"He sees you when you are sleeping, and he knows when you're awake", however the local mall Santa is a hard sell to the millions of savvy kids who expect Santa to actually know if they have been naughty or nice. One company is making sure children receive the 'all-knowing' Santa Claus experience they are expecting by offering a personalized phone call from Santa Claus, guaranteeing Santa knows all that he should know.
"The trend to personalize products reaches virtually everything from dolls, video games, and tennis shoes and beyond. We felt that most certainly, Santa Claus should be personalized" says Anne Gaskell, founder of SantaSpeaking.com. The company expects to fulfill 50,000 phone calls to children this Christmas.
"As a mother, I saw the disappointment and confusion in children when I would bring my daughters to the mall to sit on Santa's lap," says Anne, "and I was always upset that parents need to make excuses for Santa's lack of knowing the things he should have known."
"The response has been amazing," says Sarah Urick, co-owner of SantaSpeaking.com, 'especially for the parents who try our service for the first time. We find they are surprised at how in awe their child was that Santa knew all of the details. We receive many email testimonials each week from parents after their child receives their personal talk-time with Santa. It's very gratifying work!"
Scott Williams, president of Emisare, a marketing communications firm and founder of SantaTracker.com, one of the original Christmas sites for kids on the Internet, says, "Kids today need a fresh new Santa, and now we're capable of providing them with a much more believable experience. The typical mall Santa isn't consistent with the Santa legend; it's impossible for the mall Santa to know naughty and nice details. The Santa phone call is simply a better experience all around without all of the stress involved in waiting in line at a busy mall."
How it works: Parents visit www.SantaSpeaking.com where they schedule a date and time for Santa to call; they pay and then are provided with a detailed personalization form where they can fill in fun details for Santa Claus to reference when he calls the child. Calls start at $21.95 and keepsake recordings are available on CD or MP3 for $18.95.
Dawn has yet to break when Mark Taylor, a trucker for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., lines up for his Monday morning orders at the company's Porterville, Calif., distribution center.
It's a week before Christmas, and much of the retail world is in pandemonium -- suppliers rushing to deliver new shipments, retailers struggling to keep shelves stocked and customers served.
But inside the cab of Taylor's 18-wheel International, it's a sea of calm.
"You go into the office and they're stressed out because they've got all these loads to cover, but for us, it's the same. It is what it is, the travel time to the store is the same," said Taylor, 46.
His usual workweek is a five-day, four-night route around California or the Southwest -- "running wild" in Wal-Mart trucker parlance -- delivering goods to stores, used pallets to warehouses and manufacturers' merchandise to distribution centers. Those are the nights he sleeps in a berth in the back of his truck cab, under pictures of his wife and teenage son and daughter.
"I enjoy being out and about and seeing things," Taylor said. "It doesn't get better than what I've got here."
This day, Taylor gets an assignment for a trip to the Rosemead Wal-Mart store and back, which will take about 10 hours with breaks. After checking in with the dispatcher, he walks outside to the long rows of naked-looking truck cabs awaiting their trailers. The sun is beginning to rise, shedding a hazy orange glow onto the Sierra Nevada peaks to the east of the 160-acre lot.
He drives the unattached rig to his assigned trailer, one of more than 1,300 lined up in Porterville. Taylor deftly whirls the engine around to back squarely onto the hitch of the trailer, which is filled with general store merchandise to restock Rosemead's shelves.
Then Taylor hops out of the cab with a crowbar-like metal rod, ready for the attaching procedures he might perform half a dozen times in a day.
He plugs the air line, emergency line and electrical cables from the cab to the trailer, cranks up the "landing gear" that keeps the trailer moored to the ground, rechecks tags to make sure he's got the right load, locks the trailer with a cobalt lock and checks each of the 18 wheels' air pressure by listening to the thud when he bangs on it with the rod.
Taylor climbs back into the cab to start up the machine. The low growl other drivers hear outside the giant truck is somewhat muffled inside the cab, replaced by steady vibrations that rumble through the floor and seats.
It's 7:20 a.m. when Taylor pulls his 63,000-pound tractor-trailer out of the yard and onto the road.
His quiet manner aside, in his uniform of navy slacks, crisp white Wal-Mart button-down shirt and wind-breaker, Taylor looks more like a Marine than Central Casting's version of a trucker. He is trim and fit, with hair cropped close to his head. A neatly trimmed mustache graces his upper lip. He wears small, thin, wire-frame glasses.
He maintains his physique the old-fashioned way, he said: eating well and exercising.
Taylor's wife makes a week's worth of food that he stores in his truck's fridge and heats up at truck stops or in Wal-Mart employee break rooms. And he uses his rests on the road to power walk around truck stops and -- when no one is looking -- doing a few sets of calisthenics while his trailer is being loaded or unloaded at a store or warehouse.
