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"Unfortunately, the legislation before the House (of Representatives) today is currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents in New Jersey," he said. "In addition to the loss of Medicaid coverage for so many people in my Medicaid-dependent state, the denial of essential health benefits in the individual market raise serious coverage and cost issues."
The group also repeatedly tried to set up town hall meetings with the congressman, going so far as to reserve several venues in his district.
Frelinghuysen, who has repeatedly advocated for the repeal of ACA, avoided those in-person town halls and instead held several telephone town halls in the past few weeks.
The group said it expected Frelinghuysen's vote to match his public statement, but it would be "vigilantly watching" his vote.
Frelinghuysen, in his statement, added he remained "hopeful" that AHCA will be modified further.
With such iconic landmarks on hand as the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and White House, patriotic pride is on parade throughout Washington, D.C. Yet nothing remains more American than taking in a baseball game in the nation’s capital. Established in 2008, MLB’s Washington Nationals play in aptly titled Nationals Park, a modern structure of glass, steel and concrete, and home to more than 41,500-plus fans when at capacity. Although the stadium is cut off from the city center by the imposing presence of Interstate 395, the park is still accessible on foot or via the Metro from a host of nearby hotels.
Just 10 minutes on foot from the stadium, Courtyard Washington Capitol Hill/Navy Yard (marriott.com) caters to business travelers. Plan a function in one of the four conference rooms totaling 2,215 square feet of meeting space. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, The Bistro offers on-site catering for meetings as well. Stay in tune with your surroundings via the lobby-based GoBoard, an electronic screen that provides local airport information, news and weather alerts.
Step back in time with a stay at Capitol Skyline Hotel (capitolskyline.com), a retro boutique hotel outfitted with bold midcentury designs, including pieces by renowned architect and designer Frank Gehry. Relax upon one of the bright orange sofas or lounge chairs near the outdoor pool. The pool is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend and hosts weekend parties and barbecues. The hotel is less than a 10-minute walk from the park.
Capitol Hill Hotel (capitolhillhotel-dc.com) is 20 minutes on foot from the stadium and a 10-minute walk to the Capitol building. The hotel caters to extended-stay travelers, providing discounts if you stay five nights or more. Enjoy the comforts of home by preparing small meals in the common kitchenette or taking advantage of the coin-operated laundry facilities. The hotel also offers a loyalty rewards program with frequent guests earning free nights.
Residence Inn Washington, D.C./Capitol (marriott.com) is 20 minutes to the stadium and 15 minutes to the Capitol on foot, but has a host of on-site dining options. Start the day with a complimentary hot breakfast buffet each morning. Three nights a week the hotel hosts an evening social with free snacks and beverages. During warm weather, you can also use the outdoor barbecue and picnic facilities. Looking for a quick snack fix? Grab a treat from the lobby’s sundry store.
L'Enfant Plaza Hotel (lenfantplazahotel.com) is a casual hotel that accommodates a wide range of tastes and needs. For love birds, the hotel has a romance package that includes dinner for two with a bottle of wine and late checkout. If you’re traveling with your four-legged friend, book the pet package with pet bowls, water, walking maps of the surrounding region and a pet bed upon request. The hotel is just a 10-minute walk to the nearby Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and a 10-minute Metro ride to Nationals Park.
Holiday Inn Washington-Capitol (holidayinn.com) is less than five minutes on foot to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and 15 minutes by train to the baseball stadium. Geared toward business travelers, the hotel has 10 meeting rooms and a 24-hour business center with a variety of free services. Start your busy day with a stop at the hotel’s coffeehouse and grab a quick midday snack from the express deli. Entertain clients at the hotel’s sit-down restaurant and attached bar, which hosts live jazz acts some evenings.
Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C. (mandarinoriental.com), is a luxury hotel just one block from the Potomac River. Upscale accommodations include some guest rooms with sweeping views of the skyline and water, deep soaking tubs, four-poster beds and chandeliers. Unwind in the boutique spa, home to vitality pools, eight treatment rooms and Zen relaxation rooms. The hotel is 20 minutes from the ballpark, accessible via the Metro.
As the name indicates, The Channel Inn (channelinn.com) is perched along the river’s channel. Some rooms have views of the courtyard pool while others offer balconies and sweeping vistas of the water. Still don't have your fill of waterfront views? Then head to the hotel’s Pier 7 Restaurant, which serves lobster, crab and scallops while providing panoramas of the boat-filled marina. The hotel is only a 20-minute walk to Nationals Stadium.
Who is Tyrrell Hatton's girlfriend Emily Braisher and how many children does she have with The Masters star?
Who is Tyrrell Hatton’s girlfriend Emily Braisher and how many children does she have with The Masters star?
