with no medical questions.Although these plans are often more expensive than policies available through one’s college or university, they are typically very affordable. In most places, the price for medical insurance is lower for young adults when compared to older ones. This means that the rate for most university students is generally quite low.Although there are many places where you can purchase insurance for a college student, each one has its drawbacks. The typical plan bought through one’s university is usually cheap, but will also have low benefits and is temporary. Policies offered through a mother or father’s policy will generally offer better coverage but is also temporary. Policies purchased in the individual market will often have excellent benefits and can be kept until age 65. These plans have the drawback of being more expensive. Many people make the decision to pay more for these plans for two reasons. They are often not much more expensive. plans will provide much better health insurance coverage.

Monday, February 7th, 2022

Date announced for by-election to replace former New Zealand PM Clark

Monday, April 20, 2009

The government has announced 13 June as the date for the upcoming Mount Albert by-election.

The by-election has been caused by former Prime Minister Helen Clark‘s departure to head the United Nations Development Program. While it is considered to be a safe Labour seat, the by-election is expected to be heavily contested.

Candidates must be nominated by 19 May.

Nominations for the Labour Party close on Wednesday. So far four candidates have put their names forward: Auckland city councillor Glenda Fryer, former candidate Hamish McCracken, University of Auckland political studies lecturer Meg Bates and employment lawyer Helen White. List MP Phil Twyford, widely expected to succeed Ms Clark, has not put his name forward.

The National Party has narrowed its possible candidates down to two: list MP Melissa Lee or unsuccessful 2008 candidate Ravi Musuku. The decision will be made at a party meeting on 4 May.

The Greens and ACT New Zealand will both contest the by-election, but have yet to select candidates.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Date_announced_for_by-election_to_replace_former_New_Zealand_PM_Clark&oldid=811727”
Sunday, February 6th, 2022

Canada’s Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 39) city council candidates speak

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 39). Two candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Wayne Cook, Mike Del Grande (incumbent), Samuel Kung, Lushan Lu, Sunshine Smith, and John Wong.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Canada%27s_Scarborough-Agincourt_(Ward_39)_city_council_candidates_speak&oldid=435100”
Thursday, February 3rd, 2022

Screening Background Checks Let You Rest

It would give you a lot of peace of mind if somebody had to do the screening background checks on the people you choose to hire. This is not an activity that a person does only with the lower rung of employees in this firm. This is done with probably every person who wishes to join an organization. Whether he is someone higher up in the organizational hierarchy or is just a new doorman you wish to employ, it makes a lot of sense to go ahead and do some background checks on potential employees.

In the course of screening background checks, you get to have a good look at the records that are maintained by courts and police personnel. If you are in doubt, you could even gain access to the information that is maintained by the FBI or any other such federal agency that needs to keep a close watch on the comings and goings of people into and out of a state. Apart from this, it is also important to know all the details of a person when you are thinking of giving him or her, a loan to buy a house or set up a business. In the case of the latter, the screening background checks would give you a clear picture about the creditworthiness of the person. It could also tell you if in the recent past, the person has been prompt in paying up all bills. It could help you make a wise decision.

Very often when an employer opts for screening background checks to be done on people, he worries whether he has intruded into the privacy of the person. This is something that has been hotly debated in many forums. People in support of protecting their privacy feel that these background checks should be done only when there is a doubt in the minds of the employers, regarding the past of a person who applies for a job. The contention of employers is: how do they get to know that a person could possible have a questionable past, unless they do a background check. This is dangerous ground that one has to tread on; tact and a respect for the privacy of an individual might be the right combination.

While doing screening background checks on people, it is very important for the agency that is doing the job to maintain absolute confidentiality. If the person feels at any time, that his personal life is being torn apart and is fast becoming public, then, he has every right to object to this kind of vetting process. Screening does not necessarily have to be thought of as a negative thing; it could also give a person an insight into the plus points of the individual who he is planning to employ. References and recommendations can probably be part of the report that is got during a vetting process.

Thursday, February 3rd, 2022

City Planning Board postpones decision on Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal

Buffalo, N.Y. Hotel Proposal Controversy
Recent Developments
  • “Old deeds threaten Buffalo, NY hotel development” — Wikinews, November 21, 2006
  • “Proposal for Buffalo, N.Y. hotel reportedly dead: parcels for sale “by owner”” — Wikinews, November 16, 2006
  • “Contract to buy properties on site of Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal extended” — Wikinews, October 2, 2006
  • “Court date “as needed” for lawsuit against Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal” — Wikinews, August 14, 2006
  • “Preliminary hearing for lawsuit against Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal rescheduled” — Wikinews, July 26, 2006
  • “Elmwood Village Hotel proposal in Buffalo, N.Y. withdrawn” — Wikinews, July 13, 2006
  • “Preliminary hearing against Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal delayed” — Wikinews, June 2, 2006
Original Story
  • “Hotel development proposal could displace Buffalo, NY business owners” — Wikinews, February 17, 2006

Thursday, March 2, 2006

Buffalo, New York —In an unanimous vote, the City of Buffalo‘s Planning Board voted to table the Elmwood Village hotel Proposal, postponing voting on legislation for up to 30 days.