Taylor has heard the common criticism lobbed against his employer: that it's miserly toward employees and treats them unfairly. But the complaints baffle Taylor, who says his Wal-Mart job is the best he's ever had.
And although no one at the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer will discuss specifics, Taylor says he and his colleagues are well-paid and well-respected, with little turnover and generally good job satisfaction.
Taylor first saw the possibilities in being a truck driver when he was a child. He was born in Canoga Park and moved with his family to Fountain Valley in Orange County when he was 15. It was on his family's yearly vacations to Yosemite, Yellowstone and other great American parks that an idea about his future began to take shape.
"Wherever we'd go, I'd see trucks," Taylor said. "I thought, 'Why only do this once a year when you can do it all the time?' I like the feeling of going out and about and seeing different things."
It takes about four hours to get to Rosemead from Porterville when you're driving in a big rig. Cars cruise up the Grapevine at 55 mph, but Taylor holds his rig steady up the steep hill in the far right lane at 25.
For more than 50 years, a binational military organization has tracked the whereabouts of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
Created by a 1958 agreement between Canada and the United States, the North American Air Defense Command — better know as NORAD — is responsible for the aerospace defense of both countries.
The agreement has been renewed nine times, most recently this year.
NORAD provides warning of missile and air attack against its two member nations, safeguards the air sovereignty of North America, and provides air defense forces for defense against an air attack.
As a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy, NORAD monitors the airspace within Canada and the United States, too. In addition, the command also conducts maritime warnings.
The tradition of tracking Santa Claus was born after a Sears and Roebuck Co., based in Colorado Springs, Colo., ran an advertisement telling children they could call Santa on a special hotline.
The phone number was misprinted, so instead of Santa, children reached the operations hotline of the commander-in-chief of the Continental Air Defense Command, or CONAD, the predecessor of NORAD.
After Col. Harry Shoup, director of operations, received the first Santa call on Christmas Eve in 1955, he directed his staff to check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa leaving the North Pole on Christmas Eve.
Children who called were then given updates on Santa’s position.
In 1958, NORAD inherited the tradition from CONAD. Since then, its Canadian and American workers have responded personally to phone calls from children.
Media from all over the world also call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa’s location.
Last year, millions wanting to know Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve visited NORAD’s Web site. The information is given in six languages — English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese.
Hundreds of volunteers spend part of Christmas Eve at NORAD’s Santa Tracking Operation Center to provide Santa updates to thousands of inquiring children worldwide.
Beginning at 2 a.m. Mountain Standard Time on Christmas Eve, children can track Santa online at www.noradsanta.org.
The Web site includes information on the four high-tech systems — radar, satellites, Santa Cams, and jet fighter aircraft — all used to track Santa on Christmas Eve.
Just don’t forget that no matter where Santa is in the world, he will never come to your house until you’re fast asleep.
Santa Tracking Control Center
Beginning at 2:00 am MTN on Christmas Eve, you can track Santa Live as he makes his historical journey around the world!
This is exciting, as Santa travels fast and NORAD Santa Cams take photos of Santa and his reindeer!
Download Google Earth in preparation for tracking Santa in 3D on Christmas Eve.
Countdown to Track Santa
Track Santa
Why We Track Santa
For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began on Christmas Eve in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup had his staff check radar data for any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's location. Thus, the tradition was born. To listen to Colonel Shoup talk about the experience, click here. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command, known as NORAD. NORAD inherited the tradition of tracking Santa.
Since that time, Canadian and American men and women who work at NORAD have responded to phone calls from children personally. Additionally, media from all over the world call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa's location. Last year this Website was visited by millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts.
NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Hundreds of volunteers spend part of their Christmas Eve at the Santa Tracking Operations Center answering phones and emails to provide Santa updates to thousands of inquiring children worldwide.
How We Track Santa
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft.
Detecting Santa all starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system has 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. NORAD makes a point of checking the radar closely for indications of Santa Claus leaving the North Pole on Christmas Eve.
The moment our radar tells us that Santa has lifted off, we use our second mode of detection, the same satellites that we use in providing warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America. These satellites are located in a geo-synchronous orbit (that's a cool phrase meaning that the satellite is always fixed over the same spot on the Earth) at 22,300 miles above the Earth. The satellites have infrared sensors, meaning they can detect heat. When a rocket or missile is launched, a tremendous amount of heat is produced - enough for the satellites to detect. Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch. The satellites can detect Rudolph's bright red nose with practically no problem. With so many years of experience, NORAD has become good at tracking aircraft entering North America, detecting worldwide missile launches and tracking the progress of Santa, thanks to Rudolph.
The third detection system we use is the Santa Cam. We began using it in 1998 - the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the Internet. NORAD Santa Cams are ultra-cool high-tech high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many places around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year - Christmas Eve. The cameras capture images of Santa and the Reindeer as they make their journey around the world. We immediately download the images on to our web site for people around the world to see. Santa Cams produce both video and still images.
