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Category Archives: Shame On You
New Baltimore: Pick up rocks, find snakes. Part I.
Is the Chairman of the New Baltimore Town Planning Board
Guilty of Conflict of Interest and Abuse of Public Office?
Our message to Robert Van Etten, Shelly Van Etten, Jeff Ruso, Nick Dellisanti, Gorden Bennett, Donna Degnen.
Is his wife, sitting Town Board Member Shelly VanEtten, accessory to the criminality of her husband?
Are the New Baltimore Town Supervisor Jeff Ruso and Deputy Supervisor Nick Dellisanti and the Town Board involved as well?!?
Based on documents, records and information received under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law, and based on the Town of New Baltimore's refusal to provide information exonerating the suspects, we think that several resignations are in order and that the alleged criminal activity in Town Hall should be prosecuted by the Greene County District Attorney, Joseph Stanzione.
As the saying goes, if you pick up rocks, you're liable to find snakes. Well, we've been picking up rocks in New Baltimore, New York, and we've found snakes, a lot of snakes. Here are just a few:
Several months ago we reported on some disturbing facts about the Town of New Baltimore Assessor, Gordon Bennett, and the New Baltimore Board of Assessment Review, headed by Donna Degnen (members include: Donna Degnen, Linda LeClair, Bernie Jones, Ronna Smith, Lynn Taylor). Based on our initial findings, we continued our investigations and have received confirming information in the form of documents produced by the Town of New Baltimore in response to a resident's Freedom of Information Law demands.
Not only is the Assessor's Office under Gordon Bennett operating under some very creative assessment procedures and is very likely guilty of abuse of office, the Board of Assessment Review, as we have already reported is incompetent and corrupt as ever. But more details on Bennett and Degnen in a follow up article devoted completely to them and their keepers, New Baltimore Town Supervisor Jeff Ruso, his deputy supervisor, former town supervisor Nick Dellisanti, and the New Baltimore Town Board. Bennett is one of their hirelings, and the Board of Assessment Review is a town committee appointed by the Supervisor and Town Board. The incompetence and corruption is gargantuan but more on that later. Right now we'd like to take a closer look at one property owner who got special treatment under the Board of Assessment Review and with Gordon Bennett's blessing: William Brandt, owner of the Bristol Manor Senior Housing Project in the Town of New Baltimore, and who is represented by local Ravena sheister Michael Biscone, so you know something has to be crooked about the whole business once Biscone gets involved. Well, we won't disappoint you on that item.
Business as Usual in New Baltimore, Coeymans, and Ravena.
The Brandt project had been languishing in the New Baltimore Planning Board for several years. It got our attention when we started investigating the New Baltimore Board of Assessment Review and found, after reviewing the documents and the taped recordings of the proceedings, that Brandt was granted a substantial reduction in his tax assessment, and that he was supposed to have submitted a number of documents, including receipts, to support his claim for a reduction. Michael Biscone clearly states that he will provide the receipts within two weeks of the Board's hearing, those receipts were to have included receipts for work done by "VanEtten construction."
The first problem we found was that the Board of Assessment Review made all of their determinations on the evening of the hearings. In other words, they didn't wait for any further discussions or for any receipts to arrive from Mr Biscone; they just doled out the reductions in assessment to their friends. We'll report on the details in that promised follow-up.
The name VanEtten raised our interest because Shelly VanEtten is a sitting member of the New Baltimore Town Board and her husband Robert VanEtten owns VanEtten Excavating out of Ravena (1314 Saw Mill Rd, Ravena, NY 12143 (518) 756-3517 / 424-8854). Robert VanEtten is also chairman of the New Baltimore Planning Board, and has been since at least 2017. Before that he was a member of the board.
[Editor's Note: In all fairness, we have attempted to obtain information from the Town of New Baltimore in order to either eliminate any involvement of Van Etten or to confirm his alleged misconduct. The Town of New Baltimore on at least two (2) occasions has refused to provide confirmation or any information about Van Etten in response to our inquiries. In fact, both the New Baltimore Town Clerk and the Clerk of the New Baltimore Planning Board, Ms Marjorie Loux, have denied having any telephone number or other information on Mr Robert "Rob" Van Etten. We find that incredible (unbelievable) that no one in New Baltimore Town Hall has any information on a member of a Town committee, particularly an individual appointed by the Town Board to the position of chairman of the New Baltimore Planning Board. Too many secrets in New Baltimore Town Hall, don't you think? Now, Readers, do YOU believe that the Town of New Baltimore doesn't have as much as a telephone number for Mr Robert Van Etten or for sitting board member Shelly Van Etten? Aren't they both getting checks from the Town of New Baltimore? The snakes are thriving in Town Hall and the lies and corruption don't seem to end! Note that the Town did not respond by saying "We cannot disclose the requested information," they responded that they did not have the information. Now either that's a lie or it's complete incompetence, neither of which belong in Town Hall.]
The Building Permit 2017-65 issued by the New Baltimore Building Department (Allan Jourdin) to Mr Brandt was based on the information provided in the Application for Building Permit approved by Marjorie Loux on November 15, 2017. The Application names "VanEtten Construction" as the general contractor doing the work on Brandt's building. Was this the same VanEtten construction as the VanEtten construction owned by sitting New Baltimore Planning Board and husband of sitting New Baltimore Town Board member, Shelly VanEtten? When we looked up some information, the picture got grimmer and grimier by the minute. You see, Robert VanEtten's business is exactly what you'd expect a local general contractor to be and is described on VanEtten's website as "Excavation Contractors, Landscape Designers & Consultants, Tree Service, Drainage Contractors, Utility Contractors, Concrete Contractors, Foundation Contractors." Now that alone doesn't make VanEtten's activity criminal in any way but what we found in the Planing Board minutes does.
You see, New York State law forbids a sitting member of a Planning Board to vote on any project in which that member has an interest. So, if Robert VanEtten is a member of the New Baltimore Planning Board and has accepted work from a developer whose project was before the planning board, and the member votes on that project, then the member has committed a crime.
We demanded the Planning Board Minutes for the meeting at which the Brandt project was finally discussed and approved. Guess what we found! You guessed it!
At the 2017 Organizational Meeting of January 1, 2017, and reported in the approved minutes of that meeting on January 9, 2017, Mr Robert VanEtten was appointed by the New Baltimore Town Board (in a motion by then Supervisor Nick Dellisanti and passed by board members Dellisanti, Ruso, Briody, and Irving. S. VanEtten abstained since they were appointing her husband) to be Chair of the Planning Board. So, Robert VanEtten was a member and chairman of the New Baltimore Planning Board in 2017, and reapppoitned on the motion of Supervisor Jeff Ruso (passed by board members Ruso, Briody, Downes, and Irving; S. VanEtten again abstained). Robert VanEtten was again chairman of the New Baltimore Planning Board in 2018. Having established that fact, we then examined the Minutes of the New Baltimore Planning Board.
In the Minutes of the Town of New Baltimore Planning Board Regular Monthly Meeting of June 8, 2017 (Approved on November 9, 2017), the meeting was called to order by "Rob" VanEtten, and the meeting was opened with board members Jean Horn, Bob Court, Pat Bruno, and Lee Salisbury present. Board members Vadney and Boehlke were excused and absent.
Under the heading "Old Business" we find "William Brandt – Bristol Manor Assisted Living Facilty [sic] – Site Plan." According to those official minutes, Mr Robert VanEtten presided as chair and voted to approve the site plan together with board members Court, Salisbury, Horn and Bruno (members Vadney and Boehlke were excused and absent).
If Mr Robert VanEtten who is a sitting member of the New Baltimore Town Planning Board is the same Mr Robert "Rob" VanEtten who owns VanEtten Construction, and if Mr Robert VanEtten as owner of the VanEtten construction company voted to approve the Brandt site plan, and if that same VanEtten construction company is the same "general contractor" named in the Application for Building Permit, and VanEtten construction did the preparation work for the Bristol Manor Senior Living Facility on Route 9W in the Town of New Baltimore, then Mr Robert VanEtten has violated New York State law and is guilty of profiting from a conflict of interest.
There are some pretty big snakes in New Baltimore Town Hall!
Given the fact that the then Supervisor, Nicholas Dellisanti, and present Supervisor Jeff Ruso, were on top of the Brandt project all along. And given the fact that Dellisanti and Ruso appointed VanEtten to be on the Planning Board and to be chairman of the Planning Board, and S. VanEtten, wife of Robert VanEtten and sitting Town Board member, was aware of all these goings on, Dellisanti (currently Ruso's appointed "deputy supervisor"), Ruso, the entire Town Board, and especially Shelly VanEtten, as the wife of Rob VanEtten and a sitting board member, are all implicated in serious abuse of office.
Consequently, there are two options: (1) Either Robert VanEtten, Shelly VanEtten, Nick Dellisanti, and Jeff Ruso come forward and deny these allegations, and provide proof that the facts so presented and based on the documents provided by the Town of New Baltimore were incorrect and the documents misleading. This is unlikely because the Town of New Baltimore, according to New Baltimore Town Assessor Gordon Bennett, is in "lawyer mode", meaning that they're scared shitless and won't say a thing because it might incriminate them. Despite our efforts to get more information the Town has been silent — in Bennett's "lawyer mode" — and has not provided any other information, not even confirming VanEtten's telephone number!!!
The second option, (2): Robert VanEtten must resign from the New Baltimore Planning Board and the Town of New Baltimore must notify the Greene County District Attorney, Mr Joseph Stanzione, of the facts of Mr VanEtten's suspected criminal activity. Furthermore, VanEtten's wife, Shelly VanEtten must resign her seat on the New Baltimore Town Board because she knew or should have known of her husband's alleged conflicts while chairman of the New Baltimore Town Planning Board. Jeff Ruso and Nick Dellisanti, both responsible for recommending Robert VanEtten to be chairman of the New Baltimore Planning Board, were and continue to be responsible for his activities while on the Board, and, consequently should be forced to resign from public office for their abuse of office and failure to ensure the lawful operations of the Planning Board they appointed and which the New Baltimroe Town Board approved!!!
If the documents are misleading and, despite our good faith efforts to clarify the outstanding questions, and despite the Town of New Baltimore's refusal to provide accurate information, Mr Robert VanEtten comes forward and provides proof that he has not been involved in a conflict of interest in the Brandt project, then we will take appropriate action.
The fact is that all of the circumstances and available facts point to a conflict of interest on the New Baltimore Town Planning Board and the Town of New Baltimore has done nothing to refute those facts is evidence enough to make the reasonable conclusions made in this article.
The further fact that the New Baltimore Office of the Assessor refused to produce the receipts promised by Mr Michael Biscone at the Board of Assessment Review hearings, receipts that Mr Biscone expressly and explicitly states on the record to be from "VanEtten" construction, further supports our conclusions. Had those receipts been provided as promised by Mr Michael Biscone, and if they were not provided we have to ask: Why did the Board of Assessment Review proceed to grant a reduction in tax assessment to Brandt? If the promised receipts were provided but not produced upon demand under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law, then there is something the Town is hiding. We think we know what.
We think that it's time New Baltimore Town Hall started answering some very serious questions about what's going on in New Baltimore's inner circle of special friends. Town Hall has too many secrets being kept from voters and residents. Town Hall is doing too many favors for special people while ignoring those with real complaints and failing to play fairly and in good faith.
