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【特訊】中國銀行澳門分行於本月10日下午，迷你倉出租假萬豪軒酒家舉行“中銀員工子女獎學金頒獎聯歡會__2013愛家•愛團圓”。活動旨在獎勵員工子女在學業上品學兼優及在年度內參加學界、本地公開、國際性的比賽中獲獎的學生，該行葉兆佳副行長、陳曉平副行長、劉澤光副行長兼員工康樂委員會會長，以及何潤生客戶總監等出席，與七百多名獲獎員工子女和親友共聚一堂，場面溫馨熱鬧，盡顯“愛家•愛團圓”的主題。本年度共有260多名員工子女分別獲得一等和二等獎獎學金，其中參加過學界、本地公開、國際性的體育/學術/文藝等比賽獲獎的30多人獲得該行評定的“傑出卓越獎”。該活動安排了獲獎員工子女及家長一同上台領獎，讓親友們見證小朋友取得榮耀儲存倉一刻。並由獲得傑出卓越獎的員工子女分享他們參加比賽的歷程和學習心得，更安排了小朋友即場演出他的卓越才藝。為了增強青少年對社會公民意識的認識，兩名過去曾獲得該行獎學金、現時正就讀大學的員工子女與何潤生客戶總監進行了真情對話。何潤生分享了他兼任立法會議員四年來服務社會的經驗，更聽取和接納了年青人不少意見和建議。此外，中銀一貫以“愛國愛澳，愛行敬業”的企業文化，推動員工參與社會、服務社會，為支持社會公益，今次活動特意購買了奧比斯中秋燈籠和迷你月餅，更邀請澳門扶康會和澳門弱智人士服務協會合作，現場安排“愛心無界限”義賣兩會學員親手制作的手工藝品，藉此機會向中銀員工的下一代灌輸為善最樂的精神，將“愛”傳承下去。迷你倉沙田

記者孟揚8月8日，文件倉首份上市銀行2013年中期業績報告出爐。華夏銀行半年報顯示，該行上半年淨利潤同比增長20.14%，與去年同期42%的業績增速相去甚遠。盈利增速大幅放緩將不是個例。今年上半年，宏觀經濟增速放緩、利率市場化改革加速、監管政策日趨嚴格，這一系列變化都使商業銀行的經營面臨前所未有的挑戰。多位銀行業分析師表示，中國銀行業已經告別盈利高增長時代，繼續優化資產負債結構、深入信貸結構調整、加強資產質量管理將成為銀行下半年的主要任務。多家銀行將現1 0 % 以內業績增速雖然2013年國內經濟溫和複蘇，但經濟增長的內生動力仍顯不足。外需疲弱的情況短期內難以扭轉，而消費對經濟增長的主導作用也仍未顯現。此外，加速推進的利率市場化改革直接降低銀行的存貸利差，加之監管層嚴查表外業務和化解地方政府債務風險等措施的出台，都使銀行盈利受到切實影響。華夏銀行半年報顯示，上半年該行實現營業收入222.07億元，同比增長14.16% ；實現歸屬於母公司的淨利潤73億元，同比增長20.16%，撥備前利潤119.76億元,同比增長18.05%，同比增速與一季度末相比均放緩5至6個百分點。從淨息差來看，雖然華夏銀行通過積極調整資產負債結構，使其淨息差在二季度出現環比上升，但多位分析師認為，上市銀行二季度淨息差仍將小幅下行。“今年一季度的資產重定價導致淨息差下行幅度較大，銀行議價能力較去年有所下降，且通過擴大同業做規模的方式對淨息差有一定程度攤薄；從存款情況看，存款增速較上年大幅回升，尤其是企業存款，但活期存款占比有小幅下降，預計負債成本變化不大。6月末銀行間市場利率飆升，但隔夜拆借對淨利潤的影響實際上很有限，下半年同業市場業務面臨收緊，重定價後負債成本也面臨上升，但主要取決于各行資產負債的配置期限和結構。結合兩方面，預計淨息差環比繼續下行，但幅度小于第一季度的6bp,預計2至4bp。”東莞證券分析師鄧茂表示。放眼整個銀行業，中國銀行業協會行業發展研究委員會7月30日發佈的《中國銀行業發展報告(2012-2013)》預計，2013年上市銀行淨利息收入和營業收入的增速將會進一步下滑至10%左右，淨利潤增速可能下降至8%左右，利潤增速出現拐點的可能性不大。“預計16家上市銀行2013年中期歸屬母公司淨利潤同比增速為12%，國有五大行、股份制銀行和城商行淨利潤同比增速分別為11%、14%和20%。”瑞銀證券分析師孫旭認為。一位銀行業人士告訴記者，與前兩年動輒30%、40%的淨利潤增速相比，銀行業盈利增速將大幅放緩，今年上半年，多家銀行的淨利潤增速將在10%以內。加速核銷難掩資產質量壓力在經濟增速放緩背景下，部分行業信用風險上升，區域性金融風險積聚，銀行業不良貸款餘額和不良貸款率溫和上升，成為困擾上市銀行的難題。截至今年6月末，華夏銀行不良貸款餘額70.65億元，比上年末增加7.2存倉億元；不良貸款率0.91%，比上年末上升0.03個百分點；關注類貸款餘額103.93億元，比上年末增加4.33億元，關注貸款率1.35%，比上年末下降0.03個百分點。值得關注的是，上半年華夏銀行核銷不良貸款8.57億元，已超過去年全年水平。“加上核銷的不良貸款，華夏銀行上半年新生成不良貸款達到15.83億元，不良貸款生成有加速的趨勢。從逾期貸款情況看，達到123.08億元，形勢也不容樂觀。”鄧茂說。記者注意到，上半年多家上市銀行加大了不良貸款的核銷力度。例如，浦發銀行已公告上半年核心不良貸款9.3億元，其規模也接近去年全年水平，說明目前銀行面臨較大的不良貸款上升壓力，核銷不良貸款有利於保持賬面不良貸款的穩定和撥備水平的真實性。平安證券在研報中表示，不良貸款嚴重的浙江地區,新生成不良貸款速度並未有明顯減緩,同時存在向福建、江蘇、山東等省市蔓延的壓力。但有利因素是，銀行前期不良貸款已開始進入清收程序,同時在上半年加大對不良貸款的核銷,因此這將部分對沖不良率上行所帶來的資產質量壓力。“在行業不良貸款小幅回升背景下，上市銀行二季度不良貸款回升幅度將較為 溫和。當前宏觀經濟增長乏力以及中小微企業抵禦風險能力較弱，行業資產質量壓力將延續；上市銀行核銷前不良貸款及逾期貸款變化趨勢更值得關注，下半年上市銀行不良貸款仍將呈現雙升的趨勢。”孫旭告訴記者。未來經營將面臨更大挑戰尚未經歷完整經濟周期和尚未完全市場化的中國銀行業，未來可謂挑戰重重。華夏銀行在半年報中表示，下半年銀行將面臨三種風險：一是經濟環境仍然錯綜複雜，區域和行業風險增大，部分行業企業經營不景氣，銀行面臨的信用風險持續上升，資產管理質量管理壓力不斷增加。二是利率市場化的深入，對銀行利潤增長形成擠壓。三是監管標準的逐步完善。“金融脫媒、融資結構面臨大幅調整,這是未來趨勢,這一趨勢對銀行的融資業務構成威脅,但銀行仍然可以依靠自身堅實的客戶基礎和服務水平,大力發展財務顧問服務、投行業務等,主動適應形勢的變化。”鄧茂認為。“商業銀行日益從傳統的經營模式中跳轉出來，預計各商業銀行未來經營會體現為幾種模式：規模上位，無論表內外，將傳統業務規模做到排頭兵；渠道上位，通過物理網點鋪設、櫃面聯通、電子聯通將渠道平台做到排頭兵；技術上位，通過移動設備、電子設備、互聯網，線上線下同時營業，線上為主線下為輔，將電子銀行平台、數據挖掘、在線金融超市、在線同業交易市場等做到排頭兵；混業上位，通過兼並重組商業銀行、信托、租賃、保險、資產管理、證券、基金、期貨、評估咨詢機構、評級機構、數據源公司等，跨過部分監管約束與規模限制，跨入投資銀行領域，提升杠杆率及收益水平；綜合上位，汲百家之長均衡發展。但無論採取何種戰略思維，商業銀行戰略轉型不可逆，中小商業銀行經營艱險不可逆，經營差異化及做特做強不可逆。”渤海銀行北京分行風險總監陳光偉表示。自存倉

　　部分銀行定存利率上調10% 10萬元存三年利差達1275元　　武漢市民存款忙“搬家”　　銀行力推理財產品保客戶　　繼央行宣佈放開貸款利率管制之後，儲存倉放開存款利率管制的呼聲也此起彼伏。昨天，記者走訪武漢多家銀行發現，興業銀行、平安銀行等部分股份制銀行悄然上調人民幣中長期存款利率，不過，絕大多數上調都需要有一定的存款門檻。　　興業銀行漢口支行工作人員介紹，人民幣定存利率一年期為3.3%。近期，針對兩年到三年的存款利率都有調整，存款5萬元以上，兩年期直接上浮至4.125%，三年期上浮至4.675%，五年期沒有變化。　　平安銀行光穀支行工作人員說，一年期存款利率是3.3%，針對兩年定期，存款金額在1萬元到20萬元之間的，利率上浮5%，20萬元以上的，利率上浮10%。三年期也有調整，但門檻更高，存款金額要達到50萬元以上。　　兩家銀行利率均高于最新現行人民幣存款基準利率——一年期3%，兩年期3.75%，三年期4.25%。去年6月，央行允許金融機構將存款利率浮動上限調整為基準利率的10%。此前除地方性銀行外，多家銀行將一年及一年以下存款利率上浮10%，兩年到五年的中長期存款利率則維持不迷你倉沙田。現在，武漢多家股份制銀行針對兩年和三年期存款一浮到頂。　　不過，國有銀行依然小心謹慎。記者走訪工農中建四大銀行後發現，這幾家銀行依然執行最新現行人民幣存款基準利率，即一年期3.25%，兩年期3.75%，三年期4.25%。　　假如同樣的10萬元存款，存三年定期，有的銀行利率是4.675%，有的銀行利率則是4.25%，利息相差1275元。　　多家銀行對記者表示，上調利率後，存款明顯增加了不少。　　今年6月，漢口銀行上調三年期定存利率，“因為我們行沒有資金門檻，剛調完，三年期存款一下子增加了不少，特別是一些老年客戶和拆遷戶。”漢口銀行建設大道支行理財經理趙女士說，去年上調兩年期利率後，存款也大幅增加。　　沒有調整動靜的銀行、上調利率但有存款門檻的銀行，直接搬出理財產品當“救兵”。招行循禮門支行工作人員告訴記者，目前利率並無上浮的消息，不過有三年期和五年期保本保收益的理財產品，收益率高達4.75%和5.35%，高于他行上浮到頂的定存利率。　　即使是上調利率的平安銀行，工作人員也向記者推薦門檻更低、收益較高的理財產品。(見習記者 宋丹丹 實習生 劉江�)標簽：上調 利率 上浮 存款 利差迷你倉價錢

