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"It was a very painful time and went on for some time. We had a massive tax debt you couldn't jump over. |
"We couldn't pay because we weren't getting the funds we were owed. |
"We had to borrow more money trying to cover the massive debt. We even borrowed quite a bit from my mum." |
With two of the couple's three boys still at home, Alison said they tried not to involve them it. |
"If they heard us talking we would tell them things will be okay," she said. |
"But I didn't believe it. We were in a big hole. I said to Dave 'how the heck are we going to get out of it'. |
"It's really hard. These (type of) people play you. They see a little family business and taker advantage. It's very hurtful. It was a really sad time. Hopefully it never happens again. |
"It still worries me that it will. You put so much on the line. |
"We got through it. You get tougher and pick and choose your customers." |
The couple engaged a business coach whose advice was simple. Have the right people in the right jobs and pick and choose for who you do work. |
The company now has 30 employees, engaged a contracts' supervisor and before Christmas brought an accountant on board. |
Dave joined Subcontractors Alliance and has become an advocate for legislation to improve payment security and greater enforcement in the building and construction sector. |
Hours after it was first reported that the Obama administration planned to release a directive notifying public school officials that transgender students must be allowed to use the restroom and locker room facilities corresponding with their gender identity on Friday, one state's top Republican officials were already ... |
Even Donald Trump was sure to steer clear of a direct critique on the protective measure, refusing to take a hardline stance during his daily round of morning news show interviews Friday. |
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, however, went even further than his boss in a press conference announcing Texas' opposition to the measure to protect transgender students. |
"I believe it is the biggest issue facing families and schools in America since prayer was taken out of public schools," the right-wing conservative told reporters on Friday, vowing that Texas will not be "blackmailed" by the Obama administration. |
"He says he's going to withhold funding if schools do not follow the policy," Patrick said, referring to the threat of lawsuits and cuts in funding loom over public school systems that continue to discriminate against transgender students. "Well, in Texas, he can keep his 30 pieces of silver. We will not yield to black... |
We will not sell out our children to the federal government. And the people of Texas and the Legislature will find a way to find as much of that money as we can if we are forced to. There is no compromise on this issue," he said. "This is a modern-day, come-and-take-it issue, and the president of the United States, lik... |
Republican Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan told Fox News that the new transgender accommodations could tie hands of those who wish to protect students from so-called "dangerous situations," perpetuating the repeatedly debunked bathroom predator myth. |
Megan Beal doesn’t remember attending her first Kenton Ridge High School girls volleyball game. She’s been told she was 2 weeks old. Her mom, Lori Saunders, was the coach. |
As a second-grader she told her mom, “I will never play volleyball ever,” but she couldn’t avoid the pull of the sport. |
Beal had other interests in the second grade so her mom gave up coaching. But when it was time for Beal’s senior volleyball season in 2007, she asked her mom to come back and coach. Saunders did and stayed until 2014 to complete a total of 21 successful years as head coach. |
Not only did that second-grader grow up to play in high school, she played at Wilmington College and became a coach. After coaching club teams and spending the 2014 season as head coach at Wilmington High School, Beal came home to Kenton Ridge to teach and be Angie Arthur’s assistant for three successful seasons. Now B... |
“I have a lot of high expectations for myself as a coach because I’m following in mom’s footsteps,” Beal said. |
Saunders’ teams of the 1980s and ’90s were punctuated by a trip to the state tournament in 1992. In her final season of 2014, Saunders won the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division, advanced to the regional final and finished 24-3. The Cougars’ season ended in a loss to Kettering Alter in Wilmington, denying... |
Arthur took over and had seasons of 19-7, 20-5 and 24-4. She won one league title and reached the regional final last year. It was Alter again that ended the Cougars’ season. |
