District law gives broad powers to police chief in closing down nightclubs www.privateofficer.com

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Washington DC Jan 3 2013 The allegation — a young woman sexually assaulted on a bar during an unsanctioned after-hours party — was as serious as the police department’s action was swift: Bohemian Caverns, a popular D.C. jazz club, was shuttered for 96 hours.
When D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier shut down the U Street NW bar last month, it was the 15th time that she had issued such a decree last year, four more than in 2011. It was the first time the chief’s power to close a club was exercised after anything other than a shooting, a stabbing or drug trafficking.
A 2005 District law affords Lanier unusually broad authority over the city’s bars and nightclubs, a responsibility generally left to the agency that regulates liquor licenses. Officials say the statute, which allows police to close establishments for days, is meant to be firm. But the chief’s use of that power has renewed discussion of the policy as the city’s growth spurs economic development but also causes worries about crowds and crime.
Lanier denied that she is embarking on a bar-closing binge. She said she uses her authority — which can cost establishments dearly in revenue and unwanted publicity — deliberately. The opinions of others — including elected officials and some in the business community — range from supportive to concerned.
The viewpoints of some key players remain unclear. Neither the city agency that regulates establishments that serve alcoholic beverages nor the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which represents many of those establishments, responded to repeated requests for comment. Many bar and club operators expressed reluctance to speak frankly for fear of appearing to excuse crime.
‘Egregious incident’
Lanier called the latest incident to lead to a club’s closing — the early December sexual assault at Bohemian Caverns — “egregious.”
“We had management and employees who allowed people to drink inside a bar after it had been closed,” Lanier said. “That incident never should have happened.”
A co-owner of the club — located a block from Indulj, a club that Lanier closed after three men were shot outside — threw himself on the mercy of the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board during a December meeting.
“All of us are embarrassed and angry at the employees who violated our trust,” co-owner Omrao Brown said. “I apologize to everyone here.”
The ABC Board allowed Bohemian Caverns to reopen after Brown revised his security plan, ordered guards to stay until the staff had cleaned up after closing and fired a manager and two employees. By then, the club had been closed for six days, and two concerts had been canceled. No arrests have been made.
Lanier attributes the closings to the proliferation of new venues, a result of the growth of the city’s night life. She has targeted only a small fraction of the city’s more than 1,700 licensed establishments, a point her critics concede.
“I don’t always close a bar,” Lanier said. “To me, it has to be very clear that there has been some action that management did or didn’t do that resulted in an injury to the victim.”
Andrew J. Kline, a lobbyist who represents Bohemian Caverns and many other bars and clubs before the ABC Board, questioned what he called Lanier’s overuse of the law. “I am of the opinion that this is an emergency police power and should be used sparingly and thoughtfully when there is an actual imminent threat to public safety,” Kline said in an interview.
“Certainly public safety is paramount, but the reaction should not be knee-jerk,” Kline said. “There should be an actual ongoing threat to public safety. . . . We don’t close the bus system when there’s a killing aboard a Metrobus.”
Some business leaders disagree. “It’s the chief’s obligation to maintain public safety,” said Robin Eve Jasper, president of the NoMA Business Improvement District. “Unhappily, a number of the club operators are not sufficiently attuned to the safety of their establishments.”
The ABC Board’s role
Ruthanne Miller, who chairs the ABC Board, declined through a spokesman to comment on Lanier’s use of the closure law or on how the board deals with bars and clubs the chief targets.
Enforcement related to police action is a small part of the board’s role. Each year, it acts on hundreds of reports concerning liquor-selling establishments, generally striking deals to improve security or correct other problems.
Since 2009, the board has revoked the license of only one establishment — a bar in Northwest Washington tied to cocaine sales — that Lanier had closed temporarily. A club that Lanier ordered closed twice in two years, once after a machete attack, remains open with no additional sanctions imposed. Lanier had recommended that the owners lose their liquor license.
The Emergency Suspension of Liquor Licenses Act, enacted two years before Lanier became chief, gives the police chief power to close an establishment for up to four days, after which the ABC Board decides what will be done.
Other jurisdictions, such as Baltimore, have similar laws, but few, if any, grant such far-reaching discretion. In Baltimore, for example, the police commissioner can padlock a club only after a public hearing.
D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who represents the U Street corridor, said he wrote the bill to be strong.
“We don’t want crimes committed in bars, and we don’t want after-hours activity,” Graham said. Graham said he has “no reason to question” Lanier’s closure orders.
Inside and outside
Bar and club owners, however, say it is unfair to hold them accountable for incidents that occur outside their clubs. Police say that many incidents start inside the clubs and that shoving people outside doesn’t excuse the clubs.
The nightclub Fur, in NoMa, was shuttered in 2011 after the machete attack and, again, in November after a patron and a security guard were stabbed during a fight. The owner, who did not respond to a request for comment, had told police that the guard was hurt when he slipped and fell on broken glass, according to an investigator’s report to the ABC Board.
Fur holds more than 1,200 people, and on busy nights hires 47 security guards. The ABC Board opened 16 case files against the club last year; it fined the owner once, for $3,250, and suspended the license for four days for violating an agreement to improve security.
The other cases — which included incidents of robbery, gun possession and assault, according to police reports — received no action.
NoMa is home to several large nightclubs, which were there before the area sprouted new condominium developments, stores and restaurants. Police have noted tension between club owners and the new arrivals.
“We love night life in the city,” Jasper said. “But there has been a deafness to the issue that has been created in the way some clubs are licensed and in the way some operators are allowed to run them. . . . I don’t know why it’s only Chief Lanier who is paying attention.”

Source:Washington Post

Nevada Highway Patrol issued 12,000 tickets for talking on phone www.privateofficer.com

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LAS VEGAS NV Jan 3 2013 (AP) — The Nevada Highway Patrol says it handed out nearly 12,000 tickets in the past year to people using cell phones while driving.
Officials say most were getting their first phone ticket, while 30 were cited for their second offense and 25 were getting their third ticket.
A state law passed in 2011 bans cell phone use while driving and covers texting or reading from a cell phone, even while stopped in traffic or at a light.
The ban carries a $112 fine for the first ticket, with a second offense costing $192, and a third or subsequent violation costing $352. Repeat offenders also face demerits on their driving record.
Troopers recommend drivers use a hands-free device or refrain from using their phones altogether while driving.