The fourth detection system we use is the NORAD jet fighter. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa. While in the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. About a dozen NORAD fighters in Canada and the United States are equipped with Santa Cams.
About Santa
Santa maintains a huge list of children who have been good throughout the year. The list even includes addresses, ZIP codes and postal codes. The list, of course, gets bigger each year by virtue of the world's increasing population. This year's population right now is 6,634,570,959!
Santa has had to adapt over the years to having less and less time to deliver his toys. If one were to assume he works in the realm of standard time, as we know it, clearly he would have perhaps two to three ten-thousandths of a second to deliver his toys to each child's home he visits!
The fact that Santa Claus is more than 15 centuries old and does not appear to age is our biggest clue that he does not work within time, as we know it. His Christmas Eve trip may seem to take around 24 hours, but to Santa it could be that it lasts days, weeks or months in standard time. Santa would not want to rush the important job of bringing Christmas happiness to a child, so the only logical conclusion is that Santa somehow functions on a different time and space continuum.
Questions for Santa
As you know, this is Santa's busiest time of the year. But if it's really important, click here to send Santa an email. His elves, Chuckles and Buckley, will be sure he gets your mail!
Is He Real?
We believe, based on historical data and more than 50 years of NORAD tracking information, that Santa Claus is alive and well in the hearts of children throughout the world.
Santa Claus is known by many names, but his first recorded name was Saint Nicholas. Historians claim that the history of Santa starts with the tradition of Saint Nicholas, a 4th Century Christian priest who lived in the Middle East in an area of present day Turkey.
Saint Nicholas became famous throughout the world for his kindness in giving gifts to others who were less fortunate. Typically, he placed gifts of gold down people's chimneys - sometimes into stockings. It may be that the Santa we know and love emerged from the legacy of Saint Nicholas. Clearly, Santa's basic approach to gift giving is strikingly similar to that of Saint Nicholas. What we know from history is that the tradition of Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas merged.
Could they be the same person? Only Santa Claus can tell us for sure.
Long before the Wright brothers flew the first airplane or the Montgolfier brothers flew the first hot air balloon, Santa knew he had to find a way to travel quickly from house to house at great speed. We know from our Santa Cam images that Santa's choice for quick transportation was a herd of flying reindeer. Of course, to this day, detailed information on these reindeer remains a mystery. We do know, however, that Santa somehow found a way to get the reindeer to help him with his worldwide mission of gift giving. A veil of sweet mystery hides the rest.
Santa Snacks
Santa does take breaks during his long trip - especially for snacks left by children. Santa eats and drinks lots of different snacks on Christmas Eve.
Do you leave Santa a snack? Kids all over the world leave Santa snacks and drinks. And some kids leave carrots for Santa's Reindeer. The Reindeer love vegetables, especially carrots.
Check back on Christmas Eve to see how many cookies Santa eats during his journey!
Radar, Satellites Track Santa's Journey
Each year since 1955 the North American Aerospace Defense Command has used its radar and satellite technology to track Santa's flight from the North Pole to the homes of every good little boy and girl. This year, Santa's journey is being displayed using Google Maps, updated every 5 minutes! Click below for the latest report on Santa's position.
Edna Mary Gerard was born at home March 29, 1911, the oldest of 12 children. Her father and grandfather worked for Washburn Crosby Co., the forerunner of General Mills. She and her next younger sister Doris were busy during their growing up years helping their mother with the housework and taking care of their younger brothers and sisters. After attending Sydney Pratt grade school where her parents had attended through the eighth grade, she entered the ninth grade at Marshall High School where she studied home economics, German, typing and bookkeeping plus the required subjects. In the fall of her junior year, she worked and lived with an elderly couple. She helped with the dinner every night and cleaned house on Saturday for which she received her room and board plus $2.50 a week. She did not return to school that fall to finish her senior year which was not uncommon in those days. Everyone needed to work.
Her memories of the ’20s included Sunday school and choir at Bethany Presbyterian Church, homemade ice cream for Sunday dinner and her mother playing the piano on Sunday evenings while the family sang. Her entertainment included dancing at the Marigold Ballroom in Minneapolis where free lessons were given before the evening dancing. The two step, waltz, tango, varsity drag and polka were taught. This was during the “Roaring 20s” when jazz music was at its best. It was also Prohibition, so there was no liquor served.
Edna married Harold Holmgren in 1933 and Lois Jane was born in 1935. The family of three lived in Minneapolis until World War II ended when they moved to Eden Prairie in 1948. At that time, Eden Prairie had about 3,000 residents and lots of cows and corn. Edna went to work for a company in St. Louis Park using the bookkeeping skills she had learned in high school.
