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Xconomy Detroit Ann Arbor
Natural Pesticides Maker Marrone Bio Gets EPA Nod on Biofumigant
Inhibrx, Fresh Off $40M Funding to Advance Cancer Drugs, Eyes IPO
Aurora Ends Affiliation with VW as it Begins Collaboration with FCA
Detroit/Ann Arbor Home
Detroit/Ann Arbor Events
SkySpecs Takes Flight with $3 Million Series A, UpWind Partnership
Sarah Schmid Stevenson
SkySpecs, the Ann Arbor-based drone startup, announced this week that it raised $3 million in a Series A round. Venture Investors led the investment, with participation from Huron River Ventures, Amherst Fund II, the Michigan Angel Fund, and Invest Michigan. To date, the company has raised a total of $4.3 million, said SkySpecs CEO Danny Ellis.
"We are excited," Ellis said. "Our team is looking forward to getting the technology in the field—that's pretty exciting after working on it for so long in the lab."
The investment caps a busy, high-growth year for the startup. One year ago this month, SkySpecs was the $500,000 grand-prize winner at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. Two weeks before winning Accelerate Michigan, SkySpecs headed east for a four-month stint in the Techstars New York accelerator.
"The mentorship at Techstars was incredible," Ellis added. "Being plugged into their network is incredible. We were a team of engineers, so we didn't have experience with business strategy or building a brand."
Ellis said SkySpecs' patent-pending collision-avoidance technology has the ability to "lock-on" and maintain a specified distance from a target object, increasing safety and reducing the need for costly human operator training. SkySpecs is working directly with commercial customers to launch its automated drone inspection service in early 2016.
Founded in 2012, SkySpecs initially aimed to make autonomous drones easy to use for non-pilots. "We made the software generic enough to work on any drone and added sensors so the drones could see the outside world," Ellis said. "Then we realized collision avoidance was where we could make a real impact. We made the decision to focus on inspection and operate as a drone-as-a-service company."
That decision also helped investors warm to SkySpecs. Federal regulators still haven't established the rules that will govern commercial drone operators, and that uncertainty contributed to the reluctance of early backers, Ellis said. As of now, SkySpecs has been granted an exemption from the ban on drones, which means the company is cleared to fly commercially if it abides by the FAA's strict interim rules.
"It's very exciting because it means there's a light at the end of the tunnel," Ellis said. "Three years ago, there was no light. Investors were very shy about backing an essentially illegal business in the U.S."
SkySpecs has also entered into a partnership with San Diego's UpWind Solutions, a provider of operations and maintenance services for utility-scale wind-energy projects. UpWind uses SkySpecs' collision-avoidance technology as it inspects and maintains wind turbines. Ellis said his company wants to perfect its software and hardware technology in the wind sector before it scales to other potential markets such as cell towers, mines, power transmission towers, and bridges.
SkySpecs, which has an office in downtown Ann Arbor, plans to use the money from the Series A to expand overseas and double the current team of eight employees as it waits for the FAA to finalize commercial drone regulations.
"The ruling on small drones is supposed to happen in June," Ellis said. "It should really clarify what people can do commercially with drones that weigh less than 55 pounds. Then, after that, I think we'll see the market explode."
Sarah Schmid Stevenson is the Custom Content Editor for Xconomy Insight. You can reach her at 313-570-9823 or sschmid@xconomy.com. Follow @
VC Activity Continues Slowdown in Fourth Quarter, and Top 10 Deals

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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About the NDA
The National Disability Authority (NDA) is a small statutory agency with almost 40 staff and with an Authority of 12 people and a Chairperson that directs and oversees our work.
About the National Disability Authority
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The NDA is the independent statutory body that provides information and advice to the Government on policy and practice relevant to the lives of persons with disabilities.
NDA Authority Members
The Authority is appointed by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and comprises a Chairperson and 12 ordinary members.
NDA Staff Members
We have almost 40 staff across our three departments: Policy Research and Public Affairs, Standards and Monitoring, and Corporate Services.
Interested in working with us? Have a look at our current vacancies.


Lakeland College and Lakeshore Technical College today announced an innovative, new partnership that will provide a unique higher-education option to eastern Wisconsin students.
While our graduates are ready to enter the workforce, many find that their associate degree sparks the desire and confidence to continue their education. Because of its location and BlendEd and other flexible learning options, Lakeland is a great option for LTC graduates who want to balance their career with continuing education."
"For 154 years, Lakeland has produced graduates with the skills needed by local employers - critical, ethical thinkers who can communicate clearly and effectively," Eck said. "This region is filled with leaders who have graduated from Lakeland.
Lake to Lake will give LTC honors students the opportunity to receive a $12,000 annual scholarship through the junior college honor society Phi Theta Kappa, in addition to other financial aid opportunities.
More information about the program is available at www.LakeToLakeTransfer.com.


Ocean Plastic Recycled Into Clothing.
Javier Goyeneche, the President and Founder of Ecoalf introduces his company: "Ecoalf arose in 2009 from my frustration with the excessive use of the world's natural resources and the amount of waste produced by industrialized countries. Ecoalf symbolizes what I believe the fabrics and products of the new generations should be, a new fashion/lifestyle brand that integrates breakthrough technology to create clothing and accessories made entirely from recycled materials with the same quality, design and technical properties as the best non-recycled products. That way we show that there is no need to use our world´s natural resources in a careless way." Seaqual is a different kind of filament which is made by recycling the plastic collected at the bottom of the sea into a 100% recycled polyester filament from which sustainable fabrics of the highest quality are produced. In June this year, the Ecoalf Foundation, in conjunction with the Minister of Tourism of the Government of Thailand and the CEO of PTT Global Chemical, announced a 3-year commitment to replicate Upcycling the Oceans in Southeast Thailand, which will help to remove the waste from the oceans and islands of Phuket, Smaui, Tao, Samed and Napangha.


Our Rutland Picnic Table seats up to 8 people, and features a unique step-through frame for ease of access. Refined design and quality material ensures immense strength and unrivalled stability. With wider seats and rounded corners, the Rutland offers a particularly comfortable experience. Overall size: 1.7m x 1.7m. Table top: 1.7m x 78cm. Seat: 1.7 x 38. Natural pressure treated timber a light forest green color, gently turning to a dark honey with exposure to natural light. Low maintenance no need to paint, varnish, or stain. Resistant to rot and fungal decay can happily exist in any environment.
The item "Heavy Duty Wooden Outdoor Picnic Table Bench 8 Seater Pub Garden Furniture" is in sale since Monday, March 13, 2017. This item is in the category "Garden & Patio\Garden & Patio Furniture\Garden & Patio Tables". The seller is "benchmark-picnic-tables" and is located in Coleshill. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom.


The OCBC Business Deposit Card is the best way to handle your daily cash deposit needs. Bid goodbye to spending time in branch queues and avoid over-the-counter cash deposit fees, your cash deposit is just an easy ATM visit away, for you or your employees.
All foreign currency transactions are subjected to a currency conversion charge imposed by the respective card associations and bank administrative fee of the foreign transaction amount.From 15 March 2019, the bank administrative fee for foreign transactions on OCBC Credit Cards will be revised from 1.8% to 2.0% of the foreign currency transaction amount. The foreign transactions on OCBC Credit Cards imposed by the respective card associations remains at 1%.