Source: The Record, Stockton, Calif.迷你倉出租Aug. 11--The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is supporting affordable home programs in Lodi and Stockton, among dozens of other cities, through its Affordable Housing Program for 2013.Totaling $56.6 million, the competitive grants are awarded through 25 member banks and support 94 projects that will produce or preserve 5,733 units of housing affordable to lower-income individuals and families in nine states.In Stockton, the bank granted $680,000 for Casa de Esperanza, a new construction project of 70 units being developed by Visionary Home Builders of California. The award was made through the Bank of Stockton.This project will provide affordable housing for farm laborers and large families in south Stockton.The Lodi projec儲存倉, Tienda Drive Senior Housing, will provide affordable housing to independent, very low-income seniors. Amenities include a community room, kitchen, computer lab and outdoor patio.A subsidy of $790,000, awarded through Rabobank, went to Eden Housing Inc. for development of the 80-unit project.Jim Yacenda, vice president and community investment officer at FHLBank San Francisco, said the 94 projects will form solid anchors for the neighborhoods in which they are built."In our experience, these high-quality housing developments lead to substantial improvements to the quality of life for whole communities," he said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Record (Stockton, Calif.) Visit The Record (Stockton, Calif.) at .recordnet.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉沙田

Chinese University of Hong Kong vice chancellor Joseph Sung Jao-yiu recently announced plans to open a canteen serving halal food, or that prepared under Islamic dietary guidelines.儲存倉 The Tourism Board, meanwhile, has stepped up its certification scheme for local halal food outlets. In the past, most tourists to Hong Kong were from European and North American countries. But as visitor numbers from central Asia and the Middle East continue to rise, providing suitable dining options for them has become a pressing issue. Islam is a major world religion and its followers are not permitted to consume pork. But as pork is a main ingredient in local cuisine, Muslims find their choices limited when looking for Hong Kong eateries that conform to their religious norms. In fact, the only such restaurant I can name off-hand is one that sells halal beef cake. It is not ``safe'' for Muslims to order beef dishes in ordinary restaurants - some food 迷你倉沙田dvertised as beef actually contains pork, like the ``beef balls'' of a Chiu Chow noodle shop that was recently in the news. A veteran chef also pointed out that it is common practice to mix pork in the popular beef-ball dim sum dish to give the meat a tender texture. Such secret ``tricks'' are not usually disclosed by the trade to the public, he said, but he felt Muslims should know so they do not unknowingly violate their religious rules. A member of the local Pakistani diplomatic staff last year also mentioned to me the need for more local halal food shops. He noted that many restaurants and fast- food chains in advanced Western countries have menus that cater specifically to the different religious needs of customers. The fact that Hong Kong is finally starting to pay attention to this aspect of catering service is an indication of the growing importance of tourists from Islamic regions. Siu Sai-wo is chief editor of Sing Tao Daily 迷你倉價錢

Source: The Buffalo News, N.mini storageY.Aug. 11--Superman may need to launch a posse to find a phone booth these days. The glass panel cubicles have all but disappeared from urban landscapes -- thanks to the cellphone.Pay phones in general -- including the free-standing kind -- are becoming increasingly difficult to find, which is why the recent installation of a new one at the corner of Summer Street and Elmwood Avenue made at least one city dweller happy.Caila Murray said she watched with interest as workers installed the free-standing phone in late July.One recent afternoon, she returned to make some calls. Local calls from this shiny phone station cost 50 cents, but Murray prefers the toll-free approach."I don't have a phone at home, and that's my choice," Murray said as she dug through her purse looking for her list of 1-800 numbers. She had just finished shopping at PriceRite, and her push cart propped against the phone stall bulged with groceries. She took the Metro Rail from her Main Street apartment to shop and use the phone."I don't use the phone for social reasons," said Murray, who is 59. "I take care of medical business -- on average three times a month. I live in 14214, but I'm originally from New York City, so I know all about phone booths and the seat and the shelter from the rain. They haven't gotten better."The pay phone is operated by Pacific Telemanagement Services, the West Coast company that bought up much of Verizon's and AT&T's pay phone operations throughout the country.Seven million Americans do not have a cellphone or a land line, according to an official from the American Public Communications Council, a nonprofit organization that represents pay phone owners."They have to have some way to make a