In 1968 she began working for the Village of Eden Prairie as bookkeeper and deputy clerk. When the form of government changed, City Manager Elmer Clark appointed her city clerk and her duties included overseeing the elections, taking minutes at the council meetings, bookkeeping and general office functions.
In December of 1968, she received a call from the Pillsbury Co. informing her that she had won a trip to Atlanta to compete in the 20th Bake-Off contest with her recipe called “Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs.” The Bake-Off was held the following February. It was an honor to be one of the 100 contestants, but to be chosen the $25,000 Grand Prize Winner wasn’t something Edna was expecting. She had made up her mind to just go and have a good time and not be concerned about the baking abilities of the other women.
Winning the Bake-Off started a whirlwind of activities for her. She was interviewed on TV and demonstrated her rolls at several food stores in the area. She made trips to Chicago and New York with Pillsbury and Kraft executives and she made her “puffs,” as she liked to call them, for many people to sample. One of the stories she liked to tell was about her 8-year-old nephew, who she said didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but told her he liked her sugar cookies a lot better. She made many trips using the interest from her prize money. They included Hawaii, Mexico, the Holy Land and a cruise to name a few.
She left the City Clerk job, but continued using her office skills as part-time bookkeeper for the 1,000-acre planned community called “The Preserve,” where she also purchased a condominium. It was during this time that she married Gordon Walker. Gordy had a motorhome, so they spent winters in Florida, California and Arizona and summers in Eden Prairie.
When she was 84, she fell and injured her leg and spent seven weeks in the hospital. Her boss told her when she got well her job would be waiting for her. How many 84-year-olds can say that? She continued to work and drive her car until she was 90 when she moved to Beacon Hill Presbyterian Home in Glen Lake. She volunteered her time singing in the choir and enjoyed outings with her friends. She continued to put her office skills to good use compiling and recording events in her and her family’s lives as well as the world and assembled them in three-ring binders. The books are on the table in the Friendship Hall and make for very interesting reading. Take a look at them. They are incredibly detailed and a wonderful legacy for her family. Most of this information was taken from her books.
In 1999, another honor came her way. The puffs were chosen as one of 10 of Pillsbury’s Hall of Fame recipes in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Bake-Off. An all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to accept her award was truly a dream trip. The “Tunnel of Fudge” cake winner from Texas asked her, “How old are you dearie?” She was disappointed when Edna told her she was 88, as she was only 84. It was a wonderful trip for mother and daughter to take and make memories together.
She made many friends because of the Bake-Off and her career and still kept in touch with them, but the most important people in her life were always her family. Her daughter Lois and son-in-law Reuel; granddaughter Lynda and her husband Bill; granddaughter Peggy and her son Taylor. She will be missed by them and many others whose path she crossed in her lifetime. Edna outlived her 11 siblings and witnessed many changes in the world in her 96 years. She approached death with the same attitude she displayed in life. If there was something to be done, she did it. Holmgren died Oct. 7. We all celebrate her new life in Christ and that she is with him in the place he has prepared for her. Thanks be to God for Edna.
Pillsbury Bake-Off Winners Named
The Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest
A Click Away: Did 'Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs' bring sewer ...
New details are coming out about one of the Upstate's biggest mysteries.
Travelers Rest Police will be featured Saturday on America's Most Wanted and then on 48 Hours Mystery next Saturday. They are now saying they believe the woman who stole Brooke Henson's identity targeted her on purpose.
Detectives have been working for eight years to try and figure out what happened to Brooke Henson. Her family says she walked away from her home to get a pack of cigarettes in the early morning hours of July 4th 1999 and was never seen again.
Then, last year police say a woman named Esther Reed stole Henson's identity. She got college loans for Columbia University. Officers are hoping this strange case can be solved with national exposure.
"The matter of Esther Reed has been an interesting distraction. It's brought a lot of media attention to the case and it's given us help we may otherwise not have had. If ultimately Esther Reed's distraction can bring resolution to this case, then it was a welcome distraction," said Inv. Clark Brazier with Travelers Rest Police.
A Look At Some Of The "Baddest" Women In America
Across South Carolina
TV judge awards leg to man who lost it
brooke henson
So... is there any service in Montreal (West-Island) that is similar to a Rent-A-Husband (or wife! :P) type-of deal for small home repairs?
Sounds odd... but I have some dry-wall patching that needs to be done. It's a couple of relatively small jobs (on walls and cieling), but because it's required to be done over several days contractors charge a lot for coming back and forth. Basically, is there any service out there that will allow me to hire someone for whom I could pay for the materials and a couple of hundred dollars (cash!) for labour?
It really sucks not having family or relatives who would do this and I really can't afford anything major, but looking at those holes every day is incredibly disheartening. I absolutely hate the living space I'm in and can't help but think that fixing these things might make me feel better about it all. Also, if I like the work, I wouldn't mind having my bathroom tiles re-grouted eventually as well, so there is the possibility of more work in the future.