University graduate will be alongside him in Paris to keep him calm after he insisted he will not "turn into the Hulk"
EMILY BRAISHER is the stunning partner of young Masters golfer Tyrrel Hatton.
The university graduate was alongside the Englishman in Paris to keep him calm as he played a key part in victory at the Ryder Cup last year.
Emily grew up Buckinghamshire and graduated from Nottingham Trent University last summer.
But she has since decided to travel around the world alongside Hatton and they regularly play golf together.
And she writes a hugely popular blog, which is called 'Wife On Tour'.
On the home page, it reads: "I suppose I've started this blog as more of an outlet for my thoughts and daily life happenings.
"I know what my family and friends are probably thinking... yes, I've called the blog wife on tour, but 'girlfriend on tour' doesn't quite have the same ring to it... literally."
And she explains the negative side of the stereotypical WAG lifestyle.
It said: "The 'WAG' lifestyle can come across as nothing short of glamour and bliss, but in reality being away from home and living out of a suitcase can be tough at times."
She also uses Instagram to keep her family and friends up to date with her travels.
Do the pair have any children together?
No, the pair do not have any children.
The pair seem to be enjoying their travels and Hatton is committed to being the best he can be at golf.
Is Manny Pacquiao Training Differently for the Juan Manuel Marquez Fight?
Manny Pacquiao has made it no secret that he is taking his upcoming bout against Juan Manuel Marquez very seriously. Admitting that he wasn’t been as dominant as he hoped to be in his last two fights, the Filipino champion pledged that on Dec. 8 he would erase all doubts. How? By knocking Marquez, the man who has given him more trouble than anyone else in recent memory, out.
Early reports out of Pacquiao’s training camp have been mostly positive. Bob Arum remarked that his guy looked a bit rusty during sparring sessions, initially, but acknowledged that it was to be expected given the long layoff he has had since the Timothy Bradley fight. Aside from that, though, everyone seems to agree that there weren’t any problems with the champ’s preparation.
As "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao winds down his first week of training at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Los Angeles with his third sparring session today, there are plans to try some "new things" next week.
Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard that while both trainer Roach and himself were pleased over the first week's training and were more than happy to see Pacquiao in good condition after two weeks of training in his hometown of General Santos City, they plan "to introduce new things next week."
However, Ariza didn't indicate what the new things are.
What could those new things be? It’s not like Pacquiao is a new fighter – this is a veteran guy who is pretty set in his ways. It’s unlikely that he could change much up stylistically at this point even if he wanted to. The only thing, maybe, they could be trying to alter right now is his knockout strategy.
Mind you, Pacquiao hasn’t recorded a knockout since 2009. Part of that is because his opponents began running from him after that, but part of it (i.e. against Bradley) is because he just simply hasn’t been able to do it.
Weigh in below: what mysterious new thing do you think Pacquiao is working on right now?
Is Juan Manuel Marquez Making Manny Pacquiao Nervous?
Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez to Fight in April 2013?
Did Manny Pacquiao Lose to Juan Manuel Marquez Because of Bad Conditioning?
At a recent dinner, my cousin Luke, who is a high school student, told us about his school's occasional treats of hot chocolate and doughnuts. He also told us about his new textbooks that he rarely uses. The school where I teach started the year without Spanish books in our bilingual classrooms. A hot chocolate budget is the last thing on my mind.
Both schools are located in Lake County. Luke's school is in Libertyville High School District 128, while I teach in Round Lake Area Unit District 116.
Despite their geographic proximity, our districts are very different. Luke's high school spends 78 percent more per pupil than the high school in my district. His school's budget and the resources that come with it -- not just hot chocolate and textbooks, but opportunities as well, like computer science and robotics clubs -- are the byproduct of our state's heavy reliance on property taxes to fund education.
My district serves primarily Hispanic students, and 52 percent of our students are considered low-income. Luke's district is predominantly white with only 8 percent low-income students. Because of an overreliance on property taxes, a wealthy district like Luke's is able to provide additional funds and resources to their students.
By contrast, low-income districts like those in Round Lake receive only 81 cents for every dollar available to non low-income students. Out of all 50 states, Illinois has the largest funding gap between low income and non low-income students.
The broken funding formula in Illinois hurts vulnerable students the most.
There is nearly universal agreement from politicians and school leaders alike that Illinois' school funding formula needs to change. On Feb. 1, The Illinois School Funding Reform Commission released its long-awaited report and found current disparities in Illinois state funding alarming.
Shortly after the report appeared, Rep. Will Davis introduced House Bill 2808, which aligns with the commission's report. Now it's up to the Illinois legislature to move this forward.