All foreign currency transactions are subjected to a currency conversion charge imposed by the respective card associations and bank administrative fee of the foreign transaction amount. From 15 March 2019, the bank administrative fee for foreign transactions on OCBC Business Debit Card will be revised from 1.8% to 2.0% of the foreign currency transaction amount. The foreign transactions on OCBC Business Debit Card imposed by the respective card associations remains at 1%.
It has come to our attention that there have been individuals or parties purporting to represent Select Securities Limited and offering securities services to investors.
We would like to advise that while Select Securities Limited, registered in Hong Kong, is a subsidiary of OCBC Bank, it has not and does not provide securities services in any form, including the facilitation of shares purchases, to individuals or companies. Select Securities Limited is an investment holding company of the Bank that has been dormant since 2012. We would like to further highlight that we are not the owners of a website http://www.sshkasia.com bearing the name of Select Securities Limited.
If you have had interactions with persons purporting to represent Select Securities Limited previously, you are strongly advised to seek your own legal advice immediately and also consider lodging a report with the relevant law enforcement agencies.
Should you encounter any person or company making representations on behalf of Select Securities Limited, please notify our Business Banking Commercial Service Centre at bizinteract@ocbc.com.
An organisation that goes by the name of OCB Corporation has been representing itself as OCBC Bank in the United Kingdom, using high pressure sales tactics to try to persuade members of the public in UK to purchase certain investments that are recommended by them. Often the victims would be required to execute a Surety Bond in order to finalise the transaction. We would like to advise that OCB Corporation is in no way related to OCBC Bank.
OCBC Bank does not provide retail banking services to individual customers in the United Kingdom. OCBC Bank's customer base in the United Kingdom comprises network corporate customers, large corporates, financial institutions and non-bank financial institutions operating in the country.
Should you be contacted in this regard, please report the matter to Action Fraud at 0300 123 2040 and notify our Business Banking Commercial Service Centre at bizinteract@ocbc.com.
Ubi Business Banking Centre will be closed on Saturdays starting from 1 November 2014. The new banking hours will be from Mondays to Fridays, 10.00am to 5.30pm.
Bukit Batok Branch and Marina Bay Financial Centre Branch will not offer Business Account Opening Services with effect from 1 November 2014.
Please note that your calls from and to OCBC Bank may be recorded for training and quality purposes. Full details of these purposes and how we handle your personal data are available online at www.ocbc.com/business-policies .
Jurong Business Banking Centre will cease operations from 5pm on Friday, 27 June 2014.
A new Business Banking Centre located at Block 637, Bukit Batok Central #01-16, Singapore 650637 will start operations from Monday, 30 June 2014, 9.30am to 5pm.
Please be informed that with effect from 1 April 2014, the Business Banking Centre at Jalan Besar Branch will be closed.
A reminder that with your company's migration to our new Velocity@ocbc (business internet banking) platform: https://velocity.ocbc.com, your access to the old platform will no longer be available 30 days after migration.
Please download all required transaction history from the old platform before your access is discontinued.
We do not have a staff by the name of "James Morris" nor do we offer Business Loans with interest rate of 2% and Load re-payment plan of 12 to 24 months. Should you receive any emails from addresses 'ocbc@36913.com' and 'james.morris@ocbc-office.com' please notify our Business Banking Commercial Service Centre at 6538 1111.
With effect from 1 October 2013, an additional clause for the OCBC Business Debit Card will be included in the OCBC Business Debit Card Agreement and the Business Account Terms and Conditions (Section D: OCBC Business Debit Card Agreement).
With effect from 10 June 2013, an additional clause for the OCBC Business Debit Card will be included in the OCBC Business Card Agreement and the Business Account Terms and Conditions (Section D: OCBC Business Card Agreement).
We would like to bring to your attention that there have been recent reports of new malware attacks on internet banking websites. Please click here to find out more.
Please be informed that with effect from 1 December 2012, the Business Banking Desk at Marina Bay Financial Centre will be closed.
From 1 July 2012, the magnetic stripe on your Business Debit Card will be deactivated for local transactions. Thereafter, all local transactions can only be made with the EMV chip on your card. You may, however, continue to use the magnetic stripe for overseas transactions.


The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace Most Rev. Dr Alfred Adewale Martins, has described the planned 2-day working visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos as ill-timed.
In a release signed by the Director of Social Communications, Msgr. Gabriel Osu, Archbishop Martins wondered why Mr. President chose to make the visit to Lagos at a time that coincided with the most important days of the year for Christians when they celebrate the events of the salvation of the world.
According to him, in view of the large population and clustered road networks in the state, the closure of roads coupled with the ban of Okada on many routes, Christians who will be taking part in the Holy Thursday and Good Friday celebrations would be subjected to untold hardships. In addition, Christians who would also like to welcome their President have been put in a difficult situation of deciding whether to fulfil their religious obligations or go out to welcome the President. The timing does not take into consideration Christians in government and security services who would be required to be at work to ensure a smooth, secure and safe visit of the President. It is really unfortunate that the timing of the visit would create such hardships for people and deprive some of their right to worship and take part in the most important feast of their faith.
While acknowledging that the President, as the father of the nation, has the right to visit any part of the country as he deems fit in the course of his work, Archbishop Martins said the timing of such visits should be sensitive to the situation of people especially when it involves the fulfilment of the religious obligations which their faith requires of them.
While conceding that this scheduled visit may not be altered now as it is rather close, he expressed the hope that all peoples would be put into consideration in planning for similar visits in the future. He said "We hope that those who plan such visits that are likely to disrupt the normal flow of the life of people would be sensitive enough especially when they affect the right of people to practice their faith and worship as they choose. I hope that the security Agencies would be mindful of the fact that people would be going about fulfilling their religious obligations on Thursday and Friday, (the two days that the President would be in Lagos) and therefore not make things unduly difficult for them".


Can I get out of my lease early? – leasing secrets revealed!
1. A lease is just another way of financing, you have to know your price and rebates, if a dealer isn't clear on these; leave immediately.
3. You can call the leasing company and get your buyout figure any day during the lease. do this before you start shopping. Just like a finance contract you owe them until it's paid or traded, you simply have the choice to walk away or pay/finance at the end of the term.
Sounds pretty simple and now you're nervous because you have heard how so many people say they got "stuck" or "screwed" in a lease they couldn't get out of. Okay, let's analyze this monster under the bed….
Jane purchases a new car with financing. Jane doesn't have a ton down but the payments are comfortable. Six months later Jane realizes she needed an S.U.V.; "I should have paid the extra $90 a month, let me go back to the nice dealer and see if they can do that for me know", says Jane.
Jane sounds naive to you, doesn't she? You know that once you turn the key in a new vehicle it depreciates a lot. Silly Jane, poor Jane, what does Jane have to do?
That's right, wait to pay it down over time or put money down; you get a gold star, move to the front of the class. Now break out your computers, calculators and law books and let's compare that to the lease. What happens to Jane if she had leased it? Virtually the same thing!
Your lease has a buyout at the end of the term. Every payment gets you a little closer to that buyout. Unfortunately, your vehicle depreciates quickly in the beginning so it takes a while for those payments to catch up, just like a finance.