call," said Deborah Sterman, chief financial officer of APCC, headquartered in Alexandria, Va. "In some areas, there is still a need for a pay phone."New Yorkers flocked to pay phones in the aftermath of the 2001 World Trade Center attack that silenced cellphone signals. Similarly, after Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, pay phones shone like beacons."Whenever there is a national disaster -- when Wi-Fi service goes down -- the pay phones are working," noted Sterman.Throughout the United States, about 320,000 pay phones remain in use, said Sterman, who is in the habit of spot-checking pay phones to see if they work.There are 10 pay phones located at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, according to Doug Hartmeyer, NFTA spokesman. Bus riders, meanwhile, can find 11 pay phones inside the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center, the bus station located at North Division and Ellicott streets downtown.The Erie County Holding Center placed its lone pay phone in the front lobby, according to Superintendent Thomas Diina."As you can imagine, it doesn't get much use," said Diina.Some owners of phone booths substituted the Internet for phone service and offer Wi-Fi hot spots. Many install ATMs.The lobby of the Hotel @ the Lafayette on Washington Street has a bank of three phone booths crafted from wood. One booth holds a vintage nonworking telephone circa 1920. An ATM is located in another. The third is empty."We looked into making them operational," said Robert Shankland, hotel general manager, "but pay phones don't make enough revenue. No one would service them. You basically would be paying for a phone and making nothing on it."On average, it takes at least 100 calls a month for a pay phone to tself storagern a profit, said Sterman, though industry websites place the monthly number at 150 calls.On the ground floor of the Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building is another impressive trio of wood phone booths located in a marble alcove. One holds a working phone."Nobody uses it," said a security guard stationed nearby. "It's hard to find them. I was surprised that the ones on the street corners keep disappearing."Erie County Medical Center's last pay phone was removed in July 2009, according to one employee. At the Rath Building, meanwhile, Mark Poloncarz can't recall the last time he used a pay phone."It has to be at least 15 years ago," said the county executive. "We do not have a pay phone to our knowledge in the Rath Building. In fact, most county facilities, including county parks, do not."The phone at the Lake Effect Laundromat on Main Street in the University District was out of order, said the attendant who added: "If you need a cab, you can use the business phone."At Delta Sonic on Delaware Avenue, the pay phone was removed. No luck at Voelker's Bowling Center on Elmwood Avenue and Amherst Street, nor at Sudseys Laundromat on Seneca Street.Don't get hung up trying to find a pay phone in Buffalo. You can always buy a booth on eBay. One in mint condition last week had a starting bid of $1,800. The 1960s era Bell Telephone Booth was from the West Coast."Booths went by the wayside years and years ago, so they are kind of a novelty," said Sterman of APCC. "Every time I see an actual phone booth with a working pay phone, I try and take a photo."In San Francisco, New York, Moscow and Shanghai, phone booths are being transformed to Wi-Fi hot spots and cellphone charging stations. Phone booths in Osaka, Japan, meanwhile, became the new homes for art installations of pop-up goldfish, a sign of good luck in that country. In Brazil, an urban design project called Call Parade converted the country's remaining phone booths into multidimensional pieces of art, including one that resembled the human brain.And earlier this summer in Canada, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission rejected Bell Canada's request to double the cost of a pay phone call to $1. In rejecting the request, the commission announced an investigation into whether new policies to protect the pay phone industry were needed in a country where the number of pay phones dropped from 90,000 in 2008 to 70,000 in 2011.People worried about germs on pay phones should remember their personal cellphones are loaded with germs, too, said Dr. John K. Crane, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Buffalo."There's germs everywhere," he said. "Before you cast too many stones at the public pay phone -- if there's still some around -- look at your own person cellphone. When is the last time you wiped it down with a cleaner?"Crane, meanwhile, said he hasn't used a pay phone in years."In the old days before I got a cellphone -- back in the 1990s -- I would get paged, and I would have to go to the nearest pay phone and answer back," Crane said. "I used to pay attention to where they were in my neighborhood, and I would always have to keep quarters in the car. That's like a trip down memory lane."email: jkwiatkowski@buffnews.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at .buffalonews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉

Source: The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IowaAug.迷你倉出租 11--Undercover license plates intended for police investigations have been granted for utility vehicles, administrators' cars and for agencies not listed as eligible for the plates, a Gazette investigation found.The Iowa Department of Transportation is asking more than 350 local, state and federal agencies to audit their use of license plates not listed in computerized files. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad ordered the review last month after the DOT reported more than 3,200 undercover plates in circulation."The primary reason for use of these plates is because the duties of the agency personnel cannot reasonably be conducted in a vehicle displaying 'official' registration plates," said Andrew Lewis, of the Office of Vehicle and Motor Carrier Services of the Iowa Department of Transportation. "If you're talking with agencies that use those on utility vehicles, those plates should be turned in."Vehicles with undercover plates can avoid traffic camera citations in several Iowa cities.The question of whether public officials are skipping speeding tickets arose after an April incident in which a state-owned SUV carrying Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds was clocked driving 84 mph on U.S. Highway 20, which has a speed limit of 65.A state trooper who pursued the car did not initially know it contained the governor because the SUV's license plate was not kept in computerized files.Undercover workSince the 1930s, Iowa law enforcement officers have been allowed to request undercover license plates for surveillance, stings or top-secret investigations. Officials now permitted to use the plates include lottery delivery drivers, disease investigators, mental health professionals and economic development officials pursuing new business ventures for Iowa.Undercover plates look like standard-issue Iowa license plates, but if a law enforcement officer or other authorized public employee tries to search for the plate electronically, it won't be found.Agencies can track these plates with a phone call or Teletype query to the DOT.Sixty pages of emails the DOT provided in response to a Gazette Open Records request show informal notes from local, state and federal agencies asking for new plates and updated registration stickers or advising DOT that unused plates are being destroyed."I have a law officer that has a trailer he uses when he is doing undercover work," wrote Erin Massman, an accountant for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on May 8. "He was wondering if it was possible to get an undercover plate.""When the plates say 'official,' he cannot catch people as well," Massman said.Department of Administrative Services employee Mike Drottz asked July 3 for 21 plates for the state's Department of Banking. Iowa's Division of Banking is not listed in Iowa Code Section 321.19 as a state agency eligible for undercover plates, but the DOT agreed to send them.DAS Spokesman Caleb Hunter said the agency is doing further research into those plates, which have not yet been distributed.The Gazette also contacted 12 agencies to ask how they use the undercover plates.The DNR, charged with safeguarding Iowa's great outdoors, has more undercover plates than any other agency with at least 210.Most of the DNR plates go to Iowa's 95 game wardens, who each have two sets of plates -- neither listed in computerized files. One set of plates are called "C plates" for the letter "C" and the officer's badge number, spokesman Kevin Baskins said. The other set looks like a typical Iowa plate."They have standardized plates if they need to be undercover," Baskins said. "They are used a limited number of times and our people document them when they use them."Iowa's 30 park rangers also have C plates, he said.The Iowa Lottery uses most of its 50 undercover plates on vans and trucks used to deliver tickets to convenience stores and other vendors. Security specialists said marked cars would be targeted by ticket thieves, Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said."It's a workplace safety issue for our