When you have two individuals in the Supervisor's office who have not been put there by a democratic vote — one who ran unopposed and took office by default (Supervisor Jeff Ruso) and the other one (Nick Dellisanti) appointed by him as his deputy — there's something wrong with the system. When the Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione — another Republican who ran unopposed — the supposedly "elected" chief law-enforcement officer for Greene County runs "unopposed" and has to recuse himself from the investigation of the New Baltimore Highway Department because of involvement with former Highway Superintendent Denis Jordan (forced to resign), there's something wrong with the oversight in Greene County. When the brother, Alan Jordan, of suspect Denis Jordan's former deputy, Scott Jordan, runs unopposed for the office of New Baltimore Highway Superintendent and gets into office by default, there's something rotten in New Baltimore Town Hall. When the Office of the Assessor, the New Baltimore Building Department and the Board of Assessment Review ignore facts and hand out favors, there's something wrong in New Baltimore. How long will New Baltimore residents and taxpayers continue to play STUPID and ignore what's going on. But is the real question this: Are residents of New Baltimore just playing stupid or are they, in fact, really STUPID? After all, STUPID is as STUPID does.
Most popular tattoo in New Baltimore. Wonder why?
(Ask Joan or Robbie Ross. They coined the term "Newbaltimoron.")
As of this writing there are still public Town Meetings and you can ask questions — even if your elected public servants refuse to answer them — , and even if the media closes their eyes and ears to the situations that are not news but need to be covered.
Time for New Baltimore Town Hall to Come Clean!
The Town of New Baltimore's calendar of "events" can be viewed here. The next Regular Town Board Meeting is on February 11, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. Please attend and get some answers.
If you'd like to contact your New Baltimore Town Officials, here is their information:
Members of the New Baltimore Town Board
Supervisor Jeff Ruso – jruso@townofnewbaltimore.org
Scott Briody – (518)469-0031
Chuck Irving – (518)424-1950
Kelly Downes – (518)396-9255 downes@townofnewbaltimore.org
Shelly VanEtten – 518-756-3517 svanetten@townofnewbaltimore.org
Members of the New Baltimore Planning Board*
Robert "Rob" Van Etten – Chair
Robert Court
Frank Orlando
Lee Salisbury
Ann Marie Vadney
Marjorie B. Loux, Clerk mloux@townofnewbaltimore.org
* The Town website does not provide contact information on the Planning Board Members. You may email the Town Clerk, Hon. Barbara Finke (clerk@townofnewbaltimore.org) or Ms Marjorie Loux ( mloux@townofnewbaltimore.org) with your comments or complaints.
Stay tuned for upcoming reports on:
The New Baltimore Office of the Assessor and the Board of Assessment Review: Abuse of Public Office and Incompetence.
Local Government by Appointment: How New Baltimore is run by Unelected Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor, Highway Superintendent and what it means to residents.
Unelected Town Government and Appointed Board Members: Dictatorship and Tyranny at Home.
The New Baltimore Office of the Assessor, the Sole Assessor, Gordon Bennett, and Abuse of Office.
UPDATE on the New Baltimore Highway Department and Denis Jordan Investigation. Confirms all we have been saying!!!
We'll also keep you up-to-date on the progress of the Van Etten case and what the Town of New Baltimore and the Greene County District Attorney, Joseph Stanzione, are doing about it. We hope to see some resignations real soon…or some prosecutions.
The local epidemic of running stop signs and heavy trucks pulling out in front of oncoming traffic (LaFarge, Port of Coeymans and Carver). Our question is: Where are the Coeymans cops? Or are they letting the Albany County Sheriff do their jobs while they collect their salaries and accrue their pensions? "Car 54 Where Are You?" Crandall's Coeymans Cop Comedy.
Posted by Principal Editor on February 6, 2019 in 19th Congressional District, 19th Congressional District, 20th Congressional District, 20th Congressional District, Abuse of Public Office, Alan VanWormer, Assessment, Bitter Bob (Ross), Bob Ross, Bristol Manor Senior Living, Burning the Constitution, Chuck Irving, Coeymans, Conflict of Interest, Conflict of Interest, Conspiracy, Constitution, Corruption, Crystal R. Peck Esq., Denis Jordan, Fraud, George Amedore, Gordon Bennett, Government, Greed, Greene County, Greene County District Attorney, Hypocrisy, Jean Horne, Jeff Ruso, Jeff Ruso, Joan Ross, Joe Stanzione, Joe Stanzione, Joe Tanner, John Cashin, Joseph Stanzione, Joseph Stanzione, Joseph Tanner, Marjorie Loux, Michael Biscone, Michael J. Biscone, Misconduct, Misinformation, Misuse of Public Office, New Baltimore, New Baltimore Assessor, New Baltimore Highway Department, New Baltimore Highway Superintendent, New Baltimore Highway Superintendent, New Baltimore Republican Club, New Baltimore Town Board, New Baltimore Town Board Member, New York State Town Law, Nick Dellisanti, Nick Dellisanti, NYS Assembly, NYS Comptroller Audit, NYS Senate, Office of the Assessor, Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Comptroller, Official Misconduct, Pat Linger, Pat Linger, Patrick Linger, Patrick Linger, Planning Board, Professional Misconduct, Public Corruption, Robbie Ross, Scott Van Wormer, Scott VanWormer, Shame On You, Shelly van Etten, Shelly van Etten, Town of New Baltimore, Van Etten Construction, William Brandt, Zoning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals
Board of Education Member James "Hadji" Latter: Is he paying his fair share of property taxes?
In the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District, the name James "Hadji"* Latter has a murky history. He's been able to stay on the RCS-CD Board of Education for a number of years now, not because of his tidy background and performance record, but because the RCS-CD is just a corrupt and manipulated as any other "elected" body in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk/Albany County region, including New Baltimore and Greene County. But New Baltimore, although in Greene County, pays a portion of their property taxes to support the bloated budget of the RCS-CD and the idiotic programs approved by a board of back-scratchers and cronies.
* "Hadji" is our nickname for James Latter II because of his close associations with the Saudi Arabian company SABIC.
We have reported in the past about Latter's questionable conduct on the board but when you are dealing with a group who love their power to spend public money, and then ask for more and then make decisions that affect the school age young people in the district and their futures. It's hard for them to let go and share the responsibility or even to acknowledge and consult the public. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the RCS Central School District Board of Education is no exception. Least of all Mr James Latter II.
That's why, when a local resident drew our attention to the parking and traffic situation in the Village of Ravena in connection with our recent investigation of Village of Ravena Code Enforcement and, while guiding us around on the grand tour of the many Village of Ravena parking opportunities — in no less than six public parking areas less than one block from the commercial district of Village Center —, and that resident pointed out and commented on a particularly ostentatious eyesore of recent construction on a large lot on Aluise Drive, just in back of the huge lot owned by the Roman Catholic Church of St Patrick, we got curious.
That's when sitting RCS Central School District Board of Education member James J. "Hadji" Latter II again waddled into the spotlight in his usual murky and questionable style.
You see, Latter and wifey, Amanda C. (Mrs Hadji) purchased two large adjacent lots (total acreage 6.5 acres, cost $101,000) on Aluise Drive in the Village. The lots were previously owned by the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Patrick (Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany) but were sold off and Latter was in the pews ready to close the deal. Was that because former BoE member and crooked cop Gerald "Dirty Hands Jery" Deluca was high up in the Church's lay administration and an insider? Probably. Latter and "Dirty Hands" Jerry were thick as flies on fresh summer sh*t. So here we have another questionable business deal in Ravena, Home of the Incest Club, and the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Patrick, an Incest Club meeting place, probably brokered by "Dirty Hands Jerry" Deluca before he was forced out ("resigned") of the Coeymans Police Department with former dunce Coeymans Police Chief Gregory "Dumplin" Darlington was canned ("retired"), and disgraced town/village justice Phil Crandall was elected to be Coeymans Town Supervisor. You really can't make this stuff up!!!
Our investigations to date have revealed the following interesting and questionable situations. But please note: This information is preliminary and is based on our research in the Village of Ravena and the Town of Coeymans using immediately available information, that is, information we could get on the spot without the formal F.O.I.L procedure (demanding production of public access documents and information under the provisions of the New York State Public Officers Law), and our vetting of that information on official New York state tax online sites. We have demanded the production of documents that will provide finer details of the transactions and Mr Latter's operations but that may take some time, given Mr Latter's position and his "friends" in Village and Town offices.
The properties are listed in the official property tax documents as belonging to James and Amanda Latter of 13 Laura Drive, Ravena, New York. Note that address because we'll be returning to that information shortly.
James "Hadji" and Amanda Latter posing with Hillary Clinton.
Birds of a feather…!
New York State Law Requires the Assessor to Assess Property Under Construction
In some states a new construction is not subject to assessment for tax purposes until it is completed and a certificate of occupancy is issued. The situation in New York State is different, however, here in New York state there is the so-called partial assessment.
Sitting Board of Education Member James Latter's new house he will be sharing with teacher wife Amanda Latter.
It's at 9 Aluise Drive in Ravena, in back of St Patrick's Church.
New construction assessments are placed on the assessment roll based on the partial market value if the construction is in process or the market value of the completed construction as of March 1st, and that assessment is used to compute the school tax bill issued in September and the county, town, and special district tax bill issued the following January.
9 Aluise Drive. Behind St Patricks RC Church and next to the P.B. Coeymans Elementary School.
In the case of a partial assessment, the market value of the home is determined by using the completion percentage of the construction as of March 1st. If the construction is partially complete as of March 1st, the assessment will represent only a percentage of the total property tax assessment when the construction is completed. A partial assessment will be place on the tax roll as a "partial", and increased each year until the construction is 100% complete.
In New York State, the assessor is required to value the property exactly as he or she finds it on taxable status date, that is on March 1st. The Assessor is required by New York State law to value property in its condition on that date. A partially completed building will receive a partial assessment based on its estimated percentage of completion as of March 1st. If your house is under construction on March 1, its estimated percentage of completion on that date will be the basis for the assessment
The property was assessed at a time when the progress of the entire construction project was measured and recorded as a partial assessment. An assessment calendar requires that a property review be based on where the progress of the construction is at the time, and the assessment be based on the progress at the cut-off date on the calendar year. The property has to appear on the tax roll for taxes to be paid in the following year.
The law would require that the Latter construction be assessed in it's state of construction on March 1st. It was not. This partial assessment procedure was not followed in Latter's case and Latter's property was not assessed in part while under construction and, though completed, the Town of Coeymans Assessor was unaware of the construction and the property has not yet been assessed! Mr Latter is not paying his fair share of property taxes. Mr Latter is not paying his fair share of his school taxes to the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District. Mr Latter should be required to resign from his position on the Board of Education for such malconduct.
We did some research and found that the latest tax information on the property at 9 Aluise Drive in Ravena doesn't show a thing about any new construction and lists it as vacant land. But there's a house on it that looks as if it's market value would be at least $200,000!!! What is the deal here? We all have to pay our property taxes and a big part of those taxes go to the schools. Latter is on the Board of Education and decides on the school budget and how much we have to pay but it looks like he's scamming the Town of Coeymans, whose Assessor wasn't even aware the house was there — even though you can almost see it from Coeymans Town Hall!!!
Extract of New York State Real Property Report for one of the Latter Lots (where the house is standing).
New York State real property tax assessment law requires that a new construction be assessed as a partial assessment if it's not completed by the date of March 1st of any year. That means that whatever part of Latter's house that was completed by March 1, 2018, should have been assessed at that percentage of the total value of the house. But it wasn't and we all want to know Why?