If you only have a few payments left and you go online and research that your vehicle isn't worth the buyout don't freak out.
Why on earth are you lucky? As long as your vehicle isn't over on miles you walk away after those few payments. If you had financed that underwater submarine, you would be the proud owner. Instead, Ford takes that bouncing baby brick and it's under water money goes with it.
Leasing isn't right for everybody ( which happens to be the title of another one of my Northeast Ford blog post…shameless plug) if you do excessive miles, it's a vehicle that doesn't have a Ford supported program deal or you are rolling in negative equity it may not work. The bottom line is just another way of paying for the vehicle like financing or borrowing the money from your uncle John it has it's ups and downs.
If you have any other questions you can browse my blogposts and our website or better yet stop in anytime at Northeast Ford and I will meet with you personally to answer any questions you may have.


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Full Reads #1: Romance Was My Racket
If you're in the mood for a little reading, I've transcribed the entire cover story "Romance was my Racket" from Complete Detective Cases from January 1947. If you're anything like me, you want lots of pictures. So, I've taken the liberty of fully illustrating this little tale.
Truth be told, the story is pretty lame. It has its moments, but overall it's woefully under-qualified to be a cover story. So why did I choose it? Well, let's just say this I was fiddling around and somehow wound up with a post.
Blog posts are meant to be quick and dirty, but this bad boy has some girth. It's a lot to read (with little payoff), so we shall see how many of you actually take time to read this. That'll determine whether there's more of these to come.
So, enjoy (or not).
Sherry Borden, the author
WHY should I lie now? I've got nothing to gain anymore. Maybe three months ago, maybe before I got up in court and heard myself denounced as a vulture who preyed on human misery and desolation and loneliness-maybe then a lie would have saved me. But not now. It's too late. We didn't start out with the idea of stealing. We didn't think it would lead to jail and disgrace. All we saw in it was a nice little racket-not too dangerous and with practically no work attached to it. And that's all it was-at first. Just a safe little racket. The way we figured it, the suckers who were sending us their money would be sending it to someone else, if we didn't cash in. It all seemed pretty harmless, and, in fact, on the penny-ante side. It was penny-ante. That's what led to trouble. The dollars were only trickling in, so we started to figure angles on how to get chunks of big dough. And once we had that worked out. it stopped being so innocent.
I'D BETTER go back to the very beginning. To the day that I first saw the ad in the magazine, and doubled over with laughter because it was so corny. Hal wanted to know what was so funny. Hal is my husband, and we were already married at that time. Probably I should tell you something about Hal, too, so you'll understand the rest of the story better ... understand why he's such a weak sister.
Hal started out by being a combination hellion and rich man's son. His mother had died when he was a baby, and by the time they shipped him off to school he'd been wearing out governesses at the rate of six a year. The schools lasted only a little longer, and when he finally landed in Harvard, his past performance record was as shady as a jockey suspected of "pulling" races. Fun and money continued all through college, and while Hal made a lot of contacts with the gambling and bootleg element, he never did learn that a college is a hall of learning. Dartmouth was the last school to give him the heave, and when Dartmouth tossed him out, he gave up the ghost and devoted himself entirely to his true love - chorus girls.
From what he's told me and what I remember having seen in the gossip columns of the newspapers, he went through chorus girls even faster than he went through governesses and schools. And then the blow fell. The old man died, and Hal, instead of inheriting half a million bucks, found he was sitting in with a cold hand, because it turned out that the old man had been living on borrowed money. There were debts here, debts there; some went back three and four years. There wasn't a cent in cash to comfort the son and heir.
In the end, Hal sold everything, paid off what he could, and started to look for a job. To him, work was a noble gesture, and he was ready to take a crack at it. The only gimmick was that he didn't know how to do anything. He'd have made a wonderful gigolo, because running around with women was all he'd done since the day they first put long trousers on him. But he had too much pride for that, and besides, the kind of women who could afford gigolos didn't. appeal to him. Too old.
Hal got by by picking up a ten-spot here, a five-spot there. He'd win a little on the horses, he was still invited out, and he still knew people who were good for a touch now and then. It was just about that time that we met. Me, I was pretty much like Hal, I guess, without the fancy background. I'd moved into the big town full of desires and ambitions, with nothing on the ball but a worn out beauty contest title. And you know what that's worth. I guess it was natural for a couple of drifters like us, both playing the same side of the street, to get together. So we got married.
And at the time that I'm speaking of, we'd been married almost six months. The six months had been perfect-except 'for the money angle. Hal made a few half-hearted attempts to get jobs, and he did get them, but something always happened so that he either quit or got fired. We didn't worry too much. We spent what we had. There was always another job around the corner. The living was easy-but the corners were getting tighter all the time .. Then I saw the ad in the magazine.
I glanced at it once, and then I read h aloud. Strictly for laughs, you understand. I had nothing in mind at the time. It was a gag, that ad, and I was sharing it with Hal because it would amuse him too. It was addressed to "Lonely Hearts."
"Are you lonely? Is there a lack in your life, a lack which can be filled only by a real live friend or sweetheart? Let us help you find real happiness. We give personal, confidential service to refined ladies and gentlemen, many with means, seeking congenial mates: Let us arrange a romantic correspondence for you. Write for details today. We will answer in a plain envelope."
The address was a post office box in Kansas City. "Sure are a lot of suckers in this world," I said, tossing down the magazine. "People will fall for anything."
Hal nodded thoughtfully, picking it up and sat holding the magazine. Finally I laughed, "Hey, you aren't lonely, are you? You're not thinking of joining a let's-get-acquainted club?"
It was still strictly for gags, mind you. I was only talking, making a joke.
Hal nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm lonely. Lonely as hell-for a little fast money." He looked up. "This is a wonderful racket, Sherry. I bet these outfits do a land office business, with no more investment than a post-office box, an ad and a few sheets of stationery. There are six different clubs advertised in this one magazine. Let's write to them and see what happens."
I thought he'd gone crazy. "Write to them? What for? I've got enough friends. I'm not looking for any penpals."
"I know you're not, baby," Hal said patiently. "But these people are. And there must be hundreds ... thousands of them. Send the club a buck, and in return they send you a list of names of members eager to correspond with 'a refined person of means, seeking real happiness. Why, a club like this is a gold mine. You collect the money, you send the list, and from then on you're out of it. Anything that happens after that has nothing to do with you."
"What could happen?" I scoffed. "A few letters are exchanged, a few lies are told and maybe once every fifty times a couple of lonely persons actually do meet and marry."
Hal shook his head. "No, a lot can happen. A list like that is a setup for a 'con' man, for example. It gives him a line on potential victims, on women who are so anxious for a little whirl at romance that they'll fall for anything.''
I was to remember those words later, but at the time they didn't register-that is, not enough to faze me. That day I sent letters to each of the clubs, explaining that I had seen the ad in the magazine, that I was interested in getting in touch with a congenial man, and what did I do now? Hal sent similar letters. He wanted to make friends with a "real, sincere woman who would appreciate a lonely man, recently bereft of his wife." He gave another address.