Any personal accounts and satisfaction with service would be most appreciated.
Rent to own now goes round & round
Will leaves widow sitting pretty as long as she does not remarry
On Monday night, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) and SciFi show Ghost Hunters were in St. Louis at the downtown library. I enjoy the show so decided to stop by and see them. Turns out I’m not the only one around who watches the show. They had around 1,000 people in the library and another 300 or so they had to turn away due to building capacity and fire code issues. I missed getting in the room where they were by ~40 people, so I wound up in the overflow room (which was much larger than the main room). They had a video feed setup, although we didn’t actually get to see them but rather the video from their laptop presentation along with audio.
The presentation was entertaining. They stress they’re just a couple of plumbers and aren’t great public speakers, but they were engaging, informative, and funny. They talked about how they will investigate a location over a week when filming and then it gets edited down to make it look like a single night. They also don’t have much control over the editing process. They have a book out that talks about some of their cases and gives you more info about the things that were left on the cutting room floor.
Afterwards, there was a meet and greet line where you could get something signed and have a photo taken. I didn’t have their book or anything else, so I just had them sign the flyer for the session. I was near the end of the line and didn’t get up to them until around 10 PM. I asked how they were holding up and Jason said that it was good to see the end of the line since it meant they could get something to eat and sleep. They arrived in town right before the session started, so they had to have been dragging after four hours.
Ghost Hunters Live Six Hour Halloween Special
Crazy costumes, hauntings part of Halloween TV
Real ghosts busted on Sci-Fi
A Manhattan real estate agent who moved in elite Hollywood, Hamptons and music industry circles and helped establish the celebrity broker persona was killed in her Central Park apartment, according to New York police and the city medical examiner.
Linda Stein, a feisty, brash presence on New York's celebrity real estate scene who brokered multi-million dollar deals for Billy Joel, Sting and Steven Spielberg, was found dead in a pool of blood around her head in her Fifth Avenue penthouse by one of her two daughters about 11 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
Although officials initially said her death appeared to be an accident, the city medical examiner later said Stein, 62, was killed by blunt force trauma to the back of the head and neck. Police are treating her death as a homicide. There was no murder weapon found and no sign of forced entry, police said.
Author Steven Gaines, who met Stein in the early 1970s and later wrote about her in "The Sky's the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan," said news of her death stunned her close circle of friends yesterday. "We're absolutely positive that no one who knew her ... could have done this," Gaines said. "She had no enemies of that kind."
"I just can't imagine this," said Dottie Herman, a longtime friend and CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, where Stein maintained a high-profile client list. "This just doesn't make sense to me."
Police said Stein's daughter, Mandy Stein, last saw her alive at 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to police sources, and had let herself into the apartment with a key.
Stein was born in Manhattan and was working as a teacher when she met Seymour Stein, co-founder of Sire Records, Gaines said. During their marriage in the 1970s, the company helped launch the careers of the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna, among others.
Stein, a quick-witted, often bawdy character, fit in well with the rock-and-roll culture, befriended several luminaries, including Elton John, who later became godfather to one of her daughters, Gaines said.
"These people liked her because she was sophisticated, bright," said Gaines, whose chapter title "Broker to the Stars" became Stein's moniker. "Bob Dylan used to call her on the telephone at 2 a.m. to chat, I kid you not."
After the couple divorced, Stein managed the seminal punk rock group The Ramones and other bands before turning to real estate, where she turned her celebrity connections into clients and thrived in the competitive sales culture.
During the 1980s, Stein was profiled in magazines, and her pithy quotes popped up frequently in celebrity gossip columns. Several friends and co-workers said her sense of humor, sometimes tempestuous personality and competitive spirit served her well as an A-list saleswoman.
"She was tiny, a little thing, but she didn't take any -- -- ," Herman said. "Underneath it, she had a heart of gold."
Stein maintained a busy work schedule in the past decade, despite twice battling breast cancer. "She didn't let it slow her down. She had appointments today, appointments tomorrow," Herman said. "She was tough as nails." Stein's current listings include a $26 million property in Montauk and a $9 million estate in Siena, Italy.
"She had a huge personality, huge," said Prudential broker Lori Barabari, who knew Stein for about six years. "She had an edge that let her be comfortable with Hollywood people, financial people, all genres of people."
Staff Writer Rocco Parascandola and Adam Pincus contributed to this story.
'Realtor to Stars' Is Slain on Fifth Avenue
Real Estate Agent Found Slain in 5th Ave.
LISLE, IL, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - SXC Health Solutions, Corp. ("SXC" or the "Company") , a leading provider of pharmacy benefits management services and technology, is pleased to announce that Mr. Anthony R. Masso, and Mr. Curtis J. Thorne, have joined its board of directors.