Another inconsistency is this: James Latter and Amanda Latter list their address of record as being 13 Laura Lane in the Village of Ravena. A bit more research shows that 13 Laura Lane in the Village of Ravena is owned by Anthony and Ann Carrk, not by the Latters. True, the Latters could be renting from Amanda's parents all these years but isn't that a stretch? Could be true, though. Maybe Jimmy "Hadji" or Amanda could shed some light on this question. Or maybe Anthony or Ann Carrk can explain the living conditions and how so many could be living in that tiny hovel on Laura Lane.
13 Laura Lane and 9 Aluise Drive. Where do the Latters live?
If you ask the Village of Ravena Building Department Joe Burns, he willl tell you that they issue the building permit for new constructions, do the code enforcement inspections, and when the construction is done, they issue the certificate of occupancy. The Town of Coeymans Sole Assessor Dawn DeRose will tell you that they are notified by the Village of Ravena when the construction is finished. But that's doesn't explain why a partial assessment of the Latters' property wasn't done by the Town of Coeymans according the New York State Real Property Law. You'd think Town of Coeymans Sole Assessor Dawn DeRose would know better.
This just in: According to a very simple document provided to the Town of Coeymans by the Village of Ravena entitled "Village of Ravena, Building Projects Completed in July 2018" the Village of Ravena provides a one-liner notification of Latter's construction project. That's all. The document provides only the following information:
The Bare Bones Provided to the Town of Coeymans Assessor.
The above document provided by the Town of Coeymans in response to a F.O.I.L. demand clearly shows that Latter's new construction was likely completed by March 2018 and is valued at $300,000. Even if it were not completed it would have been substantially completed and should have been assessed and on the tax rolls!!! It is not. A 1728 square foot two-story home with attached garage can represent a pretty fair amount of tax revenue, even if only subject to a partial assessment. Our question is: Why wasn't the information provided to the Town of Coeymans Assessor when the building permit was issued? Why was it provided only after a Certificate of Occupancy was issued on July 3, 2018!!! Latter saved a pretty penny thanks to the Village of Ravena's substandard reporting procedures. We're certain the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance will be very interested in this case and will likely want to investigate how many other similar cases have gotten past the Assessor and the Tax Department.
Ravena will tell you it's not their problem because they don't have an assessor; the assessments are done by the Town of Coeymans Assessor. Coeymans will tell you that they don't police the Village of Ravena and the Village of Ravena has to tell Coeymans what's going on so that the assessor can do his assessments. Latter will likely tell us that he doesn't know anything about all this. Sounds like a really shady case of finger-pointing or passing the buck here, now that the cat's hit the fan and yet another problem in Village of Ravena-Town of Coeymans communications is revealed. Don't you think it's high time the Village and the Town started communicating? Now the community is losing property tax money from a select few that managed to drop below the assessment radar. That's just not fair and it's not legal. Someone has to answer for this illegal conduct and investigate how many other similar cases have cheated the Town out of tax dollars.
This is another case for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Real Property Division, and the Office of the New York State Comptroller. Rest assured they'll be informed of all relevant details.
Do the Village or Ravena and the Town of Coeymans need a Special Audit?
But isn't Latter a Board of Education member elected by the deaf-dumb-and-blind voters of the Town of Coeymans? Doesn't he put together the school budget that gets funded in major part by our property taxes as assessed by the Office of the Assessor. And isn't Latter a so-called "financial analyst" at SABIC? Wouldn't you expect him to know about property taxes, assessments, etc.?
Ignorance is no excuse
Village and Town are Accessories.
Editor's Aside: Diverting a bit from Mr James "Hadji" Latter's past malconduct while a Board of Education member and later as president of the Board of Education that ranged from violations of confidentiality to a laundry list of questionable conduct and associations, he seems to have allied himself with a clique that manages to get elected no matter what. Probably by friends and family and a bit of influence peddling. But Latter is a decision maker on the Board of Education that hires the Superintendent of Schools for the RCS Central School District who runs the schools and manages the teachers. Latter's Board hired a former principal/teacher from the RCS high-school as Superintendent at an astronomical salary, and others in turn to other posts.
"Hadji" Latter and his cronies have considerable influence on what gets taught by whom in our schools but he is obviously a supporter of Hillary Clinton. What's worse still, is the fact that he is employed as a financial analyst at the Saudi Arabian company SABIC!!!
The SABIC flag flying near one of the company's cogeneration towers in Feura Bush.
SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) is a Saudi diversified manufacturing company, active in petrochemicals, chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilizers, and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia, as listed in Tadawul, but the Saudi government still owns 70% of its shares. SABIC is also the largest listed company in the Middle East. Private shareholders are from Saudi Arabia and other countries of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Saudi SABIC
While Saudi Arabia is often a secondary source of funds and support for terror movements who can find more motivated and ideologically invested benefactors (e.g. Qatar), Saudi Arabia arguably remains the most prolific sponsor of international Islamist terrorism, allegedly supporting groups as disparate as the Afghanistan Taliban, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Al-Nusra Front. Saudi Arabia is said to be the world's largest source of funds and promoter of Salafist jihadism, which forms the ideological basis of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, Taliban, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan) and others.
This is one of the guys you elected to run your school system!!!
We're staying on top of this one and will publish the information provided by the Village of Ravena and the Town of Coeymans in response to our F.O.I.L demands as it becomes available.
Yes. We know.
But let's see what you say when the cat hits the fan.
JUST PAY YOUR TAXES!!!
Posted by Principal Editor on August 23, 2018 in 19th Congressional District, 20th Congressional District, Accountability, Albany, Amanda Latter, Ann Carrk, Anthony Carrk, Assessment, Bill Bailey, Board of Education Member, Brian Bailey, Capital District, Church of St Patrick, Code Enforcement Officer, Code Violation, Coeymans, Coeymans Assessor, Coeymans Code Enforcement, Columbia-Greene Media, Daily Mail, Donna Degnen, Fair Play, Gerald Deluca, Gordon Bennett, Government, Greene County News, Henry Traver, Incompetence, James Latter, James Latter II, Jason Hyslop, Jeff Ruso, Jerry "Dirty-Hands" Deluca, Joe Burns, Joe Tanner, John B. Johnson, Joseph Burns, Joseph Tanner, Mark Vinciguerra, Mayor "Mouse", Mayor "Mouse" Misuraca, Michael J. Biscone, Moose Misuraca, Nancy Biscone-Warner, Nancy Warner, Nancy Warner, New Baltimore Assessor, New York, New York State, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, News Herald, NYS Assembly, NYS Comptroller Audit, NYS Senate, Office of the Comptroller, Official Misconduct, Partial Assessment, Phil Crandall, Property Taxes, Public Corruption, Public Office, Public Safety, Ravena, Ravena Building Inspector, Ravena Coeymans Selkirk, Ravena Coeymans Selkirk Central School District, Ravena News Herald, RCS Board of Education, RCS Central School District, RCS School Superintendant, RCS Superintendent of Schools, Real Property Tax Law, Sabic, Sante Debacco, Selkirk Cogen, Shame On You, Smalbany, Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion, Tax Evasion, Taxation, Thomas E. Dolan, Tom Dolan, Village of Ravena, Village of Ravena Building Department, William Bailey, William Bailey, William Misuraca, William Misuraca, Zoning Enforcement Officer
Is Anyone Supervising the Rookies Turned Loose on Our Streets?
The Coeymans Police are Getting Heavy Handed Again. Get rid of Amanda L. Mueller, she's bad news! Silly cow wants to be a bully cop!
If you are a local resident and driving through Coeymans, and happen to have a headlight out, wouldn't you be grateful for a warning from a helpful police officer rather than a ticket right away? Well, forget the helpful patrolman and welcome the Fascist Gestapo back to Coeymans. And just when we thought things might be getting better, the Coeymans Police Department stocks up on ignorant brutes to harass local residents.
Coeymans has a really lousy record when it comes to female law enforcement trainees. Remember Danielle Crosier, she was a real loser, unless she was running police vehicles off the road or onto guardrails. She kept her job for as long as she could by doing deputy chief Kerry Thompson (while he was also doubling as an Albany County Sheriff Department lieutenant). So how's trainee Amanda L. Mueller, Badge No. 149 keeping her job? She doing one of the Coeymans board members? No, that can't be. None of the board members has any balls; no balls, no drive.
Two Coeymans police officers stopped the resident for a headlight being out.
Problem is, the Coeymans police, or at least trainee Amanda L. Mueller doesn't know the difference between a vehicle's high beams and fog lights. But if Mueller was partnered with another officer, a male officer, who was the senior officer. Certainly not Mueller. And if Mueller was not the senior officer on that patrol, why didn't the senior officer set her straight? Go figure. Cops, as we all know, stick together.
Amanda's Father's Business, Mueller's Automotive, on Main Street in Ravena.
But we're a bit confused by Amanda's ignorance. You see, Amanda Mueller's father owns Mueller's Automotive, the automotive repair business on 88 Main Street in Ravena. That's the same place that services the Coeymans Police Department vehicles. Now isn't that an interesting coïncidence? As we always say, "Follow the money!" Now, given that fact, wouldn't you think that sweet little Amanda would know the difference between fog lights and high-beam headlights? What's more, might little Amanda's quick-to-hand-out-tickets behavior be a hint that maybe she's plugging good ol' dad's automotive repair business, one of the only ones in Ravena-Coeymans, and that getting the work done at Mueller Automotive might be the first step to a dismissal of the ticket? Sure, everyone in Ravena-Coeymans knows that Amanda Mueller is a local and who her daddy is!
We see a serious conflict of interest
The plot thickens with a little investigation
We see a serious conflict of interest case growing out of this otherwise unfair, but minor incident involving a Coeymans Police Department employee, a local automotive business, a police trainee who is a close relative of that business owner, and the fact that the town of Coeymans, the Coeymans Police Department does business with that trainee's father's business. The plot thickens with a little investigation, doesn't it?
We see a serious conflict of interest in Amanda Mueller's actions. Corruption, perhaps?
Hint to the Coeymans Police: You need aIl the support you can get from literate, competent residents. (Obviously you're not getting it from your Twitter tweets!) You mess with the better element in this community and you'll have more to deal with than just a disgraced town justice and a corrupt town board. If you want community support and good will, and you really need it in these times, you start by being helpful, not abusive. Your trainee Amanda L. Mueller and her partner were abusive to the local resident who happens to be a very upstanding and influential person, who could put most police officers to shame in terms of integrity and ethics.
They say that they're there to "Serve and Protect." Has anyone told them that?
Cold-Case Coeymans
They can't complete a criminal investigation.
They can't take a criminal complaint.
They'll ignore evidence and obstruct justice (Right "Detective" Jason Albert"?)
If they do, it'll go cold and they can close it. CLOSED. UNRESOLVED.
But motorists beware! If you have a headlight out, they're gonna gitcha!
Give the biatch a badge and she becomes a bully biatch!
Once again! Shame on you Coeymans Police! Shame on your patrolpersons Amanda L. Mueller, Badge No.149. Give the biatch a badge and she becomes a bully biatch! Bully biatch in a uniform, smart mouth, vindictive, abusive. Perfect for Coeymans. Must be native brown trash from Main Street in the Hamlet.
Someone needs to counsel trainee Amanda /.L. Mueller that as a patrolman, she's part of the executive branch of government, not the judiciary. She is not out there to make decisions, to judge a resident, and then to punish the resident. That's the job of the judiciary in observance of the provisions of the Constitution and scrupulous interpretation of law. We doubt Ms. Amanda L. Mueller has the training, education, or brains to do that.
Judge Judy's Response to Coeymans Cop-trainee A.L. Mueller.
Two Coeymans police officers one female and one male, stopped the resident for a headlight being out.
Mueller: "I would have let you off with a warning but because you gave me an attitude about the high beams, I'm going to give you a ticket."
