Split (1)

train · 2.6M rows

text stringlengths 12 27.8k
“When looking at a nationwide comparison, most people factor in the salaries. But when teachers get older, what’s being paid into retirement and the health insurance becomes a really big deal,” Allen said.
When it comes to health care benefits, advocates say Texas teachers are stuck in 2002. That’s when state lawmakers created the plan known as TRS-ActiveCare. The teacher health insurance program, which is run by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, requires the state to contribute $75 per employee toward monthly heal...
Nearly 430,000 public school teachers and retirees are covered under the plan, which is used by many of the state’s 1,200-plus school districts. Since the program went into effect, employees’ share of premiums have more than doubled, while the state’s contribution to teacher’s health care has remained the same.
“When your salary is barely going up year after year, health care costs are going up considerably and you’re not getting any additional money put toward those healthcare cost by your employer — which is the state in this case — then effectively you’re taking a year over year cut to your salary,” said Monty Exter, a lob...
Under the TRS-ActiveCare program, districts are also required to put a minimum of $150 per employee per month toward health insurance premiums, with the option of contributing more. But Exter said that can be difficult for districts as education budgets are squeezed.
When it comes to retirement funding, a majority of states pay into both a pension plan and Social Security. Texas is in the minority of states that only pays into a pension fund and does not pay into Social Security for the majority of its teachers — which means most Texas teachers won’t have access to Social Security ...
Among states that only offer a pension plan for teachers, Texas is dead last when it comes to funding its pension programs — by a lot.
For years, Texas only paid 6 percent — the constitutional minimum — into the Teacher Retirement System. It now pays 6.8 percent, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. And the Texas Constitution says the state's contributions to pension funds can’t eclipse 10 percent without a constit...
“The next closest non-Social Security state had a retirement contribution rate at least double ours,” said Ann Fickel, the associate executive director of the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. The median contribution for the other 14 other states that don’t pay into Social Security for their teachers is around 18 p...
“As retirees’ costs rise, especially for medical care, there will be pressure on lawmakers to find a way to increase benefits for retired teachers,” Fickel said.
The bottom line: When it comes to teacher pay, Texas ranked 27th in the nation — right around the middle. But Texas is dead last in teacher retirement funding and puts a little more than the minimum into the Teacher Retirement System.
Disclosure: The Texas State Teachers, the Association Association of Texas Professional Educators and the Texas Classroom Teachers Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate spons...
Bob Hope Airport revenue figures for last year flatlined as the number of passengers using the airfield continued to drop.
Operating revenues went from $49.4 million in 2009 to $46.4 million in 2010 — a drop of 6.14%, according to a report to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. Meanwhile, expenses increased from $31.7 million in 2009 to $33.6 million in 2010.
And with costs continuing to rise and a number of major capital projects on the horizon, airport officials warned that the trend would probably remain through next year.
"I would not be surprised if the airport shows a flat line for performance — even with an improved economy," said Dan Feger, executive director for the airport authority.
Nearly a third of the expenses were driven by $11.1 million spent on several high-profile capital projects, including upgraded parking lots and refurbished taxi ways.
Because passengers — and the money they spend on concessions, parking fees and other revenue-generating items — are so crucial to the airport, the constant slide of their numbers since the beginning of the recession has been cause for concern for the authority.
Higher oil prices could also hurt airlines, which then pass the cost on to customers already coping with tighter budgets, officials said.
"The price of oil is driving long-range change in passenger levels," said Pasadena Commissioner Frank Logan.
But Feger assured the airport authority that higher oil prices impact airline ticket prices and gas pumps.
"Ticket prices will hold in proportion to [oil] price and then we'll be competing with automobiles," he said.
A looming financial impact will be the $120-million regional transit center, set to break ground in late 2012. As the massive project moves along, it will have a significant impact on the authority's budget, officials said.
"This year's budget includes an $18-million line item for the center," said airport spokesman Victor Gill. "And next year we'll be in full construction."
Still, Bob Hope Airport will benefit from healthy reserve levels and a commitment to keep airline rates and charges unchanged, he said.
"The significance is that we could go through some very rough years and come out all right," Gill said. "It augers well for the ability of airlines to do well at our facility."
Runners call the Oregon city "Track Town USA."
But for all its heritage and mystique, Eugene could not manage to bring the track-and-field world championships to the U.S. for the first time ever.
International officials announced Tuesday that Doha, Qatar, won a close vote to host the 2019 meet.