Beal’s team won its opener last week over CBC newcomer North Union. The Cougars have a mix of experience and youth as they attempt to continue a string of five straight district tournament appearances and shoot for a fourth league title in six years. |
Four experienced seniors are expected to lead the Cougars. In the middle of everything that happens is setter Lexee Trainer, a fourth-year starter. |
Mikala Morris, a 6-foot-2 Division I basketball prospect, is another fourth-year starter and has been one of the CBC’s top hitters on the right side. |
“She’s a powerhouse for us who does a great job,” Beal said. |
The other seniors are Mallory Armentrout, who was a middle hitter last year in her first varsity season, and Britney Remley, who has varsity experience as an outside hitter. |
Most of the youth comes at the defensive specialist positions. Brynn Williams is a sophomore who played DS last year and served as a hitter as well. She is Beal’s utility player. The other DS players are junior Abby Simons, sophomores Haley Foreman and Leah Adams and freshman Alivia Lemen. Brantley Coulter is a sophomo... |
The former presidential candidate said he is proposing a “new Manhattan Project for clean energy,” to create breakthroughs in advanced nuclear reactors, natural gas, carbon capture, batteries, greener buildings, electric vehicles, cheaper solar power and fusion. He is calling for a doubling of federal energy research. |
Alexander also puts the blame squarely on China and India for climate change, pointing out the drastic reduction in U.S. greenhouse-gas production over the past 13 years. |
If the rhetoric sounds familiar, it should: Alexander authored a similar plan, with the same name, more than a decade ago. |
According to the Congressional Research Service, federal funding for energy research has slowly climbed since the late 1990s, other than one spike after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to about $4.5 billion last year. |
Alexander is planning to retire after his term ends in 2020. |
Australia's Governor General designate says the South West Pacific will face problems for many years to come. |
Michael Jeffery, who will be sworn in August, has told ABC Radio that Australia has a responsibility to act. |
A groundbreaking plan to rescue Solomon Islands from anarchy is expected to be approved by the Australian federal government today. |
The proposal will go to the national security committee of Cabinet but details are unlikely to be announced before next week because the government wants the backing of the Pacific Islands Forum. |
Australia has proposed sending a mission that includes police, military and a wide range of civilian experts. |
On Monday Pacific Forum Foreign Ministers will meet in Sydney to consider Australia's plan. |
Did this Indiana dad go too far in punishing his daughter? |
A North Dakota mother has punished her teen daughter by selling her Katy Perry concert tickets on Facebook. |
Viral Fed-Up Dad Moves Daughter’s Messy Room ... Outside! |
A father decided to teach his daughter a lesson in responsibility, and now his public punishment is going viral. |
Does this punishment go too far? A Texas boy was publicly shamed for swearing at his teacher. |
Eminent aerospace scientist Roddam Narasimha has resigned from the Space Commission citing the treatment meted out to some former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists, in connection with the controversial $300 million Antrix-Devas deal. |
But his disappointment over the way former Isro chairman Madhavan Nair and company were treated by the Centre, was not something that originated recently. |
According to well-placed sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Narasimha had offered to resign soon after the order preventing Nair and three other scientists — A Bhaskaranarayana, Shridhar Murthi and Shankara –– from being re-employed was public. |
“He had expressed his discontent over the action against the scientists and had offered to resign. But he was persuaded to stay back,” an official said. |
Narayanasamy, stating that the Centre hold the scientists of the country in high regard, requested Narasimha to reconsider his resignation. |
“I am yet to see the resignation letter, but I request Roddam to reconsider it,” he said, adding that his loss would be irreplaceable. |
Apple’s iPhone 5 has launched in South Korea, the home of its chief rival Samsung, bringing the total number of countries that it is available in to 48, as its fastest global rollout continues. |
It’s too early for sales figures, but the Chosun Ilbo reports that operators SK Telecom and KT held “massive launch events”, following impressive pre-launch demand. SK racked up 50,000 customer requests within two hours of opening up its reservation services, while KT scored 250,000 pre-orders before today’s launch. |
