Slidell Mardi Gras krewes will pay less than expected to parade

Fearing that they would have to cover 75 percent of the cost to put on parades in Slidell during the 2013 Carnival season, local krewes have been told that they are going to be afforded a break. Slidell?s city government now plans to charge Mardi Gras organizations a flat fee for parade permits, news that was so welcome to krewe delegates that one of them kissed a pair of municipal officials during a gathering this week.

The walking parades of Krewe De Paws and Mona Lisa & MoonPie in Olde Towne will each pay $500 for their permits; the day parades of Krewe of Slidellians, Krewe of Claude, Krewe of Perseus and Krewe of Dionysus will each pay $2,000; and the night parades of Mystic Krewe of Titans and Krewe of Selene will pay $4,000, according to a document Slidell Public Works Director Mike Noto provided to club representatives at a meeting in the city auditorium Wednesday. The $2,000 fee would apply to the St. Patrick?s Day parade in Olde Towne after Carnival.

The permit fee system promises to cost Slidell?s Carnival clubs a total of $17,000 annually. Under a previous arrangement, it would have been much more expensive ? if the 2013 season?s price tag would have been the same as the one of about $43,000 in 2012, they would had to cough up $32,250 in all.

Per an agreement reached to help Slidell reduce its annual spending and offset sagging sales tax revenue between 2007 and 2010, krewes in 2011 reimbursed the municipality 25 percent of the $60,000 it cost to put on Carnival. The groups agreed to cover half of the cheaper price tag in 2012. In 2013, the reimbursement rate for parade clubs was supposed to climb to 3/4 of the season?s cost.

However, the city realized that the show the Carnival krewes put on does have a positive economic impact on Slidell, though precisely how much of one has never been studied or quantified, Noto said. Slidell, therefore, opted to pursue the less taxing permit fees.

Noto remarked, ?We like Mardi Gras, and we want it to continue.?

Betty Lostetter of the Krewe of Perseus was so pleased with what she heard Wednesday that she left her seat in the middle of the meeting and planted pecks on the cheeks of Noto and the person next to him, Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith.

Another Carnival cost-reduction measure implemented recently is to condense the parade season as much as possible. For 2013, it is tentatively scheduled to run from January 20 to February 8.

Krewe delegates were ecstatic, saying that a fixed parade permit fee facilitated their organizations? budgeting items such as membership dues and fundraising goals.

?We were panicking because our krewe couldn?t do (the 75 percent reimbursement),? Lostetter said. ?It?s like giving us Christmas.?

Rob Higgins, vice president of Titans, added, ?I?m happy we have this finalized. ? We can now move forward with making Mardi Gras better for the public in conjunction with the city.?

Permit fees would be due no earlier than 60 days before the parades? individual roll dates and no later than two weeks prior, Noto explained. The City Council may introduce an ordinance codifying the fee amounts in August and vote on it in September. Council representatives Kim Harbison, Jay Newcomb and Lionel Hicks attended the meeting Wednesday.

Noto, though, pointed out that any figures in the upcoming ordinance could be decreased, increased or otherwise amended as necessary in the future. ?We can use (the ordinance) as a working document and change it as we need to,? he said.

Ramon Antonio Vargas can be reached at rvargas@timespicayune.com or 985.645.2848.

Source: http://www.nola.com/mardigras/index.ssf/2012/07/slidell_mardi_gras_krewes_will.html

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- Relocation Blaine, MN | Blaine Homes For Sale

The Kris Lindahl Team at Edina Realty hates to see you leave our city but we understand circumstances sometimes arise that makes relocation necessary.

Our relocation experts are at the ready to assist you with all aspects of the move. In fact, we would be honored to be among the agents you interview to list your Blaine home.

Here are some things to consider while getting ready to sell your current home in Blaine and purchase your new home in your new city:

Be Careful with Your Money

The worse thing you can do as you enter the home buying process is to make large financial transactions or move your money from one account to another. In fact, financial experts say that you should not make any large purchases or move money three to six months before you apply for a mortgage. This keeps your credit profile from getting dinged, thus making it easier to get a loan.

Get Pre-approved for a Mortgage

Once you?ve decided to start looking at homes in your new city it?s a good idea to go in armed with a loan pre-approval letter. This lets the sellers know that you are serious about their home and that you can, indeed, come up with the money to purchase it.

Find a Real Estate Agent

Actually, if you are moving out of Minnesota you should have two agents: one to sell your current home and one to assist you in the purchase of your new home. We have a wide network of contacts and will be happy to refer you to an experience, professional real estate agent in the city to which you are moving.

Get the Home Ready to Sell

We suggest that you box up excess belongings and store them off-site. Your aim should be to depersonalize the house so that potential buyers can picture themselves living there. So family photos, diplomas, magazines, books, etc. should all be stored away while the home is on the market.

