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MGS4 will NOT be released in '08. Darn it! FF13 will NOT be released in '08.
Rockband Wii will top 600k in first month sales in North America.
WiiFit will pass the PS3 WW sales by Xmas '09.
Planners need to find $135 million in local money.
Backers of the proposed Southwest light-rail line were nearly giddy Thursday after announcing that the federal government had granted the controversial $1.84 billion project a green light that moves it closer to construction.
“We’re not breaking out the champagne yet, but this is still outstanding news,” said Adam Duininck, chairman of the Metropolitan Council, the builder and ultimate operator of the 14.5-mile line slated to link downtown Minneapolis with Eden Prairie.
The announcement, considered a key milestone in transit planning, was made at a Southwest Corridor Management Committee meeting, an advisory group.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) notified the Met Council last Friday that it had granted the project a “record of decision,” meaning environmental work has been completed on the line.
Such a decision is typically followed by the engineering phase, when bids are let for construction of track, stations and other infrastructure.
There’s still the not-so-small matter of the missing $135 million in local funding — money that was supposed to come from state coffers.
Lawmakers, deeply divided along party lines, put the kibosh on the final 10 percent piece last spring, threatening the line’s future and leaving Southwest planners scrambling to find another funding source. Local funding must be shored up before the FTA kicks in its share, about $919 million.
Duininck said he was pleased that Gov. Mark Dayton is working toward calling a special session of the Legislature for August.
While he doesn’t expect Southwest funding to be part of any deal in that session, he said, there may be some wiggle room that could open doors for money to come from other sources.
Those sources likely would include Hennepin County, where the entire line would run, and the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB), which collects a quarter-cent sales tax for transit in five metro counties.
CTIB is already on the hook for 30 percent of the project’s capital costs, and the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority for 10 percent.
Although the FTA considers the environmental work complete, a lawsuit challenging the project on environmental grounds is pending in federal court. The Lakes and Park Alliance, a Minneapolis group, claims the project violates federal environmental laws.
The price tag of the project has risen from $1.79 billion to $1.84 billion. Actual costs haven’t increased — the new price includes $69 million in land values from parcels donated to the project by Hennepin County and the cities of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Eden Prairie.
Previous estimates put the value of that land at $30 million, but appraisals came in higher. That means the FTA’s expected 50 percent match would increase by $24 million.
Because environmental work took longer than expected, the line now is expected to begin service in 2021 — the same year as its sister project, the Bottineau Blue Line light-rail project in the northern suburbs.
Former Ole Miss star Marshall Henderson, shown here during a game on Jan. 15, 2014, is bringing his talents to The Basketball Tournament.
Last month, we introduced you to something that sounded almost too good to be true: The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a five-on-five, single elimination, winner-takes-all contest open to anyone and offering a $500,000 grand prize for the last team standing.
After weeks of online voting and eight at-large selections, TBT unveiled its full 32-team field on Thursday morning. It's a doozy, featuring a litany of former college stars and teams with fascinating backstories that will captivate even the most casual fan.
TBT founder Jonathan Mugar shared the list of qualified teams with Mashable ahead of Thursday's announcement, and we're running down our eight most intriguing squads here. You can find more on TBT's birth into its glorious existence (and the qualifying process) in our previous story; for the full final field, visit the...
The bulk of the tournament runs from June 6 to 8 in Philadelphia, and then there's a two-week break followed by the June 28 championship game at a location fans will determine.
Syracuse's Hakim Warrick (1) drives on Rice's Patrick Britton during the first half in Syracuse, N.Y., Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004.
We don't know what "TYGTAL" stands for (update: it stands for Take Your Game To Another Level), but we sure like the squad. Remember Hakim Warrick, NBA veteran and co-star of Syracuse's 2003 NCAA championship team? He's in. Remember Marshall Henderson, the eccentric and trigger-happy Ole Miss guard who just wrapped up ...
Of course, chemistry often trumps talent, but on sheer ability, we're making Team TYGTAL the early favorite to take home the TBT title.
TBT's online voting format meant that, in theory, anyone could gather enough votes and make the field. This team of high school buddies from Delaware County, New York, did just that, landing themselves in the tournament field right alongside big basketball names simply by getting out the vote. The team is self-describe...