120' Glulam Poles

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Last week, we blogged about preparing to glue 120' utility poles. Here are some more photos showing our team gluing and finishing those poles.

To the left is a dramatic photo showing the boards set-up on carts behind our glue spreader, waiting for glue.
To the right is a photo of a pole in our finishing department. The finishing team cut the pole to a taper using a band saw and also drilled through it.

The photo below shows the view from the bottom of the pole down its length.

Scott Harrison: Why Charity Shouldn't Be About Guilt

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Several years ago, Scott Harrison had the sudden realization that his life up to that point had been a sham.

This is where Harrison began his story, as he took the stage at the Inc. 500|5000 Conference. Both his personal story and the story of what his non-profit organization charity:water does (bring clean water to the developing world) was one of the most moving talks of the conference so far and had many entrepreneurs in the audience tearful.

That feeling he described, he told the room, was the result of spending years working in the New York City club scene as a promoter.

"Budweiser paid me $2,000 a month to drink Bud," he said. "Bacardi, the same. I was paid to drink. I did drugs and gambled. I realized on that beach that I was the most emotionally, spiritually, and morally bankrupt person I knew."

What'd he do about it?

"While I was hungover during the day, I started reading the Bible. That was an interesting push and pull," he said, laughing.

It was through this spiritual awaking that Harrison decided to clean up his act. He signed up to volunteer with doctors going to Africa to provide free surgeries to underprivileged people with deformities . A year into this volunteering journey, he found the one underlying issue for so many of these deformities that he could do something about: dirty water. This was the birth of charity:water.

Harrison's visual presentation showed graphic, moving images of the devastation caused by dirty, disease-filled water. Children drinking muddy water from bottles. Mothers struggling to carry huge jugs of water. And even though the message was serious, Harrison had a knack for lightening his serious message with a joke here and there.

From an entrepreneurial standpoint, he had an early guiding principle.

"I knew from the beginning that this couldn't be about guilt. You can't guilt people to give," he said. "It had to be about opportunity. I had to find a way to get real people, selfish people like me, to invest in this cause."

Harrison revealed to the crowd the three things he set out to do with this charity--all of which, he says, most charities lack.

1. Find a way to give 100 percent of the profits to the actual cause.

2. Proof: Make it completely transparent where the money goes.

3. Build a brand.

Today, having met those three objectives, the organization has funded 4,200 water projects with over $40 million in donations. He's convinced not only everyday people to donate money, but huge brands like Saks Fifth Avenue to help out in some way. For more information about how you can donate (which Harrison encouraged the crowd to do), check out their website.

Source: http://www.inc.com/staff-blog/scott-harrison-why-charity-shouldnt-be-about-guilt-.html

ECLIPSYS EASTMAN KODAK CO EARTHLINK DST SYSTEMS

Starting up Young? Don't Drop Out

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Want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg? Here's one way you shouldn't follow in his footsteps, writes venture capitalist Brad Feld.

College is generally considered a time to expand your horizons, learn to live on your own, have a ton of fun, and even, perhaps, learn a little something. But are your undergraduate years also the best time to getting started on building a business?

The counter-arguments to this idea seem obvious. Students are generally short of money and have no lack of other demands on their time (though, let's be honest, plenty of college kids aren't exactly getting up at the crack of dawn to hit the books or spending every waking hour working). Classes aren't generally directly relevant to entrepreneurship. But at least one expert on starting businesses feels the case for beginning your start-up life in college outweighs the downsides.

Writing on his blog recently, venture capitalist Brad Feld claimed your years getting a degree are the perfect time to start experimenting with starting a business. Why? He quotes a line he heard from a mentor-in-residence at UM Tech Transfer:

"College is like a sandbox if you are an entrepreneur," he writes. "Falling down doesn't hurt much."

This thinking takes the initial objection to college kids starting businesses—that they don’t have many resources—and turns it on its head. Students might not be swimming in cash or connections, but the very fact that they aren’t established yet in full lives with mortgages, kids and car payments is actually a huge advantage, according to Feld, who reflected on the sandbox analogy in his post:

This made me think of a brilliant phrase from Alex White, the CEO of Next Big Sound, in his TechStars Demo Day pitch. I can't remember where in the presentation it was but Jason reminded me that one of Alex's great moments was when he said something like "We don't need to raise much money because we are cheap to keep alive."

Feld also notes that this very sense of not being weighed down with much in the way of responsibilities or expectations is great for creativity and the willingness to fail:

The level of enthusiasm and optimism among the people we met with was phenomenal. Their willingness and interest in learning and trying new stuff was apparent. And their understanding that plenty of things wouldn’t work, but they wouldn’t learn if they didn't try, was front and center.

College for many (although by no means all) of us is a privileged, low-expense time when parents help out with feeding and housing us and our lifestyle expectations are modest. Why not take advantage of the time and freedom that buys you to make some of the initial mistakes and learn some of the valuable lessons entailed in becoming an entrepreneur?

Feld obviously isn't the only member of the start-up community encouraging young people to get their hands dirty early. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel made a lot of waves earlier this year with his 20 Under 20 program, encouraging students to drop out of school to start businesses with $100,000 he'd invested in their ideas. But Feld is perhaps more unusual in not calling college a waste of time for entrepreneur hopefuls, but essentially a great practice ground for them to hone their skills while they combine study and business.