"Tony and Curt are two experienced healthcare industry executives with proven leadership skills and track records for building successful businesses. They are very active within the industry as CEO's of leading companies serving health plan sponsors. Their presence on our board will enhance our organizational leadership and extend the Company's reach further into our key target markets," said Gordon S. Glenn, Chairman and CEO of SXC.
Mr. Masso, 65, is President and CEO of Consortium Health Plans, Inc., a national coalition of 19 Blue Cross Blue Shield ("BCBS") plans that is focused on building market share of its members amongst major employers and benefits consultants. Prior to Consortium he was President of StrongCastle LLC, a private consulting company that specializes in the development and implementation of strategic business plans for corporate clients.
Mr. Masso was also previously President of Litho Group, Inc., and Executive Vice President of Integrated Health Services, Inc. He spent four years as Senior Vice President of the Health Insurance Association of America, where he planned and implemented a transformation of indemnity insurers into managed care networks. As Senior Vice President of Aetna Health Plans, he was responsible for East Coast operations for all HMOs and POS health plans. Mr. Masso has several years of public sector experience with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During his career he has spent time on the board of more than 15 different companies ranging from managed care organizations to physician partnerships to venture capital companies.
"Tony's extensive operational background in the healthcare industry coupled with his in-depth knowledge of health plans will be a valuable asset as our business continues to grow and evolve," added Mr. Glenn. "SXC counts several large BCBS organizations as customers and Tony's close involvement with BCBS plans at Consortium will provide us with valuable insight into this market segment."
Since 2000, Mr. Thorne, 48, has been President and CEO of MedSolutions, Inc., a company focused on management of medical imaging services. From 1998-2000, he was its President and COO. During his leadership tenure he grew revenue from $18 million to $200 million, contracted membership from 800,000 to over 20 million, and the employee base from 40 to approximately 700. Prior to MedSolutions, Mr. Thorne was President and COO of Adesso Specialty Services, a California-based specialty physician management company. Mr. Thorne also served as General Manager of Aetna Pharmacy Management and in other senior management positions at the Travelers and CIGNA.
Mr. Thorne earned his masters in business administration from the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University and a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina. He has been active in serving on various national managed care policy making task forces, work groups and editorial boards.
"Curt has spent his career in managed care with a strong track record for developing and growing specialty healthcare organizations and business units," added Mr. Glenn. "This experience will be extremely valuable as we continue to expand our market presence into new vertical markets within the pharmacy benefit management space."
SXC is also announcing today that long-time board member and former CFO Jim Ryan has resigned from his position on SXC's board to pursue other interests. "On behalf of the Company and the board, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Jim for the many years of commitment and guidance that he has contributed to SXC, both as an employee and member of the board. We wish him well in his future endeavors," said Mr. Glenn.
Following these announcements, the number of directors on SXC's board is eight; with six independent members. In addition to Mr. Masso and Mr. Thorne, the members of SXC's board are Gordon S. Glenn, Chairman and CEO; Terrance Burke, private consultant; Steven Cosler, former President and CEO of Priority Healthcare Corp.; Bill Davis, CFO of Allscripts; Philip Reddon, Vice President Investments at Covington Capital; and Mark Thierer, President and COO of SXC.
About SXC Health Solutions
SXC Health Solutions, Inc. (SXC) is a leading provider of pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services and healthcare IT solutions to the healthcare benefits management industry. The Company's product offerings and solutions combine a wide range of software applications, application service provider (ASP) processing services and professional services, designed for many of the largest organizations in the pharmaceutical supply chain, such as Federal, provincial, and, state and local governments, pharmacy benefit managers, managed care organizations, retail pharmacy chains and other healthcare intermediaries. SXC is based in Lisle, Illinois with locations in; Scottsdale, Arizona; Warminster, Pennsylvania; Alpharetta, Georgia; Milton, Ontario and Victoria, British Columbia. For more information please visit www.sxc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included herein, including those that express management's expectations or estimates of our future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. We caution that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other risks that may cause our actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from our estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation, our ability to achieve increased market acceptance for our product offerings and penetrate new markets; consolidation in the healthcare industry; the existence of undetected errors or similar problems in our software products; our ability to identify and complete acquisitions, manage our growth and integrate acquisitions; our ability to compete successfully; potential liability for the use of incorrect or incomplete data; the length of the sales cycle for our healthcare software solutions; interruption of our operations due to outside sources; our dependence on key customers; maintaining our intellectual property rights and litigation involving intellectual property rights; our ability to obtain, use or successfully integrate third-party licensed technology; compliance with existing laws, regulations and industry initiatives and future change in laws or regulations in the healthcare industry; breach of our security by third parties; our dependence on the expertise of our key personnel; our access to sufficient capital to fund our future requirements; and potential write-offs of goodwill or other intangible assets. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of our forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to SXC or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. We disclaim any intent or obligation to update publicly these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Risks and uncertainties about our business are more fully discussed in our Annual Information Form.