Louisville's Edgar Sosa is carried on the shoulders of fans after his team defeated Syracuse 78-68 in their NCAA college basketball game in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 6, 2010.
This squad is led by Edgar Sosa, a Dominican-American point guard who starred for Louisville not long ago. But the team's name comes from the fact that its players are professional hoopers in a range of countries including Ireland, Spain, Mexico and the U.S.
Matt Holland, Michael Lyons and Tim Andersen all played college hoops for Air Force. So did their teammates. But that's not the most interesting thing about this team — that would be the fact that all of its members are now active duty Air Force officers who plan to donate a "significant portion" of their earnings to c...
Back in 2010, Cornell — yes, that Cornell — made an improbable run to the March Madness Sweet 16. Now, many of the team's best players are getting the band team back together for another run at glory. Think Old School, but with basketball (kind of).
St. Anthony is a Catholic high school in Jersey City, New Jersey, that for decades has been home to a legendary basketball program. It's also battling funding problems, which is why alum and former NBA player Terry Dehere has reunited a number of former Friars stars to try and win TBT's pot of cash for their alma mater...
Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds cuts down the net after after defeating Pittsburgh 78-76 during a men's NCAA tournament regional championship college basketball game in Boston, Saturday, March 28, 2009.
"ROBY" stands for Rock Out Be You, which we can definitely get behind. But what we can really get behind is the fact that this entrant reunites Villanova's 2009 Final Four team, including major names Scottie Reynolds, Dante Cunningham, Corey Fisher and more. Better yet, Villanova is located in Philadelphia, where TBT i...
The CMA Tuesday fined the former CBA Capital executive, David Tumaini Maena, Sh166.9 million, being double the benefit accrued from the irregular trades.
The regulator also referred his case to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) with recommendation to confiscate assets he may have acquired from the illegal proceeds.
The authority further handed Mr Maena’s file to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Noordin Haji, to consider opening criminal investigations related to the irregular trades.
A rogue treasury bonds dealer who pocketed Sh83.4 million from irregular trades now faces jail as well as seizure of personal assets by the State after the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) found him guilty of engaging in market manipulation between 2016 and 2017.
The regulator also referred his case to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) with recommendation to confiscate assets he may have acquired from the illegal proceeds. The authority further handed Mr Maena’s file to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Noordin Haji, to consider opening criminal investigations related...
The regulator yesterday said Mr Maena had been found guilty of dealing in privileged (non-public) information on bond trades, which he used to front-run the market and make dual trades in order to profit at the expense of other investors.
“The Board of the...CMA has taken enforcement action against David Tumaini Maena, following conclusion of investigations with respect to allegations of irregular trading of government securities in 2016 and 2017,” the CMA said in a statement.
The regulator said it had established the presence of a scheme where fixed income dealers at investment banks, asset management firms and brokerage firms colluded with individual bond facility holders in bank custodial accounts to trade bonds ahead of orders placed by non-suspecting investing clients (also known as fro...
The CMA said the illegal trades were done through creation of artificial arbitrage opportunities based on privileged knowledge of customer orders.
“The investigation further established that the gains arising from these trades would be shared between fixed income dealers and the bond facility owners in contravention of the capital markets legal and regulatory framework,” CMA said.
According to the regulator, Mr Maena was “a key player in the scheme” who used his position as a dealer in government securities to obtain illegal gains by trading ahead of his clients’ accounts in bond transactions that he facilitated as a broker in 2016 and 2017.
“Mr Maena was given a chance to rebut the investigation findings but failed to do so,” said CMA.
The Business Daily yesterday established that Mr Maena has since quit CBA Capital. He joined Sterling Capital after his stint at CBA but he also later left the firm when the probe came to light. “He quit CBA Capital,” a CBA Capital customer care officer said on phone. “Once the issues came we mutually agreed to go diff...
In addition to the fine, the CMA said Mr Maena has been disqualified from holding office “as a key officer of a public listed company and or issuer, licensee or any approved institution of the Capital Markets Authority” for a period of 10 years.