The Board said its decision was due to the lack of public involvement, saying that there have not been enough meetings.

The Elmwood Village Hotel is a proposed project by Savarino Construction Services Corporation and was designed by Karl Frizlen of The Frizlen Group. The hotel would be placed on Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo, New York. In order for the hotel to be built, at least five buildings, that include both businesses and residents, must be demolished.

The Forever Elmwood Corp. is a Buffalo-based non-profit organization founded in 1994. Justin Azzarella, the Executive Director for the organization voiced support for the proposal, stating: “I am here today to lend Forever Elmwood’s support the hotel project. Particularly, Forever Elmwood is encouraged by the fact that this building follows the more stringent Elmwood Village Design Guidelines. We have been speaking with Savarino Construction, and they have promised us [Forever Elmwood] that they will engage the community further, including the surrounding Block Clubs and businesses. For that reason, while Forever Elmwood is in support of this project and the type of project that it is, we are asking also that the project be tabled so that the community can be further engaged. Specifically the surrounding Block clubs which include the Granger, Claremont, Asland and The Lincoln Parkway Block Clubs.”

“Because of the excellent work that Karl does and the game plan that they have, I think its an ideal use of this particular location. I think that this particular type of development needs to be encouraged and promoted as opposed to roadblocked,” said a man who owns five properties near the proposal site.

However, Evelyn Bencinich, a resident of Granger Place and whose house would be located directly behind the hotel said, “My property value will be depreciated or non-existent because no one is going to want to live behind a multi-story hotel. We are facing up to a year of noisy and dangerous demolition and construction. Children, pets and even drunk rebellers could wander on site and get hurt. Traffic tie-ups caused by large machinery and garbage bins is inevitable. Where will pedestrians walk? We could experience increased unsanitary flooding in our yards and basements due to the digging and cementing for the underground parking garage. Rats will be displaced into the immediate neighborhoods and be in great abundance. Once we get past the year of nightmare construction, what if you build it and they don’t come? We could ultimately have a seven million dollar rooming house on our corner.”

Patty Morris, co-owner of Don Apparel with Nancy Pollina at 1119 Elmwood also asked that the project be tabled saying, “this has only been public knowledge for less than two weeks and the public never saw the redesign. How can you vote on anything that no one has seen yet? The Board cut off Morris saying, “so specifically you don’t have any problem with it [the design] you just…” Morris then said, “Oh I am totally against this project, but thats besides the point isn’t it.”

The planning board is also concerned that the current design may still be too big.

At one point Board member Susan Curran Hoyt said, “we know you’ve cut down your number of rooms on this project, but we still see it doesn’t seem to fit the description of a ‘botique’ hotel,” and asked Eva Hassett, Vice President of Savarino Construction, “we wonder if you could reduce the rooms further.”

“One thing I didn’t talk about was the price levels of these rooms and that will be important to know. The room rate will be somewhere between US$120 and $160 a night, which is about the same price of the Hampton Inn down town and the smaller you make the hotel, the more expensive the rooms will get. We believe that we’ve made a good compromise in terms of the size of the hotel and perhaps botique means different things to different people,” said Hassett.

The board was also concerned that there is not enough parking asking, “are there alternative plans for valet parking off-site, in the event that you have a full hotel or a large event going on?”

“We are exploring several possibilities with respect to additional parking for valet and parking near-by,” replied Hassett. “We are also exploring the possibility of using the rear of 1105 Elmwood for additional parking, which would give us an additional ten or eleven spaces.”

The new design has a total of 55 parking spaces for 72 rooms, with 39 of them underground and the rest on ground level.

Hassett also said that a “parking study” will be done on the area.

Concerns that the second floor of the hotel will be too close to the property of 605 Forest were also brought up. The board asked how far the hotel would be from the property and Karl Frizlen replied saying it would “be approximately five feet from the property line,” but he also admitted that, “I do not know exactly how close the house next door” will be from the hotel, but did say “I think the house is about four or five feet away from the property line and we [the hotel] sit right on the property line.”

The board is concerned the setback from the property is not enough saying the space between the building and the hotel is “pretty narrow.”

The City’s Common Council also agreed to table the proposal also citing the need for more public engagement and the need for more organizations to respond including the Buffalo Preservation Board and the Office of Historic Preservation.

During that meeting, Hassett also said the proposal to try and get a variance to obtain the properties of 605 and 607 Forest were “now off the agenda.”

The Common Council is expected to meet and hold a public hearing about the project and the rezoning of the properties to be demolished (1119-1121 Elmwood) on Tuesday March 7, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. At the moment the properties are not zoned for a hotel.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=City_Planning_Board_postpones_decision_on_Buffalo,_N.Y._hotel_proposal&oldid=1981797”
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022

Scottish Justice Secretary ‘acutely aware of unusual publicity’ in Kular case

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Wikinews has obtained a letter by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to former Conservative justice spokesman John Lamont in response to questions raised by our correspondent about the Mikaeel Kular murder case. Wikinews has investigated possible contempt by media publishing potentially prejudicial material, and MacAskill wrote he has “been following the case of Mikaeel Kular and [is] acutely aware of the unusual publicity this case has attracted.”