When they stopped the resident Mueller insisted that the resident "Turn off your high beams." When the resident responded that the high beams were not on, and he was driving with his fog lights on, Mueller becomes annoyed. Her response to the resident: "I would have let you off with a warning but because you gave me an attitude about the high beams, I'm going to give you a ticket." Attitude? ATTITUDE? The resident was merely stating that his high beams were not on, that his fog lights were on. So she's wrong and retaliates. Just what we want to see in our law enforcement. Bullying. So, Amanda Mueller doesn 't like being wrong and if she is, she's going to get even. Nice police work. Nice community work.
Editor's Note: For those of our readers who, like Coeymans Cop-trainee Amanda L. Mueller, don't know the difference between high-beams and fog lights, we'd like to help you out: When driving in fog or even in wet conditions, or when visibility is poor, the light from regular headlights reflects off water droplets back into your eyes, impairing rather than improving visibility. Fog lights are positioned low on the vehicle and have a wide beam angled toward the ground, which reduces glare and helps you see the road better. (Source: CarId at https://www.carid.com/fog-lights.html, last accessed on 20 December 2017) So, dear readers — and trainee Mueller — there's a big difference between high-beams and fog lights.
If Mueller said what she is reported to have said, there will be repercussions
We are going to make our inquiries because we think that all stops must be recorded, audio and/or video. If there's a recording, one of our editors will be looking for it and will review it. We will obtain a copy of the ticket issued to the resident as soon as possible, and will follow the case. If there is a recording of the interaction during this stop, and if Mueller said what she is reported to have said, there will be repercussions.
Now isn't that sweet? Mueller doesn't know high beams from fog lights and when she's corrected, it becomes "attitude" and then she retaliates. Retaliation is not in the script, Mueller! In fact, you need to be disciplined for your unethical and unlawful conduct. We assume that all of the transaction was recorded? If so, we'll get a copy. After all, if a warning would have been enough, just because the resident corrects her, she becomes BULLY COP!
Bully Cops Back in Coeymans!
We expect respect and courtesy.
Notice to the Coeymans Police and to Patrolperson Amanda L. Mueller: Get a grip! Loosen up! We don't like bully cops and we don't like retaliation. We expect respect and courtesy. If you think your uniform gives you license to abuse and to bully, your ass is going to be grass and you'll be looking for a job. Probably a job more in line with your lack of skills and stupidity: a greasy spoon waitress.
It's behavior like Coeymans patrol Amanda L. Mueller, Badge No. 149, that gets our attention. And the Coeymans Police Department does not want our attention. Ask former chief Darlington and some of his lackies.
Maybe we have to get back on the bandwagon. Maybe we should start pushing again to eliminate the Coeymans Police Department. it seems that all they can do is let criminal investigations go cold. But they are getting real good at bullying AGAIN.
We'll be following developments in this case and from now on we'll be looking a bit closer at what's going on in Coeymans law enforcement or more accurately, Bully Patrol.
What say you, Chief McKenna?
We've been very fair to the Coeymans PD since Chief Peter J. McKenna took over. We've been very fair to Chief McKenna and very supportive. We have always rated Chief McKenna's programs and efforts very highly. But now we have to step up to the plate and start policing the police again. True, it takes only one rotten apple to spoil the whole bushel, but who's going to do the damage control? We know the Crandall mob wants total control. What say you, Chief McKenna?
Editor's Note: We received notification of this incident from a person with personal knowledge about the incident. If the Coeymans Police have their version of the facts, we'd love to hear from them. We would also like to hear from any residents who have had any recent issues with the Coeymans PD, especially Ms Amanda L Mueller and Mueller Automotive of Ravena. We're going to be watching Mueller and would appreciate any input from our friends and neighbors in Ravena and Coeymans.
Maybe Patrolman Mueller's blood sugar was low. Was it that time of the month, Mueller? That may be why she was testy.
Why You Should Avoid Ravena-Coeymans and New Baltimore, New York
Another exposé of more of the dirty laundry of local communities.
(Next week, we'll be reviewing the documents FOILed by us and produced by the Town
regarding some issues we've been investigating. Stay tuned!)
Posted by Principal Editor on December 20, 2017 in A.L. Mueller Badge 149, Abuse of Police Power, Abuse of Power, Abuse of Public Office, Accountability, Amanda L. Mueller, Amanda Mueller, Bully biatch cop, Bully Cop, Bully Cops, Coeymanazis, Coeymans, Coeymans Police Department, Coeymans Town Board, Corrupt Justice, D. M. Crosier, Danielle Crosier, Danielle M. Crosier, Drive-by Shooting, Eliminate Coeymans Police Department, Gerald Deluca, Gregory Darlington, Hal Warner, Intimidation, Investigation, James Youmans, Jason Albert, Jerry "Dirty-Hands" Deluca, Jim Youmans, Joe Stanzione, Kerry Thompson, Kevin Reilly, Law Enforcement, Lawsuit, Misconduct, Misuse of Public Office, Monitoring, Mueller Automotive, Mueller's Automotive, NYS Assembly, NYS Senate, Obstruction of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Peter J. McKenna, Peter Mckenna, Peter McKenna, Phil Crandall, Phillip Crandall, Police State, Police Thugs, Public Corruption, Public Safety, Public Safety, Ravena, Retaliation, Retaliative Justice, Senate District 46, Shame On You, Smalbany, Steve Prokrym, Steve Prokrym, Stop the Bullying, Thomas E. Dolan, Tom Dolan, Town of Coeymans, Town of New Baltimore, Traffic Ticket, Uncategorized, White trash, William Misuraca
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Board of Education Disses 911 Remembrance!!!
All over the United States, in schools, churches, government offices, courtrooms the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, were being remembered by observing a moment of silence.
The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Board of Education Disses 911 Remembrance
It's all over the place in the RCS school district: The schools of the RCS Central School District refused to remember the victims of the 911 terror attacks with a moment of silence. Even the students are outraged as we receive reports of Facebook posts posted by RCS students and expressing their outrage that there was no moment of silence on Monday, September 11, 2017. We find this disgraceful but are very impressed that kids who weren't even born yet or were infants at the time of the attacks express such compassion and sensitivity to be outraged by their adult handlers' lack of compassion and sensitivity to a national tragedy that resulted in multiple wars that are still causing misery and suffering at home and abroad.
Will RCS start flying the Saudi flag?
What's next parents, residents, taxpayers? Do we start pledging allegiance to the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Will we next see the Saudi flag raised at the high school?
Most of us will remember 911 with a certain disbelief even today, years after the attack. We all know that the terrorists who planned and executed the attacks were from Saudi Arabia, a country with a long record of anti-West sentiments and whose human rights crimes are legendary. That's Osama bin Laden's home country and his family are affluent citizens of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia where Sharia or Islamic law requires women to be completely covered and still features public beheadings as their preferred capital punishment.
SABIC's Flag Flies in Selkirk!
Right in our midst we have SABIC is a global leader in diversified chemicals and whose headquarters are in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares, with the remainder held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.Check out their website and tell us it's not scary! SABIC is located in Selkiirk/Feura Bush and has recently been granted substantial school tax incentives locally. The plot thickens!
According to a 2014 Times Union report by Brian Nearing, "Selkirk plastics plant hit with third environmental fine in three years," the Saudi company was fined $16,000 for those violations but in 2011 and 2013 paid $241,000.00 in fines for environmental violations. But then that's mere pocket change to the Saudis. More improtantly, apparently the Saudis are not happy just killing Americans and destroying American property, they aim to destroy American environment, too, starting right in our own backyards. The plot thickens even more!
So why are we so concerned about a Saudi chemicals company in Selkirk who, like so many American companies, is intent on destroying our environment and our health? After all, it's just a country several thousands of miles away with terrorist ties and human rights violations. Not much unlike so many of America's "friends". So what you might be thinking.
So what? Here's why:
The property owners in the RCS Central School District pay millions in taxes to support the now more than $46 million school budget for the district, while local towns are giving companies like Sabic and Selkirk Cogen tax breaks. The residents of the RCS Central School District vote for the members of the RCS Central School District Board of Education. According to the RCS CD Board of Education website, the board is:
"A local board of education is an agency of New York State that is governed by state law and the regulations of the commissioner of education."
The BoE website also states the five main responsibilities of the RCS BoE to be:
to establish all school district policies;
to develop an annual budget for public approval;
to approve or disapprove the superintendent's recommendations regarding personnel matters and the many contracts the district must enter;
to review courses of study and textbooks;
to act as a two-way communications link between residents and the superintendent
The site also states that: "The decisions of your elected board of education affect your child, your child's future, your tax rate, and the well-being of your community."
RCS BoE President James Latter is a SABIC Employee; Jason Hyslop, a BoE member is a SABIC Employee!!!
In 2013, we published two articles on this blog with very serious warnings: James Latter: Why He's A Bad Choice and Latter-Hyslop-Brown: The VERY WRONG Choice! but somehow Latter and Hyslop got elected to the board, and it's been downhill ever since. You see, both James Latter, RCS BoE president, and Jason Hyslop are employees of SABIC. Where do you think their loyalties lie? In their paychecks or in the interests of the school district?
So now you have two RCS Central School District Board of Education members, its president, James Latter, and a sitting board member, Jason Hyslop, both employees of Saudi-owned SABIC, "establishing school district polices" and to "review courses of study and textbooks", and keep in mind that, according to the Board's own statement, "the decisions of your elected board of education affect your child, your child's future, your tax rate, and the well-being of your community."
So now that we have informed you AGAIN that you have two SABIC lackies on your board of education and you put them there, we hope that at the next meeting you will propose that courses for conversational Arabic be offered the elementary, middle and high school curriculums, because you're going to need it to pledge allegiance to the Saudi flag. After all, the RCS CD Board of Education does establish all school district policies and their decisions affect your children, your child's future, and the well-being of your community.
So why do you think there was no moment of silence in RCS schools on September 11, 2017? Do we really have to answer that question?
Here you go, we'll get you stared. Repeat after Mr Latter:
لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله
lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muhammadun rasūlu-llāh
"There is no god but God: Muhammad is the Messenger of God."
Get the Saudi Companies off our Board of Education!!!
Let your RCS Central School District Board of Ed members know what you think!
James Latter, President of the RCS-CD BoE and SABIC Employee
Teddy Reville
Bray Engel
Tina Furst-Hotaling
Kristin Hill-Burns
Jason Hyslop, BoE member and SABIC Employee
William McFerran
Peter Ross
Email all board members
Posted by Principal Editor on September 13, 2017 in 19th Congressional District, 19th Congressional District, 20th Congressional District, 20th Congressional District, Accountability, Anti-Community Activity, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Board of Education Member, Brian Bailey, Burning the Constitution, Capital District, Catskill-Hudson Newspapers, Coeymans, Columbia-Greene Media, Daily Mail, Education Commissioner, Government, Greene County News, Hudson Valley, James Latter, James Latter II, Jason Hyslop, John B. Johnson, Johnson Newspaper Group, Liberty Weeping, Mark Vinciguerra, New Baltimore, New Baltimore Veterans Committee, New York, New York State Education Department, NYSED, Office of the Attorney General, Ravena Coeymans Selkirk, Ravena Coeymans Selkirk Central School District, Ravena News Herald, RCS Board of Education, RCS Central School District, RCS School Board, RCS School Superintendant, RCS Superintendent of Schools, RegisterStar, Sabic, Saudi Arabia, Shame On You, The Daily Mail


