Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Congratulations Lynn Dombek - AP researcher!

An announcement from the News Research Center at the Associated Press:

The staff of The Associated Press News Research Center is thrilled to announce that our director, Lynn Dombek, has been honored with a $10,000 Gramling Achievement Award for 2006, one of the most prestigious and much-coveted awards bestowed on AP employees.
Lynn was recognized for "transforming her team of researchers into an integral part of AP journalism across all platforms and departments."
The NRC team nominated Lynn ourselves, and her win is very gratifying for all of us. This recognition helps raise the visibility and perceived value of research as a news component, and honors all the hard work of the News Research Center team. Kudos have been pouring in from all around the AP, and it has been a very exciting time for all of us to suddenly be in the spotlight. Lynn says she feels lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with such an outstanding group of researchers, and that she was able to accomplish what she did only with the cooperation and hard work of the entire department.
Fame is fleeting, so we wanted to share the moment with our Newslib colleagues. We’re honored to be a part of an organization that sees so clearly the value that strong research brings to our journalism.
For more about the other recipients, and information on the Associated Press Gramling Award, see:
http://www.ap.org/pages/about/pressreleases/pr_083006a.html
The AP News Research Center team members are:
Judy Ausuebel, Jennifer Farrar, Randy Herschaft, Monika Mathur, John Parsons, Julie Reed, Barbara Sambriski, Rhonda Shafner
Deputy Director -- Susan James

State Plans for Containment of Pandemic Influenza

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Policy Review:
This review assesses differences and similarities of the states in planning for pandemic influenza. We reviewed the recently posted plans of 49 states for vaccination, early epidemic surveillance and detection, and intraepidemic plans for containment of pandemic influenza.

North Carolina's Plan

"N.C. State Health Director, Leah Devlin (919-707-5001 or leah.devlin@ncmail.net) is to be the primary spokesperson during an influenza pandemic."

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Beyond EDGAR

OK, so you already know about EDGAR and how you can get company filings. But have you seen EDGAR's newest (Beta Version) full-text search option? You can view the most recent, real-time filings as they are processed by the SEC. Future updates will be based on user feedback. So check it out and let them know what works for you.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

TRAC

TRAC has released May 2006 statistics on
- White Collar Crime
- Immigration (criminal immigration prosecutions)
- Drugs
- Weapons

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a data gathering, data research and data distribution organization associated with Syracuse University.

Move over telephone and cable monopolies

From Governing.com: Online Via Power Line
Small towns and cities are finding high-speed Internet access is as close as their electric grid.
Read the whole article.

Government Eligibility Services

From INPUT: Reston, VA – August 23, 2006 – An estimated $1.3 billion will be spent by states to bring integrated eligibility services to the Web for use by state and county workers as well as citizens, according to a report released today by INPUT, the authority on government business. The upturn will be driven by new administrations looking to capture savings and make their marks in terms of improving citizen service.
Read the whole article here.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Best for Business

North Carolina is listed Forbes Magazine's Top 10 Best States for Business.

"..we ranked all 50 states on 30 metrics in six main categories: business costs, economic climate, growth prospects, labor, quality of life and regulatory environment. The data produced a clear No 1. The commonwealth of Virginia takes the crown in our first-ever ranking of Top States for Business."

Transportation Plan

The Proposed Greensboro Urban Area 2030 Transportation Plan includes maps and charts.

George Bush grants pardons

According to a DOJ press release yesterday, President George Bush granted pardons to 17 individuals.

Police Department

Ever wonder what an ideal police department would look like? This month the DOJ released a report titled, "Guidelines for Starting and Operating a New Police Department" (64 page PDF).

Here is a list of other publications under the office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) department of the DOJ.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Local company's stock up on acquision proposal

Yahoo Finance reports: BURLINGTON, N.C., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TriPath Imaging, Inc. today announced that it has received a proposal from BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX) to acquire the approximately 93.5% of the outstanding shares of TriPath Imaging, Inc. (Nasdaq: TPTH -News) that BD does not currently own.

