| PSO tour touts city's assets
Even in classical music terms, 250 years is a long time ago. When Pittsburgh was founded in 1758, Mozart was only 2 years old (and no, he hadn't composed anything yet) and Beethoven was not even born. Bach had died only eight years prior and Handel was still alive. Back when the Europeans here were worried more about survival than sonatas, few would have guessed that one day Pittsburgh would be exporting European culture to Europe. But that is just the case when the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarks on a tour to Europe over the next three weeks. The Pittsburgh 250 Ambassador Tour is one of the first celebrations of the city's birthday this year and a celebration of its remarkable growth over the years. It will kick off the city's own yearlong celebration. "The Pittsburgh Symphony is excited to return to our touring roots, visiting, performing and representing our city in important cultural capitals throughout Europe," said PSO president Larry Tamburri.
Wis. College to Give Bikes to Freshmen
(AP) RIPON, Wis. - A tiny liberal arts college here hopes it has found an answer to a nagging shortage of campus parking: a bicycle giveaway. If incoming freshmen promise not to bring a car to campus for a full year, Ripon College will give them a Trek 820 mountain bike, a helmet and a lock _ a $400 value. "We're a residential college with a beautiful, historic campus in the middle of a small town," said President David Joyce, an avid cyclist. "Paving it over was not an option I was willing to consider." He hopes the 1,000-student campus' "Velorution Program" will protect it from building more parking lots. "We obviously live in a car culture. That's not about to change," Joyce said. "But if a significant number of students learn that a car isn't a necessity at this stage of their lives, that's good enough for me." Last fall, for the first time in Ripon College history, the number of parking permit applications exceeded the 400 permits available, Joyce said.
Sleepy Hollow Police Brutality Alleged
The FBI is investigating accusations of police brutality and misconduct in the historic village of Sleepy Hollow after officers used stun guns on a 16-year-old boy and another man on separate occasions, the mayor said Wednesday. The FBI notified the village about a month ago that it would investigate, Mayor Philip Zegarelli said. The bureau will have the village's "full cooperation," he said. Resident Mario Gomez said a detective who he believed was romantically involved with his 22-year-old daughter beat and shocked him with a stun gun during an argument in October 2006. Gomez, who was arrested and later released, has filed a federal lawsuit against the detective, the village and police officials, claiming his civil rights were violated. Police used a stun gun on Duanny Lara Mota, 16, in August after he cursed officers and ran from them after they ordered Mota to accompany them to police headquarters.
Trouble in the woods for Dubya
Unfortunately so few of the voting public look past the bumper sticker slogans of "I'll cut your taxes". I'm a 5th generation Floridian who woke up this morning to read in the local paper that the Republican controlled legislature is about to repeal the intangibles tax which affects almost exclusively the very rich. There we go again. Another Bush and a Republican controlled legislature giving tax breaks to the very rich. Another article in the same paper told about reductions in mental health programs for children due to lack of funds. Both articles are available at :www.news-journalonline.com .
County settles on car registration price tag
Multnomah County commissioners have settled on a price tag for their bridge-funding measure planned for the May 20 ballot: a $24 annual increase in car registration fees. The money would be earmarked to replace the Sellwood Bridge and make other improvements to the county's six Willamette River bridges. In past weeks, county officials had talked about creating a local vehicle registration fee, with voter approval, costing between $15 to $27 a year. Now they have fixed the amount at $24 a year for 20 years. The county will take the proposal out to the community for feedback, and to begin developing support for an expected vote on the fee increase. Four town halls are scheduled to brief the public on the plan for a bridge safety fund: Thursday, Jan. 31, 6 to 8 p.m., Multnomah County East, Sharron Kelley Room, 600 N.E.
PALESTINIANS CLAIM WMD CAPABILITY
The Fatah terrorist faction has claimed the capability of chemical and biological weapons and has threatened Israel with a WMD attack, according to the Jerusalem Post. Leaflets distributed in the Gaza Strip state that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has spent the last three years developing the capabilty, the start of which seems oddly coincidental to the fall of Saddam Hussein (via Reliapundit): The Aksa Martyrs' Brigades group announced on Sunday that it its members have succeeded in manufacturing chemical and biological weapons to be used against Israel. In a leaflet distributed in the Gaza Strip, the group, which belongs to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, said the weapons were the result of an effort that has lasted for three years. The statment was a response to an Israeli Security Cabinet decision to give the IDF the green light to prepare all the forces necessary for a military operation against Gaza terror cells.
Verdict Still Out on 130/30 Leveraged Funds
If you haven't heard much about 130/30 funds, which use leverage and are net long, you probably will soon. While there aren't that many of them in the mutual-fund universe yet, a growing number of fund families are considering an offering with this type of structure. A 130/30 fund invests 30% of its assets in a short portfolio, where the manager bets that those assets will fall in price. The cash received for selling the short portfolio, along with some potentially borrowed funds, is then used to increase the long portfolio -- where the manager expects asset prices to increase -- to 130% of assets. Hence, 130/30. As an example of a 130/30 large-cap equity fund with, say, $2 million in assets, a manager would use those assets to purchase shares in companies in the S&P 500 or Russell 1000 indices, while at the same time shorting $600,000 in shares of other companies.
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