San Bernardino hire has twice declared bankruptcy

Tim Reid , Reuters ? ? ? 23 hrs.

LOS ANGELES - The bankrupt city of San Bernardino has hired a new city manager who, according to court filings, has twice declared personal bankruptcy and was recently ousted from the board of a small community's water company after being sued by shareholders.

The city council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to hire Allen J. Parker, 71, as its city manager on an annual salary of almost $222,000. He replaces an interim city manager who resigned last month because, according to friends, she was exasperated by the city's internal divisions.

The interim city manager, Andrea Travis-Miller, could not be reached for comment.

Pat Morris, the mayor of the city in California, praised Parker's "wealth of city management experience" and expressed "great confidence" in his ability to oversee the city's affairs. Parker, who began working in the job on Wednesday, will be crucial in guiding the city of 210,000 people through municipal bankruptcy, in a case that could set a national precedent for Wall Street bondholders and pension funds in future municipal bankruptcies.

The mayor and council members knew about both of Parker's personal bankruptcies -- the first in 1991 and the second in 2011 -- and the litigation surrounding his water board tenure before they interviewed him, according to the mayor's chief of staff. They discussed both issues with him when they interviewed Parker last Friday. They say the issues were no impediment: the council interviewed two final candidates but voted unanimously to hire him.

The California newspaper The Press-Enterprise reported on Thursday that Parker filed in 2011 for personal bankruptcy. In comments to the paper, Parker said that his bankruptcy and his ability to handle the city's fiscal problems were "apples and oranges."

Calls and emails to Parker asking about his bankruptcy filings and his tenure on the water board went unanswered. An email to Parker asking if his wife Sara, with whom he jointly filed for bankruptcy in the 2011 petition, would comment also did not elicit a response.

The bankruptcy of San Bernardino, a city 65 miles east of Los Angeles, is a national test case as to whether the pensions of government workers take precedence over other payments in a municipal bankruptcy -- a high stakes issue for pension plans and their beneficiaries, and for the Wall Street bondholders who lend money to governments.

City managers are central to any city's quest to seek bankruptcy protection, because they have a pivotal role in answering questions from creditors and the court. The judge overseeing San Bernardino's case must still rule on whether the city is eligible for bankruptcy before the case proceeds.

Legal dispute
A 2009 lawsuit brought by a shareholder in the Banning Heights Mutual Water Company, where Parker was a director and then president of the board between 2004 and 2010, resulted in Parker being voted off the board in February 2010 after a court-ordered special election.

Banning Heights is a tiny unincorporated community 85 miles east of Los Angeles. The water company was formed in 1913 to provide water and today it serves about 250 residents.

Despite its small size, the water rights and land upon which the community sits are worth millions of dollars, according to John McClendon, the water board's general counsel. At one point under Parker's tenure on the water board, an entity called The Tahiti Group had placed $7 million in an escrow account to purchase the company, according to correspondence attached to court filings.

Court filings in the 2009 lawsuit, and a subsequent separate lawsuit brought by the water company allege that Parker, along with others, used their position on the board to try to sell the water company, against the wishes of shareholders.

Parker and others were also accused of withholding information from shareholders, according to those court filings. The shareholder sued in 2009 because he said Parker and others ignored the results of previous shareholder elections when they were voted off the board. Parker is not a defendant in the second lawsuit which is still active.

According to one court filing by the water company dated September 20, 2010, when shareholders gained access to the water company's office after Parker and others were voted off the board, computers were missing, hard drives had been wiped and bags of shredded documents sat on the floor.

In a deposition dated November 9, 2010 relating to the 2009 lawsuit, Parker said he never shredded documents and did not believe anyone "during our regime" on the water board shredded any documents.

After a judge ruled against Parker and others in the 2009 lawsuit and ordered a special shareholder election, they were voted off the board by shareholders in February 2010.

Background check
According to his resume, which does not mention Banning Heights Water Company, Parker has long experience as a local manager in several other California cities such as East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Seal Beach and Compton.