Dell Recalling Batteries

Dell Inc. is recalling notebook-computer batteries that can overheat and pose a fire hazard. From the recall web page:
Dell has identified a potential issue associated with certain batteries sold with Dell Latitude™, Inspiron™, XPS™ and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation™ notebook computers. In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, Dell is voluntarily recalling certain Dell-branded batteries with cells manufactured by Sony and offering free replacements for these batteries. Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire.
Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary batteries:
Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710
In addition, these batteries may have also been provided in response to service calls. The batteries were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. .

Monday, August 14, 2006

Institute for Analytic Journalism

Institute for Analytic Journalism is a journalism blog that I recently discovered. Tom Johnson, one of the Co-directors of the blog and Professor of Journalism (ret), San Francisco State University, defines analytic journalism:

Critical thinking and analysis using a variety of intellectual tools and methods to understand multiple phenomena and to communicate the results of those insights to multiple audiences in a variety of ways.

The most recent posting is titled, 25 Numbers Journalist Should Know. Listservs were solicited for suggestions for generic numbers journalists should know in order to be responsible, effective reporters and editors. Check out the responses.

Friday, August 11, 2006

ZabaSearch

I am always looking for new (and low-cost) people search engines, and I am pleased to have found this one. A recent search using one of our paid subscriptions returned several hits, but none of them had a current phone number. The ZabaSearch, which is free, returned a current number.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

214 Jobs

From Easley's office: RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley today announced that High Performance Coatings, a Utah-based company that uses nanotechnology to produce coatings for a variety of industries, will open a facility in Whitsett in Guilford County. The company expects to create 214 jobs and invest $3.5 million during the next three years.

Microsoft Bugs

According to an AP article posted at the Washington Post web site, Microsoft has released fixes for Windows operating system. “All of the patches fix weaknesses that could allow an attacker to take complete control of a person’s computer.” I am sure our IT folks here are ahead of this post, but be sure to check your computers at home. Go to Microsoft Update page if you do not have your computer set for automatic updates.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Greensboro Chamber of Commerce - New phone #

The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce has a new main number for general inquiries: 336-387-8301. Staff members have individual direct numbers.

Aramark Corp.

Would you believe that the company that brings you your sliced ham and swiss on wheat is worth $8.3 billion?

From the Wall Street Journal Online: Food-service provider Aramark Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to a sweetened acquisition offer by an investor group led by its chief executive, a deal valued at $8.3 billion, including $2 billion in debt. The stock price (RMK) is down $.30 this am.

Dept of Labor's Strategic Plan

Just in time for Labor Day: The Department of Labor has released a draft copy of the Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2006 – 2011, and is available for public comment. The final plan will be released in September.

Stock Options

For Biz Reporters: The Wall Street Journal has updated its list of companies that have problems with stock options. I didn’t see any from N.C. but you can check out the list for companies that you might cover.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Energy Report Released

The International Energy Annual (IEA) is the Energy Information Administration's primary report of international energy statistics. . Included are data on energy consumption and production; overviews of petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity, as well as carbon dioxide emissions from the use of fossil fuels, petroleum prices, energy reserves, and population ; and data unit conversion.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Free Newspaper Archives

I have posted this before, but it important, so I'll post it again. You can get free newspaper archives (also magazines, journals and more) at the NC Live web site. I know everyone in the newsroom already has a public library card. If not, GET ONE, you'll need it to log-on to NC Live.
Click on "Newspapers" under "Browse by Type"
Click on "America’s Newspapers via NewsBank"


Your tax dollars have paid for this, so use it!

The Labor Advocate

You'll find these topics in the Summer 2006 edition of The Labor Advocate, a quarterly newsletter about DOL issues important to America's working families

  • President Bush Signs MINER Act Into Law
  • DOL Targets Wage Violations in the Gulf Coast Region
  • Secretary Visits New Orleans, Carpenters Training Center
  • New SCA Directory of Occupations Released
  • Secretary Chao Visits MEBA Training School, Memorial
    OSHA Fines BP $2.4 Million For Unsafe Operations
  • Seafarers Receive $2.5 Million Maritime Training Grant
  • $134 Million Distributed to Enron Workers and Retirees
  • Secretary Chao Honors Merchant Mariners