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Excellent commercial property on a great location. Approximately 20 acres (to be determined via survey before closing), with 3 RV hook ups, a 1 bedroom/1 bath trailer on location, and a large 80'x40' metal building with two floors and warehouse/shop space. The metal building has 13 offices, a kitchen, two meeting rooms, and 4 bathrooms with showers. Refrigerated A/C and heating for the office space. Currently zoned commercial on the front acreage and rural residential on the back acreage, so the property can be used for multiple functions!
CRESTVIEW, FL: Florida's Okaloosa County has hired Peter Mayer Advertising of New Orleans to promote it as a tourist destination.
The contract with the company is worth $437,580. Under the contract, Peter Mayer will provide tourism-related advertising, PR, website management, research, social media marketing, and social networking, according to the contract.
Records show the firm beat Noise and EW Bullock in a competitive RFP process. Peter Mayer replaces Lewis Communications and the Zimmerman Agency, whose contracts ended in September.
Earlier this year, Visit Florida, the state's tourism organization, hired Ketchum as its PR AOR.
Al Jazeera's UN correspondent on pressure to bring bomb suspects to trial.
On face value, no politician or diplomat would be against prosecuting a serious crime, or bringing its perpetrators to justice.
No politician or diplomat would ever say that it is acceptable to assassinate political opponents and then proceed to assassinate other key figures close to them.
And yet, with a multitude of different agendas and principles whirling around, there are politicians and diplomats who are opposed to the setting-up of a UN International Tribunal to investigate the 2005 murder of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, in a massive car bomb.
But this was no ordinary murder, nor is this any ordinary tribunal.
Those countries, including Russia, China, South Africa and Qatar who abstained on Wednesday's resolution in the UN Security Council argued that they had good reason to do so.
The resolution, supported by 10 countries, including the United States, Britain and France creates a precedent – although the UN might argue that it does not.
It is a Chapter Seven resolution, which is invoked in cases of threats to international peace and security. It is binding, mandatory and can be backed by force if necessary.
It gives the divided Lebanese parliament until June 10 to agree to the establishment of a tribunal.
For the first time perhaps, an individual government, in this case the Lebanese government, will be forced to co-operate with a UN-backed court.
Opinion is divided in Lebanon too. The country’s president is against. The country’s prime minister is for.
The opposition, official and unofficial is against. And yet the demonstrations marking Hariri’s murder two years ago were so massive, that the Syrian army, seen by some as occupiers, others as protectors, withdrew from much of the country.
Throughout the long process of the Hariri Inquiry, presided over by a UN-backed team, countries and people not connected to the investigation have been pointing towards Syrian complicity in the attack on Hariri's motorcade, although this remains unproved.
But for those who do believe that there was Syrian involvement, an international tribunal is seen as a device that may help make their cause.
However, it remains the case that the forensic investigation of the murder site, where the massive car bomb exploded, have not yet led to any suspects being named.
The Lebanese parliament now has a deadline. Yet already some are asking what the UN could do enforce its decision if the parliament fails to meet it, or for some reason does not agree.
Others claim that this decision by the UN Security Council will lead to yet further violence and bloodshed.
Many Lebanese people ask why their own country is not going to be allowed to run its own tribunal.
Although others argue that given the great divides in Lebanese society, it is quite impossible to imagine their country hosting an investigation and criminal court case of such political magnitude.
The United Nations, for its part, argues that there is no precedent; that there have been international tribunals in the former Yugoslavia, investigating war crimes and in Rwanda, investigating genocide.
Once again critics say that Yugoslavia had more or less ceased to exist as a state and Rwanda wasn’t functioning as a state.
Lebanon, on the other hand, despite its divisions and despite the terrible damage wrought by last year’s invasion by Israel, is a functioning state, and a state that cannot agree as to whether the tribunal is a good thing or not.
The many supporters of Hariri are jubilant now that they believe that justice may actually be done.
They believe that a line may at last be drawn under political assassinations if the perpetrators are brought to justice.
But for others in Lebanon, all of this reeks of outside interference.
Others still believe that far from putting a cap on the violence, the creation of an international tribunal may just fuel it.
Who is right and who is wrong, we shall see in the coming weeks and months.
A Santa Clara County judge dismissed corruption charges Tuesday against former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, one of his top aides and a garbage company over a 2000 contract to haul the city's waste, saying prosecutors had mistaken ordinary political back-scratching for bribery.
Superior Court Judge John Herlihy said prosecutors had presented the grand jury that indicted Gonzales and the others with a flawed theory of what constituted bribery of a public official and had given "erroneous instructions" to the panel concerning bribery, labor law and the falsification of public records.
Gonzales and his chief budget aide, Joe Guerra, were indicted June 21 for their part in negotiating a deal with Norcal Waste Systems Inc. for San Jose's trash-hauling contract. They were accused of secretly agreeing to give Norcal an additional $11.25 million in public money in exchange for the company having its recycling subcontractor, California Waste Solutions, switch to the Teamsters union and pay employees more.
The Teamsters had contributed to Gonzales' political campaigns. Prosecutors conceded that the former mayor had not received any money from the union because of the garbage deal, but argued that he was guilty of taking a bribe by brokering a deal for "indirect future advantage."