What do you think, is college a great time to start experimenting with entrepreneurship (check out our Coolest College Start-ups package for inspiration!), or should you just be studying instead?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inc/channel/start-up/~3/eLzfOtwjmC4/dont-drop-out-of-college-a-vc-advises.html

QIMONDA posted business economy

Homicides decrease in Washington region www.privateofficer.com

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Washington DC Jan 2 2013 The number of homicides dropped again last year in the Washington region, including in the District, which grew in population and yet recorded the fewest killings in a half-century.
As of Monday evening, the District had 88 killings in 2012, a milestone for D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, whose long-standing goal has been fewer than 100 homicides. As recently as 2009, the District had 140 killings. In 2011, there were 108.
In Prince George’s County, where crime dropped in nearly every category, there were 63 homicides, down from 97 in 2011, a harkening back to the 1980s, when the county had more farmland than urban centers or upscale subdivisions.
Police point to several reasons for the decrease, which has been part of a years-long national trend in some major cities across the country.Authorities have broken up dozens of violent gangs, seized thousands of guns, used technology to monitor the streets and directed additional resources to high-crime areas.
And District officials have given residents a financial incentive to provide tips: nearly $600,000 in reward money was paid out last year.
Although homicides have fallen, robberies have been a stubborn problem in the District. Smartphones and designer apparel are popular targets. Police say some criminals are committing robberies for quick money as the area’s drug trade, once a chief driver of the killings, has declined.
“We used to have 11 shootings and seven, eight homicides in a weekend,” Lanier said in a recent interview. “Now we’ll have a whole weekend where we don’t respond to a shooting.”
Killings in some of the region’s suburbs, where violent crimes are far more infrequent, remained about the same as the previous year, with Montgomery County recording 15 and Alexandria none. A few counties posted increases: Fairfax had 17 and Arlington had four, including jewelry store owner Tommy Wong, who was slain inside his shop. In 2011, there were 11 homicides in Fairfax and none in Arlington.
In the District, which has added more than 30,000 residents in just over two years, gun assaults also decreased about 11 percent last year, continuing a recent trend. But overall, assaults with deadly weapons have increased about 7 percent, police data show.
One of the most widespread crimes in recent years has been street robbery. At the beginning of the year, holdups spiked so severely that the department turned its focus to curbing them, beefing up its robbery unit and deploying extra patrols and teams of undercover decoys.
The numbers stabilized by the end of the year, but there were still some high-profile and brutal robberies, including the case of Thomas Maslin, who was beaten with a bat and left near Eastern Market. The assailants were after Maslin’s phone, police said.
Robberies generally decreased last year in the suburbs, including in Arlington, Alexandria, Prince George’s and Fairfax, which had a 20 percent decline in holdups.
New York City announced an all-time low in homicides this year, with 414 as of Friday, 100 fewer than in 2011. The city also posted a record low number of shootings, 1,353, down from 1,420 the previous year.
Chicago, however, is experiencing a wave of violence and recently recorded its 500th killing of 2012.
Homicides in Philadelphia and Baltimore remain down significantly from historic highs, but were up slightly compared with 2011.
In the Washington region, there were several particularly shocking killings in 2012. In August, an armed intruder killed 17-year-old Amber Stanley in her Upper Marlboro home. Not a month later, another high school student, Marckel Ross, 18, was gunned down as he walked to Central High in Capitol Heights.
In the District on Christmas Eve, Capitol Hill resident Jason Emma, 28, was fatally shot near his home in what police think was a robbery. Earlier in December, Selina Brown was gunned down by the father of her toddler daughter as she boarded a bus. The child, who was in Brown’s arms, was wounded in the shooting.
In the six years that Lanier has been police chief, homicides have declined by more than 50 percent. But during the interview, Lanier acknowledged that spasms of violence can still break out with alarming frequency and said that the homicide rate “has to go lower.”
Just this week, there were shootings within hours of each other in neighborhoods just south of East Capitol Street that left two men dead — Angelo Alphonso Payne, 23, and Darnell Rivers, 22.
In recent years, the drug trade has steadily declined as open-air markets have faded and criminals have turned to stealing and selling smartphones and other devices. Last year, there were fewer than 10 drug-related homicides, officials said — a far cry from the 1990s, when the trade in crack cocaine was much of the reason the District saw close to 500 homicides a year.
In 2007, Lanier said, there were 70 gangs involved in criminal activity. Now there are about 20. In 2008, there were 142 homicides involving guns. Last year, there were about 56 — a sign, police say, that there are fewer guns on the streets.
And several years ago the city paid out $200,000 for tips leading to arrests and convictions in homicide cases. Last year, it awarded $575,000.
“People walking around saying ‘we can’t prevent homicides’ is one of the most frustrating things,” Lanier said. “We can prevent homicides.”
Gang unit officers targeted certain areas and let gang members know that they were being watched. If a gang fight broke out in a school or on Metro, officers would be on members’ doorsteps hours later, telling them they would go to jail if they retaliated.
The department has emphasized technology. The District has the country’s biggest deployment of ShotSpotter gun sensor technology, which alerts police to the sound of gunfire. Lanier also oversees the department’s license plate readers, scores of cameras fanned across the city that spot wanted cars and monitor vehicles traveling in and out the District.
Police are testing a system that would beam real-time footage of shooting scenes directly to laptops inside patrol cars. The program connects ShotSpotters with the department’s 91 closed-circuit surveillance street cameras.
The hope, Lanier says, is that officers can use the technology to quickly track down shooters and witnesses. “It will be a tremendous asset,” she said.
The department also began working with businesses to educate them about operating their private surveillance cameras. The focus is on formatting, lighting and information storage to help the police pull footage quickly. Too often, police say, they go to a business after a crime and have trouble accessing or using camera images.
Lanier said the instructional help for businesses could turn thousands of cameras into useful police resources.
Homicides ticked up slightly in Fairfax, as the county saw one of the worst incidents of violence in recent years: In September, a Herndon father killed his wife and two sons before turning a gun on himself. Last week, Zavier O. Stringfellow, a 19-year-old college student and former high school football star, was found stabbed to death.
In Prince George’s, county officials attribute some of their success to a neighborhood initiative that turned government officials’ attention to six of the county’s most beleaguered areas. They demolished vacant apartment buildings, cleaned up run-down areas and offered social services to some residents.
“You can’t arrest your way out of crime problems,” said Prince George’s Police Chief Mark Magaw. “You’ve got to get at the core of what’s driving those issues.”

