| View Points
A state insurance board turned down the Alabama Senate's bid for state-funded health insurance yesterday, the Associated Press announced.In the closing hours of its last session on June 7, the Senate passed a resolution by an unrecorded voice vote to seek coverage through an insurance program operated by the State Employees Insurance Board.Finance Director Jim Main, a member of Gov. Bob Riley's Cabinet, urged the board to reject the resolution, and the board did so without opposition.Board members said they need a resolution passed by both houses of the Legislature for the application for insurance to be official.Sen. E.B. McClain, D-Midfield, said other Southern states provide publicly funded health insurance for their legislators and Alabama should do the same."I don't think we are any less important than any other state," McClain told AP in a phone interview.
Farmers' markets tap into tradition
The cheese guy stands beside the meat guy, who stands beside the vegetable guy at the Marblehead Farmers' Market. Not your average farmers' market? Think again. It's the way life used to be for Bay State farmers. And it's the newest recipe to lure consumers to the 130 farmers' markets that have sprouted up across the state, according to the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers' Markets. "It's very traditional," said Hannah Freedberg, community outreach director at the nonprofit organization, based in Waltham. "It goes back 300 or more years, when all of our food shopping was done at the market. If you didn't live on a farm, then you went to the market and purchased from each producer." The markets ring up more than $15 million in annual revenues statewide, the federation estimates.
Southern HospitalityChamber music festival works its magic on city
There were "no ties" allowed during any aspect of the magically entertaining, educational, artful and noteworthy experience called Clefworks recently, as those who attended the 10-day premiere of Montgomery's new chamber music festival were inspired to -- believe it or not -- "touch the music and hear the art." Among them was a sport-shirt clad Alan Worrell, who, as president of Sterling Bank, issued continued heartfelt "bravos" as he witnessed the multi-faceted event unfold recently around the Capital City. Worrell was one of hundreds who, at every occasion, enjoyed the evening concerts, master's classes, free performances and rehearsals that were open to the public, children's concerts, the premiere of ventures involving visual and moving art forms, and even an exciting Saturday night sidewalk party where musicians played along the streets of the Old Cloverdale business district.
Culpeper School Board focuses on bad news
Culpeper School Board Date published: 8/28/2007 p { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; text-decoration: none; color: #000000; text-align: justify; background-color: transparent } BY DONNIE JOHNSTON Shrugging off the good news they received last night, the Culpeper County School Board decided to concentrate on the bad. Construction Projects Manager Hunter Spencer and Finance Clerk Jeff Shomo informed the board that through luck and good project management, the $3 million deficit at Eastern View High School had been whittled down to about $500,000. Further, they said that there was a good chance that even that amount might be made up with project savings yet to come. Still more encouraging was the news that a plan had been devised to lower the original $1.3 million deficit at Yowell Elementary School to a mere $3,000.
|