employees and a physical security issue for our tickets," she said.Utility vehiclesThe Cedar Rapids Police Department has 70 sets of plates not listed in computerized files, Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said. The bulk of those plates are rotated for use on unmarked vehicles by officers doing undercover investigations."If we have officers doing surveillance, undercover purchases, we want to keep them as safe as possible," Hamblin said.But the department also gives undercov儲存倉r plates to administrators, including Hamblin and Chief Wayne Jerman, who do not regularly do investigative work. Utility vehicles, such as the department's boat trailer and a red Jeep that serves as a mobile speed camera, also have plates not found in computerized files.The Johnson County Sheriff's Office has 28 sets of plates not listed in computerized files. A pickup, inmate transport bus and cars used for school visits have these plates in addition to those used for police investigations, Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said.Out-of-state agenciesSome of the agencies using undercover Iowa plates are head-scratchers. What does the Kansas City Police Department need with 14 sets of Iowa plates? Turns out, they don't know."I called the fleet manager and it didn't sound familiar to him," said KCPD Sgt. Marissa Barnes. "The first thing that comes to mind is undercover vehicles that are doing business up there."The Skokie (Illinois) Police Department has one set of Iowa plates not listed in computerized files that they rotate in with other Illinois undercover plates for use in their own jurisdiction, Skokie Officer Joe Marzigliano said."The bad guys get to know our plates," he said. "To keep it out of the realm of them finding out, we will go out of state."The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates interstate and international communications, has four sets of Iowa plates not listed in computerized files.One of the big things the FCC investigates is pirate radio stations, which operate without a license and can cause problems with other stations and air traffic control. Iowa had six enforcement actions for piracy from 2003 to 2013, the agency reported.Accessing informationAgencies' desire to use undercover plates begs the question of who has access to the computerized database of all motor vehicle registrants. Should the rest of us be worried?The state restricts access to license plate information, which can include the driver's name, address, Social Security number and driving record. A handful of DOT employees administer the database and provide look-up services to authorized users, Lewis said.Law enforcement officers frequently tap into the database for patrol and investigations. But it's not just cops who may use the data.Iowa Code section 321.11 permits access to "an employee of a federal or state agency or political subdivision in the performance of the employee's official duties, a contract employee of the Department of Inspections and Appeals in the conduct of an investigation, or a licensed private investigation agency or a licensed security service or a licensed employee of either, if the information is requested by the presentation of a registration plate number."Law enforcement employees may also, by law, release the name, address and phone number of a motor vehicle registrant to someone else if they believe "that the release of the information is necessary in the performance of the officer's or employee's duties."Misusing the systemSome officers around the country have been arrested for running plates for illegal purposes.A Dallas-area officer was charged in June with unlawfully providing law enforcement-sensitive information. Thomas S. Kantzos is accused of looking up names or license plates on a police database at the request of his drug supplier, who was concerned he was being watched by police, the Dallas Morning News reported.A Voorhees, N.J., police officer was charged in 2012 with using his access to a motor vehicle database to get personal information about an attractive female driver he later pursued on Facebook.Even in Cedar Rapids, a police officer was disciplined in the mid-2000s for looking up a license plate and providing that information to a community member, Hamblin said. She trusts Cedar Rapids officers, but she doesn't know about all the others."I think it's a protection for the one potential bad officer that is out there," Washington Police Chief Greg Goodman added. The Washington Police Department, with 13 sworn officers, has five sets of plates not found in computerized files.Lewis acknowledged that there can be bad apples who abuse the system -- which is why the DOT supports use of undercover plates. But it's time for agencies to give up license plates that aren't being used as Iowa law intended, he said."Basically, we're having everyone clean house," he said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Visit The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) at thegazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉沙田

