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School Committee member Christine Philput said the committee has already collected 400 responses and is creating a database with the information.
Sen. Lamar Alexander Andrew (Lamar) Lamar AlexanderOvernight Health Care: Dem chairs to meet with progressives on drug pricing \| Oregon judge says he will block Trump abortion rule \| Trump vows to 'smash the grip' of drug addiction \| US measles cases hit post-2000 record The Higher Education Act must protect free speech Embattled senators fill coffers ahead of 2020 MORE’s (R-Tenn.) decision to retire when his term ends in 2021 marks what could be the end of a genteel era of politics that is increasingly subsumed by more conservative elements within the Republican Party — both in Tennessee and across the country.
Since joining the union in 1796, Tennessee’s political geography has been defined by its Grand Divisions, the three regions each represented by a star on the state flag. Until the last generation, two of those regions — West Tennessee, with its population center in Memphis, and Middle Tennessee, based around Nashville, were as reliably Democratic as anywhere in the rest of the Solid South.
But East Tennessee stood out, an island of Republican red in the vast sea of Democratic blue. The region’s small-r republicanism was a legacy of the Civil War, when most counties in the eastern third of the state voted to remain with the Union, rather than secede.
To this day, only one congressional district in state history, the Knoxville-based 2nd District held by retiring Rep. John Duncan John James DuncanLamar Alexander's exit marks end of an era in evolving Tennessee Tennessee New Members 2019 Live coverage: Social media execs face grilling on Capitol Hill MORE Jr. (R), has never been held by a Democrat.
Most of the Tennessee Republicans who win statewide offices come out of the east. Brock hailed from Chattanooga. His seatmate, the late Howard Baker, came from Huntsville, north of Knoxville. Andrew Johnson, President Lincoln’s successor, is buried in his adopted hometown of Greeneville, east of Knoxville.
There are few exceptions, and even then most Middle and West Tennessee Republicans who won statewide had deep ties to East Tennessee — and to Baker, specifically. Former Gov. Don Sundquist, of Memphis, had run Baker’s presidential campaign before winning statewide office. Former Sen. Fred Thompson, of Nashville, had worked for Baker on the Senate Watergate Committee.
Only a few, like former Gov. Winfield Dunn of Memphis and former Sen. Bill Frist, of Nashville, broke the mold. And when Dunn broke from fellow Republicans in East Tennessee, he suffered politically.
Dunn served a single term in the 1970s. He lost a comeback bid in 1986 after opposing the establishment of a medical school at East Tennessee State University; then-Rep. James Quillen, the political boss of East Tennessee Republicans, made it known that his voters were free to support the Democratic candidate, longtime state House Speaker Ned McWherter.
McWherter backed the creation of what is now East Tennessee State’s Quillen College of Medicine.
The latest generation of Tennessee Republican leaders are all easterners. Gov. Bill Haslam, who is leaving office after two terms, was the mayor of Knoxville. Sen. Bob Corker Robert (Bob) Phillips CorkerEx-GOP Sen. Corker: Trump primary would be 'good thing for our country' Pollster says Trump unlikely to face 'significant' primary challenge GOP gets used to saying 'no' to Trump MORE ran Chattanooga before coming to Washington. And Alexander hails from Maryville, along the state’s eastern border with North Carolina.
Those Republicans, from Baker and Brock to Corker and Alexander, were less ideological than today’s brand of combative conservative, and they built powerful careers. Baker served as Senate Republican leader and as former President Reagan’s chief of staff in the White House. Brock became head of the Republican National Committee, and later Labor Secretary under Reagan.
Corker leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Alexander, himself a former Cabinet secretary in the George H.W. Bush administration, now heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The carefully built coalitions between Tennessee’s three regions helped define a century of state politics, beginning in 1910, when the Democratic boss E.H. Crump began building his political base in Memphis.
But as Tennessee has turned a deeper shade of red in recent decades, with Yellow Dog Democrats abandoning the party to vote GOP, other more-ideological Republicans — those who come from central and West Tennessee — have started to take the earlier generation’s place.
Sen.-elect Marsha Blackburn Marsha BlackburnPro-Trump super PAC hiring new executive director Conservative groups defend tech from GOP crackdown Lawmakers weigh challenges in fighting robocalls MORE, who started her political career running the Williamson County Republican Party in Middle Tennessee, is only the second Republican not from the east to win a Senate seat in modern history. Gov.-elect Bill Lee (R), a political outsider, hails from the central part of the state.