Herlihy said prosecuting an official on that theory threatened the First Amendment rights of constituents.
"This is not bribery," the judge wrote. "This is politics."
Gonzales, who had maintained he broke no laws and refused calls from the City Council to resign before his second term ended Dec. 31, said he felt exonerated after a year under a legal cloud.
"It's a wonderful day for me, my staff, my family," Gonzales said when reached by phone. "I feel like the judge's decision does in fact vindicate me, and that was the feeling I felt all along."
Gonzales, 56, faced six felony counts including receiving a bribe, falsifying a public record and misappropriating public funds. Guerra was indicted on three felony counts, including conspiracy and misappropriation of funds.
Norcal was accused of giving a bribe. All three defendants also were accused of conspiring to defraud the public.
Prosecutors said they would sift through Herlihy's 33-page order before deciding whether to let the ruling stand, appeal it or convene another grand jury to seek a new indictment. Supervising Deputy District Attorney Julius Finkelstein, who brought the case before the grand jury last year, said he could not give a timetable for making that decision.
"Obviously, we're surprised and disappointed by the ruling," Finkelstein said. "We're especially disappointed for the San Jose ratepayers who lost $11.25 million as the result of this backroom deal."
The case originated in the 2000 contract negotiations between Gonzales and Norcal for garbage pickup and recycling services. Prosecutors accused Gonzales of promising to use city money to cover pay raises for the firm's workers without informing the City Council of the arrangement if Norcal allowed the Teamsters union to represent workers at its recycling subcontractor.
The arrangement was outlined in a civil grand jury report in June 2005 and an independent probe that December. The indictment described it as a "quid pro quo."
"There was an indirect advantage to the mayor (in the Norcal deal), because he had gotten the support of the Teamsters, and by doing a favor for his political supporters could expect their continued support, maybe perhaps even greater support," Finkelstein told the grand jury that indicted the mayor, according to the transcript of the proceeding.
The civil grand jury report on the contract noted that Gonzales had received a combined $7,500 contribution from Norcal and its recycling subcontractor and $2,500 from the Teamsters after the 2000 contract was negotiated.
Herlihy, however, found that there was no evidence that Gonzales had benefited from the deal, saying the Teamsters were already his political backers.
"There was simply no evidence indicating that the Teamsters knowingly gave defendant Gonzales additional political support" because of the arrangement, Herlihy wrote. "In fact, there was no evidence indicating that anyone from the Teamsters was present at that meeting (at which Gonzales and Norcal agreed to the arrangement) or was even aware of what was promised."
The garbage contract had dogged Gonzales for months before he was indicted. Once a rising star in Democratic politics, his career appeared to be on the wane even before he was charged.
The City Council voted in December 2005 to censure him, then decided the next month to remove the mayor from four committees. After his indictment last June, he conceded he had mishandled negotiations with the garbage hauler but said no crime had occurred.
Herlihy chastised Gonzales, Guerra and Norcal in his ruling Tuesday, saying they were "delinquent in their responsibility to be open and to fully disclose their knowledge, actions and policies." Gonzales acknowledged earlier that he "could have been more informative" about the process to the council and public, something he echoed Tuesday.
"I don't think that there is anyone who has served as a mayor of a large city for eight years who does not wish that he or she could have done some things differently," he said. "Years ago, I got into public service because I felt like it was the best way to improve the lives of others. That was always my intent. It was very difficult to leave public office with this over my head."
There was a time early last season when Steve Kerr, the coach of the best basketball team in recent NBA history, stood in front of his squad and laid out the truth about the next eight months.
It had been three years since Kerr took the helm, and in those seasons his teams played on the biggest stages. They made three consecutive trips to the Finals, winning twice. Everyone in the room — everyone, period — expected the Golden State Warriors to win another title.
“It’s going to be hard,” Kerr tried to explain to the team, confronting the challenge head-on.
Things seem to get in the way of great teams, Kerr thought, keeping them from annual trips to the championship series. Injuries, malaise, personality conflicts, a lack of competition, overconfidence — each could get in his team’s way and keep them from winning their third title in four seasons.
“It was almost a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Kerr said.
The Warriors were on the edge of elimination in the Western Conference finals after trudging through a seemingly never-ending regular season before pulling through to win another championship.
With his team set to go on a championship trek again, trying to be the first NBA team to win for the fourth time in five seasons since the Boston Celtics teams of the 1960s, Kerr will not be making the same speech to his players. He won’t even mention it.
They don’t need it, he thinks, and that’s bad news for the 29 teams trying to dethrone the Warriors.
The gratitude in Kerr’s voice could simply be the product of perspective, acknowledgment that he’s running a once-in-a-generation team. It could come from his past as a player, once a member of a team that pulled off a three-peat, and the awareness that the third title was “by far” the toughest.
Or, Kerr knows that all empires eventually crumble and this might be the end of the Golden State dynasty.
The team could be ravaged at the end of the season by free agency. Star forward Kevin Durant, who has won back-to-back NBA Finals MVP honors since joining the Warriors, could have a thirst for new challenges. He’s expected to opt out of his contract following the season, and while re-signing is a definite possibility, he could also try to wash off the front-runner stigma attached to his name after picking the Warriors three years ago by going out on his own.