Source: New Haven Register, Conn.迷你倉價錢Aug. 10--EAST HAVEN -- For many people who live in the East Haven and New Haven neighborhoods stitched close-in around Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, Friday's plane crash was an accident that, while perhaps not easily preventable, was waiting to happen.The accident killed four people, including the pilot and his 17-year-old son, as well as two sisters, ages 13 and 1, who lived in one of two houses the plane crashed into on Charter Oak Avenue.Particularly along the northern approach to Tweed's main Runway 2 -- which roughly parallels Charter Oak Avenue in East Haven, which becomes Burr Street as it heads south into New Haven -- resident after resident Saturday recalled being able to wave at pilots as they descend to land.Residents just off the south end of the same runway in New Haven and East Haven, where an even worse Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 crash killed 28 people in 1971, also have long feared getting hit by an errant plane.And many residents say Tweed's recent improvements, including the construction of runway safety areas in recent years and the even more recent trimming and removal of trees that formerly obstructed the approach, have let planes fly even lower, exacerbating their fears."You can actually wave at the pilots," said Jean Santino, who lives on Hall Street in New Haven. "Something's wrong when you can wave at a pilot and the pilot waves back."It was never this bad until they did the expansion. ... They were never this low before the expansion," Santino said, referring to the construction of runway safety buffer zones at either end of Runway 2. "It was an accident waiting to happen. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."Airport Manager Lori Hoffman-Soares said Saturday night that while she understands how neighbors might have that perception, nothing has changed."Our flight patterns did not change since the safety areas and since the trees have been cut," Hoffman-Soares said. "Air traffic controllers have not changed their procedures."Even more to-the-point, "Pilots do not want to fly any lower than they have to for their own personal safety," she said. "Pilots don't want to risk their lives any more than the lives on the ground."But many neighbors are convinced that that's the case."They're so low," said Catherine Consolo, who lives a few blocks away on Elizabeth Ann Drive in New Haven and was standing with her sister, Josephine Reed, and some friends watching work going on just outside the police line at the crash site Saturday afternoon."They've been running so low ever since they put in that runway extension," Consolo said. "When the jets go by, I go like this," she said, ducking and throwing her hands over her head."They're so close," said Audrey Elder, who lives on Main Street and was with Consolo. As she spoke, a small, private turboprop plane buzzed low over their heads."It's scary -- it's just so close," said Dione Fiedler, who lives on Laura Lane in East Haven, just off Charter Oak and Burr, close to the East Haven-New Haven border. She also was watching the work a few houses away, just outside the other end of the police line.Fiedler talked about "the noise" that planes make on their approach, but added, "I've lived here for 54 years, so I'm kind of used to it."She has often thought about the possibility of a crash, but now she really worries about it, she said.Phil and Monique Hawley, who grew up in East Haven, just moved back from West Haven to Charter Oak Avenue last week. Now they wonder if they made the right decision."It's a freak accident -- but I'll tell you, it does make you wonder,"迷你倉庫said Phil Hawley, who was outside watching a steady stream of gawkers drive by to see what National Transportation Safety Board staffers, a recovery company working for the NTSB and local officials were up to."It's sad, and scary," said Hawley, who was joined by his wife, daughter Alyssa, 14, and granddaughters Abby, 4, and Isabella, 11/2, "That's something you never want to see any family go through."While Hawley is happy with his new house -- and has no intention to leave -- "I'll tell you, if I were making the decision now ..." he said.A female neighbor