We also suggest that the house be impeccably clean. A dirty or messy house is one of the biggest buyer turn-offs. In fact, studies have shown that buyers are willing to pay more for a home that they perceive to be in move-in condition. So cleaning the home actually helps to sell it.

It is at this point that we come in and photograph the house for our marketing materials. The Kris Lindahl team relies heavily on internet marketing so we take lots of colorful photos.

By the way, because we utilize the latest online marketing techniques, your home is likely to be seen by more buyers than homes listed with other agents.

The Tricky Part

If you are hoping to close on your new house and the current house at the same time, you will need to find a title company that handles what is known as a ?simultaneous closing.? If you are moving out of state, a simultaneous close may not be possible.
Ensure that your agent in your new city makes your purchase contingent on the successful sale of your current home. That way, the clock slows in your favor and allows you time to sell the home. Be aware, sellers typically don?t find this contingency attractive and some may refuse it.

What then occurs is that when your current home sells, the funds are wired to the escrow company handling your purchase. This person will fax the HUD1 to your current lender and the purchase closes escrow.

As you can see, it?s a complicated process and requires the assistance of real estate agents familiar with it that can steer it to a successful conclusion.
Please don?t hesitate to call the experts on the Kris Lindahl Team at Edina Realty, Blaine.

Source: http://blainehomesforsale.net/relocation-blaine-mn/

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Kantar data shows Apple?s grip slipping as Samsung surges

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kantar-data-shows-apple-grip-slipping-samsung-surges-184551998.html

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Highest resolution ever for human protein

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2012) ? Never has a crystal structure of a human protein molecule in a cell wall been so crystal clear. Leiden researchers Ad IJzerman and Laura Heitman, together with American colleagues, have achieved the most detailed crystal structure ever of a target protein for medicines. The findings have been reported in Science.

Receptor

The protein in question is the adenosine A_2A receptor, the main receptor for caffeine in the human body. This receptor is also linked to Parkinson's disease. The class of around 800 proteins to which the adenosine A_2A receptor belongs forms the target for roughly half of all medicines. 'No wonder that researchers across the globe have been trying for decades to find out more about these proteins,' comments IJzerman.

Crystallizing the protein

To find out whether medicines are effective, you need to understand how the receptors in the cell wall work. An important means of achieving this is to crystallize the protein, so that it can be examined with x-rays. IJzerman and his research team had already managed in 2008 to determine the crystal structure of the adenosine A_2A receptor, but at a lower resolution. IJzerman: 'Since then, a handful of structures of other receptors have appeared in the scientific literature, but at such a low resolution that in some cases it was even difficult to determine how medicines bind to such receptors.' Heitman continues: 'With our new structure, we have achieved the highest resolution ever for any protein in the human cell wall.'

Mystery solved

The degree of detail of the new high-resolution crystal structure makes it possible to see things that were previously not discernible. 'It is like comparing what Galileo saw with his primitive telescope with the images made by the Hubble telescope,' IJzerman explains. It is now possible to see, for instance, how water molecules play a vital role in activating the adenosine A_2A receptor. A water channel in the inactive receptor appears to be disrupted once it has been activated. The teams also discovered a hidden site where a natrium ion is located, away from the receptor's drug-binding cavity. This gives an insight into the way natrium ions affect the working of hormones and neurotransmitters in the body, something that was previously a mystery.

Clever strategy

The high-resolution structure was the result of a clever strategy by the collaborators at the Scripps Institute in La Jolla (California). By binding the receptor protein, that is oily and therefore does not easily crystallize, to another protein that crystallizes readily, the researchers were able to produce minuscule crystals of the fusion product. Previously, they had used the protein lysozyme for this process, but this time they used proteins that crystallize even more easily and that are a better match for the receptor. This then yielded the high resolution structure that gives so much more information than any other receptor structure previously elucidated.

Caffeine and Parkinson's

Research indicates that coffee drinkers are less susceptible to developing Parkinson's disease. Caffeine has been shown to inhibit the effect of the receptor, adenosine A_2A, associated with this disorder.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Leiden, Universiteit, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Wei Liu, Eugene Chun, Aaron A. Thompson, Pavel Chubukov, Fei Xu, Vsevolod Katritch, Gye Won Han, Christopher B. Roth, Laura H. Heitman, Adriaan P. IJzerman, Vadim Cherezov, and Raymond C. Stevens. Structural Basis for Allosteric Regulation of GPCRs by Sodium Ions. Science, 13 July 2012: 232-236 DOI: 10.1126/science.1219218

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120712141816.htm

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Egypt parliament reconvenes, defying military