Here is why this matter is urgent. While our state's policymakers debate the ISFRC's report, I spend my evenings at the library searching for books. When the library doesn't have what my students need, I buy them with my own money. I do this to fulfill a state mandate which is not funded under the current school funding model.
My district goes above and beyond to provide not only basic classroom supplies, but to fill in gaps where families are unable. We provide backpacks and coats to students who don't have those necessities. These items come out of our already limited budget.
I was recently given a used projector for my classroom. Unfortunately, my district can't afford to hang the projector from the ceiling or to provide a screen for it. Meanwhile, each student in Luke's district has a Chromebook.
I am grateful to teach in a community that knows its children deserve the best. Residents of Round Lake District 116 tax themselves at 7.6 percent, a much higher rate than the 4.7 percent in Luke's district. But, even with our higher tax rate, my community is unable to generate enough revenue to fund our schools equitably.
My district has to provide more materials than our wealthy counterparts, and we must to do so with less funding. It isn't working. Our state needs to step up and step in to fill the funding gap.
My students deserve more than what they currently get and the next funding model must represent that. It is imperative for Illinois' policymakers to acknowledge this and act accordingly. Then perhaps next year, Luke and I will sit around the table with some hot chocolate and discuss how proud we are of our state and the changes it has made.
Kali Skiles teaches early childhood in a blended classroom at the Round Lake Early Education Center. She is a state policy fellow for Teach Plus Illinois.
After reports suggested J.C. Chandor was circling the Paramount action-thriller “Triple Frontier,” sources close to the project have confirmed that the “A Most Violent Year” helmer has closed a deal to direct the pic.
Mark Boal penned the screenplay with Charles Roven and Alex Gartner of Atlas Entertainment producing.
The film is set in the notorious border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil where the Iguazu and Parana rivers converge — making “la triple frontera” difficult to monitor and a haven for organized crime.
Kathryn Bigelow was originally eyed to helm the movie, but after she decided to direct “Zero Dark Thirty” first, the film got shelved and she eventually left the project.
The studio will next try and lock in the large ensemble that it has wanted for the film. Sources say Will Smith is interested in starring and the dialogue ongoing, but negotiations have not yet begun between the two sides.
He is repped by CAA and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
A housekeeper first told Anita Miranda that she and her family had to leave the hotel room that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been paying for after Hurricane Harvey forced them from their home.
When Miranda, 24, went to the Houston Inn and Suites' front desk, an employee confirmed it: "Oh yeah, y'all are not extended," she remembers them saying. Miranda and her eight family members had an hour to empty out the two rooms they had occupied for two-and-a-half months.
When FEMA cut off their hotel assistance on Nov. 28, the family returned to their gutted home, where five of them — Miranda, her mother and three teenage siblings — have been sharing two mattresses they got at a furniture bank.
"We've been at the house because there's nowhere else to be, but there's no water, no light, no restroom, no nothing," she said. They use the bathroom at a neighbor’s house, cook at her grandmother's and cover themselves up with several blankets at night because the heating system is broken.
"We just try to spend the majority of the time elsewhere," Miranda said.
Hurricane Harvey sent three feet of water into their house in East Houston's Denver Harbor neighborhood and caused the roof to cave in. After the storm, the family qualified for help through FEMA's transitional sheltering assistance program, or TSA, which pays for hotel or motel rooms for families whose homes are uninhabitable or inaccessible because of a disaster.
FEMA implemented the program on Aug. 29 – four days after Hurricane Harvey first made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast – to ensure families displaced by the storm had somewhere to stay. Enrollment peaked at more than 24,000 families in late September; since then the number has dropped to about 11,300 families as of Friday.
While the criteria FEMA uses to decide whether a family qualifies for the program is precise — FEMA's general guidelines to determine who is eligible are public and easy to find — the process for terminating the assistance is fuzzier.
Every two weeks, FEMA is supposed to evaluate if families can go back home or have access to an alternative housing option, then notify both the hotel and the family whether they are eligible for an extension.
But Miranda says FEMA didn't inform her that her family was being cut off, and when she called the agency's hotline after getting the news from the hotel, the representative didn't give her a clear answer.
"She said, 'It goes through a system, we don't have control over who gets extended and who doesn't, so I'm sorry you're going through that, but there's nothing we can do,' " Miranda said.
"There is a process to get into the program, it's getting out of the program that I don't know that there is a process," said John Henneberger, co-director of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, an Austin-based nonprofit that researches housing solutions for low-income people.
Tracy Figueroa, an attorney who heads the disaster response team at the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, agrees, adding that in previous disasters she has seen FEMA using rules that weren't available to the public or even to the attorneys helping disaster victims.