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These leggings by Manon Baptiste are a perfect for layered looks. Crafted from ponte jersey and woven fabric at the back and super soft suede effect fabric at the front. The elasticated waistband guarantees a perfect fit.
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This is a great pair of trousers from a beautiful, high-quality material. Fits well, is only slightly long, this is not a problem. Absolute recommendation!
Moderately narrow, rather thin fabric. Upholstery and dents to be signed. Quality but high quality.


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Patne is a village in Kolhapur District in the southwestern state of Maharashtra, India.

History
There are evidences showing Stone Age habitation in Patne including ostrich eggshell beads, chalcedony and jasper tools. In medieval times, the village was held by the Nikhumbas  as a feudatory of the Yadavas. Inscriptions of these people have been found at the ruins of old Patne which lies 1.5 km south of Patne village.

Population
In 2011, there were 1099 people living in Patne in 254 families. Some families are of Chardo origin.

Location
Patne is situated on the left bank of the Ad Nala river, a tributary of the Tapti river. The nearest large town is Belgaum to the East. It rests  above sea level on a wide fluvial plain. To the south are the Ajanti Hills

Language
Konkani is spoken by Goan migrants to Patne.

Sites
 Pithalkora caves and Stone Age archeological site.
 Kedarkund Falls, waterfalls on the Ad Nala river.