WITHIN a week, we had our answers. They were all pretty much alike. Each club included a "membership form" to be filled out, which asked such leading questions as: Age, weight, married or single, what is your income, do you own a car, do you own your home, are you looking for friendship or romance, what sort of man do you prefer. Each also sent a form letter asking for a dollar and explaining that a list of 25 names would be sent on receipt of the money, names chosen from their large membership list as most likely to conform with preferences mentioned. Between us, Hal and I invested twelve dollars; and by the end of the next week, we had 300 names, complete with mailing addresses and short descriptions. I read them over carefully. One thing about them intrigued me.
"I 'd have thought that most of the members were country folk, living out in the sticks, fairly isolated. But a good many of them seem to come from fairly good-sized cities."
Hal nodded. "I'm not too surprised. People who live in small towns have a certain amount of social life automatically ... church affairs, and so forth. It's those who migrate to the cities and can't meet anyone who are the really lonely. You can be far more alone in a city the size of New York, where everyone is too busy with his own affairs to pay any attention to you, than in a hamlet."
I said, "What do we do with these names, now that we have them?" "Those names are now the property of the Trusty Friendship Club. That's us." He paused. "Tomorrow I'll arrange to run ads in half a dozen magazines. We already have 300 names to begin with. Anybody that writes in gets on the list. That's the pretty thing about this racket. Anybody that writes in pays off and also becomes part of what we sell." It certainly looked safe enough, running a "lonely hearts club." I didn't see how we could get into trouble. Neither did Hal.
He said, "The club promises nothing but to put members in touch with other members. If one of them turns out to be a crook looking for a soft touch or a 'con' man on the make for an easy grift, that's not our business. We don't know anything about it. As a matter of fact, I intend to run a warning over the lists, telling members that we are not responsible for any statements made by correspondents, that we do not check for misrepresentations, and any presents made or money loaned for any purpose whatsoever is done solely at their own risk. Like I say, we intended to stay strictly out of trouble, even if it meant passing up a buck here and there. If there was anything crooked going on, we didn't intend to have any part of it. We were interested only in selling memberships-at that time!
We hadn't become moneyhungry yet. It took about two months after Hal put the first ads in magazines before the magazines were printed and distributed and the answers started trickling in. We had taken a post-office box for that purpose, so that nobody could tie us in with the club. The first day I picked four letters out of the box. Three were from women, one from a man. Incidentally, that was something I found out immediately: The ratio of women seeking romance is at least three to every one man, if not higher. Some of them are widows, some are spinsters, and a surprising number are married women with husbands and families who are dissatisfied with their lives. In any case, women made up the bulk of our membership, and I'm sure that's true of any lonely hearts club. And the things they tell in order to make themselves seem attractive is unbelievable.
A man, an address and a declaration of loneliness from a complete stranger are likely to bring forth such information as the size of her income, how large a farm she owns, any expectations of inheritance and probably an invitation to visit. Another thing I found out is that a great percentage of the lonely hearts members lie. I don't remember seeing a single letter in which a woman ever admitted being older than "the early forties," nor did any man ever describe himself as older than "fifty-ish." The heftiest women reduce themselves to "pleasingly plump, with a lovely complexion and beautiful, shining hair," and the most ignorant, backwoods farmer turned up as "a real he-man, plain spoken and used to the outdoors, but a refined gentleman in every' sense of the word." I suppose it's human nature, but there must have been a good many disappointments when and if the pen-pals finally met up with each other.
Any scruples I'd ever had about the racket completely disappeared as the membership grew and the dollars rolled in. And, I'd tell myself, there was always the possibility that we were bringing happiness and fulfillment into the lives of some people. There was only one thing really wrong with the setup. The money came in driblets-steady, but penny-ante. It was an easy way of getting by, but you couldn't do any fancy living on it ... That was when Hal got his brilliant. idea..
He sold copies of our complete listing to mail order manufacturers. Most of the products advertised by these manufacturers in some way involved romance, and it was a foregone conclusion that the man who was "anxious to meet a congenial lady" would probably also be a setup to buy pills which promised new health for the old boy. And the woman who joined the lonely hearts club in the hope of snaring a husband would almost certainly be interested in the numerous articles which offered to bring beauty to the buyer. We never bothered to investigate the manufacturers, although I daresay their products were as good as anything else on the market. After all, if they'd been complete fakes, the government, we supposed, would have caught up with them for fraudulent advertising. And then Hal began to get restless again.
The cash wasn't coming in fast enough or heavy enough. Finally he came up with another idea. And this one wasn't so innocent. He said: "Look, we know that at least 75 per cent of our members get taken, one way or another. Either they're gullible women so anxious to get husbands that they practically invite confidence men to fleece them, or grizzled old codgers looking for a pretty nineteen year- old girl to be a combination wife, sweetheart, nurse and caretaker. After all, we get first crack at the names, and from the membership forms we can get a pretty good idea of what the setup really is. Why don't we put our own names on the list and pick off a little of this gravy for ourselves?"
I wasn't angry at his proposal; I was just bewildered. I said, "How can we run the club and be members ourselves, at the same time?"
"I don't mean put our real names on the list," Hal explained. "We'll take two phony names and two post-office boxes. You be Mary Jane, a nice girl in her middle twenties, looking for companionship and true love. You carry on a correspondence with three or four men, and let's see what happens. There are a hundred ways to get them to send you money. Either for fare so you can visit them and eventually marry them, or because you're broke, or because you haven't any nice clothes and you want to look your best when you meet them ... Once we get a chunk of dough out of the sucker, you drop him cold. You disappear. You don't answer his letters. For all he knows, you died."
I said, "Suppose he comes after me, looking for me?"
"He can't ever find you," Hal pointed out. "You're using a phony name in the first place, and the only address he'll have will be a post- office box. How can he find you?"
What's the point in kidding? I knew it was crooked. I knew it was out-and-out stealing, with a fancy twist to it. But we'd been on the thin edge between the lawful and the unlawful for so long that a little slip didn't seem important-then. So I wrote the letters. . . .
THEY succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, because under a phony name, I promptly snagged myself four different men, each of whom told me I was the girl of his dreams. Actually, I'd gotten many more letters than that, but by careful analysis and elimination, we'd finally settled on these four. They seemed the safest, the best bets; they were situated in different parts of the country, far enough away from each other so that it would have been next to a miracle if they'd ever met.
One was a schoolteacher in Wisconsin, another a rancher in New Mexico, another a gasoline station proprietor in Idaho and the fourth a Maine farmer. To the schoolteacher I was a young girl, alone in the big city, shy, friendless and looking for a dream lover. My letters were wistful, between-the-lines attestations of frustration and loneliness. To the rancher in New Mexico I was a married woman, unhappy in her choice of a husband, and anxious to contact a robust, not-too-young man who liked fun and knew how to appreciate a woman. The gas station proprietor and the Maine farmer I wrote describing myself as a widow living in a strange city where I knew no one.
Life was hard, life was bitter. I worked all day and went home to my little furnished room and read every evening. They all received photos from me- photos, incidentally, of a pretty but obscure little model which Hal picked up somewhere and had copied by the dozen. My mail order boy friends were surprised and delighted when they saw the pictures and wrote back glowing letters. I was able to keep track of my correspondence arid the lies I told by .making carbon copies of my letters and keeping them in separate files. Before I finished with those four, I tapped each one.