Source:Washington Post

New Orleans records 193 murders in 2012 www.privateofficer.com

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New Orleans LA Jan 2 2013 As 2012 wound down Monday, police in New Orleans had investigated 193 murders for the year, six fewer than they had in 2011. That slight, 3 percent decrease was fueled in part by a period of 18 days without a single murder, from Oct. 24 to Nov. 10.
It was the longest such stretch in recent memory in the city, which will almost certainly retain its title as America's murder capital.
Coincidence or not, the respite in murders came right when Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro and former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten met with 40 probationers and other convicts behind the closed doors of a state courtroom. The authorities promised, among other things, to deploy every state and federal law enforcement resource available against their gangs or associates the next time gunfire could be linked to anyone in the room.
That so-called "call-in" was an early phase of "NOLA for Life," billed by Landrieu's administration as a comprehensive strategy to reduce killings in New Orleans. It is not known whether the murder-free period in New Orleans merely coincided with the "call-in" or was a tangible result from it, but city leaders hope there will be many more similar stretches as "NOLA for Life" evolves.
It remains my top priority as Mayor of New Orleans to end the cycle of violence on our streets," Landrieu wrote in a letter to residents introducing the plan. "Ending murders in New Orleans will not be easy, but it is a fight we must all be in together."
Landrieu says that the murder epidemic in New Orleans is largely confined to African-American men between the ages of 16 and 30, both victims and perpetrators. Murder is the leading cause of death for that demographic group, he said.
A central part of his strategy is to emphasize that all young people are worthy of love. "We have created a culture where murder is seen as rational," the mayor said. "It's upside down. We want to focus on the idea that African-American kids are valuable. It's an affirmation of love."
Between 2008 and 2010, New Orleans saw about 175 murders or so annually. That changed in 2011, when New Orleans registered 199 murders, the most since the 210 murders recorded in 2007.
Landrieu notes that the upswing in murders really goes back decades, with New Orleans averaging 242 murders a year since 1979. Murders peaked in 1994, when the city recorded 425.
This year, there were 203 homicides in all, the New Orleans coroner's office says. But 11 of those were not classified as murders by police. Killings that, for example, happened unintentionally or were committed justifiably (such as in self-defense) are not considered murders.
Among 2012's murder victims were Harry "Mike" Ainsworth, 44, who was killed in front of his two sons in Algiers Point as he tried to stop a carjacking; Briana Allen, 5, one of two people fatally shot at a birthday celebration in Central City; Kendall Adams, 3, and Kelsey Adams, 4, who were allegedly murdered by their mother; Valan May, 19, a UNO sophomore who investigators think was killed by teenagers belonging to a street gang; Marguerite Washington, 21, a Dillard University freshman struck by bullets police say were shot at her boyfriend, who was wounded; and Bruce Cucchiara, 57, a Covington businessman killed and robbed while scoping out a local investment property. Those cases received significant attention from the news media, and arrests have been made in all of them except Cucchiara's.
Serpas on Monday lauded NOPD for the small decrease in murders, especially because the department ended the year with 112 fewer officers than it had started with. "To look at you and say we have reduced crime with fewer police officers gives me great hope for 2013," remarked Serpas, who added that his agency employed "the best technology" available to more efficiently assign its limited manpower and resources.
Serpas expects things to be better staffing-wise in 2013. The City Council has appropriated money for two new recruit classes, which should ensure the NOPD will maintain a level of 1,260 officers.
Serpas thanked the City Council for putting "a stop to the bleeding of police officers." He added, "This will be the first year I've been superintendent we'll see the sliding (of manpower) stop."
Serpas on Monday also repeated points he often mentions in discussions about murder in New Orleans: half of identified murder suspects and a third of murder victims have prior weapons-related arrests. Many murder victims in New Orleans are killed by intimates, associates, relatives or acquaintances, making the violence difficult to police.
Nonetheless, officials acknowledge that New Orleans' murder rate is unacceptable. New Orleans' murder rate is approximately 10 times greater than the national average and much higher than in other comparable cities.
With a population of 360,000 people, the city's murder rate in 2012 was more than 53 murders per 100,000 people. By comparison, the much-larger city of Chicago registered at least 500 murders this year, making its murder rate about 18 per 100,000 residents and causing alarm there.
Beyond the call-in, as part of "NOLA for Life," authorities have formed a task force of local and federal law enforcement agents dedicated to disrupting violent gangs and groups, made up of a relatively small number of people causing a disproportionate share of shootings in communities.
Those directed to the "call-in" included members of those gangs. Landrieu has said authorities have identified about 600 gang members in 39 groups locally. The Group Violence Reduction Strategy that officials want to use to disrupt those gangs with was devised by criminologist David Kennedy, and it has succeeded in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
Separately, the city has started up a local version of the program "CeaseFire," pioneered in Chicago, which sends out violence "interrupters" in the wake of homicides. The interrupters, typically ex-cons, try and calm people they suspect might try to commit retaliatory killings. The city's pilot program is focused on a 10-block stretch of Central City.
Alongside those efforts, the murder-reduction plan will focus on building up the capacities of social service and support providers in communities most plagued by violence. Other aspects of NOLA for Life aim to seek and sustain employment for at least 125 ex-offenders, both adults and youths; reduce blight; and provide mental health support for victims of violence.
Some in town aren't convinced "NOLA for Life" will lead to meaningful change on the city's streets. Tamara Jackson, the executive director of anti-violence campaign Silence Is Violence, questions whether support for "NOLA for Life" will vanish in the event of a change in mayoral administration.

She also wonders whether the members of the anti-gang unit are adequately trained or equipped to help make a substantial dent in New Orleans' staggering murder rate.
"What happens when we get another mayor, and we get all kinds of new initiatives?" Jackson, who lost her father to gunfire, said. "What happens to these people when the promises have been made? ... They have come up with great ideas, but we're still in a situation where we are losing our young people every day to senseless acts of violence."
Landrieu, though, contends that "NOLA for Life" will indeed succeed because the strategy counts not only on the government but also on contributions from partners in the community. "We can and we must prevent murders," the mayor writes. "Our city has overcome hard challenges before and I believe the people of New Orleans, with the help of our partners, have the power to create safe and healthy neighborhoods where generations to come will flourish."