MILANO, April 17 (Reuters) - The Italian government will study alternative measures to avoid controversial planned hikes in the sales tax without putting budget goals at risk, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Wednesday.
In its next budget, Italy’s government must find a way to avoid some 23 billion euros ($26 billion) of hikes in the value-added tax (VAT) rate scheduled to take effect in 2020.
Tria added that budget forecasts the government released last week in the Economic and Financial Document (DEF) imply public debt is fully sustainable even with slower economic growth.
RAXRUHA, Guatemala: In the poor, hot region of Guatemala that was home to a seven-year-old migrant girl before she died in U.S. border custody last month, palm oil cultivation is taking over from subsistence farming, adding to pressure on people to leave.
Many villagers around the municipality of Raxruha have sold land to palm oil producers, residents and local officials say, helping to make Guatemala one of the world's biggest exporters of the versatile product in the space of just a few years.
Cesar Castro, Raxruha's mayor, said money raised from land sales had been used to pay people smugglers, a major factor in a surge in families leaving Guatemala.
"These people get the money, and they go to the United States, and the vast majority come back to find more poverty and end up employed as workers on their own land," Castro said.
"The work's a killer," said Dorrian Caal, Jakelin's uncle. "You have to get up at 3 a.m. and you get home at 10 at night, and with the little you're paid, it's not enough."
Dorrian said he earned 60 quetzales (US$7.80) a day working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. last year for local producer Industria Chiquibul, which has been listed as a supplier by international commodities purchasers including ADM and Cargill.
Local farmer Jose Maria Ical said the company agreed to raise its wages to 91 quetzales after repeated workers' complaints.
"We take violations of our policies very seriously, and thoroughly investigate any allegations and take appropriate actions as a result of those findings," ADM spokeswoman Jackie Anderson said.
Carlos Tut, 38, of the Raxruha Community Indigenous Association, said the seasonal nature of palm cultivation meant work tended to dry up outside harvest time, another reason landless families were leaving.
But access was later blocked to farmers' other allotments when Chiquibul's land was fenced off, he said.
"They virtually obliged me to sell," Ical added.
"There's been a lot of speculation the palm industry has forced them to sell, but it's not like that, people have had their own reasons," said Lemus, whose family is one of few in the area that have kept their lands.
One palm oil company in Raxruha, NaturAceites, told Reuters most of the land it operates in Guatemala had been converted from "intensive cattle ranching."
Describing the industry as "the only chance of decent work there is in parts of the country," Hector Herrera, NaturAceites' director of sustainability, said the firm had created thousands of jobs, invested in roads, schools and health centres, and met all the labour standards required by law.
Even as former Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde has been under attack from an embattled BJP for not indicting S M Krishna in his mining scam report that claimed the scalp of B S Yeddyurappa, documents (available with MiD DAY) establish that the foreign minister abetted businessmen involved in illegal mining when he w...
The petitioners, on whose public interest litigation (PIL) the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into illegal mining in the state, have pieced together incriminating evidence, establishing that Krishna helped illegal mining in his capacity as the state head.
"There are documents to show S M Krishna deliberately allowed a particular mining company continue mining even after it was found fraudulent. He didn't stop operations of the company despite the ministry of steel asking him in writing to prevent it from doing so," said S R Hiremat, the main petitioner.
He added that the petitioners would bring these issues, including the allegations against Krishna, to the notice of the Supreme Court.
The company in question is Deccan Mining Syndicate (DMS), which was founded by AICC member and state congress treasurer late S M Jain and is run by his son Rajendra. It still boasts a mining lease for an area of 50 acre near Doni Malai near Sandoor in Bellary.
The 20-year lease licence issued in 1965 was renewed thrice till 2006. But, the then S M Krishna government allegedly turned a blind eye to illegal activities carried out by the company and did not take action against it.
The licence, originally issued to one M J Boal, was transferred to DMS in 1980 following which the company allegedly started encroaching upon mining areas belonging to other firms. DMS allegedly encroached upon around 20.7 acre belonging to National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), a public sector company.