Many of the potential candidates mentioned as possible successors to Alexander — Rep. Diane Black Diane Lynn BlackLamar Alexander's exit marks end of an era in evolving Tennessee Juan Williams: The GOP's worsening problem with women How to reform the federal electric vehicle tax credit MORE (R), former Rep. Stephen Fincher Stephen Lee FincherLamar Alexander's exit marks end of an era in evolving Tennessee Tensions on immigration erupt in the House GOP Trump backs Blackburn's Tennessee Senate bid MORE (R), Rep.-elect Mark Green Mark GreenAfrica's women can change a continent: Will Ivanka give them her full support? Republicans call for ex-Trump lawyer Cohen to be referred to DOJ Finally united, House Republicans refer ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for perjury prosecution MORE (R) — are from the central or western parts of the state. All are more ideologically driven, and more conservative, than the East Tennessee Republicans the state usually elects.
Political observers and state historians say those from the other regions of the state are more ideological because they had to wrest power from Democrats who long controlled local politics. Where Eastern Republicans won concessions from Democrats in power by compromising, Western and Middle Tennessee Republicans won power by beating those Democrats at the ballot box.
No candidate has publicly said they will run for Alexander’s seat. But his exit, following Corker’s and Haslam’s, has some East Tennessee Republicans wondering where they fit in to the modern party.
Uber has agreed to move forward with the long-anticipated SoftBank Group investment, a spokesperson confirms to TechCrunch.
We’ve been provided the following statement.
Uber has not yet elaborated on plans, but we’ve been told that the potential deal includes a $1 billion investment in the company at the last private valuation of nearly $70 billion. A source with knowledge of the discussions told TechCrunch that the documents label this as an extension of its last Series G round.
The group led by SoftBank and Dragoneer Investment Group is also expected to invest a much larger amount by buying up to $9 billion in Uber shares from employees and other shareholders, likely bringing its total ownership to at least 14% of the company. These shares are expected to be purchased at a lower valuation, that has still not been determined.
Technically, the deal will only be done once enough Uber shareholders opt to sell shares. It is a package deal and the $1 billion investment in Uber is contingent on the tender offer getting finalized.
Update: SoftBank Group sent the following statement to reporters on Monday on behalf of Rajeev Misra, CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisors, to emphasize that the deal hasn’t closed.
In essence, Uber has agreed to move forward with SoftBank’s proposal, but the tender offer price is still being negotiated. SoftBank can back down if the valuation for the tender offer isn’t agreed upon.
It also hasn’t been easy to track down all of Uber’s many shareholders, including venture capitalists and former employees. The company plans to buy newspaper ads to help spread the word that the tender offer is launching soon.
We’re told that thousands of current employees will also be eligible to sell shares.
We reported earlier that the tender offer is slated to launch November 28 and would continue for about 20 business days. This is likely to be the largest secondary transaction in history, with shareholders selling billions of dollars worth of shares.
Apart from gathering a list of shareholders, part of the delay stemmed from determining Kalanick’s role at the company, which is now led by former Expedia CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi.
If the deal gets done, investor Benchmark Capital has agreed to drop its lawsuit against former CEO Travis Kalanick. The lawsuit related to his power to appoint three board seats, including his own.
He recently appointed Ursula Burns and John Thain to those seats. Should one of them give up their spot, Kalanick will now require a board vote to appoint a replacement, as long as the SoftBank deal is completed.
Cooley was the law firm working with Uber on the deal. SoftBank has been working with Morrison Foerster, known as MoFo. The Nasdaq Private Market is processing the proposed tender offer.
This is a pivotal moment for team Uber. Until recently, most employees were prevented from selling shares. This transaction will help them turn paper riches into cash.
The tender offer will provide an opportunity for potentially thousands of employees to sell shares more than a year before Uber’s anticipated 2019 IPO. The likely $1 billion investment in the company will also help the company continue to fuel its growth as it prepares to grow public.
It’s also a turning point for the company, which has had a difficult year. It’s been filled with legal battles, including a patent lawsuit with Alphabet’s self-driving car division, and public outcry about its company culture. Co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick was pressured to step down in June.
Some have commented that the move is unusual since SoftBank has also invested in Uber competitors including Ola in India. But SoftBank is said to take a different approach from other venture capitalists and is willing to invest in multiple players in the same category.
Japanese-based SoftBank has global ties and could potentially help Uber in its ongoing international expansion.
“Devil’s Day”: by Andrew Michael Hurley. New York: Harcourt. Copyright 2018, 294 pages, $26.