"I am sure that in Doha we will have a wonderful edition of the world championships," said Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF. "I am convinced they are committed through sport to developing their country and their community, and they are doing the right things."
Qatar was an unusual choice if only because of the controversy surrounding the country's selection as host for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Doha representatives had challenged the IAAF to make history by selecting an Arabic country for the first time since the outdoor track championships were established in 1983. They will hold the event in late September to avoid the brunt of the summer heat.
"I'm confident that with the support of the IAAF we will organize one of the best world championships," said Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Doha bid leader.
Barcelona was also in the running but fell to the side in early voting. Eugene lost in a 15-12 final vote.
With two major sporting events already in hand, Qatar is rumored to be considering a run at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Too many thoughts, not enough leaders.
There is no shortage of advice online right now. Especially when it comes to social media.
The problem is, many of the sources of information lack credibility and substance. They are failing to effectively implement new media tools for their own business, yet they preach to others what is right and wrong with social marketing.
We are in unchartered territory for business owners. Consumers have been empowered with a voice they never had before. This changes everything we know about marketing.
Who you decide to listen to has never been more important.
I pride myself on being a curator of great information. A lot of it comes from the three people mentioned below.
For that I thank them.
Their advice doesn’t just make sense, it also makes the companies they work with dollars.
A highly underrated metric as of late.
I was first introduced to Mitch Joel three years ago when a friend recommended his book, “Six Pixels of Separation.” It’s truly a must-read. The best way I can describe the book is that it reminded me of Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It,” except it focuses on businesses, not bloggers. Mitch is a partner at Twist Image, a hi...
Neil Patel is the founder of KISSmetrics. KISS (keep it simple, stupid) provides easy to understand and use social media analytics software. More importantly, their blog has some of the best and most in-depth research on the Web regarding the usage of social media for business. I especially enjoy their extremely well-d...
You are more than likely familiar with HubSpot, the inbound marketing company that seems to be everywhere. Dan Zarella is their social media scientist. Dan is hyperfocused on helping businesses generate results based on data, not gut or emotion. I especially enjoyed his research about the importance of timing with soci...
Who do you think should make the list?
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) - From office parties to family gatherings, food is a central part of many holiday celebrations. For those who struggle with food issues, such as compulsive overeating, it can be a difficult time of year.
However, support is available. Since 1960, Overeaters Anonymous has helped people find physical, emotional and spiritual recovery.
The organization's website states, "you'll find members who are morbidly obese, extremely or moderately overweight, average weight or underweight; still maintaining periodic control over their eating behavior; or totally unable to control their compulsive eating."
The only requirement for membership in OA is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
Participants follow a twelve-step program, patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. The first step is the admission that the sufferer is powerless over food.
This was a realization that came to "Marie" (not her real name), after years of dealing with anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating.
Her struggle began at the age of 13, following an off-hand comment by a coach.
"The coach said, 'we're going to get everybody in shape' and he actually called me out by name...and said, 'you've been eating too many hot dogs and twinkies,'" she recalls.
In reality, Marie was at a healthy weight. However, she was sensitive about her appearance and took the words to heart. She began to diet, taking extreme measures. Every day, she ran three miles and ate nothing more than an apple or orange.
"Before I knew it I was in a situation where I was hospitalized with a feeding tube," she says.
Her family sought help for her. However, from anorexia, she progressed to bulimia and compulsive overeating. She says, "anytime I was stressed I would eat, but then I was worried about my weight, so I would try to get rid of it by overexercising or purging."
Then, she became a mother. As she looked at her baby girl, she realized, "I don't want to pass on this unhealthy struggle with food and weight and body image to her."
That's when Marie got serious about recovery and approached her doctor. However, she says he just tried to give her some pills. After that, she went to see a nutritionist but left with nothing more than a food plan. "That really didn't seem to be the answer I needed," she says.
She considered a treatment facility but the cost was prohibitive. Finally, while in an online chat room about eating disorders, she heard about Overeaters Anonymous. A teen participating in the chat mentioned OA, saying she had been attending meetings and had not binged or purged in five days.
Marie attended her first meeting the very next day.
"I just found out there were a lot of wrong ideas I had about life, about God, about food, about weight. And the main thing I had to learn was that I was no longer in control," she says.
She may not have been in control but she was no longer alone.
"There were other people in the program that were there to guide me through the steps and really just held my hand through the process, that loved me, unconditionally."
It was the kind of support that's invaluable any time of year, including the holidays. The stress of the season can be especially difficult for those dealing with addictions and when the addiction is food, there's no avoiding it. After all, we must eat to live.