Jim Morris, the son and chief of staff to Pat Morris, San Bernardino's mayor, said the city had done its own thorough background check on Parker before he was interviewed by the council, last Friday. His bankruptcies, and the Banning Heights Mutual Water Company litigation, were known about by the time the interview took place, Morris said.

"We talked to the attorneys involved, and pulled the court filings. These were disputes over election results," Morris said. He said the Banning Heights litigation did not involve serious issues, and that such disputes occur on small entities such as the water board all the time.

Morris said there was no reason why Parker should have included his tenure on the water board on his resume. "He wasn't employed by the water board," Morris said. "His resume was an employment resume. If someone was a member of their local homeowners' association you wouldn't expect that to be on their resume."

Parker filed for personal bankruptcy in 1991 in San Mateo, Calif., according to court records. No further details were available. In February 2011, he filed for bankruptcy with his wife, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California.

According to the 2011 bankruptcy filing, Parker and his wife listed among their debts two home mortgages with unsecured balances of $267,500, as well as bank and credit card debt of $137,252.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/bankrupt-san-bernardino-picks-twice-bankrupt-manager-1C8499972

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Stem cell 'homing' signal may help treat heart failure patients

Feb. 21, 2013 ? In the first human study of its kind, researchers activated heart failure patients' stem cells with gene therapy to improve their symptoms, heart function and quality of life, according to a study in the American Heart Association journal Circulation Research.

Researchers delivered a gene that encodes a factor called SDF-1 to activate stem cells like a "homing" signal.

The study is unique because researchers introduced the "homing" factor to draw stem cells to the site of injury and enhance the body's stem cell-based repair process. Generally, researchers extract and expand the number of cells, then deliver them back to the subject.

"We believe stem cells are always trying to repair tissue, but they don't do it well -- not because we lack stem cells but, rather, the signals that regulate our stem cells are impaired," said Marc S. Penn, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Research at Summa Cardiovascular Institute in Akron, Ohio, and lead author and professor of medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, Ohio.

SDF-1 is a naturally occurring protein, secreted by cells, that guides the movement of other cells. Previous research by Penn and colleagues has shown SDF-1 activates and recruits the body's stem cells, allowing them to heal damaged tissue. However, the effect may be short-lived. For example, SDF-1 that's naturally expressed after a heart attack lasts only a week.

In the study, researchers attempted to re-establish and extend the time that SDF-1 could stimulate patients' stem cells. Study participants' average age was 66 years.

Researchers injected one of three doses of the SDF-1 gene (5mg, 15mg or 30mg) into the hearts of 17 patients with symptomatic heart failure and monitored them for up to a year. Four months after treatment, they found:

• Patients improved their average distance by 40 meters during a six-minute walking test.
• Patients reported improved quality of life.
• The heart's pumping ability improved, particularly for those receiving the two highest doses of SDF-1 compared to the lowest dose.
• No apparent side effects occurred with treatment.

"We found 50 percent of patients receiving the two highest doses still had positive effects one year after treatment with their heart failure classification improving by at least one level," Penn said. "They still had evidence of damage, but they functioned better and were feeling better."

The findings indicate people's stem cells have the potential to induce healing without having to be taken out of the body, Penn said.

"Our study also shows gene therapy has the potential to help people heal their own hearts."

At the start of the study, participants didn't have significant reversible heart damage, but lacked blood flow in the areas bordering their damaged heart tissue.

The study's results -- consistent with other animal and laboratory studies of SDF-1 -- suggest that SDF-1 gene injections can increase blood flow around an area of damaged tissue, which has been deemed irreversible by other testing.

Researchers are now comparing results from heart failure patients receiving SDF-1 with patients who aren't. If the trial goes well, the therapy could be widely available to heart failure patients within four to five years, Penn said.