Those who thought they could get an extra hour of sleep this weekend must be dreaming.
Calgarians eager to turn their clocks back to standard time will have to wait until next weekend as daylight savings time now ends a week later than usual.
Instead of the last Sunday in October, clocks "fall back" on Sunday, Nov. 4, giving trick-or-treaters extra daylight to collect their goodies Oct. 31.
As a result of changes first adopted in the U.S. in 2005 and by the Alberta government last year, in an effort to conserve energy, daylight savings time began three weeks earlier this spring, on the second Sunday in March, and will extend to the first Sunday in November
If you're planning to run in the inaugural Marine Corps Historic Half half-marathon on May 18, you'd better set an alarm for noon on Nov. 1.
That's when Web registration for the event will begin. Fredericksburg Tourism Manager Karen Hedelt said Marine Corps Marathon officials have said the 5,000 race slots could fill up in as little as three hours.
The Historic Half will be the companion event to the Marine Corps Marathon--the seventh-largest marathon in the world. That event will take place today in Washington.
Hedelt said city tourism staff will be at the pre- and post-race exhibitions at the marathon to promote the Fredericksburg event.
"This is a pretty big deal for us," Hedelt said.
How big? The 5,000 runners in the race are expected to bring with them a large cadre of family, friends and other supporters.
Event organizers estimate as many as 20,000 spectators could come to the event, providing a large base of customers for city hotels, restaurants and businesses.
"It's a huge opportunity," Hedelt said, noting that it has gotten Fredericksburg notice in some nationwide publications it's not usually mentioned in.
For example, Runner's World recently ran a blurb in its race reports section urging readers to mark their calendars for the Nov. 1 sign-up date for the half-marathon, warning that the spots are expected to fill up quickly.
The race will start at 7 a.m.--city officials asked organizers to push the starting time back from 8 a.m. to ease any impact the run might have on downtown churches.
It will pass through Central Park, snake through downtown and surrounding neighborhoods and swing by the Rappahannock riverfront.
Last year, daylight saving time ended the final Sunday in October. Not so this year, even though many calendars will tell you otherwise.
So if you moved your clocks back an hour as of 2 a.m. this morning, go ahead and move them forward again. For a week, anyway.
The "fall back" portion of things will happen next Sunday, Nov. 4. It will spring ahead again March 9.
Many savvy and paranoid torrent downloaders have noticed that the latest episodes of "Heroes" and "Prison Break", released on EZTV, are being tracked by none other than MiiVi.org, the trap site set up by MediaDefender to entrap pirates.
However, the tracker is another ingenious idea by the guys over at The Pirate Bay and nothing to be worried about. The new tracker describes itself "as a tribute to the fall of MediaDefender" and was registered to the admins of the The Pirate Bay. EZTV will now be using the tracker "tv.mivii.org" for its TV releases.
Just another parting shot at MediaDefender as it dies slowly.
Slightly bad news for those looking forward to getting an extra hour of sleep this Saturday night.
The switch from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time — the time each year in the last weekend of October when the hands of the clock are turned back one hour — has been delayed a week. This year, the move back to Standard Time from Daylight Savings Time will occur the first weekend of November.
The calibration of Daylight Savings Time and Standard Time is all an effort to take maximum advantage of daylight and reduce the need for energy consumption. Due to the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, Daylight Savings Time was extended to 34 weeks beginning this year. Whether it actually saves on energy is a matter of opinion.
Raising fire safety awareness has been coordinated with the habit of springing forward and falling back an hour in time. The public is reminded to replace batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors when the clocks are changed twice each year.
For those who look forward to the extra hour of sleep that the switch from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time affords — there is only one more week to wait.
DENVER -- Boston manager Terry Francona chose to sit first baseman Kevin Youkilis as the World Series shifts to the National League city tonight where the designated hitter rule is not in play.
As a result, David Ortiz, Boston's regular DH, will play first base in Game 3 against the Colorado Rockies, and the pitchers will hit.
I haven't always agreed with Francona's approach -- such as when he's reluctant to put the game in motion -- but this was absolutely the right move.
It pains Francona to remove Youkilis from the lineup -- he's batting .396 in postseason play -- but it was the best decision when facing this conundrum. Ortiz is the heart and soul of the Red Sox, the team's undisputed leader and the game's best clutch hitter. You'd be crazy to take Ortiz out. They teach you that in the first semester at manager school -- Rule No. 1: Keep your best player in the game.
While Youkilis has played third base, he spent this season at first. Mike Lowell is one of the game's best gloves at third and is a terrific hitter with runners in scoring position. Plus he bats behind Manny Ramirez and helps protect the slugger. Even if Lowell wasn't having a tremendous year, I'm not sure you toss Youkilis in at third in the middle of a World Series. The position is too important defensively.