Following repeated complaints from NMDC over encroachment, the director of mines and geology recommended rejecting the application of DMS for second renewal on 13 June 1997, but left a leeway of imposing penalty and granting it renewal for the errant firm.
"But going by the amount of illegalities committed by DMS, the option of imposing penalty and granting the renewal of licence looks like an eyewash. It shows how the S M Krishna government was soft peddling on the company," said one of the petitioners.
While it is not clear whether the government imposed the penalty, errant DMS got away with all its irregularities and managed to get its licence renewed.
However, the criminal nature of the fraud committed by the company came to light at latter stage. It was found that DMS forged transport permits and created fake trip sheets to transfer iron ore illegally, bleeding the exchequer of hundreds crores of rupees.
Interestingly, the issue was raised by Yeddyurappa when he was the opposition leader in the legislative council. When the BJP stalwart asked a question in the house on 9 Jan 2004, the then chief minister S M Krishna admitted the fraud committed by DMS and ordered a COD probe into it.
Thereafter, the issue was put on the back burner and there was no progress in the probe also, while DMS was allowed continue its mining activities.
"When the company was found fraudulent and was facing a COD inquiry, its mining activities had to be stopped. But, the government did not bother to do so. And that is why we are questioning Krishna's role in the whole episode," said Hiremat.
While the exposure could cause tremors in the political circles at the national as well as state level at, the foreign minister's supporters denied his involvement. "Krishna has nothing to do with so-called illegal mining done by DMS or any other mining company.
Though he was the chief minister then, some other minister was heading mines and geology. They are just making false allegations against our leader. Let them first produce the documents and then we will react," said Raghavendra Shastri, a spokesperson to Krishna.
The first thing to know about Donald Trump’s cruel and gratuitous decision to end the DACA program is that he did not do it with heart. For those who say he wrestled with this decision, I choose not to believe it. Not believing Trump is, of course, the default position. But this one is clear.
It wasn’t only that Donald Trump rescinded protection for 800,000 Dreamers, those who were brought to America as children, who grew up as Americans, who overwhelmingly go to school or go to work and pay their taxes and stay out of trouble.
It was how Trump did it that tells you everything.
Instead, he sent out his anti-immigrant attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who sent a clear message to Trump’s base. This is a matter of law, Sessions said, and the law must be followed. If that doesn’t sound quite believable coming from the administration that just pardoned Joe Arpaio, that’s because it isn’t believable...
What Sessions pointedly did not say was that he had any sympathy for the plight of the 800,000 who find themselves in legal limbo through no fault of their own. No, three times he called them “illegal aliens,” just as a provocation. He pointed out they were adults, apparently suggesting that young adults don’t deserve ...
SHARPSBURG - While other recently auctioned animals posed for pictures with their buyers and sellers Friday night, Karl Pile's pig had other ideas.
The nearly 300-pound hog bolted from the camera's view and squealed as it ran out of the pen.
Not even a man in pursuit holding a two-sided sign that stated "STOP PIG" and "4-H PORK FOR YOUR FORK" could guide the animal back to the pen.
Pile, who had his picture taken without his new purchase, said he got a good laugh from the experience.
The Hagerstown man said he bought two hogs Friday night at the Washington County Ag Expo's 4-H/FFA Market Animal Sale.
The annual event features livestock raised by youngsters who show and sell the animals to the highest bidder.
"We get a lot of satisfaction out of our young people," said Pile, who plans to eat the hogs with his family.
He said he's been buying animals from the market sale for more than a decade, including 16 steers from 16 different children.
Pile, who owns Karl Pile Septic Service in Hagerstown, said he has photos of all his steers with the youngsters he's bought them from hanging on his office wall.
Thirty-one market lambs, 13 dairy steers, 12 capons (roosters), a longhorn steer, 10 meat goats, six dairy goats, 15 rabbits, 51 swine and 43 beef steers were auctioned.
Andrew Herbst got $2,682 for his Grand Champion dairy steer, which weighed 1,192 pounds.
The steer sold for $2.25 per pound.
The reserve champion steer, sold by Shawn Wiles, weighed more, but sold for less. That steer, weighing 1,297 pounds, sold for $1.40, or a total of $1,815.80.

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