Devil’s Day is a fall observance celebrated by a remote sheep-farming community called the Endlands located beside the English moors. It commemorates a time of illness and natural disaster almost a century before. The Endlanders believed that the Devil walked among them and that they were being persecuted by him for some misdeed.
Known as “the Owd Feller” by the locals, the Devil is believed to have killed 13 people that long-ago autumn through a combination of lung disease, fever and prolonged blizzard conditions. The sheep farmers and their kin began a tradition at that time that all stories or tall tales should begin with the Devil.
As the novel begins, John Pentecost is walking home with his young son, Adam, through the gathering dusk from a hunting expedition and starts to tell an autobiographical tale in which he describes past events that seem to have been touched by the Devil’s hand. The tale begins with John’s return to his childhood home as a newlywed with his young bride, Kat.
Kat is pregnant, and she and John have planned a long visit to the Endlands to help do farm work. They want to be present for a tradition called the Gathering in which the sheep are brought down from grazing the Lancashire moors and back to the farms for the winter. The couple’s visit takes a more permanent turn when the Gaffer, John’s elderly grandfather dies suddenly.
John and Kat must decide whether to stay and live permanently with John’s father, Dadda, who might not be able to maintain his rural sheep-farming lifestyle single-handed.
Complicating matters is John’s conflicted memories of a difficult childhood at the Endlands. His mother died quite young and the bullies from the village school picked on him in a running rivalry between the farm children and the village children. Some of that ill will persists to the present day.
Things go wrong during the Gathering and Kat experiences disquieting manifestations of evil. Are her hallucinations real, are they delusional signs of hormonal disruption, or are some of the neighbors targeting the family based on past grudges?
“Devil’s Day” is a gothic gem of psychological suspense that drips with dread and the threat of impending disaster. It reads like part crime novel and part morality fable in which the “sins of the fathers have been visited upon the children” in this small corner of the English countryside.
Author Andrew Hurley teaches English literature in Lancashire and his first book “The Loney” was a surprise bestseller and won the Debut Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2016 at the British Book Industry Awards.
Lisa Kobrin is the Reference Manager and Genealogy Librarian at the May Memorial Library. She can be reached at lkobrin@alamancelibraries.org or 336-229-3588.
On an installment of their “Pod Save America” podcast this week, former Obama insiders Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor interviewed “Veep” commander-in-chief David Mandel, who took over the show from creator Armando Iannucci in the Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy’s fifth season. It returns for its sixth season Sunday.
“The funny thing about ‘Veep’ is, we as people who worked in the White House always get asked, okay, what’s the most real? Is it ‘House of Cards? Is it ‘West Wing’? And the answer is, it’s ‘Veep.’ Because you guys nail the fragility of the egos, and the, like, day-to-day idiocy of the decision-making,” Vietor said.
Mandel said that fragility and idiocy transcends political party.
Though Season 5 ended (spoiler alert) with Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer unexpectedly leaving the White House after a messy election. The show didn’t plan to parallel Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump. But Meyer, like Clinton, now finds herself the surprise loser of an election she very much expected to win, and trying to decide what to do next.
Mandel said the realism of the show reflects its intense research.
Students print a proof of the Latin phrase for Rest in Peace during a letterpress printing class project in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012.
In a world where the term "changing the font" conjures the drag and click of a computer mouse, a visit to the San Francisco Center for the Book provides a whole new appreciation for those newspaper typesetters of old, who set every letter of each edition by hand. "People sometimes think that they can waltz in here and set up a letterpress wedding invitation in one day," says Rocket Caleshu, an instructor at the center. "They're blown away by the complexity of letterpress printing. But they also gain a deeper appreciation for the end results."
Letterpress printing has its roots in the invention of movable type by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. It is a process through which paper is pressed or rolled onto forms holding metal type, wood type or photopolymer plates; ink is then rolled onto any raised surfaces, resulting in a tactile feel to the finished product. It was the primary printing method used until the widespread adoption of offset printing during the 20th century. Offset has itself been squeezed by the rise of digital printing, which theoretically removes letterpress even further from relevancy.
But in a utilitarian, bright space in Potrero Hill with a colorful red awning punctuating its presence, the center strives to keep letterpress printing and related book arts, like bookbinding and hand lettering, alive. Through introductory classes, one-day workshops, and multiweek classes that culminate in a certificate of proficiency, the center seeks to foster an appreciation for the unique way that letterpress printing combines elements of art and commerce.