The schoolteacher was the first to fall. He wanted to marry me, and as soon as possible. He knew from my letters, he said, that I was his ideal girl, the woman for whom he had been waiting all his life. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the term, he would be unable to get away at all until the Christmas holidays, and that would only be for a few days. His real vacation wouldn't start until June. Why waste all that precious time, now that we had finally found each other? Why not come out to Wisconsin, where I would, in any event, spend the rest of my life? I sent back a sweet and gentle note, thanking him for the honor he had done me and telling him how thrilled I was and how I looked forward to our life together. However, I added, it would be impractical for me to go to Wisconsin immediately. And, I added, the train fare would take a little saving up, too. It wasn't put as badly as that, naturally.
I wrote eight pages before I covered all those points, and the demands for money were beautifully camouflaged. The schoolteacher understood exactly how I felt. He understood so well that he sent me $400 to take care of whatever clothes I had to buy for our marriage. He would arrange to meet me at the station; please wire him before I got on the train. Needless to say, that was the last letter the schoolteacher ever got from me. I socked the $400 away in the bank.
My three other correspondents also came through like little men. The rancher to whom I had written that I was unhappily married and anxious to have a little fun, sent me $200. He wouldn't fall for my hints about money for a divorce, but he did send enough to take care of a few clothes and the trip to New Mexico. "Come by plane," he wrote, "as the railroad trip is long and tedious, and I am anxious to see you as soon as possible. I am very lonely and have been longing to meet you since the day I went out to the mailbox and found your letter and your picture waiting for me. Forget your husband. I can see he doesn't appreciate you, and I promise to make you happy. Wire me when to expect you. Love."
Hal grinned when he saw the letter. "I bet his ranch is a little two-room shack stuck out in the middle of the desert," he said. "And that $200 he sent is probably half his life's savings. But don't feel too sorry for him. This time you clipped him. The next time he'll clip somebody else. It all evens up in the end."
I wasn't feeling sorry for him or anybody else, at that stage of the game I liked .the feel of the money that was coming in too much for that. And I already had six other men on my romance list to whom I was giving a mail build-up. Don't get the Idea. that all the men who wrote to me had marriage in mind. A certain percentage talked marriage, but most of that was only come-on. That was the main reason they sent me money to visit them. They worked on the assumption that any girl who'd travel half way across the country to meet an unknown man would also be foolish enough to believe that If they were not wed immediately, there would be a. marriage in the coming.
All this time, of course, we were running the club. Occasionally, we'd get a letter complaining about me-under my phony name-from one of the suckers I'd taken. In that case, the club would send back a. polite note pointing out that it printed a notice over every list of names saying that the club was not responsible for any misrepresentations by members and warning pen~pals under no circumstances to send money to a correspondent. Our theory was that most of them took their medicine and kept their mouths shut. I suppose it's human nature; most men don't want it known that they've been taken for a ride, and most particularly in the case of a supposed love affair, where personal egotism is involved. We were doing fine, Hal and I. We were living higher, we were spending more money and everything looked rosy. Then I got tangled up with Fred Bracker.
BRACKER was probably the most intelligent of all my mall order Romeos. He lived in New York, was a garage mechanic, 50 years old. Bracker had a double purpose in joining the club: He was lonely and he was anxious to find a woman who would make a good mother to his two young children. His first letter was a. masterpiece of dignity In which he described himself, his need for companionship and his earnest conviction that mutual interest was the foundation of any sound marriage. This, it appeared from Bracker's letter. would take quite a while to establish. He also enclosed a photograph of himself. He had a well-lined face, a rather determined chin and his hair line was going fast. Even without the photograph I was all for dropping Bracker by the wayside. To me it looked like a lot of work and only peanuts at the end of it. But Hal objected.
"This guy's going to be our jackpot, Sherry. I know the type. First, he's got plenty of dough socked away. He's the kind that's been saving five dollars a week since his first pay check. Secondly, if handled properly, hell fall like a ton of bricks. He obviously hasn't been around, he has no idea that the world isn't made up of good, sweet characters. Thirdly, he has a couple of kids. That means he's serious about getting married. And once he's convinced you're the proper mother for them, there's nothing he won't do for you."
I still didn't like it. I tried to think of a reasonable argument against it. "I don't know what to say to him. He's so different from the others."
"Stick to three ideas, and you'll be able to handle him for the rest of your life," Hal advised. "You're crazy about children, you're longing for a good home and you've always wanted to live in New York. All New Yorkers are nuts on the subject of New York, and that always gets them."
As usual, Hal was right. Under the name of Polly Baker, I got letter after letter from Bracker, all filled with descriptions of New York. The famous buildings, Coney Island, the museums, the harbor, the Statue of Liberty-he was better than a. Baedeker, where the free entertainment was concerned. Finally I made the grade. Bracker proposed. I wrote back saying that although I had grown to love him dearly, I needed time to think it over, that it was a serious step in a girl's life, one she must not leap into without careful consideration. And then I laid my bait for the touch. I sent a sad little note saying that this must be farewell for us. I had just returned from my physician who had told me that I needed an operation immediately, not to delay and not to attempt a journey in my present condition. It was not serious, but it was imperative. It was not fair, I added, to burden him with a sick woman. A sick woman could not possibly give him the companionship he craved and deserved, and she certainly would be impractical so far as the children went. The reason I couldn't go right ahead and have the operation, of course, was that it was very expensive.
Four days later I got an airmail letter from him. Money, he declared, after what must have been quite a struggle, should not stand between us and happiness. And if that was all that was lacking, let him know how much and he would send it. He would like to be able to come out and stay with me during my illness, but, of course, the children precluded anything like that. However, be sure to tell him how much the operation would cost, don't let pride stand in the way.
I didn't. I told him $1,000 would cover the cost of the operation and the hospital and a few little extras. But that was only the beginning of Bracker's troubles. There was a matter of $200 to cover the expense of a sanitarium, where I was convalescing. Then I needed a few clothes to make the journey. Each time he came through like a major, apparently on the theory that he already had so much invested, it would be foolish to quit now. But after I received railroad fare, I decided to drop Bracker. We'd milked him for everything I could think of. It was time to take him off the list. I got four more letters from him within the next two weeks, ranging from worried to annoyed. He demanded an explanation of my silence. I answered none of them. Then there were no more letters. I decided Bracker had finally realized he'd been swindled and was quietly licking his wounds.
I thought it was all over, and I was glad. My conscience bothered me about him, about the hard-earned money he'd so patiently put by, about the two little children for whom he'd been so anxious to get a good mother. And then one day I went down to the post-office to pick up the mall. I opened two boxes-one taken out in the name of the club, the other under my most recent phony, Polly Baker. There were some dozen letters in all. I put them into my bag.
I GOT home to find Hal and another man, a Mr. Mills, waiting for me. I'd never seen Mr. Mills before, but I had a feeling right away that something was going on. Mr. Mills was going through the private filing cabinet on Hal's desk and doing it in a very methodical manner. Hal was pale as he introduced us. "This is my wife, Sherry." He paused and added significantly, "Sherry, Mr. Mills is connected with the post-office."
That was all I had to hear. I picked up my bag and started toward the door. ''I've got a little shopping to do, Hal," I said pointedly. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
I flung open the door without waiting for an answer. There was only one thought in my mind-to get away as fast as possible as far as possible, and to get rid of the incriminating mail I had just picked up at the post-office. I got as far as the threshold. There was a large man standing outside the door, blocking the path. He smiled down at me and said genially, "Where are you going-Miss Baker? Not planning a. trip to New York at this late date, are you?"