The change opens another door for former Oregon State star Jacoby Ellsbury, who will start in center field. Ellsbury will bat leadoff, and second baseman Dustin Pedroia will move down to the No. 2 hole, replacing Youkilis.
"We're hoping he'll give us a guy who gets on base a bunch of times tonight, maybe a couple stolen bases, runs scored," Francona said before the game.
Ellsbury, with his outstanding speed and plate discipline, is a natural leadoff hitter. It will be interesting to see if can attack Colorado on the bases tonight -- that is, if he doesn't freeze to death in the cavernous outfield at Coors Field.
Temperatures will dip well into the 30s tonight in Denver.
Dear Joan:
Help! As of Sept. 19, POPCORN (the number to dial for the correct time) has been discontinued. Now how do we get the correct time when our power has gone out? We're clueless -- or timeless, as the case may be.
Can you, with your infinite power, help us out here?
V. Flan, cyberspace
Dear V.: OK, here are some suggestions. The obvious ones are to keep a wind-up or battery-operated clock that's not disturbed by a power outage, although they are vulnerable to dead batteries and forgetful winders.
You could check your mobile phone, GPS, cable service or your computer, although my work computer is five minutes fast. You also can buy a clock that sets itself automatically when the power comes back on, getting its time from a direct link to an atomic clock.
You could buy a wrist watch. Those have been going out of style since most people check the time by looking at their phones, but they're still handy.
If you have to have the precise time, you can call the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., where ticks away an atomic clock that is the country's official time source. By calling 303-499-7111, you'll get a coordinated universal time, more commonly known as Greenwich Mean Time. But you have to do your own math to figure local time.
You also could hop in your car and drive to a bank that still has the flashing time sign. You can get the temperature there, too.
Or you can adopt
a devil-may-care attitude and not worry about time, which is likely to get you into trouble at work or with your significant other when you show up two hours late for a date.
Seriously though, one of the reasons AT&T got rid of the time service is that relatively few people were using it. As I sit at my desk writing this, I'm surrounded by no fewer than six clocks, none of which have exactly the same time. It seems we've got a lot of time on our hands.
Dear Joan: My mother would always tell my brother, sisters and me "It's Indian summer." I know there is a song by that title. She would sing a few words to it, but that was all. All we ever heard was: "In old Indian summer, you old Indian summer."
Could you find the words for this song. I think it came out in the late 1930s.
John C., Pittsburg
Dear John: The song your mom used to paraphrase is called "Indian Summer," and it was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra in November 1939. It was written by Victor Herbert and Al Dubin, although the melody was written in 1919 as a piano piece called "An American Idyll."
Here are all the lyrics:
"Summer, you old Indian summer/You're the tear that comes after June time's laughter/You see so many dreams that don't come true/Dreams we fashioned when summertime was new/You are here to watch over/Some heart that is broken/By a word that somebody left unspoken/You're the ghost of a romance in June/Going astray, fading too soon/That's why I say/'Farewell to you, Indian summer.'"
Dear Readers: Last week I answered a question about the value of Kennedy half dollars. Jim, a reader, sent a note reminding me that the real value of the first Kennedy coins is in the silver content. Coins minted in 1964 were almost 90 percent silver. The composition of the coins was changed the following year, greatly reducing the amount of silver in the coin. And in 1971, silver was eliminated completely.
So the 1964-1970 coins, if sold for their silver, are worth far more than 50 cents.
Thanks, Jim. I overlooked that important detail.
Reports have claimed that a member of the Royal Family was the target of a blackmail plot involving sex and drug allegations. Buckingham Palace has refused to comment. British newspaper, The Sunday Times says an unnamed royal was at the centre of a £50,000 extortion scam.
Reporter Derek Tedder has claimed that the Royal Family are not saying anything at all, which is to be expected but more unusual is the fact that the Metropolitan Police are not saying anything either.
Dickie Arbiter, former Royal press secretary has said, “The handling of the blackmail allegations is done strictly by the book by Buckingham Palace. As soon as something like this happens they inform the police immediately.”
The blackmailers in question allegedly first contacted the royal household on August 2. One of the men involved claims to have evidence suggesting that a royal aide had an envelope full of cocaine that had been supplied by a royal. He also claimed during the conversation that a video tape showing the aide giving oral sex existed. It was indicated that the recipient of the sex act was the unnamed royal.
A senior legal adviser to the royal had agreed with the blackmailers that he would view the tape before handing over the cash. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police have been asked to intervene.
An undercover detective, posing as an aide, contacted the blackmailers and arranged a meeting at the London Hilton in Park Lane.
Officers in the next room secretly filmed the meeting and parts of the video were shown before detectives stepped in, seized the tape and arrested the two blackmailers.
Scotland Yard has said,
“A 30-year-old man and 40-year-old man appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 13th September each charged with one count of blackmail. Both have been remanded in custody to reappear at the Old Bailey on 20th December.”