Source:NOLA.com

Police investigating Southlake Mall shooting www.privateofficer.com

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MORROW, Ga. Jan 2 2013-- A 22-year-old man was shot outside Southlake Mall on Monday afternoon just before 1:00 p.m.
The victim, according to Captain James Callaway of the Morrow Police Department, was transported to Grady Hospital. His name was not released.
The 22-year-old was shot just outside the Food Court exit. Witnesses told police that the shooter was a black male, dressed in green. After the incident, he fled the mall in a white vehicle.
Police are looking at surveillance video from Southlake Mall for more information and possible leads. They said the victim was targeted, but the motive is still unknown.

Medical marijuana stores set to open in nations capitol www.privateofficer.com

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Washington DC Jan 2 2013 A townhouse on North Capitol Street in Northwest Washington, with unobstructed views of the U.S. Capitol from the sidewalk, was recently painted bright blue.
The fresh paint stands out in a changing block of Truxton Circle, home to both a Dollar Plus Food Store as well as a high-rise project with a planned hotel and condominiums.
But by spring, the townhouse at 1334 N. Capitol St. will make a bolder statement by becoming a symbol for the District’s leap into the growth and sale of medical marijuana.
“You can look out and see the dome of the Capitol,” said David A. Guard, the general manager of the Capital City Care dispensary, as he gave a Washington Post reporter a tour of the 2,000-square-foot office. “We want to set a precedent and want the country to see what medical marijuana can and should be.”
As early as February, some District residents will be able to enter the townhouse by showing proper identification to a security officer. They will be escorted to a brightly lighted office with brick walls and bamboo flooring.
The patients will have their prescriptions for marijuana — an illegal substance under federal law — verified by a receptionist. Then patients can consult an iPad in the office’s waiting area to review six strains of high-quality cannabis.
When they are called, patients will walk past a security guard in a glass-enclosed room scanning video from security cameras.
At another counter in the rear of the office, patients will then purchase — cash or credit — up to two ounces of medical pot help relieve pain, nausea or muscle spasms. Patients also will be able to buy water pipes, vaporizers or cigar pipes to inhale the drug in an adjoining showroom.
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs gave Capital City Care approval in December to open once it receives a final inspection from the Department of Health.
In the coming weeks, another four dispensaries are expected to receive certificates of occupancy. They will be supplied by cultivation centers that can grow up to 95 marijuana plants at a time.
So far, the city has selected four cultivation centers. One of them, Holistic Remedies on Fenwick Street Northeast, also received its certificate of occupancy in December. It can plant its first crop after it receives a final inspection from health officials.
The pending openings mark the end of a laborious political and planning process that stretches back more than a decade. At the same time, the dispensaries and cultivation centers will test current and future federal administrations’ tolerance for the sale of medical pot in the District.
“We have had some false starts and [it] has not gone as quickly as we would have wanted, but it’s the price we pay for being cautious and thorough,” said Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), the outgoing chairman of the council’s health committee. “I want this to start slowly.”
In a 1998 ballot referendum, 69 percent of District voters supported the creation of a medical marijuana program. But city leaders ignored the vote, fearing a then-Republican-controlled Congress would intervene or withhold funding for the city over the implementation of the program.
A decade later, Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress and the White House. In 2010, the council unanimously authorized medical marijuana after crafting what city officials say is the most tightly regulated program in the nation.
Under city regulations, only District residents with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma qualify for a prescription. Qualifying patients can’t grow their own marijuana and must purchase it from licensed dispensaries, which are only permitted in industrial areas and at least 300 feet from schools and recreation centers.
Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, cultivation centers are limited to 95 plants at a time, just below the threshold that could trigger mandatory five-year federal sentences. It took the health department nearly two years after the council vote to craft 96 pages of regulations governing the program.
“We want to do it responsibly,” Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said. “I believe it has medicinal value, which is why we are going forward with this, but we want people to understand the rules.”
Yet, some worry the city’s program will be too constrained by bureaucracy and neighborhood opposition to serve those in need.
Although the law permits up to 10 cultivation centers, only six have been approved, in part because of opposition from some residents who live near industrial-zoned areas.
Earlier this year, the council implemented a ban on additional cultivation centers in Northeast, where 70 percent of industrial-zoned land is located.
Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), the incoming chairman of the health committee, also successfully pushed to ban cultivation centers in future retail corridors such as Benning Road, east of the Anacostia River.
And with growing limits on dispensaries, advocates said demand could outstrip supply, perhaps driving up prices.
Another potential problem for patients might be finding a doctor willing to write a prescription for marijuana. Of the 9,500 licensed physicians in the District, only 110 have expressed interest in getting authorization to prescribe marijuana, said Feseha Woldu, a senior deputy at the health department.
Doctors who participate in the program will be closely scrutinized, officials said.
“This will not be the kind of setup like they have in California, where doctors will just see you and write medical marijuana prescriptions,” Carla Williams, a health department attorney, recently told potential patients at a town hall meeting.
Williams noted that the District’s program will be “the first of its kind” because the marijuana will be grown “in an all-urban environment,” raising concerns about security.
Guard said Capital City Care is well-prepared, telling a reporter, “You would have to be James Bond to break into the place.”
Although he declined to discuss some specifics, he said the office has at least a dozen surveillance cameras. Also, employees can only gain access to rooms through biometric scanning. When the store is closed, the marijuana will be stored in a safe similar to a small bank vault.
In the coming months, Capital City Care plans to hold open houses when residents, city officials, the media and members of Congress can tour the dispensary.
“We want people to come in here and feel like everything is calm,” Guard said. “It’s a time for patients to settle in and feel like home.”