When Mikaeel Kular, three, vanished from his Edinburgh home last month police and volunteers scoured the capital for him. His body was found in Fife just before midnight on January 17, and his mother was arrested on January 18. That’s when Wikinews first reported on possible widespread contempt by UK and Scottish media.

Our correspondent is based in Scotland and has been advised by a lawyer not to identify anybody detained until they have appeared in court, even if they have been arrested and charged. Professor James Chalmers of the University of Glasgow has since reviewed our coverage and confirmed this position. Despite that a large number of major media outlets identified Rosdeep Adekoya, nee Kular, 33, as the arrested individual.

Adekoya has since been in Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with murdering her son. She is in custody pending indictment and trial, but any eyewitness evidence may be tainted because her image has been widely published. This is common practice elsewhere in the UK but Scottish justice works differently and courts have viewed publication of photos as potentially prejudicial. Professor Pamela Ferguson of the University of Dundee notes “journalists do seem to be walking a dangerous line if publishing photos etc of suspects.” Crown Office, which is in overall charge of prosecutions, has indicated to journalists that no further comment will be made at least until indictment.

MacAskill however expressed confidence in the Scottish court system to deal with the situation. “I am confident… the courts themselves will intervene if they believe publicity is in danger of being prejudicial.” He also wrote to Lamont that he has faith in the court to successfully direct any jury that may try the case in order to maintain fairness.

The courts have said that the only safe route to avoid committing a contempt is to avoid publishing a photograph

The Contempt of Court Act 1981 is designed to prevent prejudicial material going in front of juries before trial. Although UK-wide legislation, the law is interpreted differently north of the border than in England and Wales. Witnesses in Scotland may be asked to identify accused persons standing in the dock. The BBC College of Journalism advises legal advice be sought ahead of publishing photos and notes it has previously been ruled contempt. The BBC used the accused’s photo prominently in their own online coverage.

Chalmers explains: “It may be a contempt of court to create a substantial risk of serious prejudice to someone’s right to a fair trial. A photograph might do this in a case where identification is an issue; on the face of it, that does not seem especially likely in this case, but it is impossible to know for certain at this point. The courts have said that the only safe route to avoid committing a contempt is to avoid publishing a photograph, but that does not mean that publishing a photograph is automatically a contempt.” MacAskill noted “the kind of issue that publicity might raise may become apparent only during the trial itself.”

Contempt has been a considerable issue in the UK in recent years after high-profile cases. In one instance a charge against serial killer Levi Bellfield was dropped owing to publicity while the jury were deliberating; in another, newspapers were fined and sued for libel over reporting on the arrest of a suspect who turned out to be innocent in a prominent investigation.

A proposal was mooted to ban identification of suspects arrested anywhere in the UK, but this was subsequently shelved. MacAskill confirmed “the Scottish Government is content with the way the courts are operating the rules on contempt of court in Scotland at the moment and has no plans to make changes.” He also wrote of the difficulties with trying to individually cover all eventualities with prescriptive legislation, saying “A trial for a sexual offence will raise very different issues — particularly of protecting victims — from those that are raised by a tax fraud trial.”

MacAskill says it is the Scottish Government’s position that the task of “counterbalancing the public interest in reporting with upholding the criminal law should be left to those whose job it is to do so — the courts and the judiciary, acting in the individual circumstances of the case”.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Scottish_Justice_Secretary_%27acutely_aware_of_unusual_publicity%27_in_Kular_case&oldid=4455617”
Tuesday, February 1st, 2022

IndyMac Bank placed into conservatorship by US Government

Saturday, July 12, 2008

In what regulators have described as the second-largest bank failure in the history of the United States, IndyMac Bank has been closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) due to plummeting shares and the start of a run on the bank. This is the fifth FDIC-insured failure of the year.

The FDIC has said that it will transfer all insured deposits and substantial assets, to the new IndyMac Federal Bank which, as the name implies, is controlled by an agency of the federal government. The aim is for the transfer to be completed by Monday.

In a press release, the FDIC attempted to reassure customers by saying that, “insured depositors and borrowers will automatically become customers of IndyMac Federal, FSB and will continue to have uninterrupted customer service and access to their funds by ATM, debit cards and writing checks in the same manner as before.” As an FDIC-insured bank, all FDIC accounts are guaranteed up to US$100,000. The FDIC has also placed a special advance, guaranteeing any funds over $100,000 for 50 cents to the dollar.

This move by the FDIC is expected to cost the organization at least four billion USD per year.

In the days leading up to the conservatorship, market analysts have predicted the failure of IndyMac due to the fact that it was shedding jobs and closing many of its branch offices.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=IndyMac_Bank_placed_into_conservatorship_by_US_Government&oldid=739213”