Marie adds, "we kind of have a saying about that in the program. In AA, they get to lock the lion away and throw away the key. But in OA, we have to take ours out three times a day and pet it."
Now going on nine years of recovery, she has a message for anyone whose life is ruled by food.
"I think it takes a real commitment on the part of that person to recover but I think it is possible and that's what I want people to know," she says.
Currently in the Tennessee Valley, there are OA groups that meet in Huntsville, Cullman, Florence and Fayetteville. Each group holds open meetings, in which anyone who is interested in learning more is welcome to attend. There are no dues or fees.
OA is also holding a public information event at the main branch of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. That's scheduled for Wednesday, January 20 from 7-8pm in the auditorium. There will be members there to share their stories, provide information about the program and answer questions. Friends and family wh...
Is Trump Unfit For The Presidency?
Should Celebrities Stay Out Of Politics?
How Will Hillary Clinton Be Remembered?
Is Hollywood A Bad Influence?
Was Obama The Best President?
Do You Love Melania Trump?
U.S. Citizens Who Join ISIS Should Be Banned From America?
Which First Lady Do You Admire The Most?
Are There Plans To Postpone The 2020 Election?
Did Donald Trump Suggest Police Brutality Was OK?
Jim Nabors, the actor known for playing Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Gomer Pyle, USMC” in the 1960s and hosting variety and talk shows in the 1970s, married longtime partner Stan Cadwallader Jan. 15 in Washington.
Nabors, 82, and Cadwallader, 64, have been together for 38 years and decided to tie the knot when gay marriage became legal in Washington last month. According to Hawaii News Now, the couple traveled there to get married from their home in Honolulu. The ceremony occurred inside the couple’s hotel room at the Fairmont O...
The gay marriage debate is something Nabors said he wants to stay out of. He said he has always been open about his sexual orientation to his friends and co-workers and never tried to keep it a secret. He also said he has never tried to publicize his homosexuality.
Nabors said he does not view the marriage as a big deal or event and that he and Cadwallader made their vows to each other 38 years ago.
The fire truck and the car both caught fire in the collision, Cobb fire officials said. The flames were later extinguished, but the fire truck is considered a total loss.
MABLETON, Ga. — Interstate 20 westbound near the Cobb-Douglas county has reopened after being shut down for several hours Sunday morning, following an accident involving a Cobb County fire truck and a car.
The accident happened around 4:15 a.m. Cobb fire officials said the truck had responded to an earlier accident on I-20 between Thornton and Riverside and was parked when it was struck by the car - leading to the fire.
No firefighters were injured in the accident, according to a Cobb fire spokesman.One person from the burning car was rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.
The accident forced police to divert traffic off westbound I-20 at the Six Flags parkway exit for hours. The road was reopened shortly after 7 a.m.
Police continue to investigate the details of the accident and fire.
What happens with KDE with Qt license shift?
License discussions are usually about as interesting as watching paint dry, but the news that Nokia is going to use GNU's Lesser General Public License (LGPL) for the upcoming release of Qt may be a big deal for KDE.Nokia announced today that it would be releasing Qt (pronounced "cute," by the way) 4.
License discussions are usually about as interesting as watching paint dry, but the news that Nokia is going to use GNU's Lesser General Public License (LGPL) for the upcoming release of Qt may be a big deal for KDE.
Nokia announced today that it would be releasing Qt (pronounced "cute," by the way) 4.5 in March 2009 with the LGPL.
The move to LGPL licensing will provide open source and commercial developers with more permissive licensing than GPL and so increase flexibility for developers. In addition, Qt source code repositories will be made publicly available and will encourage contributions from desktop and embedded developer communities. Wit...
This is a really important move as Nokia looks to push Qt as a development platform for mobile devices, and also will help the KDE Project as it embraces non-free platforms like Mac OS X and Windows. Making KDE/Qt a development platform for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X could be very successful if they can convince ISVs...
Of course, if Trolltech (now owned by Nokia) had done that from the get-go, things might be much different in the desktop world. It's been a slow evolution from a non-free license, to the GPL, and now to the LGPL, while the GNOME folks have taken the LGPL strategy for quite some time.
Another minor note -- even though the LGPLv3 has been out for more than a year, Nokia is going with the older LGPLv2.1. Still not seeing a lot of love for the revised GPL/LGPL, though I'm not sure if this is largely due to inertia or specific qualms with the licenses.

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.