Source:Washington Post

Stolen plane crashes in Alabama-3 teens dead www.privateofficer.com

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Jasper AL Jan 2 2013 Investigators believe a small plane that crashed in the Alabama woods was taken without permission for a joyride by a student pilot and two other teenagers who died in the wreck Tuesday night.
Walker County sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter said Wednesday authorities are still investigating but believe the three teenagers took off in the plane before it went down in a wooded area near Jasper, northwest of Birmingham.
"We don't know for sure but we think it was some teenagers who stole the plane and were sort of joyriding it," Painter told The Associated Press. "They got it in and took off and didn't go very far."
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Piper PA 30 crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport in Jasper.
The names of the three occupants of the plane haven't been released.
"I think they were just looking for a thrill and they had their last one," Painter said.
The plane had departed from the small airport at night and when there was a low cloud ceiling , airport manager Edwin Banks said.
"It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night," Banks said. He declined to name the student before authorities release the identities.
The teenage pilot had flown a single-engine airplane in the past "and he got in a double-engine at night in bad weather with a couple of his buddies," Banks said.
The Piper PA 30 is also called a Piper Twin Comanche. It is a low-wing plane with two propellers and can seat four to six, depending on the model.
The planes were built from 1963 until 1972, and were popular with flight schools because of their fuel efficiency and relatively inexpensive price tags, according to the International Comanche Society, an enthusiasts' group.

Madonna/Lourdes Collection At Macy's Expands

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by David Lipke
From WWD Issue 07/18/2011

Macy's shoppers will be living in a bigger Material Girl world come fall.

Madonna, Iconix Brand Group Inc. and Macy’s, all partners in the juniors brand, are launching a range of new product categories, including beauty, intimates and sleepwear, and expanded programs in denim, outerwear and social dresses.

The first beauty offerings, which include nail polish, lip gloss, body sprays and lotions will be in Macy’s stores Aug. 15, with eye palettes arriving on Sept. 15. The intimates and sleepwear are hitting stores this week, the denim will be available on Aug. 15, social dresses Sept. 15 and outerwear on Oct. 15.

“It was so much fun getting to pick all of my favorite scents for the Material Girl body products and lip glosses,” said Lourdes “Lola” Leon, Madonna’s 14-year-old daughter who serves as a public face of the brand and helps oversee creative direction and design. “The body products have fun names like Wicked Watermelon, Flirty Fruit, Midnight Magnolia and Sinful Sugar. I chose scents that I loved.”

The move into new categories for Material Girl comes as Macy’s expands the brand’s footprint. Material Girl will be in 300 Macy’s doors this fall, up from 200 at its initial launch last August and 250 this past spring. As of July 2, there were 805 Macy’s stores in the U.S.

Macy’s declined to provide total sales figures for Material Girl, but Martine Reardon, executive vice-president of marketing and advertising, said the line was performing well. “If you walk onto the sales floor, you’ll see how prominent a positioning it has on our juniors floor. It is one of our top-five brands in juniors,” she noted. “We are focusing on this youth consumer with fast-fashion that is trend-right and extremely affordable.”

The Material Girl beauty products will retail from $7 to $12. Body washes, body lotions and body mists will come in six scents, the nail polish in 10 colors, and the lip gloss in 12 variations. Eye palettes will come in two variations, including “Soft & Pretty” and “Smoky and Sexy,” and include four eye shadows, a pencil, a dual-end applicator and mirror.

Some beauty items will also be placed near registers to encourage impulse buys. “We have brand-new fixtures to highlight the beauty products, as well as new accessories, within the Material Girl world,” said Reardon.

Intimates retail for $5 to $29 and include solid and polka dot pushup bras, bustiers, boyfriend briefs, rose-print lace panties and cupped cami bras. Sleepwear retails for $14 to $22 and includes tanks, tunics, sweatshirts, boxers and lounge pants.

“The woven waistbands on the underwear have the Material Girl logo on them, so there’s a status feel to them. Girls want to wear this brand and show it off now,” said Lanie List, chief merchandising officer at Iconix Brand Group. Taking a page from Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and “Express Yourself” days, List expects Material Girl customers to wear some of the innerwear as fashion pieces.

While the brand sits on the juniors floor and has a soon-to-be high school sophomore at its creative helm, the core customer is 18 to 25 years old.

“Lola is 14 but she lives in New York City and has a very famous mom, so she has a very sophisticated eye,” explained List. “Lola is here once a month and sometimes more. She brings stuff from her own closet for inspiration. For the bath and body products she probably had 100 scents in front of her. She has a very mature approach to product development.”

Madonna is a less frequent visitor to Iconix headquarters in New York than her daughter, but she wields final say in much of the product, said List. “Madonna definitely has creative input also. It’s a collaboration between the two. If Lola goes to a place with an idea that Madonna doesn’t think is appropriate for the brand, she’ll veto it. She’s a branding expert,” said List.

While Material Girl already has some denim, outerwear and party dresses in its current merchandise assortments, for fall the brand will blow out those categories with full product assortments, as they have been key sales drivers in the collections. Outerwear will retail for $59.50 to $89.50 and includes cape coats and bomber jackets. Party dresses adorned with sequins, feathers, lace and beading will retail for $59 to $79. Denim, which will encompass 20 trend-driven styles, including faded flares, studded jeans, overdyed styles in vivid colors, acid-wash skinny jeans and suspender styles, will retail from $29.50 to $32.50.

Macy’s and Iconix are supporting the expansion of Material Girl this fall with an advertising campaign that features Kelly Osbourne for the second consecutive season. The fall media buy includes People StyleWatch, Nylon, Seventeen, Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan, in addition to outdoor — including a Times Square billboard and the Macy’s Jumbotron in Herald Square — and online celebrity and fashion blogs.

Mike Boylson Leaves Penney's

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by David Moin
From WWD Issue 07/18/2011

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.’s marketing team has experienced a string of departures, among them its top official, Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

Boylson’s exit has raised speculation that incoming chief executive officer Ron Johnson has already begun cleaning house at Penney’s. Johnson is expected to bring a lot of change to the business, just as he did at Apple, where as senior vice president of retail he orchestrated the brand’s fast-paced, innovative and highly productive retail strategy from its inception in 2001 to more than 300 stores currently in the U.S. and abroad.

Boylson left Penney’s at the beginning of July, though Penney’s did not announce his departure despite his stature and long history there. Boylson joined the retailer as a management trainee in 1978, rose up the ranks to store manager, district manager, vice president and director of marketing planning and promotions, and finally executive vice president in April 2003. He oversaw a huge, high-profile marketing program with an annual advertising budget estimated at around $1 billion.

Two other marketing executive also recently left Penney’s: Nick Bomersbach, vice president of marketing for jcpenney.com and a 10-year veteran of Penney’s, and Christine Laczai, director of digital marketing who has been with Penney’s for two years and previously worked with VF Corp.