References

Villages in Kolhapur district

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Version for Visually Impaired People
State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus
Management Structure Status, Tasks, Functions Lower Organization Board of SCST Historical Background
Visiting Hours Applications
/Regulations on the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus
Regulations on the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus
Law of the Republic of Belarus no. 2105-XII of January 19,1993
"On Basics of State Scientific and Technical Policy"
Law of the Republic of Belarus no. 708-XIII of October21, 1996
"On Scientific Activity"
Law of the Republic of Belarus no. 159-З of May 5, 1998
"On National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus"
"On Scientific and Technical Information"
Law of the Republic of Belarus no. 455-З of November 10, 2008
"On Information, Informatization and Information Security"
Law of the Republic of Belarus no. 115-3 of May 4, 2010
"On Introduction of Amendments in Certain Laws of the Republic of Belarus on Issues of Regulation of Scientific, Scientific-Technical and Innovation Activities"
Law of the Republic of Belarus no. 425-3 of July 10, 2012
"On State Innovation Policy and Innovation Activities in the Republic of Belarus"
13:00-14:00 - Lunch Break
Postcode: 220072, Minsk, Republic of Belarus,
1 Akademitcheskaya str.
Portal's Map Visiting Hours Applications Administrative Procedures Photo Video Commission on Combating Corruption Technical regulations of the Republic of Belarus
SCST in Social Networks:
Official Portal of the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus © 2017 SCS&T State Committee for Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus. All Rightts Reserved

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Thinking About a Career Change at 30?
It may feel like you have been working forever, but at age 30, it hasn't been that long since you began your career. You probably chose this occupation almost a decade ago, if not earlier, when you didn't know as much about yourself as you do now. If you are having doubts about whether the choice you made is still right for you—or if it ever was—this is probably the best time to make a career change.
Why Is Age 30 a Good Time for a Career Change?
Making a career change at any age will, without a doubt, affect your life, relationships, and even health. Hopefully, the impact, once you get past the stress of the transition, will be positive, as you move away from doing work you dislike, toward a career you find satisfying.
Changing careers becomes increasingly more difficult, but not impossible, as we get older. That is because our responsibilities typically increase with age. Many individuals, however, don't have as many responsibilities at age 30 as they will potentially have when they turn 40 or 50.
Millenials are putting off many of the life-changing events that require more career stability. For example, the median age for marriage in the United States is now 29.9 for men and 27.9 for women. According to the Pew Research Center, among young adults ages 25 to 34, 58 percent were unmarried in 2012, with the vast majority of them (85 percent) having never been married. Though the average age for having a first child is just 26.2, many people are delaying having a child until they are over 30, according to the CDC.
Expenses are also lower for 25 to 34-year-olds than for those who are older. They spend $6,200 per year on food and $17,200 on housing, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you are looking for the best time to make a transition, this can be it. You can, of course, do it later on—many people do—but doing it now will be easier than a midlife career change.
Once you decide to make a change, your next order of business will be to decide what career to pursue. Don't be discouraged if you don't know what you want to do next. There are steps to take that can help you figure it all out.
The first thing to do is learn about yourself. This part of the career planning process is called a self-assessment, and during it, you should look at your personality type, interests, aptitudes, and work-related values. You may have done this previously, but you should do it again now. You're more mature at 30 than you were in your late teens or early 20s, and your responses to the assessment tools will probably be different now. As a result of completing this step, you will have a list of occupations that are a good fit based on your traits.
Your next step is to explore the occupations on your list. Whether you think you know what career you want to pursue—even if it's something you've always dreamed of—or it's one you've never thought of before, learn everything you can about it. Get the facts about job duties, job outlook, earnings, and educational and training requirements. Evaluate each of your options so you can decide which careers are suitable for you and which are not.
Consider every factor. Learn about typical job duties because if you don't actually like the tasks you have to complete every day, you probably won't enjoy your work. While money isn't the most important contributor to job satisfaction, you should make sure your earnings will at least cover your expenses and allow you to live the way you desire. Also, look at the job outlook so that you can make sure you will be able to get a job when you are ready. Seriously consider doing an adult internship to get a firsthand look at an occupation before making a commitment.
It is essential to put education and training into the equation when choosing a career. Since, at age 30, you have many years of work ahead, it's not necessary to cross an option off your list simply because it will take a few years or more to meet the qualifications. Your decision will come down to how much time and effort you are willing to make, and, of course, finances.
Your transferable skills are another thing to consider. Over several years of working, you have probably acquired talents and abilities that you can use in a variety of other occupations. Some employers may even allow you to substitute them for formal training. If they do, it will make your transition a lot easier and faster. If you have to choose between a career in which you can use the skills you currently have and one that requires additional schooling, you may decide to pick the former. It will certainly allow you to get into your new career sooner.
Since time is on your side, however, you can certainly take the longer route.
Making a change often comes at a cost, regardless of your age. If you have your eye on a career that requires additional schooling or training, you may have to quit your job to free up your schedule. That means you may be unemployed until you are fully prepared to enter your new occupation.
You will also have to be able to fund your education. Before you embark on a career change, make sure you have savings or another means of financial support. It may be worth spending a little more time in your current occupation in order to save up the money to finance your transition.


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Will There Be Any More 'X-Men' Movies After 'Dark Phoenix'?
As most of you know, Dark Phoenix is most likely the last X-Men film with the current cast and adapts the famous "Dark Phoenix Saga" comics arc, with Sophie Turner filling the role of Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix while Jessica Chastain plays a mysterious and otherworldly character.
Read original story Will There Be Any More "X-Men" Movies After "Dark Phoenix"?
Sophie Turner starrer Dark Phoenix opened in the cinemas this week. In the context of the modern media landscape, this could be forgivable, but because of the wealth of stories that the X-Men offer, this lack of originality becomes a grave transgression. "I loved the way that Civil War had its big action action set piece where everyone's facing off more towards the end of the second act rather than in the third, so that after that huge battle, you're left with Winter Soldier, Captain America, and Iron Man". When five X-Men - Colossus, Magik, Namor, Emma Frost, and Cyclops - are imbued with the Phoenix Force's powers in 2012's line-wide event Avengers vs. X-Men, the so-called Phoenix Five initially use their new powers to turn Earth into a paradise but soon threaten the world with tyranny.
How tough was it to get Michael Fassbender to come back?
Dark Phoenix is now in theaters.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix suffers from a rehashed plot, as The Last Stand already covered this, so I have no reason why Simon Kinberg and Fox chose to make this. Civil War came out in May 2016 and Dark Phoenix didn't start filming until June 2017. Longtime X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner - who's been credited on every X-project since 2000's origins movie - actively disowned DP in a now-deleted tweet.
Why he wanted to create Genosha in the film. That backstory is embedded in Jackman's and Stewart's textured and heartbreaking performances, discernible even to one hasn't seen a single other "X-Men" movie. "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" revolves around mutants including Professor Xavier Charles and Magneto divided over whether to save or destroy Jean Grey as her powers get dangerously out of control. Unfortunately, the film is boring in spots, especially after such a great classic X-Men-like opening scene with the rescue mission. No, the problem with this series has always been the characters running around the monsters - the human element that somehow takes up so much of the filmmakers' concern and yet remains so very boring. If you want to say a proper goodbye to this series of "X-Men" movies, you're better off spending your time on "Logan" again than "Dark Phoenix" for the first time.
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Eden Hazard Pictured Posing With A Real Madrid Shirt
Google argues Huawei's Android ban creates security risks
Kei Nishikori wins 5-set thriller, reaches French Open quarters
Melania Trump Totally Copied Princess Diana While Meeting The Queen Today
India vs South Africa: Here's India's likely Playing XI
The other royal family? Trump adult kids take London
Apple Announces macOS 10.15 "Catalina" with New Music, TV, and Podcasts Apps
Zdeno Chara appears to have jaw injury, status unclear for Game 5
Liverpool owner pays tribute to fans ahead of Champions League final
England aim to bounce back against Bangladesh
The only downside for England was a hip injury to Jos Buttler , which will be assessed on Sunday. "It is going to be a hard game". Bairstow's four off Mohammad Saifuddin saw England's openers to a fifty partnership in 47 balls.
Nasa to open International Space Station to tourists
As part of its new policy directive, NASA will also open up the space station to possible marketing and advertising activities. Astronauts have dazzled the world in recent years with photos and videos shot from the International Space Station .
RBI cuts interest rate by 25 bps, revises GDP growth to 7%
Two new cabinet committees were announced on Thursday to find ways to spur job creation and investment. The current policy repo rate is at 6 percent, while retail inflation stood at 2.92 percent in April.
Osaka suggested the pressure of entering Roland Garros as the world number one made it hard for her to play with the same freedom. She earned a fourth-round date with defending champ Simona Halep . "At least I can start trying to put the time in now".
97-year-old army vet marks D-Day anniversary with parachute jump
Many troops were violently seasick, some drowned, while others were gunned down as soon as landing craft opened their hatches. With the simple words "OK, let's go", General Dwight Eisenhower set in motion the greatest military attack in history.
Markle hasn't made a statement about why she won't be there, but she has made her dislike for the Donald very clear in the past. The expert pointed to the $71,000 dress the Duchess, 37, wore for her engagement photos with Prince Harry .
Hengtong Group's founder and owner Cui Genliang is the second-largest shareholder with 14.95%. The proposed transaction has been filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The game's official website , translated by Gematsu , states that in Dragon Quest walk , "everyday life becomes an adventure". A worldwide release for Dragon Quest Walk has not been announced just yet, so we'll have to wait and see on that.
After 30 years in Virginia Beach, she described feeling like the whole situation was "surreal" since the news broke Friday night. Four victims remained in critical condition as of Sunday morning, Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital said in a statement.
Among the possible updates: shutting down iTunes , iPhone and iPad software updates and a revamped Apple Watch . Usually, Apple streams the event on all its devices such as iPhones , iPads, MacBooks and Apple TV .
Mr Trump insisted that he has been tough on Russian Federation and that Moscow would have preferred Mrs Clinton as president. It assumed that political leaders would soberly weigh the evidence that Trump obstructed his investigation.
Siniakova made her pay, breaking for 5-4 and taking the opener when Osaka sent back her 16th unforced error of the set. Siniakova earned a third, however, and this time Osaka went wide.
China planning its own blacklist after Huawei ban
As a result, Huawei is losing access to key components and software needed to produce its Android smartphones and Windows laptops. On another front, President Donald Trump said he plans to impose a 5% US tariff on all Mexican goods over illegal immigration.