Co-authors are Farrell O.Mendelsohn, M.D.; Gary L. Schaer, M.D.; Warren Sherman, M.D.; MaryJane Farr, M.D.; Joseph Pastore, Ph.D.; Didier Rouy, M.D., Ph.D.; Ruth Clemens, M.P.H.; Rahul Aras, Ph.D., and Douglas W. Losordo, M.D.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/yX7noIwbMMI/130221194233.htm

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California Bill Could Outlaw Driving for up to a Week After Smoking ...

If you smoke marijuana in California, there's a chance you may have to wait a week or more before you can drive legally. A bill introduced last week by state Senator Lou Correa, a Democrat from Anaheim, would make it illegal to get behind the wheel if your blood contains "any detectable amount" of cannabis?a drug which, unlike alcohol, can persist in the blood of its users for a week or more after the psychoactive effects have worn off.

"This bill would effectively outlaw EVERY driver who has within recent hours or days used marijuana," California NORML director Dale Gieringer told the East Bay Express.

Strict traffic laws are fast becoming the new front of the war on drugs. Ten states already impose zero tolerance requirements on pot smokers who get behind the wheel. Another four, including Washington, where pot is now legal, set a blood limit for THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, at a level low enough to convict some drivers who aren't actually stoned.

Studies suggest that drivers with any amount of cannabis in their blood are on average twice as likely as drug-free drivers to cause an accident. But they're far less dangerous than drinkers, who cause accidents at nine times the rate of sober drivers. So if Correa really wants to prevent traffic accidents, he might want to worry less about someone who was high a week ago than that guy who just tossed back a few Miller High Lifes.

Source: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/02/california-law-driving-pot-lou-correa

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PlayStation 4 will stream gameplay to friends, allow them to take the reigns

Sharing in-game screenshots? That's last-generation stuff -- Sony wants to give gamers the ability to share their entire game with friends. Taking the stage at the company's PlayStation event, Mark Cerny explained that PS4 owners will be able to share their gameplay stream with friends, even giving their peers the ability remotely take control of the game to help them get through a tough spot. Sound familiar? It's Gaikai's streaming technology, in action. Gaikai founder Dave Perry explained that the technology is baked in to the PS4 architecture, and will give players new avenues of sharing their experiences by piping out video to Facebook and Ustream. The cloud gaming trick is central to the PlayStation Store too, promising to allow gamers the ability to "instantly experience anything." In other words, try before you buy, and forget about waiting for downloads. It's not quite the game streaming announcement we expected, but Sony certainly seems to be putting the technology to good use.

Gallery: PS4 Gaikai

Check out our liveblog of Sony's event to get the latest news as it happens!

Filed under: Sony

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/playstation-4-game-streaming/

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Addressing Legislature, Reid touts renewable energy, same-day registration

AP Photo/Cathleen Allison

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks to a joint session of the Nevada Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, at the Legislature in Carson?City.

By Andrew Doughman (contact), David McGrath Schwartz (contact)

Published Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 | 5 p.m.

Updated 9 minutes ago

CARSON CITY ??

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid praised Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, dissed a Democratic rising star?s bill and called on the Legislature to go after NV Energy to spur renewable energy projects in a speech Wednesday to the Nevada Legislature.

In his biennial address, the Democrat from Searchlight also said the Legislature should pass a law allowing Nevadans to register to vote on election day. He dismissed a voter verification bill being proposed by Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller as a ?solution looking for a problem.?

In the same speech, he praised Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval ? twice. Once for supporting a sales tax increase in Clark County for cops; the second for expanding Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act.

?I congratulate Gov. Sandoval for respecting the wishes of Clark County voters, and supporting this tax increase,? Reid said, according to his prepared remarks. ?I also applaud Gov. Sandoval for his role in our state's efforts to implement the health care reform law. I am pleased I was able to facilitate a conversation between the governor and the White House.?

That expansion would allow for 78,000 Nevadans to qualify for health insurance who otherwise wouldn?t.

Reid, in praising former Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, for his work on renewable energy, also called for ending term limits.

?In my view, arbitrary term limits purge a part-time legislature of full lifetimes of experience,? Reid said. ?I urge you to reverse this, which denies our constituents the right to select their own leaders. Elections are the only term limits Nevada needs.?