across the street from the two houses the plan struck recalled how, growing up on Charter Oak, "we had a swimming pool in the back yard and we would wave to the people in the planes -- and my mother would always say, 'One of these days, one of these planes is going to hit a house.'"We used to all say it," she said, declining to be identified by name.A couple of years ago, Tweed "took out a huge pine tree across the street" as part of its effort to remove obstructions that block the landing approach, said the woman.Tom Hamilton, who now lives on Coe Avenue but grew up on Stoddard Road, one street over from where the Allegheny flight went down, said that "throughout my life, I've constantly had dreams about air disasters."He recalls getting off the school bus the day of the previous accident and seeing the wreckage."I'll never forget," he said.That said, as a resident living in town, "You never think about this," he said as he watched workers with a payloader haul out pieces of the plane wreckage under the direction of the NTSB. "An airport is an airport" and planes "are always flying over people's houses. You really can't control it."Nevertheless, for Donna Amato, who lives on Roses Farm Road in East Haven, just off the south end of Tweed's main runway and has a back yard that faces the airport, "you think about it all the time."Amato, who had a 60- to 70-foot tree taken down in her back yard a while back as part of Tweed's effort to remove obstructions, said she notices a difference in planes landing these days."They do come in lower now," she said.Mark Parisi of Harrington Avenue in New Haven, who was doing some work on the air conditioner at a home on Burr Street in New Haven Saturday afternoon, said he lives right on the flight path but has never been worried about planes flying into and out of Tweed -- and isn't now."No -- I've lived here all my life," said Parisi, 55, who well remembers the Allegheny crash."They've got a pretty good safety record" at Tweed and "they run a clean operation," he said. "I was glad when they expanded the airport."Others aren't so sure.Ron Vlake, who was doing some work at his house right across Burr Street, said he's convinced that since Tweed cut the trees, "the planes are coming a lot lower."While Vlake, 35, and his wife bought their house 31/2 years ago because it was affordable, now that they're parents, "I want to get out of here."Friday's crash "kind of woke us up," said Vlake, who has strips of land owned by Tweed bordering two sides of his house. "I think differently now that I'm a father."As he spoke, a private jet roared overhead.A few blocks south on Dean Street in New Haven, Gary Guglielmo said he never worries about planes coming and going at Tweed or the possibility of another crash."If it's going to happen, it's going to happen," Guglielmo said. "I think they do the best they can."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) Visit the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) at .nhregister.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存

Source: The Lima News, OhioAug.迷你倉沙田 11--LIMA -- When your grandfather retired from Ford, there's no question where your allegiance is when it comes to cars."I'm a Ford girl," Robyn Rettig said as she stood near a Model A at the Real Wheels Classic Car Show on Saturday at The Lima Mall.Rettig was just one of hundreds of people to attend the 10th annual show sponsored by The Lima News.She likes the Model As but her favorites are muscle cars, she said."I like to hear them running and hear the sound," she said.Rettig also likes to walk around and see cars. She attends about five car shows a year."It's really cool to see how people have kept them up and shined them up and taken pride in their cars," she said.Dan Walker, of Wapakoneta, is one of those who takes great pride in his masterpiece, a 1957 Chevy. He bought it 20 years ago when he was 14 to prepare for when he would be driving two years later.That Chevy became his drag-racing car at an Indiana race track. He then began working on it again. After hundreds of hours, he made it into a show 迷你倉價錢ar."It's just a show car now. There's too much time in the body to tear it up," he said.Nearby was Barrett Feigh, of Shawnee Township, showing off his 1924 Chrysler 70."I showed tractors and thought cars were better," Feigh said.This is Feigh's 10th car show this year and counting. He's a newcomer to car shows but really enjoys it."I just like meeting the people. A lot of nice people here," he said.The Real Wheels Classic Car Show featured 120 cars from the 1920s to today. Owners compete in a variety of categories for awards.The Lima News will feature most of the cars at the show each week on Friday in the newspaper. The stories behind the cars and their drivers will be told in great detail.The event was held at the Lima Mall this year for the first time. In previous years it was at Rays at Clocktower Plaza and the parking lot at the Chief Supermarket at South Cable and Spencerville roads.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Visit The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) at .limaohio.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉庫

Wacky wardrobe finally empty? Lady Gaga wears .mini storage.. nothing "There's nothing left to reveal for Lady Gaga," a California celebrity blog said after the singer - known for her eccentric costumes - bared it all in a promotional video for the Marina Abramovic Institute. The video is a fundraising effort to raise $600,000 for renovations of the institute's facility in New York. The institute promotes the "Abramovic Method", described as "a series of exercises and environments designed to increase awareness of their physical and mental experience in the moment". In the video, Lady Gaga first appears in a gray jumpsuit, chanting in a woodland setting. Then she dons horned masks, strips naked, and hugs an immense crystal on a wooden floor.Monroe expected JFK to marry her, author says Marilyn Monroe, who notoriously had an affair with John F. Kennedy, apparently believed she was going to marry the president, even phoning the White House to tell his wife. The story, reported in a new book out last week by journalist Christopher Andersen, asserts that Jackie Kennedy even told Monroe that the screen siren was welcome to take over her role as first lady. The incident is just one layer of the complex marriage in the year before the president was assassinated, according to the new account.UK playwright Tom Stoppard wins PEN/Pinter prize British playwright Tom Stoppard has won the 2013 PEN/Pinter Prize established in memory of the late Nobel laureate and fellow dramatist Harold Pinter, organizers said on Wednesday. The 76-year-old Czech-born Stoppard, who co-wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love, came to fame in the theater for writing plays such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers and Arcadia.US daredevil to skydive in locked wooden box US daredevil Anthony Martin is preparing for what his closest associates consider one of his most dangerous stunts ever - he plans to be locked in a wooden box that will be pushed out of an airplane at 14,500 feet. "We're shoving it out the door," Martiself storage's longtime skydiving stunt coordinator, Rook Nelson, said.Girls buoyed by US court win over 'Boobies' bands Two girls suspended from a US school for refusing to remove "I (heart sign) Boobies!" bracelets supporting breast-cancer awareness said on Tuesday they feel vindicated by a US court of appeals decision that says their free speech rights were violated. "It's definitely exciting to know we did something important," said Brianna Hawk, who was an eighth-grader at the eastern Pennsylvania public school when she took action that would lead to Monday's decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.French woman offers breast-feeding service to gay parents on website A woman has posted an offer on a French website to breast-feed babies of homosexual male couples for 100 euros ($130) a day, stirring up media interest just weeks after a divisive same-sex marriage law was passed. The post, which the website said it verified as genuine and legal, reads: "I am a young mother in perfect health, a trained nurse of 29, and I am renting my breasts to milk-feed infants." Johannesburg apologizes to Mandela for billing blunder The City of Johannesburg apologized to Nelson Mandela and his family on Monday for mistakenly posting a non-payment notice on the former South African president's house warning him his electricity was about to be cut off. The city, which has faced a barrage of complaints from residents for bungled bills, said the notice demanding payment of 6,468.48 rand ($660) was supposed to have been delivered to a different house.Gorbachev denies he's dead after hacker attack Mikhail Gorbachev announced to the world that he's alive and well after hackers broke into microblogs run by a news agency late on Wednesday and posted false reports of his death. "I understand that some people are trying to use their sites to catch people's attention or are fulfilling the orders of some authority or another," the former Soviet Union president, 82, said in a statement on newspaper Novaya Gazeta's website.Reuters - AgenceFrance-Presse迷你倉