The device will be LTE-compatible in Korea, as is standard (SK offers HD voice over LTE), and it will be interesting to see how it is received. It will go up against popular Korean phones like the Samsung’s Galaxy S III and the LG Optimus G in a country where local brands and Android-based phones dominate. Samsung led ... |
Apple announced the Korea launch on Monday, and it will be followed by a wave of more than 50 other country releases, which notably includes China – where operator China Unicom has already seen 200,000 reservations. That schedule will mean the device is on sale in more than 100 markets worldwide just three months after... |
That’s Apple fastest rollout to date, and it follows the aggressive launch that Samsung adopted for its Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. Initially available in 28 markets when it launched in May, the Korean firm’s flagship handset was available in 145 countries worldwide by July. |
Last month saw Samsung confirm that the Samsung Galaxy S III had passed 30 million channel sales (sales to retailers and operators, not end customers), and Samsung had previously readjusted its 2012 sales target following the iPhone 5 launch. |
Despite a lack of confirmed consumer sales data, Strategy Analytics estimates that the Samsung Galaxy S III outsold the iPhone 4S during the third quarter of 2012. It remains to be seen how long it can hold off the iPhone 5 for. Apple sold 5 million devices over the first weekend of the iPhone 5 launch in September. |
Next week — Friday December 14 — the iPhone will go on sale in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, ... |
On December 21, the smartphone will then reach the Caribbean and Africa, as it goes on sale in Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam. |
Samsung added the iPhone 5 to the list of devices in its US lawsuit against Apple in October, and it remains to be seen if it will take local action in Korea. It pursued legal action against the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 in its home land, earlier this year, despite previously indicating that it wouldn’t. |
Thirty years on, this band of New Romantics is still new, still romantic. |
There’s an adage that all handsome young British men eventually wind up looking like their mothers. The members of Duran Duran, all of them now at that all-critical half-century mark, do resemble this statement, but many of their fans aren’t that far behind. What’s that all mean? Well, basically, for a group that some ... |
Duran Duran has displayed a remarkable tenacity over the last 30-plus years. There have been major shifts in the lineup (at one point all three Taylors––Roger, John, and Andy––were gone) and what might qualify as a few missteps here and there but no one can say that––or at least no one can and get away with it––that Du... |
This DVD is evidence of that. |
Shot in Manchester, England in the twilight of 2011, A Diamond In the Mind finds the boys from Birmingham in fine, fine form. No small feat given that front Duran Simon LeBon had lost his voice earlier in the year, forcing the cancellation of numerous dates. |
LeBon fought hard to find his voice again and he’s in fighting form across this outing, sounding as fine as he ever has. |
All You Need Is Now (2011) is easily the best and most coherent––if at times less ambitious––record from this lot in some time the renewed energy and focus shows across the 17 tracks performed here. Not too many veteran bands are willing to slip in more than, say, two tunes from their current outing. There are no fewer... |
The 1985 James Bond theme “A View to a Kill” may have seemed like one of the worst Bond themes at the time of its release but it’s aged remarkably well, sounding more in tune with today’s aesthetics than it did nearly 20 years ago. “The Man Who Stole A Leopard” and “Safe (In The Heat of the Moment)” (both from All You ... |
Duran Duran has never been above a sense of humo(u)r and the video clips which accompany the music demonstrate that especially those that accompany “Girl Panic!”, a track that would not have been out of place on the dark Seven and the Ragged Tiger but which is very much its own piece––and a welcome one at that––and ver... |
Other truths also emerge: First, John Taylor is a far better bass player than he’s probably ever received credit for and, when coupled with drummer Roger Taylor, he forms one of the best pop rhythm sections around. Nick Rhodes can’t possibly be a fulltime curmudgeon, though it’s far more interesting to have someone who... |
The group also remains in touch with its roots––there are obvious (and perhaps obligatory) nods to Bowie (“White Lines”) and contemporaries Frankie Goes To Hollywood (via “Relax”, performed with the equally audacious––and aforementioned––“Wild Boys”). There is also the predictable late-show nod to the hits beginning wi... |