I backed slowly into the room. The man followed me in, still smiling. The events of the next half hour are very vague in my mind. The two men - they were both cops, of course- knew all about us.
Later I discovered they'd been on our trail for months, bad just been waiting to get enough on us to make it stick. And who do you think gave them the information that finally led to our being picked up? Right. That meek little garage mechanic from New York, Mr. Bracker. It seems that when he finally came to and discovered how much money he'd tossed away, he went down to the district attorney's office and told them the whole sad story. The D.A. advised him to go to the post-office. Fraud via the mails is a federal offense.
I sat in a daze while Mills and the other cop tossed questions at us, but I knew from the beginning that the jig was up. I made no attempt to stop them when they picked up my file containing carbons of letters I'd written to my mail order sweethearts. We had a lawyer to defend us, but that was only a formality. We were an open-and-shut case. They had too much on us. There was only one surprise in that whole trial-the sentences they handed out. I drew a year for using the malls to defraud. Hal got only six months as accessory. Actually, they had very little on him, except that he was a. partner in the lonely hearts club, and that wasn't against the law. It was I who had done all the defrauding who had written the letters, sent promises of marriage, asked for money. Hal had managed to take care of himself. He stayed clear of any of that.I was the baby who was left holding the bag. We didn't exchange more than two words, Hal and I, from the time we were picked up until the trial was over and we were escorted to our separate cells.
AS SOON as I get out- I'll be getting time off for good behavior- I'm going to get a divorce since the whole idea was Hal's from the very beginning, and in the end it is I who am paying for it.
Labels: Full Reads
I believe people still get taken by that scam to this day.Good read and pics.
Retrofan August 14, 2013
I actually found the story quite rivetting. I know long- distance calls were expensive in the 40's but didn't any of the victims ever want to at least communicate by telephone before proposing marriage ? Human nature hasn't changed but technology sure has. How many people are using internet dating sites for exactly this kind of scam today ?
Video Zeta One August 14, 2013
Hooray. An awful lot of you are reading this. Only a couple comments so far, but I have ways of knowing (page views + how long people linger on the post).
Anyway, now that I've been kicked off rapidshare, this seems like the best way to provide sharity and vintage preservation. Look for more "Full Reads" to come.
Also, please note that I'm not typing this whole article (although I'd love to take credit for all this hard work). I simply take the scan and Adobe translates the text. It's just a cut and past.... but I did enjoy accessorizing it with pictures.
The counterpoint with imagery is the perfect touch.
This site is the gold standard for this kinda thing!
I really enjoyed this. Please post more.
Armpit Studios August 14, 2013
Don't pay attention to *all* linger times. I usually open each new article you post in its own window and get back to them later, so I'm "lingering" for hours on some.
I did look at the pictures in this one.
Liz August 17, 2013
Love these old "true story" type magazine articles! There is always a moral, and a hard lesson learned. Thanks so much for transcribing it.
Wonder Woman - S1E2
Let's Get Physical #14: Aerobics Wear!
Pancakes #14: The All About Pancakes Coloring Book
Twisted Impressions #18
Sex Sells #31: Arcade Games
Vintage Scan #24: American Druggist (March 1942)
Help Needed!
Tech #28: 1979 Sears Electronic Entertainment
Retro Film Report #35: The Carry On Films
Cinema #30: Killer Lobby Cards (Part 7)
Vintage Gams #5: Babes & Bark
The Boob Tube #47 : Bewitched (Season 8, Episode 9)
Mini Skirt Monday #163: Sears 1974 Catalog (Girls)
Just for Laughs #7 : Oh, Wicked Wanda!
Catalogs #32: 1979 Sears Junior Fashions
Vintage Reads #48: Even More Paperback Sleaze
Retro Badass #6: The Stud
Retro Film Report #34: The Wizard of Gore (1970)
Mini Skirt Monday #162: Group Photos (Part 2)
Comic Books #59: Power Girl
Retro Film Report #33: Gas Pump Girls (1979)


text:
Italian star Andrea Pirlo joining New York FC
By: Corey Johns on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 · Leave a Comment
New York FC has made no secret about their desire to add a third designated player to the what they already had. With David Villa already on the team, leading them in both goals scored and assists, and the legendary Frank Lampard on his way July 1, the club will also be adding Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo.
Even at the age of 36-years-old, Pirlo is one of the very best midfielders in the world. It is the way he plays; his pin-point passing, his veteran savvy and his uncanny ability to read the field and set up his teammates that makes him so dangerous.
New York FC clearly wanted to build a successful team in their first year and with this latest edition, they have made fans take notice.
This Saturday, Pirlo will lead his Juventus club team in the UEFA Champions League finals against Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez of FC Barcelona but he has accepted an offer to make a move to the MLS later this summer.
New York FC, which plays their games in the Bonx at Yankee Stadium, if the perfect place for Pirlo to go to as well. With a massive Italian population in New York and New Jersey, those fans will want to come watch the greatest player Italy has produced over the last quarter century.
Though not a scorer, the way he runs the field and makes brilliant passes is a sight to see. He's become a well-known name to even casual American soccer fans with four World Cup appearances. In 2012, Pirlo notably dazzled fans with a cheeky chip-shot shootout attempt, that simply shows just how brilliant of a player he is.
Filed under MLS · Tagged with


Sounds like you'll be having a very busy christmas. Mine is mostly filled with slowly but surely grating my fingers away into my key board until I have a wall of text, then looking back on it, disliking one thing and starting over with something completely different and unrelated to the first thing.
... Oh yeah, and Charity gets a little Italian on the last panel.
Hope you are able to get some relaxation during the holiday season.
Depending on how the paneling in the next few pages works out it might be visible, but you will for sure be able to see the whole thing enlarged as one of the voting incentives starting next month. if you want to take a test run of the voting it is the blue top webcomics vote button above the rating and name of the comic.
linking to tv tropes is bad or having links on tv tropes is bad? Oh wait does this mean someone else besides me is adding stuff to the tv tropes page :D Woot, Christmas came early!
Actually, I'm not. I can if you want though. If I actually find something that's not already there.
Linking to TV Tropes is bad. Every time I find one, I invariably click it, and end up with another ton of tabs open. Soon after I file them away to not touch them again for a very long time.
I have the exact same problem except I also file away articles that i might qualify for in the future. I have a few dozen on my todo list and i know the day i try and go through it again to find what i qualify for now i will loose a week of my life. I wouldn't want yo force anyone to work on my tv tropes page though. I'll just have to get around to it after I get more of a buffer up.
So yes he would love someone to he's just too nice to ask.
A dungeon-crawl Christmas card. Have fun.


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ATSC 3
Sinclair Broadcast
Chris Ripley
Sinclair and Nexstar agree transition plan from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0
Sinclair Broadcast And Nexstar Media Announce Agreement On Market Transition From ATSC 1.0 To ATSC 3.0 "NextGen" Services
IRVING, Texas and BALTIMORE, Maryland — In preparation for the approval of ATSC 3.0 by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") as well as the implementation of national television station repacking, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) ("Sinclair") and Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST) ("Nexstar") (collectively "the Companies") have reached a tentative agreement on principles to coordinate the transition of the over-the-air delivery of ATSC 3.0 "NextGen" television services in 97 television markets. The transition is a complicated process requiring coordination and cooperation between in-market television broadcasters.