To reporters after the speech he called term-limits ?un-American.?

On his own re-election, Reid said once again that he planned to run for re-election in 2016.

?Sure. Why not?? he told reporters after the speech.

The speech lacked the big splash that it had in 2011, when the Legislature last met and Reid called for an end to legalized prostitution in Nevada. He argued that legal prostitution hurt the state?s economic diversification efforts. News of his remarks leaked out before the speech. Prostitutes and an owner of a legal brothel sat in the audience. No lawmaker took up Reid?s proposal to end prostitution.

Later, Reid said of his proposal: "Boy, that went over like a pregnant high jumper, didn't it?"

On Wednesday, brothel owner Dennis Hof and some of his working girls came to the speech, though the reason wasn?t immediately clear.

Still, the speech had substance. It called for cooperation from stakeholders to build an arena in Southern Nevada. It also took on NV Energy ? without naming them ? for using ?loopholes? in the law to meet its renewable energy standard.

He said the utility should not get credit for buying hydro-electric power from Utah or ?allow them to meet the portfolio standard by handing out energy-efficient light bulbs at Home Depot.?

?Closing these loopholes will strengthen the law and send a powerful signal that Nevada remains committed to kicking our dependence on out-of-state, fossil fuels,? he said.

Environmentalists and renewable energy developers have blamed NV Energy, in part, for a stalled renewable energy market in Nevada.

State Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, and Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, avoided mentioning loopholes or NV Energy in statements released after Reid?s speech but applauded his proposal to strengthen the state?s renewable energy standard.

He also decried the fact that Southern Nevada does not have a large-scale arena. ?A new arena could be the next frontier for this pioneer town. But to make a top-notch stadium a reality, it will take top-notch cooperation between Clark County stakeholders,? he said.

The stadium proposal has faced setbacks in recent days as casino groups have balked at paying for the stadium and the Federal Aviation Administration has warned that the stadium?s proposed height is too high given its proximity to McCarran International Airport.

?It's time we united around this idea to move Southern Nevada's economy forward,? he said in his speech.

He later told the press that ?it?s not out of the question that the state Legislature may be called upon to do something to help on a tax basis or something.?

?The people of Clark County have to work it out,? he said. ?If they need something up here, they can talk to Sandoval. If they need something in Washington, they can talk to me.?

Miller, a Democrat who is exploring a run for Nevada attorney general, said: ?I understand and appreciate his concerns about photo identification requirements, whether they lie with typical voter ID bills or with my election modernization proposal. I'm committed to engaging in a continued dialog with the senator as we move through the legislative process.?

Reid passed ? after a long pause ? on taking a position on Senate Joint Resolution 15, which would take the state?s tax on minerals out of the state?s constitution.

He also would not offer a position on the teacher?s Education Initiative, a proposed business tax to raise money for the state. He told reporters, that he was concerned with reaching a federal deal on sequestration over the next few weeks.

Source: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/20/addressing-legislature-reid-touts-renewable-energy/

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Southwest Airlines' on-demand WiFi video reaches all capable aircraft (video)

While we're gradually acclimating ourselves to the idea of watching in-flight video on our own devices and schedules, many airlines aren't quite in step with the idea. Count Southwest Airlines among the more enlightened, then, as its video on-demand system has just finished rolling out to every WiFi-equipped aircraft. If you hop aboard one of the company's Boeing 737-700 or 737-800 jets, you can pay either $5 per movie or $5 for flat-rate TV access on a WiFi device, whether or not you're paying for an internet link. About a quarter of Southwest's vehicles currently go without -- we wouldn't expect VOD on a short hop just yet -- but all new aircraft and AirTran overhauls will see the upgrade. We're mostly content to know that we won't have to always resort to the biggest airlines to keep ourselves occupied during long-haul expeditions.