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It's Time to Let Go of Our Dreams of Going to Venus
Yes, some people had these dreams! But the yellow planet should be left alone for at least a few million years.
By Neel V. Patel
Dec 27, 201711:30 AM
Night on Venus in infrared, from orbiting Akatsuki.
ISAS, JAXA via NASA
The most recent time NASA launched a mission to Venus was in 1989. The Magellan orbiter lasted four years, transmitting data back to Earth that had to be recorded onto physical tapes. These were archaic times.
The generation-long drought of missions solely intended to study Venus was extended further last Wednesday, when NASA selected two projects as finalists for a mid-2020s science mission. None of the three Venus projects were chosen. One did receive additional funding for more research and development, but it will have to wait till the next application cycle to contend again for mission selection.
The general public might be more or less ambivalent to such a decision, but within the scientific community, there's plenty of lamenting that Venus continues to draw the short straw when it comes to NASA's science program.
But NASA is right. It's time to let go of Venus.
There have always been good reasons to conduct missions to Venus: Earth and Venus share comparable sizes, densities, and overall geographies, and many scientists believe Venus represents a sort of glimpse into an alternate reality of what Earth could have turned out to be. While our planet is a warm, loving environment that's allowed life to evolve and thrive, Venus is an 850 degree Fahrenheit extraterrestrial hell, covered in a dense atmosphere of sulfuric acid and surface pressures that we only see on Earth at depths of about 1 kilometer underwater. When previous missions have gone to Venus, they've been searching for clues that could explain how some planets transform into habitable worlds, and others don't. That information could be very useful for understanding what other worlds and directions we ought to focus our attention on.
But there are two major reasons it's time to move on from Venus. The first is cost and accessibility. Jim Green, the director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, told reporters last Wednesday that going to Venus is still an incredibly difficult venture. The planet's hellacious environment is a destructive force. Spending millions or billions of dollars on a lander that can't last more than a few hours is a hard sell against projects that can study other worlds for several years on end, like Mars or Saturn's moon Titan. Scientists are making strides in computer chips and technologies that could handle Venus, but a working lander or rover is still very far in the future. We could stick to orbiters and be safe, but there's only so much you can learn about a place from high above.
The second reason to ignore Venus harkens back to what NASA is more interested in these days: extraterrestrial life. NASA is pivoting its science program deeper into astrobiology to find worlds that could be habitable to life—be it by humans or aliens. Mars, for instance, is a place we will certainly set foot on one day, and there are high hopes we could find signs of past or present microorganisms on the planet. Ocean worlds, like Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa, also possess subsurface liquid oceans that might be breeding grounds for lifeforms. And even though these worlds are freezing, habitat technologies that keep colonists warm and fuzzy are already conceivable. If we can eventually perfect terraforming technologies, we could warm these worlds up so they're more amenable to future denizens.
Venus is not like that. It's almost certainly lifeless in its current state. We can't even get simple instruments on Venus to survive for more than a few hours before they melt and combust. It's almost unthinkable humans will ever set foot on the surface. And terraforming as we currently think about it means warming a planet up (which we're pretty experienced at!), not cooling it down. If Venus ever decides to chill out, it will be millions or billions of years from now, as a natural process.
It's sad to say, but Venus is more of a sideshow when it comes to planetary science these days. It might be time to accept we won't be visiting the yellow planet for quite a long time. Let's give ourselves a moment to mourn, and move on.


The Official Disney Fan Club celebrates the upcoming release of the eagerly anticipated Maleficent in the summer publication Disney twenty-three. Angelina Jolie and the creative team pull back the curtain on the surprising tale behind one of Disney's most iconic villains. "I was afraid of her, and I loved her," Jolie confesses in the cover story. Accompanying the piece is an in-depth look by animation historian Charles Solomon at the development of Walt Disney's 1959 creative masterpiece, Sleeping Beauty, with rarely seen concept art and drawings.


For the Intelligent World Hackathon, submitted apps should address challenges that intelligent lighting and their sensors can help solve in both indoor and outdoor environments.
Outdoor lighting sensor data can help address city opportunities, such as traffic, parking, public safety, pedestrian/urban planning, and economic development.
Indoor lighting sensor data can improve productivity and revenue opportunities in retail and commercial buildings.
For a chance at an award, all submissions must be entered into one of the following prize categories. (When submitting, you'll be asked to indicate a primary prize category for your app You will also be asked to provide a secondary category (if applicable). The hackathon sponsor may choose to re-categorize your entry if they deem it appropriate. Please note that to be eligible for the Grand Prize, submissions must include one or more of the Intelligent Environment Cities services: Traffic Planning, Parking Planning, Pedestrian Planning, or Public Safety.
Parking - Applications entered into the Parking category must use the Intelligent Environments Parking Planning service and focus on parking-related activities that occur in a city.
It has been estimated that there are just over one billion operational vehicles in the world. Also, it is estimated that human population will grow from seven billion today to over nine billion by 2050. With this demand and usage of vehicles, on-street parking is a critical service for a city to provide to its patrons.
GE's Intelligent Environments Parking API service offers near real-time and historical data from intelligent LED sensors installed on roadway and parking lot light poles. Metadata such as whether a parking space or parking area is occupied by a vehicle is extracted from intelligent streetlights in a city. How could this unique data be used to improve city operations and the lives of patrons in your city?
Traffic - Applications entered into the traffic category must use the Intelligent Environments Traffic Planning service and focus on traffic-related activities that occur in a city.
Traffic can be defined as any movement of vehicles in a city. A vehicle's primary purpose is to transport humans and/or goods from location to location in a city. Traffic patterns can be used as key indicators for the type of activity in a city such as: population growth, visitor activity, roadway and signal planning, parking needs, local economy patterns, congestion causes, public transportation effectiveness, and other public safety needs.
While there are many ways to get traffic information today, GE's Intelligent Environments Traffic API service offers near real-time and historical data from intelligent LED sensors installed on roadway and parking lot poles. Metadata such as vehicle speed, direction, volume, and lane use are extracted from each vehicle that passes each intelligent streetlight in a city. How could this unique data be used to improve city operations and the lives of patrons in your city?
Applications entered into the Public Safety category must use the Intelligent Environments Public Safety service and focus on public-safety-related activities that occur in a city.
With the expected growth of population and urbanization of cities, ensuring citizen and visitor safety is important to a city's stability. Today's cities use cameras to help reduce crime and enhance safety awarenes; however, budgets are often too limited to expand camera infrastructure into every public space in a city. GE's Intelligent Environment Public Safety API service provides real-time and historical images/video from each intelligent LED light installed in a city, which means cities can affordably have ubiquitous camera coverage where needed. Using this data, demonstrate how this media can improve city operations and the lives of patrons in a city.
Applications entered into the Pedestrian Planning category must use the Intelligent Environments Pedestrian Planning service and focus on pedestrian-related activities that occur in a city.
It is estimated that human population will grow from seven billion today to over nine billion by 2050. As the population grows and urbanization rates increase, pedestrian activity in public areas will increase. Pedestrian activity includes everything from walking, shopping, crossing streets (legally and illegally), and attending events to other recreational or business-related activities. Cities need to plan for and respond to pedestrians' needs to ensure safety, promote economic development, and provide other services that accelerate prosperity. GE's Intelligent Environments Pedestrian planning API service offers near real-time and historical data from intelligent LED sensors installed on roadway and parking lot light poles. Metadata such as whether a pedestrian is in a region of interest and how many pedestrians are in that region are extracted from intelligent streetlights in a city. How could this unique data be used to improve city operations and the lives of patrons in your city?
Applications entered into the Intelligent Buildings category must use one or more of the Intelligent Enterprises services on the Predix platform. Intelligent Building data can be grouped into two categories: Indoor Intelligence and Enterprise Environment.
Indoor Intelligence looks at historical data such as positioning (where a mobile device was), dwell time (how long did a device stay in a specific area or building), and path (where did a device travel within a space). Let's look at each data type in more depth.
Purpose of the data: Retailers would like to learn more about their shoppers' experiences and behaviors to identify opportunities for improvement.
What is captured: The Historical Positioning API collects a mobile device's position (X and Y) as well as the height of the device (Z axis) and the device's orientation.
Use case: As an example, this data enables a store's management to identify shopper flows across different times within each of their stores. The retail management could choose to view the Blue-Dot (Position) data using a timeelapsed service in Predix. A heatmap view could help to analyze the shopper patterns and best marketing opportunities as well as the flow impact of changes to the store layout (A to B comparisons).
Purpose of the data: Retail brands would like to validate their spending for rental space or position within a retail store. Store owners would like to know the value of their available shelf space.
What is captured: The Historical Dwell Time API provides a historical collection of position data identifying when a mobile device's position has entered and exited specific zones or areas within a store/building. These zones are defined as a polygon on a map. Additionally, the orientation can be used to assume the shopper's gaze.
Use case: Potentially a retailer would capture metrics on the different zones/departments or create specific zones around products during marketing campaigns to measure exposure and determine impact to dwell times. Another use case might be to trigger a concierge support function based on longer dwell times in specific areas. For example, dwelling for a few minutes in front of the "pickles" triggers a pop-up on the retailer's app asking if the shopper needs assistance. If yes, the store associate is directed to the device location to help the shopper.
Purpose of the data: Building owners would like empirical data to understand flows and utilization of space within a building.
What is captured: The Historical Path API collects position data and analyzes it to communicate the specific order of zones traversed.
Use case: Possible solutions could include dashboard analytics solutions like shopping mall patterns. In what order do mall shoppers visit the stores/brands? What order of zones in a specific retail location do shoppers generally travel through (men's, shoes, sports, grocery, checkout)?
Enterprise Environment is focused on the efficiency and performance of the facilities (or buildings) themselves.
Purpose of the data: Companies would like to understand and optimize the performance and utilization of facilities in their real estate portfolio.
What is captured: The Enterprise Environment RESTful service provides environment metadata collected from intelligent lighting sensors placed at indoor and outdoor locations of buildings. The available information includes: Illuminance, Occupancy, and Temperature. This data is continuously collected and stored with a timestamp in the Predix Cloud. It is then presented as historical information for an individual sensor.