"There are unpublished rules that FEMA uses internally to make some of these decisions," Figueroa said. "If they were transparent, there would be less confusion for people."
Disaster victims can check the status of their assistance application on FEMA's website, but frequently it will only say when they were deemed eligible for the hotel program, not whether the benefit was extended or canceled.
"What they are being told and what is happening to them doesn't match what's in their account" said Linley Boone-Almaguer, an attorney at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. "It's misleading and often not up to date."
FEMA confirmed that information about terminations isn’t available online and said it’s kept in disaster victims’ files accessible only by FEMA agents.
"The reason for not being extended is in everyone’s case and varies case by case," said FEMA spokesman Bob Howard, adding that the only way a family can check their status is to call the agency's hotline or go to one of FEMA’s disaster recovery centers spread throughout Harvey-affected areas.
Miranda posted her experience in a Facebook group for Hurricane Harvey victims with more than 140,000 members.
"Anyone else get kicked out of their hotel room today?" Miranda posted on Nov. 28. She got reactions from 50 people and 29 comments, including one from Beaumont resident Sherrie Foster.
Foster, 53, said she left her home with her two grandchildren, ages 4 and 5, on Aug. 27 and after a couple of days staying with her neighbor's family in Orange, she drove to Salisbury, North Carolina, where she had family members who could help her.
Foster and her grandchildren were approved for FEMA assistance and checked into Salisbury's Comfort Suites on Sept. 15. She said FEMA told her on Dec. 9 that her aid would not be extended because the agency had decided that hotel stays outside Texas would no longer be accepted.
"The representative said that there's plenty of hotels in Texas and that I should just come back to Texas,” she said. “But there are no vacant hotels where I'm from."
Then, on Dec. 12, FEMA contacted Foster again to say her hotel stay had been extended. But a couple of hours later, the hotel manager told her that the agency had reversed the decision. After some back and forth with the hotel and FEMA, she finally got a definitive answer.
"I called FEMA/TSA back around 6 p.m. and the rep said that no, my stay ended today and that I had not been extended,” Foster said. “I asked her to read the notes and she said that she was sorry and that it must have been a computer glitch because she had another caller earlier saying the same thing."
"The stress of all this is really taking a toll on me."
On Dec. 2, FEMA and the Texas Division of Emergency Management decided to pay for hotel stays only in Texas and Louisiana because there’s a shortage of available housing in both states due to Hurricane Harvey. Displaced people who have gone to other states can use rental assistance granted by FEMA rather than the hotel program, the agency said.
Foster said she received a one-time rental assistance of around $1,600 to get an apartment in September, but had to move out because the heating system was broken. She says FEMA has told her she must sign another lease before she can get rental assistance again, but she's afraid FEMA won’t follow through. Until she finds a new rental, Foster will stay with family members in North Carolina.
According to FEMA, 1,684 families of the 11,335 currently in the TSA program have been approved for short- and long-term housing programs funded by FEMA and administered by the Texas General Land Office, which provides mobile homes, grants for home repairs or a direct leasing option in which local governments sign leases on behalf of Harvey victims.
Harvey victims who are still in FEMA-paid hotels could see that assistance end on Jan. 16 – the third deadline the federal agency has set for the program.
The number of people staying at hotels has been decreasing steadily since October, but the sharpest drops happened close to the two deadlines previously announced by FEMA – Oct. 24 and Nov. 27. In those weeks, the number dropped around 20 percent, while the sharpest decrease in other weeks was 14 percent.
Howard, the FEMA spokesman, said TSA recipients are assigned a long-term recovery case manager to help them develop a housing plan. Miranda said her case manager only gave her a couple of Walmart and gas gift cards, while Foster said she has called FEMA about that option, but the agency never assigned her a case manager.
"I feel like I'm just a number to them," Foster said.
Wal-Mart and China: It’s a partnership like no other. You’ve got the world’s biggest retail operation with its 9,700 stores and 2.1 million employees and the world’s biggest country with its 1.3 billion people.
Wal-Mart may also be the biggest literary target around. Libraries could open Wal-Mart sections to accommodate all the books written. There’s “The Wal-Mart Effect” by Charles Fishman, “How Wal-Mart is Destroying America and the World” by Bill Quinn and “The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business” by Nelson Lichtenstein, to name a few.
There’s also Chuck Hood’s “Wal-Mart’s EGOnomics – Always –The Greed Behind the Smiley Face,” with the premise that it’s time for America to ask Wal-Mart to say good-bye to China.
Noting that 92 percent of Wal-Mart goods (annual sales of $411 billion) are imported from China, Hood calls for a change. “Let’s ask Wal-Mart to cooperate with America. Ask them to reduce the number of products they import(from China),” he said.