Shooting guard Klay Thompson is also set to be an unrestricted free agent and likely will have maximum offers at his feet from teams across the NBA, the perfect complement to any other superstar because of his long-range marksmanship and defensive versatility. Thompson, though, has expressed a desire to play for the Warriors his entire career.
Kerr tried to strangle any free-agency talk on the first day of practice this season, telling reporters he wasn’t going to let it become a distraction — though it certainly has the potential to become one.
The pending free agency of key players is only one of the possible obstacles the Warriors will encounter this season. Lakers coach Luke Walton, who came up one ring short of a three-peat as a player with the Lakers in 2011, remembered just how tough the end was.
The Warriors showed signs of that last season, that edge dulling over the course of the regular season, and when the team tried to find it again in the playoffs, it wasn’t easy. They got pushed to seven games by the Rockets and might’ve lost the series had it not been for an injury to Chris Paul late in Game 5, the All-Star point guard missing the rest of the series.
The Warriors have ways to try to fight that off heading into another season in which they’re the overwhelming favorites.
Kerr, just like Walton, played for Phil Jackson, a master at fighting the natural boredom that comes with greatness. Jackson three-peated three times in a 12-year span, twice with the Bulls and once with the Lakers. He later won back-to-back titles in a second stint with the Lakers.
As the Lakers worked toward a third title, Jackson would use practice time to play mind games.
Kerr probably won’t take the Warriors down that road, though he’s already shortened practices in an effort to make them more efficient, demanding greater focus over a shorter period of time.
And, like they did when they added Durant, the team nabbed a top talent this summer, signing center DeMarcus Cousins to a bargain deal of one year at $5 million. Cousins, who is rehabbing from a ruptured Achilles tendon last season, is participating in on-court drills already, though there’s no timetable for a return.
When Cousins does step on the court, the Warriors will have to figure out how to play with a dynamic post scorer for the first time during their run of dominance.
While adding talent is generally a no-brainer, the fact that it’ll force the Warriors to adjust is an added benefit.
The challenges, if things go to plan, will largely go unspoken by Kerr and the coaching staff. He doesn’t want to draw attention to the obvious obstacles to another title. His team, more than any other in the league, knows how much of a grind it can be waiting months and months for the most meaningful basketball to arrive.
The Warriors didn’t get to this point by fading when things get toughest, when history is on the line. The real reason they don’t need to be told what’s in front of them is because players like Curry have a need for exceptionalism pumping through their veins.
Curry knows the Warriors just aren’t playing for a ring. They’re playing for history — maybe for the last time. They’ve rarely flinched when presented with chances to do something this difficult.
“We talk about the three-peat because it’s in front of us. We don’t repeat it every single day,” he said. “When we start the season, we lay everything out onto the table as to what’s at stake as far as expectations. Yes, winning a championship is the goal. How you get there, how you break up that mission on a game-to-game, month-to-month basis is what makes us great. In terms of encouraging each other, being in tune with some of the things that might be thrown at you, whether it’s injuries or it’s a couple slumps on the court — whatever the case is — we adapt really well.
Former Astros role player Jesus Guzman elected free agency on Oct. 10 and 15 days later, had a deal in Japan. The Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Central League announced Saturday that Guzman had signed a one-year deal.
The contract is worth an estimated $1 million, with performance-based incentives, per The Japan Times.
Guzman, a 30-year-old first baseman and outfielder from Venezuela, hit .188 in 69 games for the Astros in 2014. He spent the prior three seasons with the San Diego Padres.
New Astros manager A.J. Hinch, left, and general manager Jeff Luhnow.
CAERPHILLY council leader Lindsay Whittle expects to stay in the role for a few more weeks while a replacement is selected and settles in.
Cllr Whittle will stand down from the post he has held for eight years after winning a South Wales East regional seat at last week's Assembly elections.
The new Plaid Cymru AM is likely to outline his position at tomorrow's council AGM.
At that meeting, a new mayor and deputy leaders of the council will be named, but deputy leader Allan Pritchard said the issue of a new leader will take longer.
Cllr Pritchard and Cllr Colin Mann are deputy leaders, but Cllr Whittle refused to be drawn on who would make a good replacement, saying "there are quite a few able candidates".
He added: "I won't suddenly resign. We will have a break-in period for the new leader, it will be a gradual process."
However, he said he would like to continue sitting on the council, combining it with his Assembly role.
He said: "It's been a privilege and is something I don't want to give up. But, while I'd like to stay on at least until the council elections in 2012, I have this bigger role now.
"Most AMs are expected to have just one role, so I will have to see what this will involve before I can commit to serving it out."
One Alabama lawmaker wants to make it harder for cities to breakaway from their county school system.
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, filed SB44 last week, to curb the steady flow of breakaway districts in part because it stretches financial resources too thinly.
She said more should be required from cities breaking away from a county district, and the current law makes it too easy. Under her proposal, a city would need 25,000 residents to consider breaking away. Current law requires a minimum of 5,000 residents.