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Businesses continue to install tools like Skype, Slack, Yammer, HipChat, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams, but many struggle to get users to adopt them. Adoption, however is not something that comes overnight; it requires in-depth strategies. Here are ways to ensure people make use of your collaboration tools.
#1 Conduct an audit and have your use cases ready – The first thing you need to do is run an internal audit to figure out which collaboration tools are in your environment and why. Then, make sure you have a handful of clear, real-life use cases ready to share on how the tool can be used and what benefits they can help achieve. For example, a project-oriented team may be more open to using Microsoft Teams if they see the built-in project management and workflow features the software provides.
#2 Select the right tool and approach for the job – Understand that collaboration tools have to work the way your people do, not the other way around. This means if you purchase a VoIP system with a glut of call features you're never going to use — like voicemail to mail or whisper and barge features — adoption rates will suffer. And if you are unsure about how your company will react to the new collaboration tool, sign people up for a free demo and ask for their honest feedback.
#3 Do proper testing and train users – Before encouraging widespread use of new collaboration tools, you've got to ensure that you've optimized your IT infrastructure to cope with the added demands — and that means properly testing your network ahead of deployment. Then, train your employees how to conduct calls and communicate through the software. Once they understand how to use the collaboration tool, they're more inclined to use it for their day-to-day tasks.
#4 Plan a phased deployment – For higher chances of success, go with a phased deployment. Start by piloting your chosen tools with a group of early adopters, learn from them, and make adjustments. Next, extend that pilot from a small group of users to a department. Repeat the same process before deploying the tools to more departments, then eventually, to the entire organization.
#5 Regular monitoring – Finally, you should monitor the quality and performance of your employees using the software. This will allow you to spot and fix user-experience issues early on.
Overall, a good introduction can ease employees into using the new VoIP and collaboration tools. And with proper usage, these tools can enhance productivity and promote well-coordinated teams.
Call us today to accelerate your enterprise's adoption of collaboration tools.
This entry was posted in General Articles A, VoIP and tagged 2018June25VoIP_A, collaboration tools, Google Hangouts, HipChat, Microsoft Teams, phased deployment, Skype, Slack, Yammer. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.


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California Public Employees Retirement System
BB&K's Isabel Safie Discusses the Implications of IRS' Definition of Governmental Plan Status
Bill on Bankruptcy: Stockton May Win the Battle, Lose the War
Godot Is Still Waiting . . .
Allen Matkins on 12/13/2021
Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it was proposing a new rule under the Exchange Act. In an accompanying "fact sheet", the SEC said that it was doing so "to increase transparency and...more
New Law Shifts Liability for Certain CalPERS Benefit Overpayments to Employers
Hanson Bridgett LLP on 11/30/2021
Key Points - Starting in 2022, CalPERS contracting agencies will bear the risk of certain overpayments to retirees that result from compensation reporting errors. The employer, rather than the retiree, will have to repay the...more
Sustainable Development and Land Use Update - October 2021 #3
As risks of climate change rise, investors seek greener buildings - The New York Times – October 26 - When the developer Lendlease opens its $600 million residential and office complex in Los Angeles, expected in...more
CalPERS Contracting Agencies Face New World of Liability Woes
Best Best & Krieger LLP on 10/5/2021
SB 278 Imposes Increased Statutory Liability for CalPERS Reporting Errors - SB 278 was signed into law on Sept. 27, adding Government Code section 20164.5. Section 20164.5 imposes new liability on employers when CalPERS...more
California COVID-19 News - CA Health and Government COVID-19 Guidance: Week in Review - April 2021 #2
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 4/30/2021
Office of the Governor - Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup Recommends Resuming Use of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine (04/24/2021) - The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup completed its review...more
Financial Daily Dose 8.19.2020 | Top Story: S&P 500 Erases Pandemic Losses Despite U.S. Failure to Control Virus
Robins Kaplan LLP on 8/20/2020
Unlike much of the world, the U.S. has not turned the corner on the coronavirus outbreak. But you wouldn't know it by looking at the markets. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 topped out at its highest level ever, "capping a remarkable...more
Financial Daily Dose 8.10.2020 | Top Story: Twitter Enters Fray in Pursuit of TikTok
With "Twit-tok" trending this weekend, you should be unsurprised to learn that Twitter has joined the group of suitors for TikTok, revealing that it's held preliminary talks with the video-sharing app about a possible combo. ...more
Financial Daily Dose 8.7.2020 | Top Story: White House Issues EOs Banning Transactions with TikTok and WeChat Parent Companies in...
Dramatically escalating the growing tension with China (despite considerable ambiguity in its language), the White House issued executive orders that would "ban all 'transactions'" with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok,...more
Financial Daily Dose 8.6.2020 | Top Story: Facebook Launches Instagram Reels to Compete with TikTok
Robins Kaplan LLP on 8/7/2020
Never one to let a competitor's misfortune pass by without looking for an opportunity, Facebook's Instagram is hoping to capitalize on TikTok's questionable U.S. status by launching Reels, a new feature that allows users to...more
California Supreme Court Finds Modifications to CERL Constitutional, But Leaves "California Rule" Intact
Modifications Are Permissible Under the California Rule - In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court held that changes made to the County Employees' Retirement Law, known as CERL, by pension reform measures...more
The Cost Of Justice In Nevada
Allen Matkins on 5/22/2020
In February, I penned this post about some of Nevada's historic rural courthouses. Recently, I visited Goldfield, Nevada. Although Goldfield is the county seat of Esmeralda County, it has no gas station and no supermarket. ...more
Audit Report Discloses Sharp Increase In Personal Trading Violations At CalPERS
The California Public Employees Retirement System (aka CalPERS) is the largest defined-benefit public pension in the United States. It is governed by a Board of Administration that consists of 13 members who are elected,...more
COVID-19 Pandemic May Force Some Cities to Reset Employee Benefits
Best Best & Krieger LLP on 5/15/2020
As the harsh realities of the coronavirus pandemic, along with its widespread impact on all aspects of daily life, continue to shock and numb us all, many cities have already been identified as "high risk" from a financial...more
Employee Benefits Webinar - Public Agency Employers
Hanson Bridgett LLP on 2/20/2020
Webinar Agenda –Public Agency - 1.Health and Welfare Plan Updates: •Affordable Care Act Updates •California Individual Mandate •Proposed IRS Cost-Sharing Transparency Rules •Final DOL "Regular Rate" Regulations ...more
Take Care When Cost-Sharing Under CalPERS
With overall required contribution rates increasing at an alarming rate, most CalPERS employers – particularly those with significant "classic" safety populations – are looking for help to pay for these obligations....more
A 457(b) Plan Distribution Depends on Which 457(b) Plan You're In
With very few exceptions, the rules governing governmental 457(b) plans require a "severance of employment" to occur before a distribution can be made. Recently, we came across yet another of those arcane, little-known rules...more
Key California Employment Law Cases: May 2019
Payne & Fears on 8/26/2019
This month's key California employment law cases involve the Dynamex case and the effect of prior administrative hearing on a civil lawsuit....more
When a Section 115 Pension Stabilization Trust is "Too Good To Be True"
To prepare for and manage significantly increased CalPERS employer contribution rates in the coming years, California public agencies approved the establishment and funding of so-called "pension rate stabilization trusts." ...more
CalPERS Board Decision on Contract Workers Will Not Become Precedential. Now What? - Contract Workers May Still Be Reclassified as...
The CalPERS Board of Administration will not consider whether to establish the Tracy Fuller decision as a CalPERS precedent, we have confirmed. While the decision to not pursue Fuller as a precedential decision is welcome...more
California Supreme Court Rules in Cal Fire Case – Round One Goes to the Legislature, But It Ain't Over
The California Supreme Court recently issued its decision in the Cal Fire Local 2881 v. CalPERS case – the first of six so-called "California Rule" ("Vested Pension Rights") cases pending before the Court. The California...more
California Supreme Court Decides Cal Fire Narrowly - Option to Purchase Airtime is Not a Vested Right
As expected, the California Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's holding in Cal Fire Local 2881 v. California Public Employees' Retirement System et al., concluding that the plaintiffs did not have a vested right to...more
California Supreme Court Announces Date for Oral Argument in the First of Its Five Pending Vested Rights Cases
Nossaman LLP on 11/12/2018
In a much awaited announcement, on November 8, 2018, the California Supreme Court scheduled oral argument in CalFire Local 2881, et al. v. CalPERS, et al., which is the first of the five pending vested rights cases that are...more
CalPERS Employers Dodge A Bullet - SB 1124 Would Have Imposed Statutory Liability For Errors In Calpers Reporting
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation that would have imposed significant liability on CalPERS employers for errors in their CalPERS reporting which result in post-retirement pension reductions....more
Your Daily Dose of Financial News
To no one's surprise, the Fed followed through with its months of promises and raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points yesterday. The FOMC also indicated that it's planning to raise rates again in December....more
70 Years of Pension Precedent Could Soon Be Weakened by the California Supreme Court - Isabel Safie Provides Insight Into Lawsuits...
It's a big litigation year for California pensions. The California Supreme Court ruled last month that San Diego's landmark pension cutback legislation, Proposition B, was illegally placed on the 2012 ballot because city...more
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