The tentative agreement — made pursuant to Companies' previously announced Spectrum Consortium that promotes spectrum aggregation, innovation and monetization and enhance their abilities to compete in the wireless data transmission sector — includes 43 markets where both Companies own a television station, and a plan to spearhead the transition for shared "NextGen" services in the 54 markets where only one of the Companies owns or operates stations.
Once the ATSC 3.0 standard is approved by the FCC, the Spectrum Consortium expects that television stations will be permitted to enter into Channel Sharing Agreements where existing ATSC 1.0 as well as "Next Gen" ATSC 3.0 will be simulcast on different stations' spectrum. The agreements between Sinclair and Nexstar will provide that the Companies share their spectrum within their markets, with some spectrum remaining as 1.0 and other spectrum migrated to ATSC 3.0 enabled "NextGen" services. The FCC's recent broadcast spectrum auction and mandated repack of remaining broadcast television stations has complicated the process of transitioning to the new technology by eliminating much of the spectrum that was dedicated to free over the air broadcasting. As such, the Spectrum Consortium believes that agreed upon coordination principles are critical to ensuring that a transition to the upgraded technology can occur.
"We look forward to working with Nexstar to enable new and innovative services that add value to the viewers we serve, our advertising clients and our broadcast assets. Sinclair and Nexstar are leading the broadcast industry in this critical technology upgrade and we are confident that through our coordination and mutual efforts we can navigate this transition together," said Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair.
"Our collaboration with Sinclair demonstrates Nexstar's commitment to making 'NextGen' television a reality for the communities and businesses we serve across America. Our research and analysis indicates that this market-based solution to the transition is a win for broadcasters and for television viewers who will soon have access to the enhanced over-the-air services that this new technology can bring, which will enable us to remain highly competitive in today's multi-platform environment," said Perry Sook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar.
Specific market roll out schedules and sharing arrangements are in development in anticipation of the FCC approval of the new ATSC 3.0 standard by the fourth quarter of 2017.
NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance creates three working groups
Seattle becomes latest large market to launch NEXTGEN TV
NEXTGEN TV launched in Raleigh, NC
Sinclair acquires two TV stations in Washington, DC
NEXTGEN TV begins for five local TV stations in Oklahoma City
NEXTGEN TV launches on four local TV stations in Austin, TX


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Supplement No. 2 to
Insurance Circular Letter No. 21 (2017)
TO: All Insurers Authorized to Write Accident and Health Insurance in New York State, Article 43 Corporations, Health Maintenance Organizations, Student Health Plans Certified Pursuant to Insurance Law § 1124, and Municipal Cooperative Health Benefit Plans
RE: Health Insurance Coverage for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis ("PrEP") for the Prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus ("HIV") Infection and Testing and Ongoing Follow-up and Monitoring Related Thereto
STATUTORY REFERENCES: N.Y. Insurance Law §§ 3216(i)(17)(E), 3221(l)(8)(E) and (F), and 4303(j)(3)
I. Purpose
The purpose of this circular letter is to provide guidance to insurers authorized to write accident and health insurance in New York State, Article 43 corporations, health maintenance organizations, student health plans certified pursuant to Insurance Law § 1124, and municipal cooperative health benefit plans (collectively "issuers") regarding New York State requirements for health insurance coverage for PrEP, tests and services expressly recommended before prescribing PrEP, and ongoing follow-up and monitoring related thereto. This circular letter supplements Insurance Circular Letter No. 21 (2017) issued on December 1, 2017 and Supplement No.1 to Insurance Circular Letter No. 21 (2019) issued on July 23, 2019.
Insurance Law §§ 3216(i)(17)(E), 3221(l)(8)(E) and (F), and 4303(j)(3) require issuers, other than grandfathered health plans,[1] to cover items or services at no cost-sharing that have in effect a rating of "A" or "B" in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Taskforce ("USPSTF"). Supplement No. 1 to Insurance Circular Letter No. 21 (2019) advised issuers that the USPSTF issued an "A" rated recommendation that clinicians offer PrEP with effective antiretroviral therapy to persons who are at high risk of HIV acquisition. Therefore issuers, other than grandfathered health plans, must provide coverage for PrEP for the prevention of HIV infection to persons at high risk of HIV acquisition at no cost-sharing.
This circular letter further advises issuers that, in the absence of any specific federal guidance to the contrary, any tests or services that are expressly recommended in the Other Considerations, Implementation section of the USPSTF's Final Recommendation Summary for PrEP ("USPSTF Summary") to be provided to a person at high risk of HIV acquisition prior to prescribing PrEP or as ongoing follow-up and monitoring also must be covered at no-cost sharing pursuant to Insurance Law §§ 3216(i)(17)(E), 3221(l)(8)(E) and (F), and 4303(j)(3). At the time of publication of this circular letter, the Ongoing Considerations, Implementation section of the USPSTF Summary provides in relevant part that:
[b]efore prescribing PrEP, clinicians should exclude persons with acute or chronic HIV infection through taking a medical history and HIV testing. The 2-drug antiretroviral regimen used in PrEP, when used alone, is not an effective treatment for HIV infection, and its use in persons living with HIV can lead to the emergence of, or selection for, drug-resistant HIV infection. It is also generally recommended that kidney function testing, serologic testing for hepatitis B and C virus, testing for other STIs, and pregnancy testing (when appropriate) be conducted at the time of or just before initiating PrEP. Ongoing follow-up and monitoring, including HIV testing every 3 months, is also suggested.
Issuers should keep abreast of any updates to the USPSTF Summary and provide coverage with no cost-sharing accordingly.
In accordance with Insurance Law §§ 3216(i)(17)(E), 3221(l)(8)(E) and (F), and 4303(j)(3), all issuers, except for grandfathered health plans, must provide coverage for PrEP at no cost-sharing. The requirement to provide coverage for PrEP at no cost-sharing extends to the tests and services that are recommended by the USPSTF to be undertaken prior to prescribing PrEP and for ongoing follow-up and monitoring. Ensuring that people who may benefit from PrEP are able to access and afford testing and related services is vital, and the Department of Financial Services will continue to ensure full compliance with this circular letter, Insurance Circular Letter No. 21 (2017), and Supplement No.1 to Insurance Circular Letter No. 21 (2019).
Please direct any questions regarding this circular letter to Thomas Fusco, Supervising Insurance Attorney, by email at [email protected].
Lisette Johnson
Bureau Chief, Health Bureau
[1]A "grandfathered health plan" means coverage provided by an issuer in which an individual was enrolled on March 23, 2010, for as long as the coverage maintains grandfathered status in accordance with 42 U.S.C § 18011(e). Ins. Law §§ 3216(i)(17)(F), 3221(l)(8)(G), and 4303(j)(4).
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In this section: School of Media and Communication
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As a PhD student in the School of Media and Communication, you'll have access to many different funding opportunities to help support your studies.
If you're a UK or EU national, you may be able to apply for a government Postgraduate Doctoral Loan.