In confirming Boylson’s departure Friday, Penney’s said it has begun a search for Boylson’s successor. “Mike Boylson informed J.C. Penney in early June of his intention to retire on July 1,” a Penney’s spokeswoman said. It’s expected that Penney’s will hold off on filling the other vacancies until a new executive vice president of marketing is determined. Bill Gentner, Penney’s senior vice president of marketing planning and promotions, is acting as interim chief marketing officer.

Johnson joins Penney’s board on Aug. 1. and becomes ceo in November but has already been getting his feet wet. He accompanied Penney’s current ceo and chairman, Myron E. “Mike” Ullman 3rd, to Hong Kong for the chain’s annual supplier summit, where key suppliers learn about the state of Penney’s business and long-range plans.

In addition to making organizational changes, Johnson is expected to drive Penney’s Web presence, introduce new products and get the Penney’s team to think differently. Penney’s close to $18 billion in sales last year is still under prerecession volumes, but the company has the potential for growth and for elevating its image to attract younger customers. Johnson was lured to Penney’s by the prospect of reinventing another slice of retail, just as he did with the technology sector, and by the opportunity to be the top gun at a multi-billion dollar corporation.

Brooklyn Lease Negotiations Continue For Walmart, Penney's

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Wall Street Journal
By Eliot Brown and Joseph De Avila

The Related Cos. is in advanced lease negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. about anchoring a mall in southeast Brooklyn, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wal-Mart has long been considering the site overlooking the Belt Parkway just west of Howard Beach. But talks have intensified in recent months as the company has expanded a publicity campaign and taken steps to mollify potential critics, the people said.

The outlook for the 630,000-square-foot development—which would accomplish Wal-Mart's longtime goal of opening a location in the city—was boosted by J.C. Penney's strong interest. The combination of the two large stores would likely give the project sufficient financial viability to move forward despite the uncertainties that continue to cloud the slowly recovering economy.

J.C. Penney, which was based in Manhattan for about seven decades before moving to Texas, already has stores in all four other boroughs. But Wal-Mart doesn't, and its possible entry into the city has sparked strong opposition from labor unions, community groups and some elected officials.

Hurdles to Wal-Mart's beachhead remain. For starters, Related has yet to finalize a purchase of a portion of the site from the state, the price for which has come under criticism from Wal-Mart opponents.

But the project doesn't require further approval by the City Council, typically a major obstacle for developers. Given a 2009 rezoning, Related is free to build any big-box store on the site once it takes control.

Representatives for Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and Related declined to comment on lease negotiations. "We still have not signed any leases anywhere in the city," Steven Restivo, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said last week. "We continue to evaluate opportunities across the five boroughs."

Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney would take around 150,000 square feet each in the planned Gateway Center II mall, according a person familiar with discussions. The project would sit just north of Related's Gateway Center mall, which was completed in 2002 and houses a Target and a Best Buy.

Wal-Mart, which has unsuccessfully sought to break into the New York market in the past, has been investing considerable resources in an attempt to pave the way for an entrance over the objections of a powerful set of unions and elected officials.

Two labor groups, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, have been particularly aggressive in combating Wal-Mart, which has long been opposed to a unionized work force. They are joined by elected officials including Council Speaker Christine Quinn and community groups worried about the giant discounter's impact on local merchants.

To counter the critics, Wal-Mart has launched a public-relations campaign to tout the retailer's virtues through fliers and newspaper and radio ads.

In the first four months of the year alone, Wal-Mart spent more than $1.7 million on consultants, most of which was directed at firms that do advertising and polling, according to lobbying records.

Earlier this month, the company announced a $4 million donation to a New York City job program at a news conference with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Wal-Mart also recently signed up as a $150,000 sponsor for a summer concert series hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz that includes performances by such artists as Queen Latifah.

The sponsorship drew praise from Mr. Markowitz, who has been critical of Wal-Mart in the past. In a statement on Sunday, he said he isn't "philosophically" opposed to Wal-Mart, but declined to comment on Related's plans. He said he believes the retailer should pay "a fair wage" and allow workers to unionize.

The push seems to have created a sense of inevitability among many elected officials, particularly given that the company has said it only intends to take space in stores where City Council approval isn't necessary, making it difficult to block. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart also won some labor support by signing a five-year contract with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York that guarantees that any of the company's store construction would be done with union labor.

Even Ms. Quinn, a vocal Wal-Mart critic, earlier this year offered to broker a deal between the company and the Hunts Point Terminal produce market. Under the deal, Wal-Mart would have committed to buying at least 5% of its produce from the market, although talks fizzled.

Aides to Ms. Quinn last week downplayed the potential deal and said Ms. Quinn hasn't changed her position on Wal-Mart and that she continues to oppose the company coming to New York.

Critics of the possible Wal-Mart Brooklyn development have recently stepped up efforts to block Related's purchase from the state of a 21-acre piece of the mall site. Related already controls the rest.

Last week, critics released a state memorandum from the Office of General Services that detailed how Related had renegotiated the purchase price for the state-owned land. The price was reduced in 2010 to $14.5 million from the $32.5 million it agreed to pay in 2009.

According to the memo, the price was changed partly because of an appraisal that showed a lower value for the site. Also, Related had been counting on at least $7.5 million in expected government incentives that proved unavailable. The mall is part of a larger 227-acre development that includes low-income housing, retail and parkland.

"The Gateway 2 development will expand on the enormously successful project that has already brought great economic benefits to this area," creating thousands of jobs, said Joanna Rose, a spokeswoman for Related, last week.

The land sale must be approved by state agencies and the state comptroller. A spokesman for the comptroller's office said last week that it hadn't yet received the proposal.

JLo, Anthony Lines Will Continue At Kohl's

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Wall Street Journal
By Karen Talley

Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez remains committed to launching a clothing line at Kohl's Corp. with husband Marc Anthony despite recently announced plans to divorce.

Mark Young, Ms. Lopez's publicist, said the Kohl's launch in September "will proceed as planned." Mr. Young called Ms. Lopez's line "distinctive" and said it represents style in an accessible way.