A word about the auxiliary players: Guitarist Dominic Brown is a fitting replacement for Warren Cuccurullo, the man who, along with Rhodes and LeBon, helped hold the group together for much of the '90s while percussionist Dawne Adams and backing vocalist Anna Ross all have their moments to shine (as does saxophonist Si... |
As for extras there’s a fairly in-depth behind-the-scenes documentary about the year that was 2011 for the Durans––from a spot at Coachella to LeBon’s vocal troubles to working with director David Lynch and various points in between. There are also bonus versions of “Come Undone” and “Is There Something I Should Know?”... |
Now, where’s that video retrospective? It seems like it’s time to watch “Girls On Film” again. And again. |
Rabat — Gabon’s President Ali Bongo arrived in Morocco on Thursday to convalesce after a month’s treatment at a Saudi hospital for an illness that has not been officially revealed. |
The 59-year-old leader of the oil-rich West African country had been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since October 24 when he fell ill at an economic forum. |
After his arrival in Rabat, Bongo was taken to a hospital in the Moroccan capital to pursue his convalescence and rehabilitation, a Moroccan diplomatic source said. |
His transfer was “in accordance with the wishes of his excellency President Bongo, in agreement with the constitutional institutions of the Gabonese Republic, and in accordance with the opinion of the doctors”, the Moroccan foreign ministry said. |
After an extended period of silence, the Gabonese presidency admitted earlier in November that Bongo was “seriously ill” and had undergone surgery, but said he was on the mend. |
A lack of official news — along with memories of the secrecy-shrouded death of Bongo’s father Omar Bongo in 2009 after decades at the helm — had sparked numerous rumours, including speculation he was incapacitated or even dead. |
Ali Bongo was elected head of state after his father’s death. |
Over the past month, the Gabonese presidency has released only two statements on Bongo’s health. |
In the first, several days after his hospitalisation, presidency spokesperson Ike Ngouoni said that Bongo was “suffering from severe fatigue”. Then on November 11, Ngouoni admitted the president was “seriously ill” and had undergone surgery. |
Following discomfort and “persistent vertigo ... the first tests revealed bleeding which justified medical surgical care in a highly specialised sector”, the spokesperson said quoting a medical bulletin from doctors treating Bongo. |
Earlier in November, a foreign source close to Bongo and his French-born wife Sylvia Bongo Ondimba told AFP the Gabonese president had suffered a stroke. |
But at no time did the Gabon presidency reveal the nature of Bongo’s illness. It was his wife who announced his departure from Riyadh to Morocco on her Facebook page. She said he was able to travel due to a “very significant improvement” in his health and that his recovery in Morocco would be “brief”. |
Sylvia Bongo Ondimba also said that her husband would use his stay in Morocco to work on “top priority dossiers” concerning Gabon and would summon presidential aides to help him. |
Her remarks led the Gabonreview website to write on Thursday that the “management of the president's health has put the spotlight on his very powerful” family and “shows proof of the impotence of the state apparatus”. |
The crisis surrounding Bongo’s health prompted Gabon’s Constitutional Court to modify in mid-November the country’s basic law to address the president’s “temporary incapacity”. |
The court also authorised Vice President Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou to chair a cabinet meeting for the first time since Bongo’s absence. |
On Thursday a Gabon trade union coalition, Dynamique Unitaire, called for a general strike on December 10 to 12, saying Bongo’s absence is depriving the country of a necessary interlocutor to solve problems linked to austerity measures taken recently by the government. |
Mayawati is understood to have given a message to party cadre to maintain equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP. |
Mayawati on Friday accused both the Congress and the BJP of making the life of the people in the country "miserable" |
BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday accused both the Congress and the BJP of making the life of the people in the country "miserable". "India suffered immensely under the Emergency imposed by the Cong govt of Indira Gandhi but the undeclared political & economic emergency of NOTEBANDI has made the lives of 130 crore people ... |
With the tweet, Mayawati is understood to have given a message to party cadre to maintain equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP. |
Overnight: Mostly clear. Lows in the teens and 20s. |
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