Caleshu, who also manages marketing and communications, says that there are two types of people drawn to the center, which was founded in 1996. "A lot of our students are young folks who are graphic designers growing up in the digital age who are drawn to the idea of creating something - a business card, a greeting card - that looks lovely in the hand and is obviously a product of handwork." For them, the ability to learn just how letterpress is done and have a chance to master challenging machinery is enticing. "There's definitely a DIY culture in the Bay Area," Caleshu, 27, says, "an awareness that craft is a worthy investment of one's time."
The second constituency is a group that has long appreciated the letterpress process, members of San Francisco's traditional book artist community, which included center co-founders Mary Austin and Kathleen Burch. Andrew Hoyem, director of San Francisco's Arion Press, which produces fine press limited-edition books, says, "The San Francisco Center for the Book plays an invaluable role in teaching skills and encouraging the book arts through classes and exhibitions."
Visitors work on equipment manufactured in the last century, and even the one before that. The center has a C&P floor model platen press from the 1800s, which operates by a lever and treadle mechanism, as well as four mid-20th century Vandercook cylinder presses and four tabletop platen presses. The presses, as well as the trays of rare metal and wood type, were mostly donations from members of the tight-knit local book arts community, according to Caleshu. "We all know each other, so if a press is closing or downsizing we tend to know about it." Mastering letterpress means mastering this sometimes temperamental machinery. "Our students start by learning to clean the presses, mix the ink, and make tiny adjustments to the machinery," Caleshu says. "If someone says, 'What's wrong with my print?' well, it could be 35 different reasons." The center always has an expert printer on hand to help, including during its open print studio nights when students can come in and rent equipment.
Summer Makovkin, 38, had a background in illustration and silk-screening when she found herself drawn to the letterpress classes. "I liked the antiquity of the process," Makovkin says, "and how letterpress design is so tactile. It engages the sense of feel, not just sight." Though it took her almost a year to complete three letterpress printing classes due to other commitments, she says that the staff was encouraging. "I started printing there a lot, and then they invited me to be a print supervisor during open studio nights." Makovkin now sells a line of letterpress cards through her website, Maiden Hand, and teaches private classes at the center.
Unlike some other craft disciplines, a lack of artistic sensibility isn't a deal breaker. "Especially initially, letterpress rewards focus and planning. Learning to set type, with every letter going into place upside down and backward, takes a bit of trial and error for most people. So people who aren't artists can do great work here," Caleshu says, indicating student work hung on the walls. Inspiration also comes from the center's Austin/Burch Gallery space, which displays the work of its artists in residence and outside book artists. A new installation, "Left to Chance," which contemplates the role of chaos and luck in the book arts, opens Feb. 13.
After a few tough years during which paid staffing shrunk from seven to three, Caleshu says SFCB is seeing hopeful signs of recovery. "Our workshops are going to waitlist regularly again," a healthy sign of demand for a printing method many might consider obsolete.
"Obsolete is subjective," Caleshu says. "The application of letterpress is as big as you can imagine it."
The San Francisco Center for the Book, 300 De Haro St., San Francisco, (415) 565-0545. www.sfcb.org.
"Left to Chance" exhibition opening and artist's reception, 6-8 p.m. Feb. 17 at SFCB.
Nancy Davis Kho is a freelance writer in Oakland. E-mail comments to home@sfchronicle.com.
ROME — The first research project to be carried out by the European Union’s new defense fund will cover unmanned naval systems and be led by Italy’s Leonardo, the firm said Friday.
The EU fund, launched in 2016 to build the union’s military capabilities, foresees a pooled €5 billion (U.S. $6 billion) procurement budget.
Prior to procurement, the fund also covers a €90 million research phase called the Preparatory Action on Defence Research and a €500 million annual budget for prototypes and demonstrators.
The work awarded to an industrial team led by Leonardo — which is worth about €35 million, an Italian industrial source said — is part of the first phase, and will be contracted in coming weeks, the firm said.
The team set to work on the so-called OCEAN2020 project comprises 42 firms from 15 countries and beat off a rival bid from a team led by Airbus during the contest, which was run by the European Defense Agency.
“OCEAN2020 will see unmanned platforms of different type (fixed wing, rotary wing, surface and underwater) integrated with naval units’ command and control centres, allowing for data exchange via satellite, with command and control centres on land,” Leonardo said in a statement.
“The joint and cooperative use of both manned and unmanned vehicles will also be demonstrated as part of the project,” it added.
The project will cover two live demonstrations of maritime surveillance and interdiction operations, conducted by European fleets using unmanned aircraft, surface vessels and underwater systems, the firm said.