School of Media and Communication PhD Scholarships
We're offering three PhD scholarships for September/October 2019. Up to two scholarships will cover full maintenance and fees equivalent to international rates. The remaining scholarship(s) will cover maintenance and fees equivalent to Home/EU rates.
These scholarships will support full-time study leading to a PhD within a period of three years. If you've received an offer to study a PhD with us full-time and would like to apply for this scholarship, contact our postgraduate admissions team for an application form.
The deadline to apply is 1 March 2019.
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If your research is interdisciplinary and your research proposal clearly crosses two Schools within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, you may be eligible for an Arts, Humanities and Cultures Faculty Scholarship.
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If you've received an offer to study a PhD at the School of Media and Communication, you can apply for a University of Leeds Doctoral Scholarship. This is a fully funded postgraduate research scholarship for UK, EU and international applicants.
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If you're a former student of the University of Leeds, you may be eligible for a 10% alumni tuition fee bursary.
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Sports Scholarships ensure our athletes are able to compete at the highest level, whilst studying at the University of Leeds.
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You can search our postgraduate scholarships database for information about other funding opportunities, including:
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You may be eligible for extra financial help if you have a disability or are in financial hardship.
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text:
Youth Shelter Supply skate and snowboard shop closing at end of the month
Anna Haecherl
After two decades of serving the needs of snowboarding and skateboarding teens, the Youth Shelter Supply shop on Fifth Avenue near downtown St. Cloud will close its doors at the end of March. The shop opened in 1998 and began selling goods online in 2004.
"The end of March is what it is looking like, unfortunately... it's pretty tough," said Alec Westerlund, store manager.
Westerlund said there had been attempts to have someone else take over the store, but it didn't work out.
"Mike (Pettit), the owner, is going to be moving out west," Westerlund said. "He's owned it for the last 11 years, so he's definitely put in his time and wants to take the next step in life."
A post on the company's Facebook page said the store will be open 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturdays until the end of the month. All merchandise in the store will be 50 percent off, according to the post.
Have a tip about an innovative, unique or new business in the St. Cloud area? Contact Business Reporter Anna Haecherl at ahaecherl@stcloudtimes.com or 320-259-3662. Follow Anna on Twitter @AnnaHaecherl


The last printing on the list above, the Epson Expression does not come with refillable ink tanks but is a wide format (A3+) printer nonetheless and uses 6 individual Claria Ultra HD Photo ink cartridges so you only have to replace the cartridge that has run out.
The EcoTank ET-7750 is a multifunction photo printer with printing, scanning and copying capabilities. Perfect for home office use, the ET-7750 is not only a wide-format A3 printer but can print up to 3,400 photos in A3 with included ink. The printer uses 4 dyes and a pigment ink for better quality printing. There is an easy way to tell how much ink is left in the tank without taking the printer apart and given that this is a multi-function printer short of a built-in fax machine, you can print, scan and copy straight from the unit. Use the huge 6.8 cm colour LCD display to help you navigate. There is even an SD card slot for camera to photo printing. It performs incredibly fast, printing at 13 ppm black and 10 ppm colour.
WiFi connectivity lets you print directly from your laptop or desktop and with the right mobile app, from your smartphone and tablet. When you run out of ink, there is no need to swap or replace the cartridges, the EcoTank system with its ultra high capacity ink tank means you can simply top up the thank. This helps keep the cost of printing down for you and your business. Out of the box, you get enough ink for up to 3,400 photos. Included are two sets of 5-colour ink bottles 70ml for CMY and PB, 140ml for black. The printer supports borderless printing, card, CD/DVD and A3 media with dual paper tray.
The EcoTank ET-14000 is sold with up to two years worth of ink in the box. It uses an easy to refill ink tank system. All you need to do when you run low is to top it up with low-cost replacement ink from the bottles. These refill bottles are available at less than the price of a full cartridge replacement. Inks are available in 70ml sizes and the first set is included, hence the two years worth of ink. Performance wise you are looking at 15 ppm for black and 5.5 ppm for colour. Why faster mono printing, read on to find out.
Even though the printer is capable of printing wide format prints up to A3+ the ET14000 takes up a very small foot print perfect for small office. There is enough ink to print up to 7,500 pages in black and 6,500 pages in colour. Again, there are no cartridges to replace, just bottled ink to buy and refill. An idea that some of us needs getting used to. It doesn't stop there, the ink tank system uses two black in tanks, instead of one. This allows for less refilling and faster black and white printing. If you must now, Epson also included two black in bottles in the box on top of the colour ink bottles. What a bonus. For those seeking professional photo print outs, this is not a photo printer, but with its CMYK ink, it is probably enough for the average user. Finally, the vertical in tray has a paper capacity of up to 100 sheets and only USB connection is available to keep the cost down.
Think high volume, high capacity, wide-format office printing for posters, infographics, wide-spread, signs, charts and graphs in colours and black up to A3+, the EcoTank ET-16500 got you cover. The Multifunction wireless printer is your office companion capable of serving small businesses to large enterprises.
The printer can produce up to 10,500 pages in black and 11,300 pages in colour without any ink cartridges up to 18 ppm. When you run low, simply refill the ink tank system, see image below. This multi-function printer does print, scan and copy as well as fax. The automatic document feeder (ADF) can take up to 35 pages should you need to fax or copy a multipage document. For convenience, it has two huge capacity paper tray that takes up to 500 sheets of paper (2 x 250-sheet front trays) and performs double-sided printing. It doesn't stop there, WiFi and wired or Ethernet connectivity lets you print directly via WiFi-Direct or over the network. Use the free mobile printing app to print from your phone or Tablet.
A photo printer that supports borderless wide format printing on paper sizes up to A3+ that comes with refillable ink tank is rare. The Epson L1800 and the EcoTank ET-7750 are two such printers. Capable of printing professional quality photos with CMYK as well as Pigment and black, you are assured of photo quality prints every time. What is even better is when you run out of ink, printing all those huge wide format photos and posters, you can simply top up from refill bottles instead of ripping out and throwing away the cartridges.
The high capacity ink tank lets you print up to 1500 photos before needing refills. For standard text there is enough ink to print up to 2600 pages in black and up to 4700 pages in colour. Use the size 70 ml ink bottles one for each colour when you run low. And, you can easily tell when that happens with the clearly visible ink level in the tank on the side window.
The printer is also fast, printing at speeds of up to 15ppm black and 15ppm in colour. When printing at photo quality, this will take a longer time, up to 2.6 pages per minute. Still, it will take only 45 seconds to complete a 10 x 15 cm photo on glossy photo paper. The vertical paper can take up to 100 sheets of standard paper or 30 photo sheets. Finally, to keep the cost down, you only get a USB interface.
As mentioned above, the Expression XP-15000 is a professional Ultra HD photo printer. It supports borderless printing on paper up to 13-inch by 19-inch. The printer also handles auto 2-sided document printing with a 200-sheet front tray. While it does not come with refillable ink tank we like to think that this is an economical professional photo printer in that it supports 6 separate Clara Ultra HD Photo ink cartridges. This means that you only replace the colour that has run out, no wastage therefore saving you money. The 50-sheet rear tray handles special media such as card stock and a full colour 2.4-inch LCD makes navigating the menu system easy. Finally, with WiFi and wired connectivity, you can print front mobile devices (Android tablets and smartphones) without needing to switch on your computer.