The star couple announced over the weekend plans to split after seven years of marriage, and retail-industry watchers said it is bad timing for the planned apparel rollout. Over the weekend, after the couple's announcement, Kohl's also said the launch would continue and that the lines can stand by themselves.

"The Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony brands have always been positioned as two separate, distinctive collections," a spokeswoman for Kohl's said.

The retailer calls the lines the largest launch of exclusive merchandise in the company's 49-year history. Kohl's has been talking up the lines and planning a big publicity push as the retailer looks for the brands to boost sales.

The lines will encompass virtually every merchandise category that Kohl's carries. The brands will be a move by the department-store chain to step up its so-called aspirational, or higher-quality, offerings.

The products, with Ms. Lopez taking a big hand in the women's offerings and Mr. Anthony involved in the men's, were expected to be promoted around their lifestyles and publicized together.

"These kinds of situations create consumer disappointment and disengagement with the celebrity," said Robert Passikoff, founder of Brands Keys, a brand-consulting firm. "Right now, Kohl's has to go through with it. They have made an investment in the merchandise and the licensing fees."

In good news for Kohl's in terms of the couple shooting for an amicable divorce, they have said they will go through with their Latin talent-search show. "The best thing [Kohl's] can do is sit very quietly and hope there is no more bad news about Marc or Jennifer," Mr. Passikoff said.

New Chairman To Head Zara's Parent Company

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by Barbara Barker
From WWD Issue 07/19/2011

Inditex will today enter a new era.

The parent company of Zara, Europe’s largest apparel retailer, will today see a change in management when chairman and founder Amancio Ortega, dubbed “the inventor of the Zaravolution,” steps down and hands the reins to Pablo Isla, who had been the group’s chief executive officer and deputy chairman since 2005.

But while the 75-year-old immensely secretive and low-key Ortega may be stepping down, he is hardly out — especially since he still controls the majority of the company’s shares. “Nothing has changed. He still controls the company and he still has a lot to say — and nobody doubts that he will say it,” said Sofía Vázquez, a reporter for La Voz de Galicia, a regional newspaper in the north of Spain, which is the company’s home base.

“Amancio is making another smart move, preparing for the future with similar logic and the same intelligence he has always used to run the company, but I think he’ll remain very close by,” added Linda Heras, international development director of Roberto Verino, a high-end apparel label and geographical neighbor.

Inditex operates 5,154 stores in 78 countries, with net profits of 1.73 billion euros, or $2.29 billion at average exchange, for the 2010 fiscal year on sales of 12.5 billion euros, or $16.5 billion. With eight chains led by Zara, Ortega’s empire has a workforce of roughly 100,000.

Under Isla’s watch, Inditex rolled out more than 2,800 stores with the top priorities being expansion in Asia and Eastern Europe, as well as growing e-commerce.

Pending shareholder approval, Isla will receive a hefty block of shares, worth 13.7 million euros, or $19.6 million at current exchange, as “a welcome gift” from Ortega, a company source confirmed.

About his succession, Isla said, “It is not a drastic move and there won’t be any major changes. I feel enormous responsibility and motivation to strengthen Inditex, and it’s the right moment. The transition will be smooth and very natural.”

Outside Inditex’s corporate inner sanctum, little is known about Ortega except that he’s the richest man in Spain — and the seventh richest (up two notches over last year) in the world, with a net worth of $31 billion, Forbes reported in March. His fortune includes Inditex stock — he has maintained a 59.3 percent stake in the company since it went public in 2001 — and luxury real estate projects in the U.S., Florida in particular, and in such major European cities as London, Paris, Lisbon, Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona. He has additional investments in banks, gas and tourism and owns a horse-jumping circuit and a soccer league.

Ortega is not much for fanfare and personal public relations is not in his DNA. He’s been quoted as saying, “Talk about my company, but not about me,” and he rarely appears in public.

One of the few to penetrate company walls is avant-garde Spanish artist Alicia Framis, whose filmed performance “Secret Strike — Inditex” (2006) chronicled a day in the life of Zara. “Inditex employees were very involved in the film,” Framis said. “Everybody wanted to be a part of it — except Amancio Ortega.”

Ortega’s is a rags-to-riches story. In the early Sixties, he came up with the idea of making basic garments like housecoats and underwear cheaper than anyone else. Production took place on his kitchen table, and the first item cut from cardboard patterns was a quilted pink robe with blue piping. In 1975, he opened his first store here, selling bathrobes for about 50 cents each.

Working from the age of 13 in local men’s wear shops, he had little formal education. “I couldn’t work and study at the same time; it’s that simple. My university was my profession. I wanted to be a different kind of impresario, one with a social conscience,” he told Covadonga O’Shea, onetime director of Spain’s prestigious fashion magazine Telva, in an authorized biography published in 2008.

“His success has not changed him,” O’Shea said. “His values are the same; he’s humble, affectionate, generous, and he loves the people he works with.”

Ortega lives with his second wife, Flora Pérez Marcote, in an apartment in La Coruña, an unpretentious seaside town about six miles from Inditex’s headquarters in the industrial zone of Arteixo. He doesn’t speak English and, according to an employee, “he’s approachable and into everything. He lives the product,” she said.

It remains to be seen how involved Ortega will be in the company he founded, now that Isla is taking over. But the next generation of the Ortega family already is involved: The founder’s youngest daughter, Marta Ortega, was last fall brought into company headquarters, and although she has no concrete job, department or title, she’s in on all major decision making. An Inditex spokesman said her arrival and the pending management succession are unrelated, however. “She will continue her training program, a mix of creative and commercial activities, within the group and, logically [as Ortega’s daughter], she’ll have a role but so far she isn’t officially involved in the company. We don’t know anything about her future.”

Prior to Isla’s promotion, Marta Ortega was considered the heir apparent, and she’s been well groomed for it. With a degree in business administration from London’s European Business School, she speaks four languages — including English, French and Italian — and to date has interned for company stores in London and Paris, with office stints in Asia and Barcelona.

In private, she is an accomplished equestrian, taking part in international competitions with rider-boyfriend Sergio Alvarez Moya — and as socially shy as her father.