A second demonstration in the Baltic Sea in 2020 will be coordinated by the Swedish Navy.
The team will be supported by the defense ministries of Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Lithuania, the firm said, with additional support from the defense ministries of Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, Estonia and the Netherlands.
European partner firms include Indra, Safran, Saab, MBDA, PGZ/CTM, Hensoldt, Intracom Defense Electronics, Fincantieri and QinetiQ, as well as research centers including Fraunhofer, TNO, CMRE (of NATO) and IAI.
Airbus, which led the losing team in the tender to run the program, announced Thursday it was teaming with Naval Group to launch a technology study for a helicopter drone for the French Navy’s heavily armed ships.
You can buy land with stock without tapping into your cash reserves.
1 What Happens to Shareholder's Equity When the Firm Issues More Shares?
3 What Is Affected on a Balance Sheet if More Stocks Are Issued?
4 How Does the Payment of Dividends Affect the Accounting Equation?
Shares of common stock convey an ownership interest in a corporation and can be a valuable form of currency for a small business. If your business has little cash or wants to conserve money, you can trade shares of common stock for land or other assets. In this type of deal, you take ownership of the land and the seller gets a stake in your company. Because no cash is used and your shares are not publicly traded, determining the appropriate transaction value to account for in your records can be tricky.
Generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, require a business to record an exchange of stock for property at the fair, or market, value of the transaction. In this case, you can use either the market value of the common stock or the market value of the land. The value you choose should be the one that has the best evidence to support it.
To value the deal based on your common stock, your shares should have a clearly established price. The value of the land transaction would equal the share price times the number of shares exchanged. In a private company, your shares might have an established price only if you recently issued shares for cash. For example, assume your small business issued shares to investors last month for $10 per share and, today, exchanged 50,000 shares for land. The value of the land transaction would be $500,000, or 50,000 times $10.
When your common stock lacks an established price, you can value the transaction based on the land’s value. If you acquire land that is listed on the market and that attracts multiple bidders, you might base the value on the amount you would have paid in cash. If you obtain unlisted land directly from the seller, you might use a value determined by a real estate appraiser instead. For example, assume you get land directly from one of your suppliers. In this case, a real estate appraisal might provide the most accurate value.
Booking the transaction in your records requires an adjustment to three accounts. To record the land, debit the transaction’s value to the land account. A debit increases this account, which is an asset on your balance sheet. For instance, assume a land appraisal of $600,000 is the most accurate transaction value. Debit $600,000 to the land account in your records.
The par value of stock is an accounting figure that is established when you incorporate your business. To figure the par value of stock issued for land, multiply the par value per share by the number of shares issued. Credit your result to the common stock account. A credit increases this account, which is a stockholders’ equity account on the balance sheet. Using the previous example, assume you exchanged 100,000 shares with a par value of $1 per share for the land. You would credit $100,000 to the common stock account.
Keythman, Bryan. "Land Exchanged for Common Stock in Accounting." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/land-exchanged-common-stock-accounting-67832.html. Accessed 24 April 2019.
What Is Convertible vs. Redeemable Preferred Shares?
World leaders backed keeping Greece in the eurozone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalising a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe‘s debt crisis.
A summit of the G8 leading industrialised nations came down solidly in favour of a push to balance European austerity—an approach long driven by German Chancellor Angela Merkel—with a new dose of US-style stimulus seen as vital to healing ailing eurozone economies. But it was clear that divisions remained.
“We commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognising that the right measures are not the same for each of us,” the leaders said in a joint statement issued at their meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
The overarching message from the summit hosted by President Barack Obama reflected his own concerns that the eurozone contagion, which threatens the future of Europe‘s 17-country single currency bloc, could hurt the fragile US recovery and his re-election chances in November.
With Greece‘s political and economic upheaval high on the summit’s agenda and stoking concerns over instability in Spain and Italy, Group of Eight leaders sought to calm the situation.
In the first line of their final economic communiqué, they essentially endorsed calls to broaden Europe‘s focus beyond German-backed fiscal belt-tightening, calling it “our imperative” to promote growth and job creation.
Anxious to quell investor fears, the G8 said: “We reaffirm our interest in Greece remaining in the eurozone while respecting its commitments.” But leaders offered no specific prescription for extracting Athens from its worsening crisis.
It was unusual for the often-bland G8 communiqué to single out a relatively small nation. But fears that a political stalemate in Greece would lead to its departure from Europe‘s monetary union at unknown costs to the financial system and global economic stability have spooked markets.

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