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Southwest Airlines Launches Movies On Demand

Majority of Fleet Now Equipped With Variety of Inflight Entertainment Options

DALLAS, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) announced today that movies on demand are now available on all WiFi-equipped Southwest aircraft for only $5 per movie, per device. The airline also announced an upgrade to their television package. In 2012, Southwest became the only airline in the world to stream live television directly to Customers' personal devices. Now, in addition to eight channels of live news and sports, Customers can also select on-demand episodes of popular television shows. The upgraded TV package is $5 a day, per device on WiFi-enabled planes.

"Providing a comprehensive and robust inflight connectivity system for our Customers is paramount," said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines' Senior Vice President Business Development. "Our Flight Attendants are famous for delivering superb Customer Service, and we're excited to enhance our onboard entertainment offering and take the Customer Experience to new heights."

The majority of Southwest Customers now have access to WiFi, movies on demand, and the upgraded television offering. As of February 6, all Southwest Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 aircraft were equipped with Row 44 satellite technology that enables these entertainment offerings/services. This milestone represents nearly 75 percent of all Southwest aircraft, which completes the retrofit installations. Moving forward, all new deliveries and AirTran conversions will enter service with Row 44 technology installed.

WiFi service can be purchased for $8 a day, per device including stops and connections. Customers do not need to purchase WiFi in order to access movies or TV.

Accessing the Internet, or watching movies and television is simple. Customers use their WiFi-enabled device onboard any Boeing 737-700 or 737-800 aircraft, connect to "southwestwifi," and launch their browser to be directed to the inflight entertainment portal. From the portal, Customers are able to select WiFi, movies, or television. The portal also provides free access to a flight tracker, shopping, and games. With Row 44 satellite technology, connectivity continues to work over bodies of water so Customers remain connected all day, no matter where they travel. This video highlights the Inflight connectivity experience.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Transportation

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Source: Southwest

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/southwest-airlines-on-demand-wifi-video-reaches-capable-aircraft/

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Triumph passengers bring class action against Carnival

(Reuters) - The owner of the stricken Carnival Triumph cruise ship was hit by a lawsuit seeking class action status for stranding more than 3,000 passengers for five days on a ship without electricity or adequate sanitation.

Carnival Corp should be held liable for physical and emotional anguish inflicted on the passengers as well as punitive damages, according to the lawsuit by Matt and Melissa Crusan. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in U.S. federal court in Miami.

The Triumph was towed into Mobile, Alabama on Thursday, four days after a fire knocked out the ship's power while it was off the coast of Mexico.

The lawsuit alleged the world's largest cruise company failed to provide a seaworthy ship. In addition, "motivated solely by financial gain" Carnival negligently brought the Triumph to Mobile, where it would be repaired, rather than a closer Mexican port. That decision extended the trip by 350 miles, the plaintiffs said.

Passengers were exposed to disease as sewage and "human waste sloshed around the vessel as the vessel listed while drifting and/or while under tow," according to the lawsuit.

A Carnival spokesman, Vance Gulliksen, said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit seeks to represent all of the passengers on the stricken cruise.

The complaint said that the Triumph ticket limits passengers' rights to bring a class action, but that provision should be voided by Carnival's negligence in using an unseaworthy vessel and not towing the ship to the nearest port.

Carnival has offered Triumph passengers $500, reimbursement for their transportation and many onboard costs, and given them a credit toward a future cruise equal to the amount they paid for the Triumph vacation.

Jim Walker, who specializes in representing cruise ship passengers, told Reuters last week that the compensation offer was probably more than Triumph passengers would likely win in court. Walker is not involved in this suit and said he is unlikely to bring a case.

The class action lawsuit, which was filed by the Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman law firm in Miami, is at least the second by a Triumph passenger. On Friday, Cassie Terry of Brazoria County, Texas sued Carnival.

Michael Winkleman, an attorney with Lipcon, Margulies could not be reached for comment.

Like the Crusans, Terry sued for the conditions aboard the ship, which lacked working toilets and proper ventilation.

The case is Matt Crusan and Melissa Crusan v Carnival Corp, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 13-20592.

(Reporting By Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/triumph-passengers-bring-class-action-against-carnival-225256730--finance.html

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