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-parliament-set-convene-defying-military-070247934.html

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Source: http://answers.apostoliccm.com/2012/07/create-air-max-95-your-self-esteem-a-starter-manual-to-self-enhancement/

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Stocks fall for a fourth day as tech profits slump

FILE-In this Friday, June 29, 2012, file photo, specialists Frank Masello, left, and John T. O'Hara, right, work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York shortly before the closing bell. Stock markets in Asia declined Tuesday July 10, 2012, after China said the growth rate for its imports fell in June. (AP Photo/David Karp, file)

FILE-In this Friday, June 29, 2012, file photo, specialists Frank Masello, left, and John T. O'Hara, right, work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York shortly before the closing bell. Stock markets in Asia declined Tuesday July 10, 2012, after China said the growth rate for its imports fell in June. (AP Photo/David Karp, file)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks fell for the fourth straight day Tuesday following a profit slump at technology companies and a steep decline in oil prices, which sent energy stocks sharply lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 83.17 points to close at 12,653.12. Aluminum maker Alcoa was the biggest loser in the Dow, giving up 4 percent after reporting a slump in revenue late Monday.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 lost 10.99 points to 1,341.47. The index is in its longest slump since May 18.

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices fell sharply after reporting that a slowdown in China and Europe led to an 11 percent drop in second-quarter revenue. The company had previously forecast a gain of 3 percent.

That news sent other technology stocks down hard. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 1 percent, the most of the three major indexes. It closed 29.44 points lower at 2,902.33.

The bad news outweighed hopeful developments in Europe earlier in the day. Before U.S. markets opened, European finance ministers announced they had agreed on the terms of a bailout for Spain's banks. The first installment of $37 billion in aid can be ready by the end of the month.

Investors were concerned that some details seemed to be missing from the plan.

Also weighing on the market: worries about a slew of upcoming corporate earnings reports. Financial analysts expect that earnings at companies in the S&P 500 fell 2 percent in the April-through-June period compared with a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ. That would be the first drop in nearly three years.

"The past quarter was great, but going forward many companies may have problems," said Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade, a brokerage. "People are confused about what to think."

A resolution to a labor dispute in Norway early Friday weighed on oil prices, which pushed energy stocks lower. Early Tuesday, the Norwegian government intervened to end a strike that threatened North Sea oil production.

Benchmark crude oil fell $2.08 to $83.91 a barrel in New York. Major energy companies dropped as a result, including Occidental Petroleum, down $1.95 at $83.24, and ConocoPhillips, down 90 cents at $53.43.

Natural gas producers took a hit from a sharp drop in the price of natural gas, which was down 5 percent at $2.74 per 1,000 cubic feet. Cabot Oil & Gas slumped $1.20 to $39.07 and Chesapeake Energy gave up $1.29 cents to $18.69.

Also weighing on commodities was a report from China that import growth fell in half in June from May, a signal its economy may be slowing more than expected. The Chinese economy, the world's second biggest, is growing at its slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis.

Copper fell 1 percent to $3.40 per pound. China is a big importer of the metal.

In stocks, the selling was broad. Eight of the ten industry groups in the S&P 500 fell. Industrial companies led the declines with a slump of 1.6 percent. Utilities and consumer staples, industries that fare better than others when the economy is struggling, rose slightly.

In Europe, the deal to aid Spain helped push the yield on its benchmark 10-year government bond down to 6.8 percent. On Monday, that country's key borrowing rate surged to 7 percent, a dangerously high level. The lower yield means investors are less fearful about the country having trouble paying its debts.

Portugal, Ireland and Greece all had to ask for help from international lenders after spikes in their own borrowing rates made it unaffordable for them to raise money from selling bonds on the open market. Spain is the largest European country to date to seek international assistance.

In corporate news, Applied Materials, which makes equipment for chipmakers, cut its fiscal year profit and sales estimates because of weak demand. The stock fell 30 cents to $10.71. AMD, the chip maker hurt by slumping sales in China, plunged 63 cents to $4.99.

Embattled BlackBerry maker Research in Motion fell 38 cents to $7.29. The company's CEO, Thorsten Heins, told a shareholders meeting that he isn't satisfied with the company's performance. Two weeks ago the company announced disappointing earnings, plans to cut 30 percent of its workforce and the latest delay in BlackBerry 10.

Alcoa lost 36 cents to $8.40 after a financial analyst cut his estimate for the company's 2012 earnings. Alcoa reported Monday that it beat analyst estimate for earnings in the second quarter but that revenue dropped due to slowing world demand for aluminum.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was lighter than average at 3.4 billion shares.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-10-Wall%20Street/id-e4778794b4cc4b9c96bc7c073bd37ad0

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